“Your friend Robert Villepreux did come yesterday.”
“It is my duty to beware you that he ordered two Infantry Regiments and three Assault Motorized Divisions”
All right, Jean Jacques Sempé was one of the best cartoonist in France for decades, ironic, subtle and very good at minimalist drawing. I can think of a lot of other texts to use for this drawing… but the one he choosed resumes perfectly our megalomania.
It could have been:
“I understand that gloss or matt is a difficult decision…”
or:
“Maybe I do not have exactly what you want Sir…”
But never mind… I laughed myself out for a while with it… and thought better Post immediately!
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.
Just to show you the potential… to get those you have to learn to dissemble, add stickers, buy resin headgear and paint the last one… quite fast and simple once you know the tricks… but on the whole not cheap… as for collecting them it is fine… but wargames better be skirmish type.
Maybe you are tired to see those figures?… well… get used to it!… as you know I deal with multiple scales and very different interests!…
The headgear is resin custom painted by me… but all the rest are standard pieces of Playmobil that you need to order from specialized sellers.
You maybe think they are obnoxius… but they are not… not need to paint a lot (I have to admit the fRench kepis on the left has been painted by me using permanent markers and finally gloss varnish… but that is all.
I do usually paint 54mm Toy Soldiers from scratch and it is a much more longer process… as always you need all sorts!
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.
My first post of 2023… well… I guess it would be a continuation of a theme… a la Oliver Curwood (if you know who he is)… as a child I was fascinated by the North West Mounted Police… and recently got the sledge I was waiting for… so here it is… on the trail up North!
Enjoy!
An eskimo guide opens the trail for the NWMPClose up!
Vaguely 54mm, all in rubber/cautxuc… more than 65 years old (the figure… me going on 71… so it probably is nearly 70!… lol)… Original state and paint… paint that obviously peeled off from a non rigid material… played with by at least three generations consecutively and rescued before going to the bin… I used to make him run obstacles and tracks on the sheets of my bed… do not know how he survived so many crashes!… I remember having at least two of them… but also French Gendarmes by Norev (rubber too) and one in Aluminium (Quiralu?) the last two were with sidecar and had very “funny” figures on them.
A nostalgic way to close a forgettable year… hope the next is best!
Policeman on a BikeAnother view…the tie was a nice touch.
You know I also indulge in Playmobils… do not ask me why… I explained in my book no longer in print (LOL)… Actually waiting for a sledge from a standard set to go patrol up North… he always get his man… And YES I will post a pic of the mountie on his sledge once received…
Seriously they are fun to manipulate and even role playing with them.
Enjoy!
PS: I achieved (the Blog) 130.000 visitors today… I must thank those who do assiduously!
Original (mounted) and customs.Using two different figures you obtain two new one’s to go North!… mind, the eskimo head has gone to increase the ranks of the French Foreign Legion…Another view… the headgear on the left one is a resin custom, the rest is standard Playmobil pieces.
Lovely Toy Soldiers… very difficult to do the big battles with that scale… but as long as you are a collector anything is feasible… skirmishes, AGW, etc. (imagine the range of the Artillery piece… LOL)
