A Blog (in the proper sense)

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15 Feb 2022

Todays pics are from the late Roy Dillon Collection, the absolute master of the thin red line (in more than two ways) between Toy Soldiers and Military Modeling. Wish I could buy soldiers of that level of craftsmanship… my own collection (Even if I am proud of it) pales in comparison. Judge from yourselves…

Astounding Royal Fusiliers…
The real thing.

14 Feb 2022

Conversions by John Firth… very good job!

Lancers.

This Blog is about a inoffensive hobby, but nowadays I can not take out of my mind the folly of the real world… I am glad I stopped my wanderings at 1900… I hate the wars of the XXth and hope I will not need to hate those in the XXIst too… I always enjoyed playing with toy soldiers, loved the gaudy uniforms of the XIXth Century but I am a realist War in the XIXth had no glamour at all because real war is a nasty thing… Thursday (if I ever live that long) is my birthday… 70 years old… somehow it would be fitting to stop this webpage then… probably… never got any feedback even if I published my email address several times (adb@andorra.ad)… but the Facebook group has nearly 250 members so… I guess we all know each other in this small interest trend.

Cheers.

13 Feb 2022

Some more pics from the Dilley’s… just love their work!

A Dragoon, a Lancer and an Hussar.

24 Jan 2022

Another of Tony Dilley’s efforts (Father and son are quite brilliant!)

Have to post later on the 23rd because the 24th would be a busy morning I guess, so for once I am in advance of the clock (quite meaningless in view of the different times zones of the visitors).

Detail from the above mentiones… fantastic detail.

23 Jan 2022

Andrew REPLICAMETALSOLDIERS….

Just a pic today (again).

10 Jan 2022

I will give you two pics as an example of what can be achieved in 6mm (they are not my minis neither my work) both found in FaceBook. Will include the much seen pic of my Crimean Light Brigade to show you “the difference” lol.

Waterloo British Infantry. 6mm.
Blow up!… the minis are smaller… Wurtemberg cavalry Napoleonic convulse times… 6mm again.
That’s my work! Baccus proxies in 6mm and basing included. I am too old for that now.

9 Jan 2022

Look what you can do with mainly Plastic Soldiers and lots of taste! (meaning HARD WORK!)… of course it is the Anglo-Zulu disaster (or victory depending from which side you look upon it). Rather splendid work. Also found on FaceBook.

The pic of today is awfully inspiring… simply awesome. My own efforts were not up to par with this at all. I then was painting the minis myself as you can see on the pics below… nearly all MINIFIGS 25mm.

Some Highlanders on the top right.

2 Jan 2022

Roy Dilley’s Opus (just bought a copy via amazon).

A classic that Idid not know of… well that’s been righted. Probably much more Military Modeling oriented than “Toy Soldier”… but divisory lines get blurred sometimes you know…

1 Jan 2022

Another of the Dilley’s creations.

29 Dec 2021

So… I collect Toy Soldiers… and what if I do?… today I will show you a pic that contains the earliest memories of my hobby… Spanish Toy Soldiers from the early Fifties (and among other things some soldiers done by my sons).

Left to right and clockwise: Policeman on a Bike (JECSAN); RCMP (REAMSA- aka resin); a german with binoculars painted by my eldest son (TAMIYA); two Highlanders by RPWorld Models 54mm lead toy soldiers from the UK; 1/300 Heroic&Ross Household Cavalry for Waterloo (painted by me); Peter Pig Plains Wars 15mm (done by MILI-ART); in the middle a Union Mounted Artillery Officer by OLD GLORY 28mm painted by my younger son. The first two are 70 years old like me… LOL

28 Dec 2021

I did promise… so here it is: the most predictable part of my 54mm collection. It all started with my parents gift of a very big double tray box of Britains when I was very young (Coldstream Guards). Ask James Opie for the number of the set I have forgotten and do not care at all.

The Cabinet below the stairs in Pal.
The top three shelves: Bands of the Life Guards and Blues&Royals in State Dress; The Royal Horse Artillery; The Blues&Royals.
Life Guards; Grenadier Guards.
Coldstream Guards; Scot Guards.
Irish Guards ; Welsh Guards.
Special vignettes for the Trooping the Colour Parade; and the bottom one Royal Canadian Mounted Police. 11 shelves in total.

As you all know those are (like the Grenadiers of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard) the most produced Toy Soldiers around the world.

Mainly DUCAL (or Fort Ducal) with some splashes of Tradition of London and other brands (Marlborough and others)

27 Dec 2021

Today I will give you my small cabinet (the colonial one)… colonialism was not “right” seen with perspective… but as usual adventure and conquest has a mighty appeal on the moment… how crazy is History… well, never mind… it gave us brilliant moments and nasty defeats (also as usual). The cabinet was designed with 25mm in mind… it has contained 15mm too… and was finally recycled into the classic scale of the wonderful 54mm Toy Soldier (You will also notice some Military Modelling stuff on the top of it). Here we go:

The cabinet (as seen before many times)
Three top shelves… The French Foreign Legion… + auxiliary troops (aka Cavalry and Artillery)… LEGIO PATRIA NOSTRA … the ultimate mercenary soldier’s soldier professional unit. Fan of P.C.Wren since a very early age.
Next three shelves, my Kakhi collection, British meaning business… mainly Second Afghan War.
Next two… Artillery and Egypt 1882 (in fact also Anglo-Zulu War too).
The last three for a total of eleven shelves… British red tunics… “MY” Royal West Kents and British Cavalry… they can go anywhere as per Victoria’s Little Wars.

So, in a nutshell a very eclectic collection built along so many years it is not worth detailing too much. FFL is mainly DORSET SOLDIERS with some REPLICA. Kakhi is all REPLICA, the rest Tradition of London, DUCAL and RPWORLD models… and yes there are some specials and conversions too.

Hopefully tomorrow the even more classical part of my collection on the “big” cabinet (under the stairs).

29 Nov 2021

Who did not?

I “stole” this drawing from faceBook… Daniel Hodgson posted it (REVEILLE) and I could not resist the memories it brought back..

Once I got some 54mm by All the Queen’s Men, but with the “Prussian style dress helmet”, very nice models (a bit on the small 54mm range) and there included was a “fille du Regiment with kepis” and a small dog, see below the pic included today. Finally sold them to make place for more wanted items.

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The much seen Colonial cabinet!

26 Oct 2021

Yesterday was Balaklava day!… forgot to show you the different approaches I did in that long journey in wargaming. Did it in 28mm, 6mm and 75mm. The game in any scale did not include the Russians (firing off the table) the interesting part was the decision making process to see when, where to, how the Light Brigade would advance or charge or whatever… nearly rol-playing wargame.

28mm Foundry (or The Foundry or Wargames Foundry). Sold them long time ago.
Baccus 6mm proxies (there is not an especific range for the Crimean War… but plenty of lancers with czapska, hussars with busby and light dragoons with shako !). Nice game without need of guns, guns and more guns… Still in my collection. The only full unit painted by me on those days.
75mm PLAYMOBIL heavily customized… NO commercial figures I am afraid. Sold the figures but not the horses! The horses are now in the 7th Cavalry USA. LOL

25 Oct 2021

Not much time today. Just a pic of my Maiwand/Kandahar REPLICA collection.

The best pic I guess…

As Murphy really rules today have got confirmation the long lost book has arrived! (at the same time amazon has confirmed the invoice of a second copy!… I do not care better two than none!). It seems that with COVID19 long delays are the norm nowadays.

24 Oct 2021

Sunday, I have ordered again the ACW MILITARY MACHINE book, this time through another channel, the worst that can happen is that both books (copies) arrive!… but I do not think so. Somehow amazon deliveries are getting late more than ever!.

Some British Guards (Welsh) fr0m DUCAL, 54mm.

Fall is behaving itself, another sunny day! I do really have to start writing those “Chance Cards” for the ACW solo wargame (somehow I would like them to be multipurpose and not exclusively centered on the ACW… highly general “chances” applied to most periods… as for example YOUR LEFT FLANK IS SLOW TO REACT THEY DO NOT MOVE THIS TURN or similar… guess I will do a preliminary list, polish it, and then write them down on the blank cards i bought eons ago from amazon.com (BYCICLE STANDARD). Will keep you posted with that list!

23 Oct 2021

Naval Brigade by Andrew REPLICA METAL MODEL SOLDIERS… great stuff in 54mm classic toy soldier style. You can go wrong with Andrew Stevens. Slow but sure!

Decided to start with a pic from FaceBook today to lift the spirits. My own Sailors are from Tradition of London but found those irresistible.

Those Naval Landing parties are really great stuff. He recently did a double tray box for a customer (a lucky chap!) and that means months of work in those. A gun, the Band, Royal Marines wow! That is the perfect gift! Enjoy…