Perry Hussar Sabretache Decals From LBMS

Little Big Men Studios have announced the release of Sabretaches decals for the Perry plastic Hussars.

From Stephen Hales:

I have just finished a sheet of Hussar Sabretaches to fit the Perry plastic French Hussars, I started these ages ago and only just found time to finish. At present I have only done the 7th, 8th and 9th regiments, but I will do other regiments sheets. I have tried to reflect the constant changing of the designs through the Napoleonic period as cash became an issue some designs became more simplified. So there are designs for campaign, full dress, elite compaines and trumpeters and officers were they differ from the troopers.

The image attached is low res version of the actual sheet.

These look superb quality as you would expect from LBMS, and the officer and trumpeter sabretaches show the sort of attention to detail that really marks them out, great work!

They are priced at GBP7.00 plus postage per sheet, as noted only the 7e, 8, and 9e are currently available others are being worked on.

For more info and to buy
click here



You might recall last year I covered Sabretaches for the Perry Hussars when Aldo Stucco produced some fantastic graphics for Sabretaches for the 1er to 11e Hussard Regiments designed to fit the Perry Hussars. The big plus is they are free, the downside is you have to buy some decal paper, then print and cut them out yourself. Not really an impossible task but one where if you are lazy like me you find yourself wishing 'someone would do decals for these' even if it means paying for them, I know I did!

I have recently received three Hussard Regiments 1er, 6e and 7e and was in the process of getting some decal paper when a little birdie told me that commercial sabretache decals were in the pipeline (though not these from LBMS) so I decided to wait.

I don't think GBP7.00 for three regiments is an unreasonable price, I doubt it would end up cheaper if you did it yourself using the Aldo Stucco graphics. The only problem I see is that by grouping three regiments to a sheet it can work out quite expensive in total if you don't want those specific regiments. Assuming the sheets are eventually 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, I would need 3 different sheets to cover my specific 3 regiments which means GBP21.00 plus I end up with decals for 6 regiments I don't need! I suppose the answer will be to put the one's I don't want on EBay, I can foresee there being lively secondary market in these lol.

The only other point I should note is that if you look very carefully at Aldo's graphics you will notice the sabretaches are not symmetrical, that's because the actual Perry sabretaches weren't symmetrical either, whether it was a sculpting or casting error who knows, whereas the LBMS decals are correctly symmetrical. The difference at this scale is very tiny indeed, I assume the decals have been tested and it doesn't make any difference, I don't have a problem with that.
Steven corrected me and pointed out that the LBMS decals are in fact also non-symmetrical and were based off a scan of the Perry sabretache so they fit perfectly!!!

As they say you pays your money and you takes your choice, these are currently the only commercial sabretache decals available and are well worth it in my opinion, I have no idea when the other sheets will be available from LBMS though I think they are needed sooner rather than later to make it practical to use all LBMS decals.

New arrivals at MMPS

MMPS (Mabuhay Miniature Painting Service) have just restocked the 28mm French Napoleonic command figures painted by Chris Leason.

A big new bunch of French Command figures, painted by the talented Chris Leason, has arrived at MMPS.

And that's not all. We now also have French and British casualty figures that you can use as markers in your games. Same story here, I still need to finish their bases and then these will be for sale in the Bits & Pieces section of this website.

French marechals d'Empire, generals, colonels and ADC are now for sale in the Bits & Pieces section. These were all painted by Mr. Chris Leason for MMPS.

British and french casuallty markers will follow somewhere next week.

These are all mean't to complement the painted Perry plastic figures which are MMPS's main line of business. The command figures are priced at USD10.00 each and are well worth it at that price, I have a few already and I keep adding more of them whenever I place an order with MMPS. I have no hesitation in recommending them. You can see them here.

Napoleonic Wishlists

The other day Fons of MMPS asked a question on his blog:

I get asked all the time if I will have for instance Warlord Games plastic Russians, or Victrix metal cavalry, or Perry plastic WoTR etc etc..

The answer is that I can't stock everything, I just don't have the funds for that so I need to make choices. I make those based on my idea of what will sell in sufficient numbers and also based on customer input.

You can help me with this by telling me what you want and what you would buy if I have it. So if there is anything that you would like MMPS to offer Ready-Made and Painted just write it in a comment to this post. If enough people want a certain product we will offer it.

Cheers,

Fons

I thought it would be useful to repeat that question here as it is an interesting and important one, with a not so simple answer, and yes I was one of the ones asking about WG Russians and Victrix metals :)

Of course I would also suggest you go over to Fons and post your wishes their, at the end of the day that's what counts.

So what painted figures would you buy if they were available?

I think we wargamers are often like kids in a candy store or should I say kids in a toy store just before xmas. The first thing we see we want, until we see the next thing and the next thing etc. even though at the end of the day we are only allowed to buy one toy.

We also, in the current financial climate, have very finite budgets, not sure if its the same for you but my gaming budget is one of the first casualties when the family has to tighten it's belts.

So put this together and what do you get?

I think there are a lot of things we say we want but not a lot of things we actually will buy at the end of the day.

So first lets deal with WG.
Whenever there is a new set out we all go "lovely got to have some of them", I know at least I do, and the WG Russians did look very nice when painted up and if I had the money and if they were available and if I had nothing else to spend my money on I would definitely buy them.

So put them on the wishlist?

Well the reality is this, we know that the Perry's are in the process of producing the same Russians, the moment they are released we all will want them in preference to WG's Russians simply because, sad to say, they will be better sculpts or at least the Perry halo effect has us believing they are. So the 'window' when I might buy WG Russians is quite small, say the next 6 months at most, but that's not all, during the next 6 months I am focusing on building a Prussian army so even if I had the money it wouldn't be Russians I would be buying, and having just bought a couple of brigades of Cavalry I actually don't have any more money in my gaming budget for at least the next 3 months.

Also I hate to say this, but even if you are looking to refight 1812 there is still enough time to wait for the Perry's.

So no WG Russians.... at least not until I have bought all that I need of the Perry's and am looking for alternatives but even then I would probably turn to Victrix before I would choose WG . Sorry to say but WG are definitely 3rd in the pecking order at the moment.

Hmm but what about the WG Landwehr? Well as there is no Perry or Victrix alternative in the offing and Prussians are my next target I actually might buy some of these, volume would be low though because they are not the greatest of sculpts and they do have those awful boxing gloves on the end of their hands.

So what about Victrix?
Well it's a similar story, if the Perry's have something available I probably won't buy Victrix, at least not until I have exhausted the Perry's and my money. Though with Victrix having a much larger range their is a lot more that they do that Perry's don't.

So if I was into the Peninsula War, or if I was into the 1805-1807 period, I would buy Victrix plastic's and metals but I am not, at least not for the next 3 years at least.

However with Victrix there is a major problem for painting services like MMPS, the assembly time!! With the forthcoming Austrian Victrix have reduced the amount of pieces that make up a figure this issue may have been resolved but all the current stuff simply take ages to assemble, and time is obviously money for a business in a way it is not for us as individuals 'enjoying' our hobby. It's a major hurdle and undoubtedly would make Victrix more expensive.

Mentioning the Austrians, yes I would be interested in them, and the assembly time shouldn't be much different than with the Perry's. It's true there maybe a minor drill or uniform issue which has been highlighted by the Perry's own figures requiring changes but you have got to be a real button counter for it to make a difference and it wouldn't stop me buying Victrix BUT along with that Perry 'halo' again if there is a straight choice between Victrix and Perry, Perry wins again!


Again for me the 'window' of interest in Austrians will be next year by which time the Perry's Austrians will be out, so probably no Victrix Austrian but it's a close call. Of course YMMV.

Anything else Victrix?
Well yes, French Guard Grenadier/Chasseurs. These two sets are superb, no Perry competition either, sadly you don't need much Guard do you? A couple of battalions max.
Also there are the Hanoverian and Light head conversions, though maybe on Perry bodies. Definitely have an interest in these, though I know they would be expensive, and again low volume.


What's left?
Well really only Perry metals at this point and I will say that if Perry metals were available I would be all over them. I need them from one source or another, I just can't complete the armies I am aiming to build over the next 3 years without a substantial amount of metals and at the moment that means Perry metals because no one else is making 'Perry Compatible' metals for 1813-1815 period, if Victrix were to produce metals in this period then I would also be interested with them, as I do regard Victrix and Perry as being on a par quality wise, but as of today that is not the case.

However again there is a problem with Perry metals for painting services, because the Perry's know they can sell all that they can produce they never have had much of an incentive to discount their prices in the way other's do. Simply as a consumer I can buy Victrix and WG figures a massive 40% cheaper than I can buy Perry's. Staggering but true, Victrix and WG can be bought less the 20% VAT and with free postage which is worth another 20%. In addition the Perry's don't provide trade discounts which can run in the order of 50% in other cases. This means for a painting service Perry (I speculate) are at least double if not triple the price of a Victrix and then compared to plastics the price is just huge.

Of course then there is the cost of shipping the finished metals back to you, they weigh a lot more so would cost a lot more.

So as I have only a limited budget my demand for these would be low, and if MMPS were to factor in the same per figure margin that they get on plastics they wouldn't be making very much at all, clearly they would need to increase their margins, making them more expensive and in turn making me buy even less!!

But I would still buy them!!!

Though some more than others, here I am thinking particularly of Perry Artillery, no alternative and they are an 'essential'.

Thinks to himself, Victrix really missed a golden opportunity here, after having half done the British Artillery they could have gone on and done all artillery for all armies and had the field to themselves.. what a shame.


So in summary:
My 'real' wishlist for MMPS, beyond what they have, and beyond any and every Perry plastic set present and future, is maybe a few WG Prussian Landwehr, maybe a few Victrix Austrian Landwehr, French Guard, Hanoverian and Light conversions, a few Perry metals from time to time and the Perry Artillery.


When you come down to it, it's not a lot is it and all low volume....

Must make depressing reading for non-Perry manufacturer's.

and if you think it couldn't get any worse, with the Perry's just announcing the British Hussars for November what spare cash I have will go on British, KGL and Hanoverians Hussars all of which I can use straight away.


The above is just my own personal view, and I don't claim or believe I am necessarily representative of the average wargamer, indeed my focus is on the new 'Perry compatible' 28mm's and the 1813-1815 period. You may go for Foundry or Front Rank or others and your views will undoubtedly be different. I would be very interested to hear your views, so leave a comment here or on Fons' blog if you wish.

But remember we are trying to deal in a 'reality' not a 'fantasy' wishlist!

The Prussians are Coming!

Mabuhay Miniature Painting Service (MMPS) my chosen painting service on 'Project 1813-1815' have announced that they finally have the Perry Prussians and should have built up stocks of painted units by now.

From their announcement:

This week, around Thursday if not earlier, they will be here in all their glory !!

All you get now is this (on purpose) not so clear picture. You will have to wait until next week for more. :-)


I expect a mad rush on these just like when I launched our British and waiting times for those were long. To avoid having to wait a rather long time you can already pre-order these Prussians. That will put you on top of the order/waiting list. We use the "first in First out" principle so it can't hurt to be quick. :-)

Prices will be the same as for the Brits and French and their codes will be NLP-100, NLP-101 and NLP-102. Just use the Order Form to pre-order and I will send you an order summary with payment instructions when we take them into production next week.

Cheers,

Fons

This is really great news, I have been waiting for these!
I can't recommend MMPS to highly, the quality, price and service are spot on!

I recently received the Brits and KGL from MMPS, 10 32man Battalions in all, hopefully I will get some time to take some pics and post them on the blog this weekend.

Unfortunately that means I am probably going to have to wait a little bit longer for the Prussians, I am in enough trouble with my 'banker' over how much I have been spending recently so will need to wait until the August pay day to keep her happy :)

I have to also get round to getting rid of some of my old stuff on EBay something I promised to do in December but just haven't found the time to do. Welcome to the real world!




I also picked up some Perry command figures from MMPS, these are painted by Chris Leason another expat in the Philippines, they are superb and fit right in with their own figures. I definitely would recommend if you are buying from MMPS you take the option for some of Chris's command figures.

Update:
Two other bits of MMPS news I came across.

First although MMPS will be focusing on Perry ACW for August/September by October they will return again to 1812-1815 Napoleonics with the eagerly awaited plastic Austrians and Russians that will hopefully be available by then. Personally I hope they will also take a look at the WG Prussian Landwehr.

Second the amount you need to spend to get free shipping has been raised from USD500 to USD650 for destinations outside Asia. I don't think that is unreasonable, postage isn't cheap these days and to be honest when we are talking painted miniatures sadly it isn't hard to spend USD650, ouch!

Project 1813-1815 - Painting Service MMPS

Well my 1813-1815 project is finally beginning to get some traction and the memorial day holiday gave me a chance to take some pics of the newest recruits.

As I mentioned previously, for this project I have decided to have the majority of the units painted for me, so over the last few months I checked out a few painting services, you're probably familiar with all the names so I won't list them all. With the house move in December and other things happening in my life, my gaming budget this year is very, very tight indeed, so more than ever I am looking for the impossible, really cheap and really good!

However, for once I think I have found it in Mabuhay Ministure Painting Service (MMPS), a new Asian painting service that started up in the Phillipines a couple of months back. MMPS make no bones about what they provide, well painted, ready-made wargames units at competitive prices, good quality figures for the wargamer! No not every last button maybe painted but these are designed purely and simply for the tabletop, and their focus is squarely on the new 28mm plastics from Perry and Victrix, which is exactly what I want.

I will admit when I first saw the pics of their figures from their site I was a little concerned about the painting 'style' they used. I had seen similar 'styled' figures at various shows over the years and often they were executed badly, and my main thought when I placed my first order was that they are cheap, which is all I can afford, but how much am I NOT going to like these. I was so very, very wrong.

This one pic is from MMPS site, for once WYSIWYG

My grown up daughter is no 'aficionado' but her lack of wargaming knowledge makes her useful at times, as you get an opinion that doesn't have 40 years of wargaming 'baggage', no preconceptions, well she was comparing the MMPS figures to another high quality painting service, I won't name them as this is not about criticizing another service, she commented that when you hold the figures from the other service up to your face you can see the incredible detail, buttons, eyes and the beautiful shading but when you place them both down on the tabletop 'oddly, you can see far more detail' on the MMPS figures. She said for tabletop gaming the MMPS were clearly the better, irrespective of price, I have to agree and so far everyone who has seen these figures says exactly the same thing.

The colors and the detail really pop when you see them on the tabletop, which is exactly what MMPS are aiming for. I must say that this presented a problem when trying to take pics for this post. Normally you expect to see close up pics of a figure taken from a couple of inches away, but that is exactly not what these figures are about, they are for viewing from 3 feet away but we have almost conditioned ourselves to not appreciate long shots of figures on a tabletop. The reality is these figures look vastly better in real life than I can convey in these pics and I simple can't praise them too highly.

One frequent complaint you hear of Asian painting services is about the lack of or difficulty in communicatiing with them. With MMPS this just isn't an issue, MMPS is run by Fons Liebert, a now retired veteran of 30 years in the Belgian Army, who not only cares passionately about the product he sells but also knows his stuff about Napoleonics. When I placed my first order he picked up that I hadn't specified the pompom colors, as I was not ordering a complete 6 company battalion, with other services I have experienced unless you basically give them something to copy you can guarantee it will end up painted incorrectly. A minor detail you might say, but to any Napoleonphile this is very important and proof of MMPS's attention to detail.

I guess with any company you tend to get 'special treatment' for the first order, the best painted, the fastest service, but as you order more you hit the 'production line' and quality and service drops. So far I have placed two orders for 7 battalions and I am just about to place another order for 6 more battalions, enough I think to say without a doubt that the 'production line' quality is no different from the first unit to the last, or put simply, the quality control at MMPS is first class.

MMPS are very flexible on basing, just name the size you want, I wanted 8 figures on a 60mm x 40mm, no problem and very nicely done as well, impressed me enough to ask Fons for the 'recipe' so I can match them. Just in case the eagle eyed spot it, all the bases in these pics are thicker than the standard MMPS bases, the one pic below shows the standard base thickness. I will cover the how and why of 1813-1815 basing in another post but just to say the top surface of the base you see in all the pics is in fact the original MMPS base.

The figures are well packed for shipping using custom made boxes with foamcore inserts, they arrive in perfect shape and as Fons has commented the boxes can be used as storage and to transport the figures to and from the games, you can catch a glimpse of them in some of the shots, it's a neat solution and one I intended to copy for other figures.

Turn around time on the order was fantastic, one advantage of 'ready-made', they tend to have stock when you place the order and after basing they are ready to go in a day or so. Delivery time from the Phillipines wasn't exactly the fastest at around 3-4 weeks considering our proximity but that's hardly under MMPS's control and at least it all arrived in perfect shape, which is all that matters in the end but if you do order, take a deep breath and don't worry if the package hasn't arrived on you door step in the first couple of weeks, they are well worth the wait!

I am often overly critical when writing a review, I tend to focus on the bad simply because I think that's what really matters, that's what can and should be improved, you can skip the platitudes, just tell me whats wrong with them then I can figure out whether they are worth it!

With MMPS there is nothing I can fault, if I was to sit down with a blank piece of paper and write out what I wanted in a painting service and what I would like to pay for the figures, MMPS is it.

If I am really stretching for something that is less than ideal it would be that they don't do any commissions, but when a service is aiming to be cheap by mass producing ready made units can you complain that they don't do time consuming 'one off's', I don't think so. Mind you the first unit I might commission would be the 3eme Swiss, I covered them the other day on this blog, and I see MMPS have them on their upcoming list anyway, so at the moment it's a moot point and the fact I want them to do commission is of itself a recognition of how pleased I am with the results so far.

So kudos to MMPS, I am a more than satisfied and MMPS will be the service I use for the bulk of the armies in Project 1813-1815. I would unquestionably recommend them to anyone, do check them out you won't be disappointed.

If you wan't to know more about Mabuhay Miniature Painting Service then check out their site here.

New 28mm Napoleonic Painting Service

I just noticed a new 28mm Napoleonic painting service has opened for business out here in Asia called Mabuhay Miniature Painting Service.

At MMPS we provide wargamers with well painted ready-made wargames units at very competitive prices. If you want to create your own units you can with our “Build Your Own Units” feature. We will constantly add new ranges and new scales to our catalog so, if we do not have what you need right now, we will have it someday! We do not paint commissions - except on rare occasions - but just ask if you need something that is not in our catalog yet. If we have easy access to what you need maybe we can help you out.

MMPS is also a scratchbuilding service formerly known as Fonzie's Scratchbuilding Service. We can build your 20 and 28mm miniature real estate at reasonable prices. Check out the Scratchbuilding page for samples of our work or contact us if you have a project in mind.
And last but certainly not least we are working on our own ranges of lightweight resin buildings and loads of other scenery. More about that later, check up on us often so you do not miss the grand premiere !

At the moment, we are building up our first range, 28mm Napoleonic 1812-1815.

Available now:

French Line Infantry

Coming as soon as we can paint them:

French Dragoons (horse and foot)
French Heavy Cavalry (Cuirassiers)
French Light Cavalry (Hussars)
French Artillery
French Old Guard
French Light Infantry
British & Hanoverian
Prussians
Dutch-Belgians
Brunswick
Nassau

Pre 1812 Nappies, ACW, AWI, ECW, ancients, medieval... you name it, we will have it in time. If we do not have what you need right now, get in touch - maybe we can help you out.

MMPS is also a 20mm and 28mm scratchbuilding service (formerly known as Fonzie's Scratchbuilding Service). Contact us through our website if you have a project in mind.

Actually worth taking a look at their site, I know this is a post about the figures but they have some great looking buildings in their gallery, I hope they offer these at some point I am sure they would be a big seller, they also have a big bag of flexi-roads in their shop.

Anyway back to the figures, they look well painted for what they are and they make no bones about what they are aiming to be:

MMPS paints troops for wargamers.

That means that we paint them to a good wargames standard but we do not paint every little button and every little detail.

These are troops to game with so most of the time you will see them from a distance on your wargames table There is no point in painting details that are invisible at this distance. Not painting them saves us time and allows us to keep our prices low.

But no worries, our troops DO look good as you can see for yourself in the pictures on this website.

So obviously you can't compare these against the finest painted miniatures on the planet but then they are a fraction of the cost and aim to be good enough for wargaming, I get the idea. Now I have to say I am not sure at the moment that I 100% like this style of painting, though I get you are supposed to see them on the table and not close up. I am not talking about the quality of the painting here, nor the accuracy, both of which look fine but this style which tends to have a lot of the black undercoat showing through as a form of shading. I have seen some really badly executed figures in this style and some not so bad and there is a fine balance between the two, though I understand this style lends itself to fast painting and time is money no doubt.

However these do look quite good, so I have gone ahead and ordered a unit from them to check out what they look like in the hand so to speak. So far their response has been prompt and they picked up an omission in the order I placed which is very good to see, and for those of you who get worried about communication with 'asian painting services', it's no problem here, the guy who runs MMPS 'Fons' is originally from Belgian I believe and its clear you are talking to someone who knows what he is talking about. Actually he was smart enough to realize from the rest of my order that the color of the pompoms for the fusiliers really needed to be clarified, he could have gone ahead and painted them just as it was stated on his site and I would have had no one to blame but myself. A big plus don't you think.

I will post again once I have the figures.