Lieutenant Gillette (Hawthorne Village)

Introducing Lieutenant Gillette of the Royal Navy!  A dedicated pirate hunter, he is not above acknowledging a worthy opponent.  He is a conversion of Hawthorne Village's Commodore James Norrington figure.  Gillette's arm is bent down near his waist and he is armed with a drawn sword (the blade is made with a pin).

The figure's uniform is closely copied from his appearance as Norrington's lieutenant in Pirates of the Caribbean.  Gillette's elegant blue and white uniform outshone Norrington's, so a purchase of more gold lace was in order for the proud Commodore.  Now he feels that he has a sufficient amount of gold lace to make his rank easily apparent.

Four inhabitants of Port Royal.  Are more coming soon?

Not every member of the Royal Navy is always chasing pirates on the high seas.  Pirates have to sell their plundered goods somehow and smugglers fill that niche--for a price.  Here Lieutenant Gillette inspects a load of merchandise being transported by a woman strongly suspected of piracy and smuggling...

(meet her at http://redcoatsandruffles.blogspot.com/2023/02/redheaded-pirate-mars.html)

Lady carrying wood (Lemax)

As mentioned before, Red Coats & Ruffles is constantly on the lookout for female figures in 18th Century garb. (see http://redcoatsandruffles.blogspot.com/search/label/Female%20Figures)  This woman was released by Lemax for their 2022 Christmas collection, under the name of "Carrying wood for the fire".  

Despite her 19th Century styling, she clearly had potential to be transformed into the 18th Century.  The major change needed was to change her bonnet into a cap.  Lemax figures are also very tall, so some of her dress was trimmed to give her a height closer to the rest of Redcoats and Ruffles.  Notwithstanding this, she is still a tall lady.

Her outfit's colors are based on a background character from Sofia the First who is also a woodcutter's wife.  Their outfits were unusually similar.  The pose is a useful background character, whether gathering sticks from the forest or preparing to replenish her stove.

Figure by Lemax; painted with acrylic paints.

Redheaded Pirate (Mars)

This figure began with seeing a picture of a new redheaded pirate on Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean ride.  Her design was distinct with lots of red!  This made her a pirate character, or a decent camp follower for the British Army.  Besides, how could a blog named Red Coats & Ruffles not add a figure who sports both?

After a long and involved search, no suitable figures of the redheaded pirate were found.  She has a fair amount of her own merchandise, but not in 54mm.  Clearly, some heavy conversion of an existing 54mm figure would be required. 

She began as a Mars female pirate, actually as the same figure as Arabella Smith. (Meet Arabella at http://redcoatsandruffles.blogspot.com/2022/05/arabella-smith-mars.html).  Arabella's conversion was relatively easy, but this redheaded swashbuckler would need more than that.  Her hat (including plume) had to be sculpted, her sleeves needed ruffles at the wrists, and most importantly, she needed a skirt with two separate layers, a belt, and a decorative waist-mounted pocket.

Her skirt was easily the most challenging thing to sculpt, but it turned out well.  The ivory-handled, brass-barrelled pistol in her belt is one produced by Helmet Soldiers (http://www.helmetsoldiers.co.uk, whose website seems to be offline).

I envision her as a pirate when it suits her, but a smuggler and businesswoman far more often.  Perhaps she is the one trusted by other buccaneers to turn looted items into cash--for a price, of course!

Figure by Mars, painted with acrylic paints.

Pirate with Musket (Safari)

This salty sea dog was originally from a Safari Ltd. collection of pirate figures.  He is based on a rather famous painting by Howard Pyle.

Originally, his musket was badly bent out of shape.  Sometimes a simple dip in boiling water is enough to straighten bent parts (this works especially well on Armies in Plastic figures).  However, the musket stubbornly returned to its crooked state.  Clearly a more aggressive treatment would be needed.  This was accomplished by running a heat gun along the musket until it became soft (but don't let it get too soft).  Once softened, the musket was positioned correctly and allowed to cool in the open air.  The other element required for a proper musket is the lock, which was sculpted with Milliput.  Brass decoration was painted on to the stock, as the character demanded a little more ornament on his gun.  Perhaps he borrowed the idea from guns of India?

The sculpt is not an action pose, but I think that he makes an excellent pirate sentry, guard, or even an idler, watching his more swashbuckling companions.  The parrot is a colorful and unique companion, though I do wonder what he thinks of supporting part of the musket on his back!

Figure by Safari, painted with acrylic paints. 

Pirates of the Caribbean Zizzlingers

One of the lesser-known 54mm figure lines is that produced by the now-defunct company Zizzle.  Known as Zizzlingers, these figures were sold in packs of 2 or 3, coated with a water-soluble goo.  This was to be dissolved in water and presto! the figures would be revealed.  These figures were also sold in 2-packs as "Miniature Collectible Figures".  Unfortunately, Zizzle stopped operations and dissolved in 2009, leaving these figures difficult to find.

The particular set of Zizzlingers which are highlighted today are those released to tie in with the 2006 movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.  24 separate figures were released, of which I have 19.  The picture is missing Jack Sparrow in a coat, Will Turner in a coat, Barbossa holding an apple, Cotton with his parrot, and Norrington in a pirate coat.

The sculpting quality varies quite a bit.   Some are well-sculpted, like Tia Dalma (pictured), Pintel, and most of Davy Jones' crew. Unfortunately, others are lacking in sculpted detail like Will Turner (also pictured) and Elizabeth Swann.  Each figure varies in this regard. All come with adequate factory paint jobs.

Scale is fairly comparable to other 54mm figures.  The picture shows (from left to right) pirates from Mars, Safari, Zizzlinger, Replicants, Ideal, and Zizzlinger.

Poses are fairly static but useful.  These figures do not provide swashbuckling action.  However, they are extremely useful to fill out a town or other civilian area, or to bulk out a crew of scurvy dogs.  Personally, I find these flat poses a nice change from some extreme action-oriented poses.

These figures are difficult to find, though not too expensive when compared with many recent 54mm figures.  They are well worth the effort if your interest is in pirates, the 18th Century, or aquatic fantasy.

Hawkins the swordsman (Ideal)

This swashbuckling sword-wielding pirate is based on an illustration in a 2004 Pirates of the Caribbean comic story titled "The Duel".  In it, the flamboyant Hawkins, a former member of Captain Jack Sparrow's crew, learns that there is more to being a pirate than just fancy fencing moves. "A good pirate has to be resourceful, and yes, even sneaky!" (Does Jack Sparrow come out on top? Read the entire comic at https://66sean99.livejournal.com/25894.html)

The pose that pirate Hawkins demonstrates on the first page is a near-perfect match for one of Ideal's pirate figures. However, some of the outfit needed to be changed to make the character perfect.  It began with a head swap for one of Ideal's other pirate figures who wears a mustache and eyepatch.

Sculpting a shirt with rolled-up sleeves and a short waistcoat completed the rest of the outfit.  Hawkins wears blue breeches and a coordinating hat, along with flamboyant gold earrings.  Since the figure was dramatically re-posed with one foot in the air, a pile of boards was added to give him a firm stance for duelling.

Figure by Ideal.

Gatinois Grenadiers

Grenadiers were the elite troops of any 18th Century army.  Originally trained in the use of grenades, by the American Revolution, they were elite troops.  Sometimes, grenadiers were even brigaded into separate units to increase their impact on the battlefield.

The distinguishing feature of 18th Century grenadiers was the tall cap.  Both British and French units wore caps made of bearskin.  Grenadiers also carried swords after line companies officially abandoned theirs.

It is uncertain whether the Gatinois Regiment's grenadiers continued to wear the bearskin grenadier cap.  It was a popular style for French grenadiers in the late 1750s and beyond, but was outlawed in the 1779 Regulations, which required grenadiers to wear the same cocked hat as the line companies.  Case closed?

Despite the ban, some French units (like Regiment Bourbonnais) smuggled caps across the Atlantic.  Rene Chartrand suggests (in his book Ticonderoga 1758) that, because of the availability of bearskin, these caps may have been more popular in North America.  It is also well known that units sent on campaign felt freer to modify their uniforms.  Lastly, and most importantly, bearskin caps look impressive, imposing, fearsome--all qualities that a good grenadier wishes to accentuate!  Thus Gatinois' grenadiers will continue to sport this distinctive headgear.  The Colonel (me) encourages it!

Figures from BMC.  Despite being cast in red plastic as British grenadiers, these figures are a better fit for French grenadiers.  Unfortunately they lack swords, but that is not difficult to remedy with Milliput.  A few other slight modifications were made to the original figures, including adding a plume to the grenadier cap and some work on the musket.

Figures by BMC, painted with acrylic paints.