"Hinchliffe Surgeons" Topic

Two or three weeks ago (when I was allowed to post) I asked if anyone knew of 28mm 19th Cent. surgeons I could use for a hospital setup. I do not remember who but someone said that there was a Hinchliffe set with just what I needed except it was French Napoleonic. And where in Hinchliffe now? Well I found a young man named Ian in Derby (okay, no idea – I'm American so geography so fake news). Called Ian and he said he would mold up two sets for me early the next week (around July 3rd). I received my two sets Plus extras on July 8th. These are nice models of surgery , patients and litter cases. I cannot say enough good things about this gentleman and his product. Company name is Hinds Figures Ltd. web page is HindsFiguresLtd.co.uk These medical teams will be a bit modified for my AWI armies. Hope this is useful to some of you. H

Hinds do provide good service on the old Hinchliffe front. I have brought odds and sods off them for years.

The old Hinchliffe range was wonderful, at its best and in the latter days of releases. The figures are true 25mm though and a bit small next to most current 28mm ranges.

Surgeons? Westfalia (now Black Hussar) do British and Prussian surgeons from the Napoleonic era. Little work needed to convert beyond that. Perrys do the ambulance with many an "attending" for the French (and a nice ACW set too). Warlord figures I have not yet tried but again medics in their range.

If you want lots of bare limbs, whether still attached or not….try some plastic ranges of less dressed natives eg Mahdists in Perry's range

Fully agree Ferd, always excellent service from Ian at Hinds figures. The Hinchliffe range includes both old true 25mm figures and later figures including the Foremost range which match very well with other 28mm manufacturers. And they are great value.

I've never seen a better casting of the British Legion than the "old" Hinchliffe one. The Continental light dragoon is pretty good too. Both fit right in with 38mm figures just fine.
Too bad back then they were just single pose figures.

A minor detail. The Old Guard Ambulance they do is a beautiful piece of work, to judge by the pictures….

It is Napoleonic

But Napoleon III. The design is closer to ACW than our era. Many have got that wrong…and it is a shame. I almost started it in 15/18mm, working from old drawings….

Then the penny dropped.

I have the Old Guard ambulance ready to assemble. I bought it because as you say, it looks great. I'll make it anyway, but thanks for pointing out the error.

So presumably in the First Empire the Guard used the Larrey light ambulance.

Ferd45231 -- I am glad to hear you found the Hinchliffe Surgeon figures useful to your AWI project.

Please share a photo of what you are able to achieve with them, once completed.

It is indeed a beautiful model. I first saw the original in Michael Head's French Napoleonic Artillery in 1970s. Scale drawings too. But it looked so modern, nearer to ACW than Napoleonic, even though it carried Garde Imperiale on its side.

Posted the question on this site as to whether Napoleon III and the experts said yes, undoubtedly.

but it does look great as an ambulance, even in the First Empire. I cannot recall the source of this, but credit to the painter;

Ian provides excellent service, and always fair dealing.

Regarding the Hinchcliffe lines that he picked up a few years ago, a couple of comments:

1. The figures are not true 25, they are noticeably taller. If you are a purist, they are also a bit smaller than many of today's so-called 28mm which in reality are 30mm, but I personally think they are an OK fit. (BTW It has always been believed that the original owner deliberately differentiated the scale in hopes that gamers would have to stick with his lines.)

2. The quality of the sculpting does vary although none of it is terrible and some are quite good.

3. Unfortunately my experience has been that some at least of the molds are badly in need of renewal. I do understand that Ian's view may well be that this expense is unlikely to be recouped.