The Weekly Sitrep....Number 18

A little earlier than I anticipated - I shall be rather busy at a conference today - although later than usual, the Sitrep for this week is devoted to the next instalment in the saga of the Eric Knowles 18th century unpainted lead mountain.

I met with Bill at the arranged time and during the accident interrupted rush hour drive home we had plenty of time to talk about Eric’s collection and the associated disposal of this portion of it. I also ran the idea I mentioned earlier by him and he was happy to go with it - more of which later in the post.

I now have the last of the 17th and 18th century unpainted metal figures which, with the previously acquired eleven crates worth, means that I can properly organise the armies for disposal - on a national and chronological basis. Eric had acquired figures for the following armies for the Seven Years War:

France - including for the war in America

England

Prussia

Austria

Russia

Hanover

For the Marlburian period there is the following:

France

England

Brandenburg Prussia

Holland

Denmark

Austria

Russia

Venice

Portugal

Spain

The earlier period includes the following:

Poland

Monmouth’s Army

The Irish Army of King James 2nd

Pre Marlburian French, English and Venetian 

The Ottoman Turkish army could be readily used across all three periods.

There is also figures for the American War of Independence, the Electorate of Bustenberg (late 18th Century revolutionary French) and the Kingdom of Umbriago, based on the Italian states during the Seven Years War.

Finally, there is also a selection of figures for the Indian sub continent - including figures from ancient India through to Pathan tribesmen of the Colonial era.

The grand sort out can now resume and in truth I am really looking to it.

The big idea I wanted to discuss with Bill concerned the Minifigs component of the collection. The disposal plan has changed slightly in that rather than me taking the figures Bill has generously offered me I shall instead be making use of the Minifigs component. This means that all the Foundry, Essex, Dixon, Front Rank and later Hinchliffe figures will be disposed of in their entirety. The rationale for this is very simple. Assuming that it will be rather more challenging to offload the latter than the more modern ranges it makes sense ensure that the newer figures are disposed of in full thereby ensuring the best possible financial return for Bill and his family. Another consideration is that the Minifigs component does not form complete armies - rather they are usually small parts of the larger formations meaning that they are the most likely to left behind.  Personally I have no problem using them and given that this component is incredibly diverse in terms of coverage has the added bonus of meaning that I can experiment with forces from the ECW through to the Seven Years War and even 19th century colonial at a scale that works for me.

I had a quick look through a couple of boxes last night and found several boxes of Minifigs Turkish Janissaries and other assorted Ottoman infantry types which was a pleasant surprise for sure - especially as most of the cavalry of the Sublime Porte is Minifigs anyway.

I feel far more comfortable taking on this part of the collection rather than the newer models as not only is there a great selection of models for a variety of periods and armies, the component parts are more compact and being Minifigs will present fewer challenges for painting.

Once again my thanks to Bill for his generosity and patience as I get a handle on this part of Eric’s collection.