I picked up a pack of Iron Duke's new Indian Mutiny figures from the Empress stand at Salute yesterday. A few years ago I bought a fair number of Mutineer's figures but had heard that the Iron Duke figures, sculpted by Paul Hicks, were very small.
So I stuck one on a base and took a few comparison shots this morning. Now, I am notoriously fussy about mixing figures from different manufacturers because I hate size variations in my armies but, much to my surprise, I would happily field both in an army. Height wise they are identical, for a start. Now the Mutineer figure is slightly bulkier but he is in a jacket whereas the Iron Duke one is in shirtsleeves.
This shot demonstrates how the diameter of the top of the hat is identical too. Also surprisingly, the muskets are the same length and pretty much the same bulk. My Mutineer figure was from an early run that didn't have bayonets whereas the production figures do. Speaking of bayonets, the Iron Duke ones are really, really fragile! One broke off just in the process of bringing it home in my bag. I suspect there will be high attrition rate on these. I am going to try to glue it back but there is almost no surface area to do so with.
This shot demonstrates the difference in level of animation but you can also see how the rear pack is identical in size.
The Mutineer head appears slightly bigger because the neck protector is sculpted looser but width and height of face is identical.
So, much to my delight, I will have no problem mixing the two manufacturers figures, even in the same unit. Happy days ahead for Indian Mutiny fans!
