The Wagon “service” is an interesting model concept. 54mm Conversion.
Busy days. Not so busy as to do not appreciate the work of Mr. Tony Dilley again, if there is a frontier or red line between Toy Soldiers and Military Modeling Tony walks along it nicely and without apparent effort (just love his work!).
I do not “convert” a lot (a bare minimum in my Toy Soldier collection) and never with that quality of craftsmanship. Have run out of place actually… my cabinets look like the tube in Tokio… considering to put an end to collecting in 54mm for good (see next posts in the following days). I am nowadays only tempted to add 3 or 4 figures by the talented Andrew Stevens from REPLICA if ever bridges can be restored…
Not my thing at all (personally) but I know quality when I see it. That bloody part of the late XIXth Century whem the European Powers (all of them) expanded “civilization” and “commerce”… all round the world… globalization at the point of the bayonet!
Funny, today I have a bit of time to write… well… the pic is to the point… by then I mixed and matched manufacturers… I did find DIXON horses fantastic coupled with FOUNDRY riders (but not exclusively… TO THE REDOUBT and OLD GLORY too!).
It was the apex of my involvement in wargaming on that scale, I had a moderate surplus of bits and pieces from here and there and I could easily change “heads” at will with my PROXON minidrill and vice… had a lot of horses of discarded projects (that I would use in fancy units as the mounted Regiment of the French Foreign Legion)… and life in the hobby was FUN.
I still used painting services for the rank and file, and only did paint myself “specials” or closer to my heart subjects. You see I had NO time enough to paint because my real life as an Architect used my time… and I have a family too!… so the only way was to organize, list, buy, get the parcels, customize, send the biggest part to the painters with full instructions… and paint a little myself.
I enjoyed those years of my hobby to the full because time was so scarce. I am older now… over seventy (bot my grandfather and father were dead at my age)… no longer can I have fantasies about long term projects… I’ve done that, been there, got the T-Shirt as they say… but surely enough those new technologies help me pass the time and share my experiences with other people with similar interests.
The Michigan Brigade of Volunteers is a pet subject (as the ACW is) and Custer was better served in the Civil War than in his “Indian times”… the famous 7th had NOT the same stamina as the wolverines… understandable too of course… I own more than a hundred volumes on the Little Big Horn and after reading them… you can have a moderate sympathy with Custer as a man doing his job… but the so called “Indian Wars” were frustrating from a military point of view.
That Custer is better known for his death in a NO WIN situation that for his campaigning in the ACW is one of those ironies in History.
Wow!… time to write without interruptions for a change!… count the present one as an extra Post. Hope you enjoy too.
I am getting older for all that. But for a last effort in 54MM they are not so bad… after all they ARE Toy Soldiers!
Next would be basing some 6mm Baccus 24th Colonial Zulu Wars Infantry and then to the wargames table.
I always seem to think I have finished my collection (in the sense that I won’t paint anymore excepting maintenance…)
Collecting already painted boxes of Toy Soldiers still goes on. And my orders for 2024 are done, sent and agreed upon… so in due time in the next months they would appear here.
Also plan to post some pics of the excellent work of Antony Spencer from Dorset Soldiers and Andrew Stevenson from REPLICA METAL MODEL SOLDIERS.
Enjoy!
PS: YES! they still lack the gloss varnish but I always wait about a week to do that… a lesson learned in 25mm (silver and gold colors tend to wash all over if not properly dried!)
From left to right: Scot Guards Brigadier (VC); HRH King Charles III; and last but not least W.S.Churchill as a 4th Hussar.DetailDetailAnother view.
Followers of this website must know I am now collecting sets of the BRITAINS CENTENIAL COLLECTOR SERIES (1993)… to use in AGW Old school wargames.
With the Infantry there is no issue as they come in sets of 6… so two sets makes a complete Unit and that’s it. On the contrary Cavalry Sets have 4 Cavalrymen… you buy two boxes and then you have two redundant figures (redundant is a term I do not use at all) to be converted in something else.
Bought two sets of the 4th Hussars and then one trumpeter and one sergeant were promptly repainted to represent another regiment of Hussars of SIMKIN times… they will be added to the General Staff (A General always needs a trumpeter and a flag!)… or whatever… had fun messing with them… still not gloss varnished mind… probably work a bit more with the flag too (in the pic it is not correct… mend it by now!)… and why not paint the trumpeter’s horse white? (done too!)
Enjoy!
“New” Standardbearer… the flag is wrong and has been repainted!The other side…Ex-4th Hussars…Finally painted the horse white.Original and Conversion.Also painted the horses lancers in other colours… too many blacks as it is!They still lack gloss varnish… but you get the idea…
Curiously enough this cast (unpainted) was one of the first minis I ever painted myself (as it was mean to be… red tunic & all… and there it is still in my collection). One day I noticed I did not have thought of buying from DUCAL a RSM… so… I bought from Tradition of London the kit again and have painted in a new version with pace stick (a bit of steel paper clip).
There you have it hope you like it.
There… it only lacks the gloss finish… will add when dry!
I have always been fascinated by horses (lead toy horses I am afraid), films with horses in them I am a fan… but my experiences with real horses are almost nil, once I rided a horse in a tourist promenade (about 1 hour) and only can recall the vast amount of flies they carried with them.
Lead toy horses are “cleaner”… and they behave… lol
As Oscar Wilde said they are dangerous at both ends and uncomfortable in the middle… probably an exaggeration to make a laugh…
Enjoy!
RCMP Inspector (my avatar) REPLICA painted by me…Captain Brittles (She Wore a Yellow Ribbon)… REPLICA painted by me…HRH King Charles III (REPLICA painted by me)Winston Churchill as a subaltern in the 4th Hussars… (REPLICA painted by me)French Officer (DORSET SOLDIERS) painted by me… I already had the horse bought painted and asked for a suitable cast from Antony Spencer.Churchill at Omdurman… converted and painted by me…using DORSET SOLDIERS castings. (In fact I already had the painted horse)
There you have it… a collection of pics is better than a long text… this is what I did in 2023… from bottom to top chronologically I am afraid!
I enjoyed the lot of projects. Some come out of nowhere… some were convoluted… some straightforward…
How the mind wanders in a year… seriously considering selling my Playmobil Collection on Ebay nowadays… lack of interest by my grandchildren… and need of space… that happens…
Hope you enjoy my recollections!
Finally varnished, dry, and ready to play!Command Group detail!lanyard corrected!A nice little collection in Kakhi by REPLICA
I do not remember if I did that on 2023… but probably! DORSET SOLDIERSMy only 42MM soldier! B series by REPLICAThe SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON project!Union Cavalry in 6mm (Baccus)6MM Nile Gunboat (Daniel Hodgson REVEILLE production)Rorke’s Drift in 6MM (Baccus Minis and Leven Buildings)My avatar in 75mm. Playmobil customThe Charge of the Heavy Brigade (Crimea 1854) 6mm Baccus Proxies!Repainted central Toy Soldier (substitution in the collection)The finished Brigade of Guards Crimea 1854 (Baccus Proxies and a lot of work involved!)The “NEW” additions (Lt. Chard and Lt. Bromhead) in their proper place. DORSET SOLDIERS.Display of finished units! REPLICA and DORSETStaff Car and Motorcycles escort!Chard and Bromhead by DORSETXIXth Corps d’Afrique (French) in 54MM… now complete. DORSETConfederates in 6MM (Baccus)The whole Heavy Brigade (Crimea) 6MM Baccus proxies.My ANTIETAM/SHARPSBURG Wargame 6MM Baccus (At the end of the game)Another view.Playmobils 75MM… seriously considering selling my collection of them in 2024! But not those…Saganne in 54mm Dorset Soldiers casting painted by me…Nathan Brittles last patrol in 6MM Baccus Proxies (Pony Wars and a scratchbuild Olivia Dandridge aka Joanne Dru).I did this “conversion” for a W.S.Churchill at OMDURMAN…. Dorset Soldiers cast!French Foreign Legion by Dorset Soldiers waiting Varnish (Gloss of course!)PLAYMOBIL customized by me NWMP.Last but not least!… this is what I remember… (fondly).
