Review "Tea-Time" with Dolman Miniatures

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Nap

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Aug 7, 2006
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Hi to everyone on PF,

Now us British as a nation like nothing better than our cup of tea , no matter where or what we are doing there is always time for tea .....as they said in the film "Carry on up the Kyber" ....there is always time for Tiffin .

This little moment in time so often involving the military is seen in the latest release from Dolman Miniatures called: Teatime in Zululand 1879.

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As can be seen Dolman Miniatures have chosen to depict an Officer in a cavalry Regiment ..The 1st Dragoon Guards .

Nicknames
The Trades Union
The KDGs
Bland's Horse
Motto
Honi soit qui mal y pense
Evil be to him who evil thinks
Regimental Marches
The Radetsky March (Quick)
J. Strauss
The King's Dragoon Guards (Slow)
Mercadante
Regimental Anniversary
Waterloo Day 18th June
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We have been lucky to see PF members work on their versions of this figure .

Lets have a little bit of background information on the Regiment in this period of military history in particular one individual ...not an officer but a trooper ...namely Edward Hudson



Mr. Edward Hudson, a meat packer from Crewe, Cheshire, attested to the 1st King’s Dragoon Guards on 11 November, 1869. Mr. Hudson enlisted for a bounty of 1 Pound and a free kit. His attestation papers indicate that he signed up for a twelve year enlistment. Pvt. Hudson re-enlisted and served with the Dragoons until 19 November 1890 with 21 years and 9 days with the colours.

His medals include the:

South Africa Medal - "1879" LS&GC Medal (Victorian)



From 1869 to 1874 the KDGs were stationed in Dublin, transferred to Edinburgh in 1875 and remained there and northern England until 1877. The regiment was ordered to Aldershot and arrived May 1878.


In January of 1879, British forces under the command of Lieutenant General Lord Chelmsford, invaded Zululand in South Africa. Lord Chelmsford intentions were to march into Zululand with three columns and advance toward the Zulu capital, Ulundi. On 22 January 1879, the British center column (led by Chelmsford) was annihilated by a Zulu Impi at Islandwana. After the battle at Islandwana a small British contingent of approximately 150 men withheld the attack of some 4000 Zulu at Rorke’s Drift.

On 11 February 1879 an unexpected order was received for the 1st King's Dragoon Guards to go to South Africa on active service against the Zulus. The regiment arrived at Durban (South Africa) and disembarked on 9 April 1879. As part of the reinvestment of Zululand, the KDGs headed out on the 21st of May. The regiment left camp passing through the hills by the valley of the Bashee to the Nqutu Plateau, descending to the battlefield of Islandwana.

Major Marter (KDGs) wrote:

"Before daylight we forced the Buffalo River, and made our way along a track between hills covered with scrub jungle, in which it was very difficult to keep a lookout. As daylight broke, the wagons of the ill-fated force could be clearly seen in the distance against the sky. On arrival there was the camp, the oxen in spanned in the wagons, the horses at their picket post, the Officers Mess and their baggage, the Quartermaster's Stores and supplies, and officers and men lying about in their uniforms-dead-but singularly lifelike, as from the state of the climate the bodies had only dried. Many were recognizable. They had not been mutilated. Birds and beasts did not seem to have molested them, and the Zulus had removed nothing but arms and ammunition, and part of the canvas of tents." With such light tools as we had, we buried some of the bodies, Colonel Durnford among them, and, having brought every spare horse and tackle procurable, dragged about 40 wagons back to Rorke's Drift."

The 1st King Dragoon Guards were ordered to stay at Rorke's Drift and provide escort duty to keep the lines-of communication to Chelmsford open. On 1 June, the 17th Lancers and a four Troops of he KDG (186 all ranks) composed the cavalry brigade on the march to Ulundi. On that day the French Prince Imperial (Son of Napolean III) was killed, and early next morning, Major Marter and his Squadron, with some of the 17th Lancers, was sent out to find his body. It was on the 2 June that "D' and "H' troops of the KDGs discovered the remains of the Prince Imperial at the Ityotosi River. One troop escorted the body, covered with a blanket and on a bier made up of lances, to the camp on Itelezi Hill.

Pvt. Hudson's service papers indicate that he was with "D" troop at the time of his discharge

The detachment of the KDG Troops and the 17th Lancers were engaged in the Battle of Ulundi where they charged and annihilated the fleeing Zulus at the end of the battle.

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Continued in next post:

Nap





t.asp
 
Looking now at the actual figure .

Depicting as I said an Officer from the Dragoons in a releaxed pose , in conversation possibly with another officer , hand on hip with the finest mess cina in his hand or possibly his wife gave it to him as a reminder of the family he left behind .

Details are:

Title: Teatime in Zululand 1879

Reference: F-75-3

Scale: 75mm

Materials: White Metal

No of pieces: 9

Sculptor: Oriol Quin.

Box Art Painter: Eduardo Sánchez.

The pieces being held in clear bags surrounded by bubblewrap (the main torso being separate) , pieces consist of the main torso, the head , the arms , the sword , the sword knot , the revolvor and the belt pouch and of course the base itself, also included is a small coloured card insert with the box art on it .
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Presentation is as with all of Dolman's releases in this scale a clear see through fold over container and is more than adequete:


White metal is not that often seen in todays market with Resin being more often used , but Dolman in the 75mm range do use W/M ,...and still retain the very tight and crisp sculpting that Oriol has produced ..a credit to the casting team at Dolman .
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Prep was absolutely minimal , infact it just involved a check for seams ..there were none and plugs there were none ..all that is needed is a wash to remove any residue left ...dry off put together and prime in the colour of your choice .

Although this is released as a DG there are many other options with very minor conversion often involving just a paint job being done .....nice potential here for a wide variety of versions....like that Eduardo.


The subject is a fine figure of a man , wearing the high boots to the knee leather inserts on his trouser , strewn with equipment , including the undress pouchbelt together with a revolver (in holster) and a haversack .
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The casting is super smooth , the uniform coat is a nice bit of work the belts are being worn in a very natural state , pulling into the uniform itself , around his neck we have a lanyard , the cross belts have good detailing on the buckles .
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The pouch belt is a gem particularly at the back where it connects with the actual pouch , all equiptment has fine undercuts , the base of the uniform coat is really tidy , around his waist we have the sword belt the smaller belt being cast onto the legs , hanging naturally again .

Clothing folds (both trousers and the jacket) are well formed and as expected from this sculptor well formed ..nice one Oriol .

The haversack is held close to the body and looks to be full of his campaign neccessaries .

The arms are like the rest well details posed naturally , the left being on his hip the right has the bone china in his hand
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....the cuff details are excellent and will be easy to paint (NMM for me!!!) ..the arms have teh seams sculpted allowing for defintion to be painted on easier

The head is the star of this figure wearing the service helmet , the chain is held around the shell ...this is well done which will be brought out with painting , the helmet has the sections well shown .

The face is that of a middle aged (IMO) man immaculate moustache .....every bit the upper class officer ..but who knows that his men are what makes him a good officer and is respected by all .

The collar is cast on and fit into the recess of the torso is spot on ..no filler needed a all .
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The sword is another nice piece of work , good detailing on the buckles of the scabbard , the basket is so good I can almost take it out of the scabbard , when fitted to the torso it hangs well , there is a sword knot to fit , a bit fiddly but looks good when done .
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The final 2 pieces are the pouch itself and the pistol , the pouch fits into the gap at the back is really well done with a perfect fit , this is the plain undress pouch so no intricate detaisl to worry about ..leather ....but well worn around the edges ..get thos paint effects going (scratches etc)
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The weapon is in its holster and even in this scale it looks like it could pack a punch , sitting onto the waist belt ..again I would dirty this up ...well worn .
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As can be seen in the pictures at the begining the base is a simple textured piece with the locating area's for the figure ...this could be used alone but most will want to incoporate it into a full base on the chosen display plinth .

Final thoughts:

This is a really well thought out piece of work and I congratulate all at Dolman for their release and careful work that has produced a top quality figure which will look great in the cabinet .

Thanks to Dolman for the Review figure we all look forward to seeing the companion figure ...SOON!!!

Highly Recommended

For more details why not go to the website : www.dolmanminiatures.com

........you will not be dissapointed , I found the site to be well produced and easy to navigate round , masses of information ....you will be tempted thats for sure !!!!

As the icing on the cake (to go with the tea) lets have a look at the sculpted figure before casting
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and then the box art
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..ENJOY

Thanks for looking in

Nap
 
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