Unboxing the new Studio Miniatures 28mm Sikh War figures

Okay, I had time to open all the boxes from Studio Miniatures and look at most of the figures except the artillery crews. (We'll cover them in the next week or so).  What follows are my initial impressions  and images of the figures. I'll be adding more detailed reviews of the figures to the Parade Ground page in the future.

My Kickstarter return was four 'battalions' of miniatures - two each of British regulars and Sikh Khalsa infantry. The British battalions are 20 figures while the Sikh battalions are 24 figures. Each includes command and colour bearers along with infantry in 'march attack' (with fixed bayonets) pose.

In addition to the four battalions there were a number of 'stretch goals' that resulted in additional figures being included with the release. This included addition Sikh and British officers both on foot and mounted as well as a British RSM, a Sikh 'water bearer' an artillery piece - 9 pounder for the Brits, 12 pounder for the Sikhs and four artillery crew for the same, and a figure of "Flashman" from the popular series of novels by George McDonald Fraiser.

The British figures

The British figures arrived well packed in white cardboard boxes. The box contained two layers of foam that keeps the figures secure and intact.

Command Figures

We'll start start with one of the stretch goal figures - the mounted British commander. Cleanly cast - both horse and rider with good detailing. The only minor quibble is  that the rider does not fit the horse 'out of the box'

Not quite fitting his mount

However, a quick squeeze with my spreader tool (a model railroad tool) has him firmly astride his mount.

All squared up and ready to go

In what will become a recurring theme,  this mounted officer is a bit bigger than a comparable mounted officer from Old Glory's Sikh War command pack.

The Studio Miniatures horse is behind this Old Glory and rider. Even so, you can see the SM figure is larger than the OG.

The British foot officer is also cleanly cast with nice detail. If I have any regrets its that the figure is not different or better animated than other British officer figures already available. But he will fit well into the line of advancing infantry with whom he is assigned.

 

The British Drummer. A nice figure - but those are some hefty drum sticks!

 

 

British Color bearer

 Infantry figure

The infantry consist of one pose, so this will be quick. The figure represents the 'flank company' and is nicely detailed.

Again these figures are on the large side, as you can see in this comparison image of the various figures to Old Glory regular infantry.

Studio Miniatures (unpainted) officer (on left) infantry and standard bearer (on right) with Old Glory infantry and bearer.

The Sikh Figures

The Sikh figures pretty much mirror the British figures. Both in character and size. One nice thing was the I received two (2) Sikh flags with one of the infantry battalions, so my Sikh troops will have colors.

Command Figures

The command figures turned out pretty good.

A Sikh officer with the Paag headgear battalion

Officer with the 'top knot' turban battalion

standard bearer

Sikh drummer

Sikh bugler

Infantry figure

Marching to action with bayonet fixed

 

 

  There were only two minor issues with the figures. Both were easily corrected.

One (1) figure had a bent bayonet

 

One (1) figure had flash between the legs

 As with the British, when the Studio Miniatures Sikh War troops are compared to Old Glory or Foundry figures directly, we can see a distinct difference in size.

The SM officer on the left towers over this Foundry Sikh NCO figure.

Foundry standard bearer on the left with SM figure on the right.