Yup, all the way from England, a Jacklex 4.7" naval gun, apparently captured by Boers.... Its a tab smaller than my old Britain's gun but more accurate and just right for the 3" grid. ohboyohboyohboy.....
Cavalry L to R Jacklex Boer, RAFM NWMP
Infantry L to R Jacklex Boer, Partha British, Jacklex US 1917, Esci British, Jacklex British, Esci British, Partha British, Jacklex Boer.
I was a little concerned that these figures might be a tad small to fight Ron's Partha's and they are pushing my boundaries though they should normally be far enough away from the British to make the difference ignore-able. The horse are small even if they are Veldt ponies, so I may remount them on some spare horses.
In any event I don't expect a lot of Boer War games at Ron's place and they are, as anticipated, a perfect match for the old Esci British and thus other plastic Colonials which offers some nice options for mix and match (and wagons!) for home use. Hopefully the Historifig Scrubies will be here by Christmas and I can plan an expansion for next year.
Meantime there are a dozen painted plastic Brits in the cupboard and a few more in a state of nature. (Bought those in my trailor trash days in the mid-80's along with the Airfix ACW and a few Zulus. Hmmmm seems to me I gave a way a few sprues of Esci Zulu's a few years ago, oh well don't really want to do Zulus again anyway, they'll probably show up in a HOTT army on some junkyard planet some day.)
Since it was my wife who actually cleared the mailbox today, it was almost inevitable that this ebay find would arrive on the same day. I've had my eye out for an Elastolin 4cm Landsknecht range gun for a while but they tend to rise too close to $100 for me indulge a whim. Couldn't believe it when I saw this one for $10 with no bids and 2 hours to go.It has some minor damage, a missing bracket in front and the trigger doesn't work so you have to pull back on a piece of nylon line to cock the spring. It'll still send a matchstick across my table though! Not that I'm going to fire matchsticks at my Elastolin's, especially since they are glued to 60mm masonite bases!.
Great guns Ross!
ReplyDeleteThe Jacklex will look fine I am sure.
A splendid ebay purchase - I still have my Elastolin mortar which fires a steel ball pretty well...
Before this, I didn't even realize they fired!
DeleteExcellent gun - very nice indeed. Very interesting figure size comparison - the Jacklex Boer infantry look OK with the RP Brits, I think - interesting that the Jacklex cavalry figure seems smaller. I'm not good with figure matching - I develop very strong opinions and prejudices against certain makers, and then change my mind completely - I believe I am about to discover that Art Miniaturen 30YW figures are a decent match with my Higginses and HHs after all, after 12 months of refusing to look at the catalogue. My personal rule of thumb for figure matching is "if the hats match, you're all right" - my only experience of Jacklex is a load of mules and oxen i bought for my 20/25 Peninsular armies - no problems, but then they don't have hats.
ReplyDeleteSlightly puny cavalry rings a chime from my 20mm experience - for some reason, the excellent Qualiticast range often had their cavalry sculpted to a rather smaller scale than the foot - I have to carry my pocket hat-checking glass at all times.
The Elastolin gun reminds me that i was in an antique/militaria shop in Austria recently which had a pile of Elastolin pieces for sale at prices that made my eyes water, and I'm not even a collector!
Regards - Tony
I'm pretty used to real people looking unnaturally tall when they stand beside me, Your hats is a better way to judge how figures'll look on the same table. Bulk & height seems to matter with horses, I especially hate small heavies next to big lights. At least these are light but I think I will remount them.
DeleteJacklex Colonials ! - that takes me back about 40 odd years ! , I had a collection of these for the Zulu war , sadly long since sold off .
ReplyDeleteI remember studying the Jacklex ads 40 odd years ago and pondering the Boer War. Some things take me a while.
DeleteLove that 4.7" naval gun, Ross ! And an excellent find with the Elastolin cannon. Seems to me that bargains are few and far between on eBay, for every good deal there are too many where things get driven beyond what is sensible by collective bidding frenzy. I salute your success with this one.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Steve
I've had to school myself to place 1 honest bid at the most I'm willing to spend and then assume I'll be outbid. In the early days, I occasionally had a scare when I had bid more than I really wanted and then almost won.
DeleteThis guy has started a blog with Jacklex:
ReplyDeletehttp://tabletopcommands.blogspot.co.uk/
I too have fond memories of the figures, including that particular gun.