Military Modeling – Page 4 – My Toy Soldiers & Me

Custer & Little Big Horn

Since I saw Errol Flynn killed by Anthony Quinn in THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON it become a lifelong interest… I was puzzled as a child because it seemed to me the US Cavalry HAD to WIN no matter what… of course real life is not like that… I guess I have already mentioned that on other Posts in this Blog but nevertheless…

It has been a rewarding passion mainly reading&collecting books about it and trying to understand what happened that 25th of June… of course all films (but Little big man) related to and hundreds (literally) of miniatures for wargames purposes (in 28mm, 15mm and 6mm to do not mention my 75mm Playmobils).

After 70 years exposed to it I have come to the conclusion that Custer was put on a NO WIN – NO WIN situation… mainly by fate and circumstances but also for bad scouting, not believing his own scouts, and betrayed by his own experience fighting Plains Indians… the whole Reno Benteen paranoia is simply that a paranoia… the Native Americans where there in enough numbers (ask Crook), interior lines of communication, perfect ground for his tactics, and the will to fight for survival. The Indians Won. That’s that.

A magnificent American drama for the Centennial of the Nation.

Not much to enjoy about that of course… but a fascinating subject. There are a lot of trash books about it (and films too)… I can recommend the opus of Frederick Wagner III THE STRATEGY OF DEFEAT and the novel (fictional-history but it reads as History) A ROAD WE DO NOT KNOW.

Be impartial!

John Clarke Toy Soldier Conversion

There is something fascinating in that process… to mend, repare, adjust and polish and “create” a piece unique… it gives you satisfaction.

Not that big projects have not charm… but sometimes a single figure gives you the whole catarsis condensed… guess you know what I mean.

I liked it… hope you enjoy too!

Graham Hilditch’s Band!

No Band of Brothers I guess… but a tour de force! doing or printing in 3D those instruments in 42mm is an small wonder. Congratulations on a job well done!

Enjoy!

Britains style B scale Cheshire Regiment band. As Britains never made smaller scale 42mm band figures, these are all converts and homecasts. Musical instruments in this scale were difficult to source. Some are scratch made and others 3D printed.

A “NEW” Tony Dilley’s work

Should have said new masterpiece!… really his work is a permanent source of inspiration for everyone to care to look.

By the way… mounted figures in the background would be one day in the near future converted too… for our pleasure…

Enjoy!

Dorset/Imperial “new” castings

I have a lot of ideas and pics to post this days… but those arrived yesterday and have got priority no matter what… My FFL order to complete an Army is underway and in good hands… simply ask Antony!… he will deliver… this is as silly as commending a good Restaurant… afterwards no way to book a table for you!… but he deserves it in spades… ask Scott Lesch if in doubt!

Hope you enjoy the pics as much as I do.

DORSET/IMPERIAL (more castings)

I must say all this posts are against my own interests… my orders get delayed and delayed because new orders arrive daily at DORSET/IMPERIAL HQ’s… LOL but I must admit they deserve “the plug”… those lovely figures once painted would be proud pieces of a collector… no doubt about that… in the meantime I guess I would have to email Antony asking what about mine? LOL (again)… now seriously one must be patient dealing with the world of conversions and Toy Soldiers “a la carte”… it is not the same to ask for ready made sets than to ask for special pieces… this take time… but the results are worth the wait!

Enjoy!

A Dorset/Imperial Conversion for a german customer…

Other conversions using the same basic body…

John Firth’s Own (II)

Lets have some cavalry from the same author.

Really you can field exotic uniforms of Yeomanry and Volunteers that way, curiously enough THE BATTLE OF DORKING intended as a “depressing and alerting” book is somehow revered by the wargames fraternity as an opportunity to turn the tables on the willy foe! (You need all sorts you know…)

Maybe some more tomorrow. Enjoy.

Repainted for the better

What a good paintjob can do for the castings (all of them) is wonderful.

Her Majesty’s Guards (or Household Division Troops) are a popular choice among collectors or simply aficionados whatever the level. It has much to do with that the daily exposure in such well know military procedures as the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, The handing of the keys at the Tower of London, and similar at Windsor castle. The more “touristic attraction” the more popularity in children minds… So, let it be.

Hardly original subject… but a CLASSIC IMHO. As seen in Facebook.

Even with a bit of patience you can do it with Playmobils. (Those are my own).

By the end of your “collecting life” you would have gone megalomaniac (well, a bit). Those are mine.

Lancers for traditional AGW wargaming

First two pics by John Firth and the last by John Clarke. All easy to see in Facebook if you go to A GENTLEMAN’S WAR group… I dutifully bought the rules by Howard Whitehouse… they are fun to read… but not what I do with 54mm Toy Soldiers… You need all sorts you know…

Those are very fine Toy Soldiers and excellently painted, I do not use mine with those rules, and I have to say they are more “historically collected” and only for display because I have them in 6mm too… and there is where I wargame…

The officer is out of THE PRISONER OF ZENDA… aka Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

Mix and Match in 28mm (a long time ago)

A pic of the peak of my own 25/28mm Collection.

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.