Tin Soldier

15mm Macedonians and Greeks

review by Lance McKenzie

Australia's Tin Soldier Ltd. has recently released a line of 15mm Macedonian and Greek figures. The samples provided are all infantry, and it is assumed that the accompanying cavalry figures will be released in the near future. The following is a listing and description of the samples received: HB-1, Early Hoplites, muscled cuirass, separate shield, and four different helmet styles; HB-6, Greek Archer, bareheaded, shooting, and loaded with detail; HB-7, Greek Javelineer, shieldless, tossing a javelin; HB-10, Thracian Peltast, wearing a fox skin cap, and holding a large kopis-like sword upright in a double- handed grip; HB-14, Macedonian Pikemen, facing forward with sarissae cast upright in hand, and separately moulded shield, and three different helmet types are present; HB-14A, Eastern Pikemen, facing at an angle with upright sarissae cast in hand, with the shield moulded to the left arm, and three different helmet styles; HB-17A, Macedonian Command, consists of three different figures; an officer pointing with sword, a bannerman, and a trumpeter. HB-6 and HB-7 exhibit nice three dimensionality, and HB-10 has excellent facial detail.

The trumpeter is one of the more interesting 15mm figures around as he is depicted as a semi-bald, pot-bellied fellow who waves his helmet in one hand, while blowing the trumpet with the other. Anatomically, there are problems with some of these figures due to rather oversized heads, large arms, and stubby legs. on the other hand, the major strong points are the good detailing, and the different helmet styles amoung the hoplites and pikemen. The different helmet types on the same basic pose allows for a realistic irregular look to units of these figures, without time consuming conversions. The somewhat large features add to the overall good paintability of these troops, and the quality of moulding is quite good with little flash being evident. Lance's mean average is 3.5.

Rating: Detail - 0.7; Casting - 0.6; Variety of Line - 0.8; Pose -0.5; Anatomy - 0.3. A total of 2.9 out of a possible 5.0.

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