Fife & Drum Miniatures is a range of 1/56 scale figures (approximately 30mm in height) sculpted by Richard Ansell, and is devoted to the American War of Independence. The figures may be purchased from Der Alte Fritz through this blog, using Paypal for payment. Click on the page tabs for Crown Forces, American forces and artillery equipment to see pictures of the individual figures.

Winner of the "Best Historical Miniatures Range of 2011" by The Miniatures Page.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Figure Comparisons

Comparison picture of HaT (left), Perry Plastic Dragoon, and Fife & Drum British Guard Officer (photo courtesy of Richard Ansell)



















Several people have been asking to see pictures of how our Fife & Drum Miniatures compare with other AWI ranges, so I have posted the picture, above, that compares a HaT, a Perry and a Fife & Drum figure. As you can see, the height of the figures is comparable, but there is a difference in the "heft" or thickness of the torsos. Since the Fife & Drum figure is sculpted to a scale, i.e. 1/56, its realistic proportions sort of fool the eye into thinking that the Perry figure is bulkier than it really is.  The Perry figures are wonderful sculpts in their own right and I have used them in my own armies, prior to starting this new venture.

In the following pictures, below, I have shown some comparisons of Eureka AWI, Perry Hessians, and Minden SYW Prussian (also sculpted by Richard Ansell,  so the size is comparable to the Fife & Drum figures). The Minden figure is a "stand in" for the Fife & Drum figures since they are both the same size. I added a penny coin as a shim to give the Minden figure about 2mm of extra height, figuring that a couple more millimeters of height sort of offsets the "heft" or chunkier look of the Perry and Eureka, in relative comparison.

Comparison of Eureka (left), Perry (center) and Minden (right)

Comparison of Hinchcliffe (left), RSM (center) and Minden (right)





































The picture above compares the Ansell sculpt with those of some older Hinchcliffe and RSM AWI figures. The Hinchcliffe and RSM figures were sculpted by Steve Hezzlewood in the mid 1980s. I have always liked these figures because they achieved that sense of "realism" that I seek in my miniatures.

Minden, Perry, Eureka and Front Rank (left to right)



















Finally, I have added a Front Rank figure into the lineup of figures so that you can make that comparison as well. You can see that while there are some differences in the "heft" of the various figures, they are all relatively equal in height.  Since Perry, Eureka and Front Rank are some of the most popular AWI figure ranges on the market, and rightly so, the above picture should give you an indication of how well the different ranges would fit together. In my mind, they all work, but you probably would not want to mix them into the same unit.


2 comments:

  1. Could you please show your F&D figures with RFM AWI and Minden SYW . . . since they are probably the closest in terms of "style" (i.e., now dwarf-headed)?


    -- Jeff

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