"American Revolution Cavalry in plastic?" Topic

I need some 28mm cavalry for both sides in the American Revolution. I know there weren't that many, but
a) they are useful for skirmishes and
b) I can play more generic horse and musket games if I have them.

I know there are plenty of options available in metal, but I'd like to have plastic. Any thoughts about how I might manage a conversion from what's available?

I'm still waiting for someone to make the kit, but if I wanted something right now, I think I'd look for a box of Continental infantry with heads wearing Tarletons to snatch up the surplus heads, then go with British and French Napoleonic heavy dragoons for torsos and horses. Depends on how fussy--and how skilled--you are, and how close they have to get to satisfy you.

My guess is that there would not be enough anticipated volume sold (demand) for a manufacturer to consider this. But you never know…

There are no plastic 28mm AWI cavalry. Which is a shame, because one set, with a bunch of alternative heads, would be enough for both sides. And for skirmishes, they are indeed
more involved.

Are the Perrys or Warlord listening?

When I first started doing the AWI Southern campaign I knew mounted troops were more prominent, but how many would I really need. Turns out a lot. On the American side there is Pulaski's Legion, the First Light Dragoons, the Third Light Dragoons, Armand's Legion and Lee's Legion, with all in different uniforms. On the British there is the British Legion, East Florida Rangers and the 17th, who wore different uniforms, and in the case of the 17th had a summer and winter uniform. Then there are the state and militia units on the American side and some mounted militia and mounted infantry on the British. Plus there were French dragoons at Savannah.

The problem a plastics manufacturer is going to face would be how to design a set that was sufficiently flexible to be used for all of the major units, and which also would be desirable for the person who just wanted to depict one or two units.

The uniforms are NOT generic. It won't be a simple matter of just swapping heads.
That, plus the small number of cavalry actually used, makes it look not very profitable for a manufacturer of plastic figures.

I know it doesn't answer your question, but why would you rather have what is probably going to be a sub standard plastic figure when you can have an accurate metal figure?

79th- Why do you assume that they would be "substandard"?

And I still stand by my position that most (yes, not all)
cavalry was equipped pretty much the same on both sides.
1- Helmet
2- Short coat, breeches, boots
3. Carbine on sling, saber, pistols.

We can rely on metal for Queens Rangers Hussars, militia horse, and French. Not all of us can invest the same amount of money in this hobby.

I would say that a manufacturer would need at least two different sets.
A British set, with separate helmets for the 16th and 17th LD.
A set with short coat and a bunch of different helmets could possibly cover British Legion, Lee's Legion, Continental Light Dragoons et al.
Maybe a set in smocks or shirt sleeves. Maybe. That's a sure money loser.

The question boils down to how many of each the average gamer would buy. Which of course would limit how many a manufacturer would make.
What is the manufacturing lot size for a typical box of wargaming plastics? 1000? I don't know. Look at s manufacturer's website, like Plastic Soldier Company and see how many seemingly popular tanks are out of production. A lot. The Warstore has hardly any PSC in stock.
If you can't keep a PzIV box in stock, what are the chances of keeping Continental Light Dragoons in stock?

Buy metal. It won't kill you.

To get back to the original question, this is not how I WOULD do it, but is how you could.

The only purpose made AWI mounted plastic figure I am aware of is the commander figure in the artillery set. Unless you are buying lots of guns for some other reason this could get expensive. So you will have to improvise and settle.

For many units start with the Warlord/Wargames Factory Spanish Succession cavalry. The British 16th LD, the American 4th LD, Armand's Legion and Lee's Legion use the heads for the Washington Guard figures in the WL/WF Continental infantry set. Fur the 1LD and 17LD use the Saratoga heads found in the Warlord artillery set or the Perry AWI British infantry set. For the 2LD or Pulaski do you have any Perry Nap Dragoon heads lying around? If not buy the metal Pulaski Legion heads from KMM (a TMP advertiser). They will be the heaviest light dragoons you ever saw.

For British mounted infantry use the same Spanish Succession horse set and swap out arms so your riders have muskets. Then trim off the unneeded weapons.

The British Legion you could probably make using the Perry French Nap Chasseurs a Cheval with heads from the WL/WF Washington Guard.

If I were doing it cheaply I'd probably start with Eureka USA (an advertiser on TMM) Continental Light Dragoons which last time I checked were around $21 USD for four troopers. They come with a selection of heads. There are choices between walking and charging and also a ragged dragoon option. There is also a hat option that with a little work might let you use these figures for mounted infantry.

For the British Legion I would splurge for either Perry or Fife and Drum figures at around $6 USD each. They also have figures that could be used for mounted infantry or mounted militia. They both also do light dragoon figures.

Yes the metal figures are going to be more expensive than make do plastic units, but the result will be much better.

I realize that cost can be an important determinant for some of us. Having said that, Old Glory provides a number of 28mm options that are very good. If you ave an annual Army membership, take an additional 40% off. I can't believe you can get plastics for much cheaper than that. I realize that not everybody thinks highly of the line, but I find them an excellent value with excellent quality. There are ways to work around the cost. Plus you don't have to fiddle with all those tiny plastic parts.

I haven't given up hope. I can buy kits of regular infantry (both sides) militia and artillery, so cavalry is the last serious gap. My buy of dragoons would be at least four boxes, and I think anyone doing the southern battles is going to hit in that range. Think horses with legs cast on, choice of two torsos and three heads. Not an impossible kit, I think. I can buy Napoleonic Austrian Landwehr, after all, and I can tell you how soon I'm going to be lured back into the kaiserlichs.

Thanks Robert P and Bill N for answering the OP :). I'm not expecting plastic cavalry any time soon.
The heavy boots on the WSS cavalry will need trimmed off I guess, so I'll maybe get a pack to find out.
I have some British Light Dragoon spares (sadly I used the Tarletons already – Murphy's law at work). Maybe there's something I can manage with green stuff.

What I mean is that you are going to have to buy multiple parts/boxes of figures, swap body parts, trim stuff off, use greenstuff, etc., in order to produce a product that will be "good enough" when what you specifically want is probably available in metal. Are you really saving much money when you have to buy multiple things to make a cavalryman vs. just buying a cavalryman? My hobby time is slim, and time is money, so, to me, it seems like a lot of effort to reinvent the wheel. If that is part of the hobby for you, go for it. For me, it's not the 1970s and I don't have to figure out how to make a 1/72 Dervish warrior out of an Airfix Greek hoplite.

Sorry I can't be of any help with your posted question. Good luck with your project.

Robert-
That's what I ended up doing too. My infantry/arty is plastic (mostly) and my cav are metal.
Keeping an eye on TMP's marketplace and Ebay helped with the costs on those.

Any thoughts about how I might manage a conversion from what's available?

To answer your original question…..

No. There are no good plastic or conversion options.

If your budget is a problem then look to Old Glory. Probably as cheap as plastic, anyway.

I think I want to amend my answer. If the choice is being driven by cost then I would also suggest Old Glory. For the cost of a box of 12-14 28mm mounted plastic figures you can buy a bag of 10 25mm.Old Glory mounted figures in the US. UK economics are probably similar.