"'Retro' English Civil war blog using Hinchliffe figures!" Topic

Recently started this project and it's already topped 400 painted figures. It's an attempt to re create the old Hinchliffe armies I owned (and sold) over 30 years ago! The range has been recently remoulded by Ian Hinds of Hinds Figures Ltd, and the castings are in tip top condition. So if you don't mind a few musketeers in helmets here and there please come and take a look, it's very much an image led blog and I would welcome any comments.

Cheers,
Lee.

nostalgicecw.blogspot.co.uk

Well done! I had some back in the day, but my painting skills were not worthy of the castings.

Very nice looking and brings back many good memories. As to Musketeers in helmets, I still have the Minifig Parlmentarian musketeers in three-bar pot, front and back plates and tassets!

Thank you chaps. I should just add here that many of the horse units have been bought ready painted and are clearly vintage castings that have been given a lovely old school paint job, very well detailed and with hand painted flags (a little on the large side, but they just have to stay!).I was lucky enough to find numerous units of horse that were clearly painted by the same (talented) hand.

Cheers,
Lee.

I remember that Minifig musketeer too!

Lovely to see.

I have a similar project using Minifigs 25mm ECW although they are matt varnished and don't have any infantry in lobster pots. Broadly speaking, with the odd exception, I use Royalist codes for all my infantry and Roundhead codes for most of my cavalry. The true old school look with gloss figures is still very attractive and I still prefer the size of old school 25mm figures to modern 28mm.

The artillery pieces that Hinchcliffe had made for the range are still the best looking ECW artillery pieces.

Looking at Frank Hinchliffe's figures in a model shop in Stockport (ECW dragoon, firing dismounted) amongst others, made me want to get into wargaming. That was in 1976. I am still at it!

Very nice, and full of character!

These look fantastic. What a great retro look.

Thank you for the comments :)

Timmo, Minifigs are still widely collected and I have a few in my collection, my Villagers/Clubmen are old minifigs for example.

herkybird – Same here and about the same time, I saw them in a local model shop and fell in love with those neat blue boxes of shiny soldiers! I have painted a unit of those dismounted dragoons only recently, you refer to these I think?

Among the painted vintage castings I have are some wonderful hand painted flags (cornets?). they are big but I could not bear to replace them, this is a great example "Ready with either weapon"(look closely!) I love the humour of it.

Early stages, I now have 170 Hinchliffe Horse in 15 units.

Cheers,
Lee.

I have painted a unit of those dismounted dragoons only recently, you refer to these I think?

Indeed! Really takes me back.
A few years later, I went with the Stockport gamers to Meltham (near Huddersfield) to see Frank and his factory, I came home with loads of figures straight from the foundry!
What a great time I had, seeing the casting and meeting the people!

herkybird – I envy you that visit to the factory :) This might take you back to that visit, apologies if you have seen it already but it's a real gem of a piece and I'm a fan of all things Hinchliffe/Gilder!

Lee.

Thanks! I hadn't seen that article!

Certainly brings back memories…:-)

Great article, Hinchliffe ECW range is still very nice, I have some sitting in the lead pile to do but this may spur me on!!!!

I have really enjoyed re discovering the Hinchliffe ECW range, very much a nostalgia project that took me back to the late Seventies when I was first buying these figures. Sold them off to John Tunstil at 'Soldiers' in Kennington, London ( a short walk from the Imperial war Museum), when I was struggling to find my rent as a young apprentice going out with a student nurse to whom I have been married for 34 years, a sacrifice worth making I think :) Very pleased to have them back again.

Lovely looking units, great to see these beauties, This range was the first metal figures I ever bought, and they are still very good minis.

They look great.

Looking at that article, Hinchliffe were shipping 140000 figures a month!

I wonder how that compares to firms these days…?

Thank you both :)

BB, that is indeed a huge number of figure sales, I guess there was far less competition back then, mainly Miniature Figurines as they were then? I'd love to know how it compares with say Perry or Warlord.

The Hinchliffe ECW's are currently on offer for 75p per foot figures and 90p per horse as part of Ian Hinds Summer Sale, so I have taken advantage to stock up as that price is hard to beat for 25mm metal figures.

Prince Ruperts Regiment of Horse – retro style! Now expanded to 16 figures, deliberately slightly bright:)

Wonderful figures and great looking photos. Love the Hinchliffe line.

Thank you Hal, and for the comment on my YouTube video :) The collection has continued to expand since the video, just completed the Kings Lifeguard of Foot, 12 pikes, 4 command and 24 muskets! A couple of pics of the unit, as yet unbased, and a shot of the terrain I'm working on. I'm trying to arrange a game in the near future on an 8 x 5 table.

It looks spectacular.

Oh the memories. Thank you for posting these wonderful pictures.
I spent hour upon hour of my school summer holidays sitting at the kitchen table painting these with Humbrol gloss enamel and gloss varnish. My long-suffering mother used to have the kitchen windows flung open all day long so we weren't overcome with fumes or high as kites!
I used to buy Military Modelling from the newsagents starting back in 1973 when I was 10 and I always turned to the back to look at the Review page in case there were any new Hinchliffe before I read anything else. Hinchliffe was the only manufacturer as far as I was concerned. I bought my first ones whilst on holiday in Torbay when I was 12 I think. You went downstairs in Mansell's Models, and there I found what I thought was heaven, shelves full of small boxes with that sort of faux leather finish in dark red or blue. I bought some Romans and Achaemidian Persians that time, but the following year I was back again this time for ECW.Once I got my hands on the typewritten catalogue there was no stopping me, I was regularly trotting across the road to the village PO with my pocket money to get a postal order to go with my carefully typed order. Then the few days of anxious waiting for the parcel to arrive. I always hankered after the mortar carrier which I thought looked really impressive, but never got round to buying it.
These photos bring back memories of Battle for Wargamers magazine as well. They ran a series of articles featuring battles of the ECW, and I always tried to spot the Hinchliffe figures in the article pictures. I was never really keen on the Warrior, Minifigs or Lamming which used to turn up mixed in with Hinchliffe figures in some photos. Peter Gilder's figures were the best as far as I was concerned.

It is great to see these pics…fond memories and stunningly done minis.

Love the pics.

I've got the old Osprey Campaign of Naesby book (not the Campaign series one) and if I remember correctly all the plates are Hichcliffe figures….very impressive…

Thank you all for the latest comments. 'Volleyfire', I really enjoyed reading your post as it reminded me of my own early encounter with Hinchliffe figures, something about those neat blue boxes! I have just put my latest order into Ian Hinds (who now owns the range and has recently re moulded the ECW range so the castings are crisp and sharp as I recall them), and the mortar carrier is included along with the horse drawn powder wagon.

'Bindon Blood' I still have that old Osprey 'Naseby' long out of print now but you can still find the odd copy. The plates feature Hinchliffe figures as you say. Some of Peter Gilders original units units are now in the collection of Andy Copestake of Old Glory UK and Doug C of the 'Unfashionably Shiny' blog. Doug owns the Gilder painted 'Kings Lifeguard of Foot' that featured prominently in that book.

And on the subject of the Kings Lifeguard of Foot I have just completed my own regiment, 40 Hinchliffe figures strong. Please note as said at the top of the thread the project has been an attempt to recreate the style of late Seventies wargame armies so we have a few pikemen in soft hats with plumes and a few musketeers in helmets! Some of the pike block have head swaps and painted on tassets, but I think it works pretty well and gives a unique touch to the unit.

Cheers,

Lee.

And the Peter Gilder unit that inspired them:

Love that Kings Lifeguard you've done. I can remember the first time I saw those standard bearers as I unwrapped them out of that blue tissue paper they came in and thought what lovely figures they were. My pikemen were mostly standing with pike upright and soft hats apart from my Kings Lifeguard and Price Ruperts which were both helmeted and fully armoured and receiving horse I think the expression was.Oh happy days.