Thursday 31 July 2014

Admiring Austrians (3)

Steve sent me an email with some really interesting info and photos of various Austrian figures in his collection. As it all seems very relevant to my last few posts I thought I’d share it here in full – the words in italics are Steve’s:

Re the Austrians, you are right, the Der Kriegspieler figures are very good, more or less the same height and stature as the Hinton ones, and very collectable now in their own right. 

I have attached a couple of photos, I think the first one, painted as a Hungarian Fusilier, is the figure you mention you have recently acquired, its Der Kriegspieler Austrian Line Battalion receiving, marked on the underside ‘93‘ (I think you have identified it as 89?). See note below regarding the base.


They paint up very nicely, I have found that generally the bases on the Der Krieg figures are very thin and benefit from mounting on 20 thou card, making them the same height as the HH figures !! The picture (below) really does show the compatability with Hinton AN4, Der Krieg 93 and Der Krieg 91 (I think).


I have also attached a photo of a couple of other Austrian figures for comparison, Der Kriegspieler 91 or 92? Austrian Infantry advancing, Alberken AN3 Fusilier advancing , wearing helmet, Alberken AN1 Line Grenadier on Guard, and Hinton original AN4 Fusilier and AN/12 Grenadier.


Finally !! regarding the Hinton / Der Kriegspieler size difference on the horse attached series, I find that if you carefully snip the Der Krieg horses front hoof from the base and gently bend the other front leg to straighten it slightly, it lifts the whole figure up quite a bit making it really compatible in height with its Hinton equivalent (again see photos of 2 DK figures , French Dragoon , before and after ‘ tweaking ‘ legs, tail, helmet etc).


So there you have it – the answer to my DK cavalry problem is tweaking and 20 thou card!

7 comments:

Paulalba said...

Brilliant!

Rafael Pardo said...

These Austrians and Hungarians look very Smart!
regards
Rafa

Anonymous said...

A small brigade of Austrians and Hungarians will go well with the Allied contingent, and the white uniforms make a change from blue.

The figures look great and will enhance your wonderful collection.

Paul

lewisgunner said...

This blog is like a Victorian novel chronicling a man's descent from gentleman to rake, ending in an opium den in the Limehouse district of the East End of London.
First you would only accept genuine original Hinton Hunt , next Clayton's range extensionss, then the occasional well cast pirates, now it is is DK figures which, in the drugged smoke appear to have a charm of their own and just need some 20 thou card.
What a fall from grace! The once pure Ian has joined the rest of us in the gutter. I expect to see an Alberken appearing in your army soon :-))
Roy

Stryker said...

Roy - Alberken, now there's an idea, or maybe S Range...

the Archduke said...

Sic transit Gloria Hunti........

lewisgunner said...

No not S Range, its the huge heads an shoulders that scare me, though there were some good ideas in it, officers reading maps type f thing. Most Alberken are filed down Hinton Hunts so they still qualify as HH clones, but S Range... I ask you!!