CONVERSIONS X – General Sam Browne w/ Bengal Cav Orderly

by | Apr 26, 2011 | Uncategorized | 6 comments

April is nearly over and I have yet to put up a post on this blog, so without further ado, here are my efforts at converting the Empress miniatures 28mm Colonel Anthony Durnford into General Samuel Browne (inventor of the Sam Browne belt). Both men lost their left arms in battle, Browne during the Indian Mutiny, Durnford in South Africa in 1872. I used the fully bearded spare head from the Empress ANglo-Zulu War accessories set, and I also cut the right arm off another empress British officer to use as a replacement for Durnford’s, which months earlier was donated to my converted Colonel Galbraith of the 66th Infantry. I also cut the sword-hilt off a Wargames Foundry British mounted staff officer to glue to the top of his empty scabbard.

But up first is General Browne’s Bengal Cavalry orderly, who began life as a Wargames Foundry Afghan regular artillery crewman’s body, with an Indian spearman’s head and a pair of hands from a Franco-Prussian War French hussar, grasping the hilt of his sword with his left hand as he passes a dispatch up to a mounted courier with his right…















6 Comments

  1. Bedford
    Bedford on April 26, 2011 at 11:17 am

    Not sure if I have said this before but it's great to see the high degree of imagination that you put into your conversions. That coupled with the idea that the models are based of real life characters just adds to the quality.

    Darrell.

  2. Ashok
    Ashok on April 27, 2011 at 12:58 am

    I am very envious. Some really good ideas.

  3. Mad Guru
    Mad Guru on April 27, 2011 at 5:43 am

    Thanks very much for your kind words, gentlemen, it is always great to get feedback!

    This pair of conversions were inspired by one of the first images I have up on my “Newspaper illustrations of the Second Afghan War” page, showing General Browne receiving dispatches from what I believe to be a member (sowar? Risaldar?) of the 11th (Prince of Wales' Own) Bengal Lancers, on account of him wearing what appears to be a dark-colored blouse, which I take to have been blue.

    The 11th are known to have worn their blue uniforms — blouses, tunics, kurtas, etc., — in action until the early 1890s, long after most other Bengal cavalry regiments had adopted khaki, and the 11th served with General Sam Browne's Peshawar Field Force during the Second Afghan War.

  4. Kirsten
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  5. Anonymous
    Anonymous on December 21, 2011 at 1:19 pm

    Very clever design, nice to someone who cares so much about historical accuracy.

  6. Mad Guru
    Mad Guru on February 9, 2012 at 10:03 am

    Thanks for the compliment, Anon! Just came across it now, about 50 days after you left it, so sorry for the delayed reply.