"Phoenix Spanish" Topic

Does anyone know what's happened to these figures formerly sold by North Star as an adjunct to the 1672 range?

I have been wondering that very thing for some time, and have been meaning to inquire here. Does NS own the mold outright? If not, seems like they could buy the molds off Phoenix like they did with Copplestone's.

They are a needful addition to the 1672 range. And honestly, the planned expansion of my own 1672-based project has been put on hold indefinitely BECAUSE I don't know that I'll ever be able to get those Spanish minis again.

Yup, scuppered my plans too, had high hopes when NS took on the Copplestone range too, started something else instead now.

Why not email Nick at North Star and ask him? I've caught him at: Nick Eyre <northstarfigs@googlemail.com>

What a novel suggestion! I just emailed NS, thank you.

I will post when I receive a response.

I recieved a reply very quickly. Nick informed me that the molds were "not working", and that they haven't remedied the matter because they plan to re-do the Spanish line in entirety.

Also, he said that if you are interested, drop NS an email he can cast some up for you.

I hope the new range will include Caribbean colonial militia, which was organised into racially segregated companies of about 100 men (white, black, and mulatto).

To elaborate on the previous post:

The current matchlock musketeers in the 1672 range are adequate for white militia: a mixture of English and Dutch gives you assorted large and small hats for a convincing semi- uniform look. Coats should all be white, but other clothing should be in various shades.

I've seen illustrations of 18th century Spanish colonial militia that show that units of all colours wore the same uniform, and there seems no reason to assume that the situation was any different in the 17th century. This means that the existing musketeer bodies would do for black and mulatto militiamen; they'd only need new heads.

Some sources claim that Spanish colonial militia units were still armed with the arquebus (albeit a modernised version) in this period. The muskets on these figures are quite short: another count in their favour for use as this troop type. Pikemen continued to wear armour, so the English or Swiss packs should be used.