I was sent these four odd crude homecast figures with very chunky lead rifles as part of a job lot by Alan the Tradgardmastre of the Duchy of Tradgardland blog.
Rather than painting them as the more obvious Victorian colonial troops, I thought they had a look of armed Sydney Street Siege era Edwardian police with rifles.
The Siege of Sidney Street of January 1911, also known as the Battle of Stepney, was a gunfight in the East End of London between a combined British police and army force and two Latvian revolutionaries. Home Secretary young Winston Churchill witnessed the event at close hand as did Pathe Newsreel.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Sidney_Street
There is some fascinating British Pathe footage https://streaming.britishpathe.com/hls-vod/flash/00000000/00093000/00093523.mp4.m3u8
All I need now are some armed anarchist figures, a young Winston Churchill and a built up area.
One needed a new Prince August head, another needed a replacement rifle (wire insert wrapped with masking tape).
Blog posted by Mark Man of TIN 5 December 2019 – Advent Day 5.
Man of Tin blog 