Calpe Miniatures

28mm Prussian Landwehr Cavalry

by Rob Hamper

Peter Fitzgerald is the one-man show behind Calpe Miniatures. In spite of this, he manages to put out new figures at a decent rate. For those who are unaware, Calpe specializes in 28mm Napoleonic Prussians and the line now easily encompasses over 300 different figures. Peter sent his latest releases to The Courier for review.

The figures are Landwehr Cavalry Advancing and come in nine versions including officers, trumpeters and troopers. Two poses are without headgear, one of which sports a bandage. The squadron officer is provided with two different sword arms for variation. Lances are not sculpted or provided. Peter recommends steel or brass wire for the most satisfactory results.

The moulds are tight with only the very finest of seams visible. There is virtually no flash to speak of. The figures are well sculpted in campaign dress with shako covers, forage bags and blanket roll. The cavalrymen wear the Litewka and use sheepskin saddlecloths. The saddles and gear are cast integral with the trooper as is the norm for cavalry figures.

Peter puts a great deal of effort into variations of the figures and does so through more than “head swaps”. There are usually subtle variations in hand positioning and gear stowed on the saddle for instance. The result is that an incredible amount of variation can be had in your based troops.

It’s impossible to give proper height measurements for cavalry figures that will be compatible with the Barrett scale. However, all of the Calpe figures I have seen so far are 28M and these troopers look perfect next to my infantry. For the curious, I measured the riders from stirrup to eye and found they were 26 to 27mm high.

The cavalrymen have a selection of six walking/trotting horses for mounts. A bit of mixing and matching comes into play here as I found that some match-ups between trooper and horse were better than others. Some will fit perfectly without any work while a few pairings will require some FFF (fiddling, filing and filling) to get a good fit.

The horses are re-designed versions of Peter’s earlier sculptures and are shorter and stockier than their predecessors. This puts them more in line with their historical counterparts, which were unlike the sleek race and show horses we are familiar with today. I compared them to one of his older originals I possess and the improvement is noticeable. The features of the animals are well sculpted. The musculature of each horse is present, but more subtle than in some other figure lines.

Horses are another tricky miniature to measure. Again, for those wishing to compare with their own figures, I did apply a ruler to them. I measured from the bottom of the hoof to the top of the rump and found them to be from 26 to 27mm high.

These troopers are a very fine addition to the Calpe line, carrying on the accuracy, consistency and quality the company is known for. The Prussian Army in 28mm continues to grow under the talents of Mr. Fitzgerald. Future releases will be Landwehr Cavalry Charging (available as this goes to print), Landwehr Cavalry with Stovepipe Shako, Advancing Landwehr Infantry (re-design) and Lutzow’s Freicorps Infantry.

In Europe, the figures are available from Peter directly at £0.70 per trooper and £0.80 per horse. Contact him at calpe@onetel.net.uk for a catalogue. In North America, Calpe is available from the Miniature Service Center (www.miniatureservicecenter.com, (530) 673-5169) for $1.70 and $2.25 respectively. While seemingly more expensive in the US, shipping costs for orders are much reduced within the USA. – Rob Hamper

Reviews

Back to Table of Contents -- Courier # 91
To Courier List of Issues
To MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 2004 by The Courier Publishing Company.
This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com