Ros Figures - Stock Check

2017 has been a good year for hunting down those elusive Ros figures, with success in tracking down many of the obscure cavalry figures, artillery sets and command groups. I have taken a look at the most reliable figure list that I have and it seems that I now have examples of the entire Ros Napoleonic range apart from the following:

French:
Engineers

British:
Hussars

Prussian:
Uhlans

Russian:
Grenadiers

Austrian:
Grenadiers (I have seen one of these in the past)
Jaegers

I am guessing that these figures are out there somewhere and if I am as successful as I have been this year, they should turn up.

Scots Greys

One of the early cavalry figures to be introduced into the Ros 25mm range was the Scots Grey cavalry man, mounted on the British heavy cavalry horse. These are 1975 originals:

Polish Infantry

A lucky ebay find was a bunch of Ros 25mm Polish infantry among a group of fat Minfigs figures. I think they are rather nice and represent either light or grenadier company soldiers, given the presence of shako plumes, fringed epaulets and short swords. As far as I am aware this is the only Polish figure in the Ros range; there being no evidence of command figures. The paint job is rather poor and at some point I will get around to tidying them up.

 

Austrian Musketeer (Line Infantry)

The Ros Figures Austrian range is limited to just three figures: a Grenadier, a Musketeer and a Jager. So far I have only seen the Musketeer in the flesh. he wears the later Napoleonic uniform, with the shako which has peaks both fore and aft, rather than the earlier crested helmet. He wears gaiters, so I am guessing that he represents a German infantryman, as opposed to his Hungarian cousin. Well, that's how I have painted him!

I have seen pictures of the Austrian Grenadier, but have never seen the Jager and I would welcome any information about that figure. Here is the Musketeer:

P1 - Prussian Line Infantry

The Prussians had few sets of figures. The first to be produced were Line infantry, modelled to represent the 1814/15 period, wearing shakos with covers. There is also a command group set, which I have seen pictures of, but currently I do not own any. Also listed, and again not seen by me are Jagers

To start off the Prussians here is a small group of Line Infantry:

Line Voltigeurs

These figures are just the Grenadiers painted up as troops from the
voltigeur company, or light company of a French infantry battalion. Apart from the colours of plumes, and other uniform trimmings the cut of the uniform was virtually identical.

French Line Lancer - Refurbished

Over the past couple of weeks between projects I have been slowly repainting one of the French Line Lancers which I purchased off Ebay. Over the years they had become a bit battered and bruised. I kept to the colours used by the original painter and tidied him up. Nowadays I use gloss paint for all my figures and no shading, so a kind of toy soldier style which I like. I also use it on figures on my other blog Douglas Miniatures 20mm Crimean War. Here he is fresh out of the depot!

British Highland Infantry

I have about 60 Highlanders which have been in the collection from the outset. Painted about 40 years ago they are formed into three units, namely the Black Watch, Gordon Highlanders and the Cameron Highlanders. Ros made command figures, but I never managed to buy any. My highland troops have been commanded 25mm Warrior models. One day I hope to get my hands on Ros examples. I guess a pack of command figures would include a couple of standard bearers, an officer (probably pointing) and maybe a piper or drummer.

Here are all three units en masse:

British Napoleonic Royal Horse Artillery

In the same way that the French Artillery was sold as a set of 5 figures plus a gun, so the same format is followed for the British Royal Horse Artillery. The crew consists of an officer with telescope, a gunner with rammer, a gunner firing the gun and two standing gunners. The gun is a 9pdr piece with single trail. Here are the crew, which were a recent ebay purchase that came with no gun:

Here is an original set purchased (and painted) in 1975:

British Riflemen

These figures are from my original 1975 collection and are finished in the uniform of the 60th Rifles:

Another Military Modelling Magazine Advert

This advert gives an insight into the Ros Ancient and American Civil War ranges. It was published in the June 1975 edition.

British Naploeonic Line Infantry - Stovepipe Shako

Another ebay find was this splendid unit of British Infantry wearing the stovepipe shako. They have been neatly painted as Light Infantry, although this appears incorrect, as these are Centre Company troops. Light Infantry should have the wings in the shoulder. As far as I can tell Ros did not produce a stovepipe command group - although I cannot be sure at this stage.

The Ros 25mm Figure Range

I have been trying to find an original list of the Ros 25mm figure range without success. However, I bought a secondhand copy of Military Modelling Magazine from February 1976, which must have been quite close to the demise of the range. An advertisement gives an indication of the range and includes mention of both ancient and American civil war figures. I wonder if the ancient figures were metal versions of the old Rospacks plastic figures? Does anyone know?

Here is the advert:

Napoleonic French Line Lancers

I took a closer look at the lancer figures and happily I was able to confirm that they are indeed by Ros. Here you can see the makers stamp, with the date 1975:

The horse is very typically Ros, with the over sized tail. The figures too are of classic Ros design, with the slightly over sized head and helmet. I doubt very much that the remnants of the lance pennant are original, appearing to be made from aluminium foil: