Monday 19 June 2017

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.

19 comments:

  1. Great selection Bryan and nicely painted, I agree we need more female models in ranges and children models

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    1. Absolutely, Dave. I'll be reviewing some of my Wild West children either next time or the post after, depending when I do my next Forgotten Heroes update. As bad as it is finding female figures it is even more of a struggle finding figures of children.

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    2. It's on my list in the ranges we've discussed and have a female coming out in the wasteland wanderers in July

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    3. Much obliged, Dave. It's good to hear you're not just sticking with adult male characters.

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  2. Love the conversion work Bryan and I agree on the gender issue. I had to search long and hard to find decent modern day civilians, especially females. It gets even worse for other periods like WW2.

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    1. Thanks, Tim. Oh, you're so right about how hard it is to find civilian figures for periods that aren't contemporary. To be fair, there are a lot of modern day civilians available if you hunt around. But for other periods, it's a struggle. I only have a handful of WW2 civilians, so I totally understand your frustration.

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  3. Very colourful, Bryan, and a corking selection too. I'm especially taken by the umbrella brigade, as they look rather formidable too. Have u seen the ladies of the night range from westwind, as part of their vampire wars. They'd fit in very well with your Wild West theme imho. Although I'd imagine you own all of those minis considering they're called vampire wars :-)

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    1. Thanks, Simon. You noticed the theme with the brolly brigade. :-)
      I have often looked at West Wind's "Vampire Wars" range but thus far I haven't bought any of them. Whilst I'm not into Victorian period gaming, some of the figures would fit in well in a Weird West game such as "High Moon" or "Shadows of Brimstone". So, who knows what the future might bring?

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  4. These look fab Bryan love the spotted dress it turned out really good.

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    1. Cheers, Simon. I'm rather pleased with the spotted dress, too.

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  5. Great set of ladies Bryan - are they all "temperance league members"?
    The Hinchliffe figure takes me back! I always thought the (male) sculpts looked a little too 'thin' in the waist, but the style suites the lady very well indeed.
    Looking forward to seeing the pesky kids!

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    1. Thanks, Greg. I suspect most of these women are temperance leaguers.

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  6. Little house on the prairie. Come flooding to my mind when I see these as a group.

    Good set dressing and likely to run and hide in most Western Games. But useful non the less.

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    1. I totally get the "Little House on the Prairie" reference, Clint. Yes, these are more set dressing characters who'll run at the first sign of trouble.

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  7. Great looking civilians, very nicely done sir!

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