Some of my French Foreign Legion

Visits: 72

A nearly forgotten pastime… (by yours truly)… painting your own figures… meaning buying the casts naked of paint… and DIY job… it was fun (again)… the toy Soldier style is much uncomplicated.

Thanks to Antony Spencer from DORSET SOLDIERS who understood perfectly what I needed and took the trouble to assemble the kits for me.

Curiously enough they mix very well with my old figures (they have decades in real time difference).

Thought you would like to see some of mine for a change!

Enjoy!

54mm DORSET figures (some painted by me)
Kneeling Officers done by me.
Detail before painting bases green (Front row are “new”… back row “old”)
The whole new additions waiting Varnish…(Yes there is Young Winston too! more tomorrow about him)
I gave some medals yesterday… LOL

Toy Soldiers “in action” by Scott Lesch!

Visits: 54

Nowadays a hard core of aficionados has rediscovered the charm of wargaming (without throwing pellets) in 54mm scale with Toy Soldiers. After all it is a normal consequence of 28mm skirmish type of games… I am in it in spades… you will see in a couple of days when I post my “new” additions to an Army of French Foreign Legion figures by DORSET SOLDIERS… painted by myself because once retired it is a rediscovery (not exclusively for the less money involved.. because you get it exactly right!… and even fastest than to wait fot them to paint them).

Not that I do not buy painted one’s… in general they do paint better than me (specially Andrew Stevens who seems to get his shop REPLICA ready for business again!… and that is a piece of excellent news!). Dorset Soldiers (now amalgamated with IMPERIAL MINIATURES and ALL THE QUEEN’S MEN) do paint better than me too!… bu I have the patience and the time (Or whatever amount of time remains… LOL).

Enjoy!

They can not be nicer…
Another shot!
And Another!… I just love his figures…

“Grandeur”… French always had a touch of style…

Visits: 38

Straight from THE VAULT…

I am unusually happy with myself, as yesterday I discovered where I had put my old colour catalogues of DORSET SOLDIERS (from Giles brown time!)… that would facilitate enormously my emails and chats with Antony Spencer the actual “magic maker”… Only Old Hands would understand what I am talking about… but never mind… we old men are like that!

Enjoy the pic!

Seen in Facebook… majestic!

A bit of humour…

Visits: 37

I will translate for you…

“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 SempĂ© 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!

Enjoy!

Custer & Little Big Horn

Visits: 68

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!

One of my childhood obsessions…

NAPOLEONIC PLAYMOBIL CUSTOMS

Visits: 104

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.

Enjoy!

Nice… if a bit expensive…

Something by John Clarke.

Visits: 42

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!

Done and primed.
Painted
Another view.

French Foreign Legion Officers (Playmobil 75mm)

Visits: 64

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!

Enjoy!

Just the headgear is “custom”

Graham Hilditch’s Band!

Visits: 37

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.