Hinchliffe Outlaws

In my last post I showed off my old collection Hinchliffe Mexican Banditos, which I had rebased and touched up their paintwork. At the same time, I did the same to my smaller group of Hinchliffe Outlaws and here they are.

At the far left is outlaw leader, Clay Allinson. I am aware that there was a real life Old West gunfighter called Clay Allison but it is pure coincidence that they share similar names. When I ran my Outlaw Campaign in the 1980's using my 54mm scale figures, Clay was my player character and leader of a gang of brutal and sadistic killers. My players really enjoyed playing bad guys and getting away with murder and mayhem. The campaign ended abruptly when the gang decided to rob a Mexican bank and just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Most of the gang were killed. Some were arrested after being wounded including Clay. He was imprisoned for a long time. Others who were arrested faced the hangman's noose. I guess it was a fitting end as it proved crime does not pay. This figure is an almost exact copy of the Airfix Cowboy figure that I used to portray Clay. Clay is armed with two Colt .45 Peacemaker Pistols.
Clay's best friend for many a year was "Mad Jack" Duncan, a crazed psychopath who did some unspeakable things in my campaign. In my campaign that I mentioned above he suffered numerous wounds in the final battle, was easily arrested and swiftly hung. He is armed with a Colt .45 Peacemaker Pistol, a 12 Gauge Scattergun and a Bowie Knife. Note this figure is not produced by Hinchliffe. He is a plastic toy that I got from a Christmas cracker and he is a perfect 28mm scale copy of the Airfix Cowboy that was used by one of my players in the campaign. I made two alterations to both 54mm and 28mm scale figures of "Mad Jack" and that was to convert his Winchester Rifle into a Double-Barrelled Scattergun and to add his Bowie Knife to the back of his belt.

Next in line is Frank Harlan, who did not take part in my old Outlaws campaign. However, he is going to be part of Clay's new gang when I introduce them to my Six Gun Sound campaign. Frank is 42 years old and looking for one big score so that he can retire and settle down. He is a reliable ally with nerves of steel. He is armed with a Colt .44 Army Pistol.
Last up, is new recruit, Adam "Rustler" Madden, who at 23 years of age is the youngest member of the gang. He is an expert rider and very good with horses. "Rustler" is armed with a Colt .44 army Pistol and a Knife.
I'm looking forward to using this gang in Six Gun Sound, especially as I know Clay and "Mad Jack" so well. It'll be interesting to see how they fare this time around.

Hinchliffe Mexican Bandidos

One of the things I've done this month is to rebase and touch up the paintwork of some of my old 28mm scale Wild West figures. I was quite surprised at just how many figures I had from Hinchliffe Models, all now sadly out of production. By far my biggest set were my Mexican Bandidos and it is these I'm going to showcase here. Every one of these figures were based on 54mm scale figures that I own, in terms of names, colour schemes and as near as possible, poses. I have just finished creating Character Record Sheets for them to use in my Six Gun Sound batreps.

At the far left is Leon Cordoba, who was one of the gang leaders. Sometimes I used all of the figures in one gang and at other times split them up into smaller gangs. Cordoba is smartly dressed and is armed with a pair of Colt .44 Army Pistols.
Next to him is the other figure who was also a gang leader, Emiliano Muerte, whose surname means "death". He is also smartly dressed with gold-trimmed clothing and he is also armed with twin Colt .44 Army Pistols.
In the centre of the group is Pachuco "the Bloody". This figure is a conversion of the Muerte figure. I repositioned his left arm and gave him a Winchester Rifle from my spare parts box. I filed off the gold balls from the sides of his trousers. His pistol is a Colt .45 Peacemaker.

The kneeling figure is Nino Garcia, who was originally standing up. I reposed him to better match his 54mm scale version. I can't remember if the original figure was bare-headed or not (he probably was) but I do know that I added his sombrero, which I made out of Milliput. He is armed with two Colt .45 Peacemaker Pistols.
At the far right is the only figure from this set not made by Hinchliffe Models, but I have included him anyway as he often appeared alongside the others. He is called Juliano Ortega, who is a sadistic homosexual hunchback! I based him on a Dixon Miniatures Confederate Trooper and sculpted on his poncho around his backpack to represent his hunchback. He is armed with a Trapdoor Springfield .45 Rifle and a Colt .44 Army Pistol.

The next batch of five are all rank and file footsloggers of average quality and ability. At the far left is Alfredo Esposita, who is armed with a Trapdoor Springfield .45 Rifle, a Smith and Wesson .45 Schofield Pistol and a Bowie Knife.
Second from the left is Juan Juose, a conversion of the Alfredo Esposita figure. I repositioned his arms, added a Bowie Knife to his left hand and made his shirt hanging out from his trousers. He is armed similarly to Esposita but his Pistol is a Colt.44 Army model.
In the centre is Fernando Almeria, another conversion of Alfredo Esposita. I repositioned his arms so that he is holding his rifle in both hands. He is armed with a Trapdoor Springfield .45 Rifle, a Colt .45 Peacemaker Pistol and a Bowie Knife.

Second from the left is Gabriel Valencia, a cowardly man who will happily shoot an opponent in the back but is more likely to run away if charged than stand and fight. He is armed with a Winchester .44 Rifle and a Colt .45 Cavalry Pistol.
Finally, is Jose Carrillo, who is a conversion of the Gabriel Valencia figure. I reposed him so that he was kneeling. He is armed with a Winchester .44 Rifle and a Remington .45 Pistol.
Hinchliffe Models had a distinctive look about them that made them very recognisable. They were certainly not the best sculpted figures on the market but nor were they the worst and I must admit I liked them. I got into their range almost as soon as I started wargaming seriously in the late 1970's, when I collected some of their Napoleonic figures. Most of my current Mexican Bandidos are made by Black Scorpion, who are far superior sculpts, but even so, I do like these old figures and I most certainly will use them in my Six Gun Sound games.

Assorted Wild West Female Civilians 01

In this post I'm reviewing some of the assorted Wild West female civilians that I've amassed over the years. It is rather sad that figure manufacturers make far more male characters for Wild West gaming than females. Actually, this is true of most genres. Certainly amongst the civilian population you'd expect a roughly 50/50 split, but that is most definitely not the case when it comes to the Wild West. For sure, civilians are mainly used for background fodder or for obstacles to be helped or avoided. But even if they are just used to populate a town without taking any part, they are worth having to add a sense of realism to a gaming board.

At the far left is a 25mm scale Ral Partha female homesteader with baby. She is beautifully sculpted and whilst she is on the small side, I don't mind. Females are, generally speaking, smaller than males. My one criticism of this figure is that I'm not happy with the way I painted the baby's face. It looks more like a doll than a real baby!
Moving on, next to her is a very old Hinchliffe Models townswoman. I recently repainted her, as I wasn't happy with my original paint scheme. She has the look of a plucky woman who is up for a challenge. For such an old figure, she looks remarkably good.

 The next two ladies were both produced by Citadel Miniatures. Yes, I know, Citadel never made any Wild West figures. The woman in the light brown dress was part of a long out of production Mythos Investigators range. She is supposed to be used in a 1920's setting, but I thought she'd work just as well as a Wild West townswoman.
 The old lady at the far right is a conversion of a Judge Dredd perp known as Mad Ma Mahaffy. I cut her arms off and remodelled them out of Milliput. She has such a timeless look about her that she could fit in anywhere from the 1800's to the present day. I'm using her in my Wild West setting as a shop owner.

At the far left of this trio is another Hinchliffe Models 28mm scale figure - a Victorian lady, who certainly doesn't look out of place in a Wild West setting. She has also benefited from a recent repaint. With her bright yellow dress she'll certainly stand out in a crowd.

I close with a pair of female civilians who are amongst the oldest figures in my 28mm scale Wild West collection. They are from a small range of Wild West figures made by Minifigs in the late 1970's and have been out of production for many years now. They were designed as 25mm scale figures but being old women, I think their lack of height, when placed next to 28mm scale figures, works to their advantage. The old lady in the black dress is the original sculpt. On the other one, I removed her bible and repositioned her right arm. I also added a collar to her dress.
They certainly aren't the most exciting figures I've shown on my blog but they serve their purpose as innocent bystanders that I'll use in Six Gun Sound. Plus, you can never have too many civilian figures.

Assorted Wild West Gamblers 01

I like to mix things up on my blog so I'm returning to my Wild West figures for a few posts. The theme this time is gamblers. Here are four 28mm scale gamblers from assorted manufacturers.

At the far left is Jacques Villard, who is a Dixon Miniatures 25mm scale Old West civilian. He is listed as WG12 Gambler Standing with Cigar and he costs £1.40. I'm not that bothered that he's smaller than the other figures on display here. People come in all shapes and sizes in real life, so why not in miniatures?
Next up, is Commodore James Duvall, who was made by Grenadier Miniatures as one of 10 figures in a boxed set called "Western Gunfighters". He is loosely based on the character, Commodore Duvall played by James Coburn in the 1994 film of Maverick. He is, in my opinion, the best sculpted figure of this quartet. Note the card sticking out of his sleeve on his left arm in the photo below. Probably his ace up his sleeve! That is such a cool touch.

The figure second from the right is as yet unnamed. I can tell you that he is a very old figure made by Hinchliffe Models, who have been out of business for many years now. I bought him in the very early 1980's. His right arm was originally hanging by his side but I bent it to give him a less static pose. Hinchliffe figures were usually tall and slim, but I think he stands the test of time very well.
Finally, is "Hoodoo" Brown, a figure sculpted by me. He is an exact copy of a 54mm scale figure I made for my long running Wild West campaign that I ran in the 1980's. Back then, all of my Wild West games were played with 1/32nd scale figures, buildings and scenery. It might not be immediately clear from the front view, but he is smoking a cigar. Also, note that he is left-handed.
These figures are mainly intended for use with Six Gun Sound, my go to Wild West rules, but could also appear in Shadows of Brimstone.