"54mm Waterloo inspiration" Topic

The best blog I have found for 54mm Napoleonic goodness

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That was excellent!

Thanks!

Very nice, although I'm a bit puzzled by some of the conversion choices – you can get better Landwehr from HáT.

I gave up on Waterloo in 54mm because there are so many missing troop types and the figures vary from small 1/35 to large 1/30. It does look glorious though.

Sometimes! The joy is in the doing 4th. Eric runs Helmet Miniatures, so maybe he just gets a buzz from conversions

Pretty realistic looking grass mat. That table must be huge.

Echoes of H G Wells 😀

Hello, I'm the Eric in question. Thanks Marc for posting and to everyone for their comments. Yes I do enjoy the converting side of the hobby, see the latest post completed today on non-Napoleonic Polish Winged Hussars. I am puzzled, however on the mention of Landwehr figures, is this referring to the Schleswig Holstein War Danes?
Thanks
Eric

Eric, glad you saw the post. I have failed completely to manage to post on your blog. Whatever I type just gets deleted/lost in the aether.

Hi OldSilly

Sorry, completely missed that those were Danish not Landhwehr.

What do you do about British line centre companies? AFAIK nobody makes them. They're all flank companies. Likewise, how do you handle the Italeri rifles being 1/30 scale and the HaT being 1/35 or 1/36? These differences annoyed me too much.

Hello 4th
Yes they are Danish line infantry based on Replicants US Marines from the Harpers Ferry set, useful because of the tunic type jacket, crossbelts and baggy trousers.

In answer to your questions, for British line centre companies I use:
Armies in Plastic (AIP) British/American War of 1812/Napoleonic infantry. The shoulder ornaments need trimming slightly.
A Call To Arms (ACTA) British Footguards, wings trimmed to tufts.
ACTA British Light Infantry, heads swapped to Belgics and wings trimmed to tufts.
ACTA Belgian Infantry, cuffs trimmed, heads swapped (they are a bit small) and tufts added.
Replicants British Napoleonic Marines with head swaps
Helmet Soldiers British Waterloo Infantry, sorry shameless plug!
Various other from bits and bobs from other manufacturers.
For Riflemen:
Replicants 95th Rifles – sadly out of production.
AIP Rifles
ACTA British Light Infantry, wings trimmed to tufts, lace removed from coatee, musket cut down.
Helmet Soldiers as above with light infantry head, musket cut down and other small additions
Chin Toys Sharpe's Rifles, de-characterised with light infantry heads, not all can be used.

General – I often bulk-up the blanket/greatcoat rolls as these are often too small and suffer in the moulding process.
I use big units- 23 man companies so the difference in size from a variety of manufacturers is not so apparent.

Agree about the Italeri rifles, big men with tiny weapons (!) I have used some bulking up their rifles and mixing in with figures from different sources.

Hope this helps

Eric (old Silly)

Come on in 4th, the water isn't lovely 😀

Eric, love the conversion work and how you aim for so much variety in the ranks. Inspirational

Hello Eric

I have been looking at your site and have to say it is fab! Your Napoleonic Conversions are simply the very best…

Cheers

Duncan

PS…I've started to post some of my 54mm's here…

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By the way, a really, really good material for lance pennons, horse tack and like in this scale is the lead foil off wine bottles. You get quite expert in removing it in the largest possible piece.

One does look a bit of an arse in wine shops, when they ask what Sir is looking for, and Sir replies "I don't care as long as it's got a LOT of lead foil round the neck". Wine also takes up storage space so the best thing is to drink it.

Port is often a better bet for foil, but I confess I am not a great fan following the last time I was actually "sick to my stomach", as US say, after a particularly good formal dinner.

I do also recommend Rioja as it often comes in a nice brass wire cage, which is invaluable for lace work and easily braided

The trick with wine bottle foil is to remove it differently according to intended use.

If you need it for lance pennons, flags, or fanions, the optimal way to remove it is a vertical cut from as high up as possible, ideally at the top of the cork. Folded out flat you now have a nice sheet of lead.

If you want it to make reins, traces, horse tack etc, then the optimal cut is like peeling an orange and getting the peel off in one piece. You make a spiral, the downward angle of which determines the width and length. An angle of about 30 degrees gives you a long and fairly wide strip from which to cut straps. A shallower angle gives you a longer but narrower strip.