Alejo Dorca – Page 35 – My Toy Soldiers & Me

Dorset Soldiers Parcel Arrival

To make a long story short… they are finally here!… you need to have some considerations when placing an order in painted 54MM Toy Soldiers.

In my experience the waiting list is always long. Not always mind, but other factors get in the way… Toy Soldiers Shows… the circumstances of real life delays and not scheduled normal activities… whatever…

In this particular case relations been top notch and cordial I asked politely in November 2022 about the possibility of having a shiny Toy Soldiers Box a month starting February 2023 (note my prudence!)… and so I placed my orders to get five boxes painted and some casts (unpainted) here and there.

Casts of the French Foreign Legion missing items to complete units arrived quite fast (and thanks for that) and also more exotic things as ADC’s and Policemen on Bikes… I dutifully painted those when waiting for February to start things arriving… well, they did not, my carefully arranged shedule of a box a month never worked out and I got the whole lot in a single parcel just at the limit of the time span (meaning February-March-April-May-June)… by the end of June and a couple of days of July I did not mind at all… everything was ready… pics sent to me of the painted units… and parcel dispatched via DHL (Fast&true).

So in the end all worked out alright for me… excepting the “intervals”.

The quality of the Toy Soldiers is TipTop, true to my specifications (some quite complicated because they were necessary to fill gaps on an existing collection). And all is well what it ends well.

I just thought to make this post to clarify the process and to let you know the true value of patience!

If ordering from DORSET SOLDIERS / IMPERIAL MINIATURES say hello to Antony Spencer!… a genial chap and really helpful!

Same thing can be said about REPLICA (Andrew Stevenson) and other manufacturers as Tradition of London or RPWorldModels.

Just have lots of patience and then ENJOY!

“My” British Colonials now complete (+ Allies)

They are in the Post

November 2022… after a long reflection and no REPLICA in the works (yet)… I decided to contact Mr. Antony Spencer from Dorset Soldiers (Imperial Miniatures nowadays) about the possibility of completing some units as to have them organized in “dozens” – aka 12 minis each-).

No problem with “new” sets… you just order 12 minis units and the trick is done…

But it was different with the sets done by REPLICA a couple of years back… it was a task of finding the right hues of paint and the models themselves… mind, they are still in the Post… but have some pics to show you… so here they are!

Enjoy!

4 Toy Soldiers to complete the Guides set.

4 Toy Soldiers to complete the Gurkhas set.

An NCO and Dr. Watson (Conan-Doyle’s character) at Maiwand.

Maybe redundant but I will find a use for him… that ends my Kakhi Collection for good…

REPLICA PARCEL!

It is always a big pleasure when a parcel containing Toy Soldiers arrives… if they are old looking casts a la Britains to paint myself even better!

Not that it did not include a box of Grenadiers painted (to serve as a guide for painting).

Months ahead of what I am doing they are scheduled for the next future, I have learned to stock ahead… because if not you get lapses of void time (between ordering and delivery sometimes MONTHS elapse!).

Enjoy!

Properly checked… and with a 42MM gift sample!

New additions to my Collection from Dorset Soldiers 54mm (also Imperial Miniatures nowadays)

It could have been titled “The Art of Waiting”… but to be fair the deadline of the 30th of June has closely been respected (more or less). Ask for Antony Spencer if you need something… quite helpful and to the point if you know what I mean… a worthy successor of the retired Giles Brown.

What’s Important… really important is the magnificent painting job done on those Toy Soldiers… sometimes they do not like Toy Soldiers at all… as the Duke once said : “By God they frighten me!”

Will post again when received and added to the rest of the Collection.

Enjoy!

The lot.

British Artillery. Mountain Guns by TRADITION OF LONDON and other various makers (RPWorld Models and others).

I am not a fan of Artillery, give me an Infantry Soldier or a Cavalry one any time… I do not know why but it is so… As an Infantryman myself I suppose I do not like to be a target of incoming Artillery fire… whatever… I do not have an extensive collection of models about that theme.

But of course you need them if a completist.

Enjoy!

Above two sets of Mountain Batteries. Below Guns and Machine Guns.

British Colonial Cavalry. Ducal 54MM.

Red Coated Dragoons and Blue clad Lancers (17th)… Zulu War times more or less.

Once I finished collecting Household Troops I went Colonial for a while… there was always something of interest in the Ducal Catalogue… and if it was not there you politely asked if it could be done… as the fictional standard or colour of the lancers!

Enjoy!

British Foot Guards in my Collection.Ducal 54MM

When I was a child I was fascinated by those red coated Guards… got a box of Britains with Coldstream Guards… and then when I started collecting “seriously” they were my first addiction… I bought books about them and slowly it dawnwd on me that it was five different Regiments! LOL

Well… there they are (with some other minis just for fun)

Enjoy!

Pomp and Circumstance. The Household Cavalry (DUCAL 54mm)

There are parts of my Collection that do not move at all… they were completed to my satisfaction and that’s that.

BUT… if I started anew they would be the first one’s I will build… see what I mean?

The British Household Cavalry Life Guards and Blues&Royals is that special part of my voyage ineludible because I was always in awe of the magnificent pageantry and display.

So here you have them in all their splendid uniforms.

Enjoy!

Shelves display in a Cabinet 54mm Toy Soldiers

Long long long ago I bought 54MM Toy Soldiers in a regular basis.

I did collect what was my fancy when a child, I have to admit that I was so busy (in my real life) that usually they come out of the box and straight into the cabinet (not much time to play when in age of working).

Nowadays retired I can display at leisure, but somehow TIME slips by and projects are very slow in coming to fruition.

I am waiting for some painted Toy Soldiers since last November (2022), also casts in 54mm too that now I paint myself (I enjoy doing that).

And some odds and ends in 6MM… including a River Nile British Gunboat thanks to the courtesy of Daniel Hodgson.

It is hard to wait for them!

Enjoy!