My Toy Soldiers & Me

54MM Toy Soldier buying experiences on ebay.co.uk (I)

It must be my age, I am getting less and less “patient” if you know what that means. On the other hand I am becoming more and more of a “patient” of a bunch of doctors (not many quacks so far).

All of that because perusing (sorry “navigating”) ebay.co.uk one recent day I discovered a bunch of 54MM Sherwood Foresters Britains of the late 90´s… it said I could make an offer… I did (could not restrain myself)… and what the hell!… whoever it was accepted it!… OK… Paypayled him/her and some days later (quite quick!) I got a marvelously packed parcel (thanks for that) with the goods (see first pic).

Of course being a silly ass (read collector) I could not restrain myself (again) and had to complete the set as to get 12 figures units for A Gentleman’s War (a set of rules I have never used yet… but looks good in a way)… so I started BUYITNOW the items i needed (first to make two units… then three… I got a bit carried away)…

So here I am waiting for the little parcels of two soldiers each to arrive and in the meantime modeling a bit because (YES!) I could not restrain myself!… so I changed the arm and flag of the standard bearer.

Will edit or Post a new one when things look “organized”.

Enjoy!

PS: I have been very busy deleting a lot of “old Posts” with maybe no real interest (to me).

The first “bunch” was got at a very fair price!

There I am gluing my fingers to bits and pieces again!

REPLICA (my avatar is a cast painted by me). Lanyard corrected… (some of you are eagle-eyed!)

I used this “avatar” or pic of a RCMP Inspector General with dark blue tunic (patrol jacket in Britain) because of childhood memories.

Suddenly one day a member of Facebook commented I have painted wrong the lanyard because it was under the webbing (difficult for the pistol to be used as such at all… lol… he (or she) was right… so:

I modified the mistake.

Here are the pics, enjoy!

Original pic with lanyard under the webbing! (WRONG!)

Happy New Year 2024!… and a bit of a retrospective 2023 (a brief summary)

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!

I do not remember if I did that on 2023… but probably!

6MM Nile Gunboat (Daniel Hodgson REVEILLE production)

Rorke’s Drift in 6MM (Baccus Minis and Leven Buildings)

The 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.

XIXth Corps d’Afrique (French) in 54MM… now complete.

The whole Heavy Brigade (Crimea) 6MM Baccus proxies.

My ANTIETAM/SHARPSBURG Wargame 6MM Baccus (At the end of the game)

Playmobils 75MM… seriously considering selling my collection of them in 2024!

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!)

Last but not least!… this is what I remember… (fondly).

French Foreign Legion “Square” in 54mm

All right, once the figures out of the Cabinet it is possible to do some kind of manoeuvres, so here it is the French Foreign Legion in Square. Of course it is easier to take pics because those figures are mine!

No much problem to do the pics once paraded.

Enjoy!

British Colonial Collection of Toy Soldiers circa 1880 Maiwand-Kandahar in 54mm

The “square” formation is only to show the Toy Soldiers in a single pic. Cavalry had not use at all “inside”. But even more important the “square” as such was not used at all intensively at that time… so you will forgive the artistic license!

In fact the purpose of this “parade” was to count them all, stop adding more troops without sense of perspective… and find where to put the two machine guns newly commisioned!

Vast majority of them are REPLICA METAL MODEL SOLDIERS (Andrew Stevenson), complemented by DORSET SOLDIERS (Antony Spencer) and even 4 Gordon Highlanders done by my friend Paul Watson in a moment of yours truly deep anguish!…

Enjoy!

You must read Major C.E. Callwell (Royal Artillery) opus SMALL WARS (Their Principles & Practice).

Bobbie (the dog) is purposefully misplaced! (it should be with the 66th!

British “Squares”

Since seeing “The Four Feathers” (1939 version if you please!) film as a child the idea of a British “square” formation has been ingrained in my brain (not that it appears in the film at all but vaguely the idea is there when the Fuzzy-Wuzzies attack at dawn the lone company of Captain Durrance -already blinded by the Sun- and Burrows and Willoughby of course!

The reading many years later of SMALL WARS revealed to me nothing “new” but it is a book I recommend because it is a compendium of “obvious things to do” (but easily forgotten)… it took me a long time to read and digest (meaning that since begun I read and finished a lot of other books) because it was interesting and meticulous. It has been a long time since I recommended a book!

So today I chosed some old pics from my personal Vault to illustrate the point. Maybe when I get the remaining 16 figures from DORSET (sorry IMPERIAL MINIATURES nowadays) I will indulge in a new series with Khaki clad warriors.

Maybe you already have seen them but anyway…

Enjoy!

A Major (later Colonel) in the Artillery… and specially useful if you are a colonial wargamer or buff. Not the edition I’ve got… but that’s the one!

A variation of my first one with Perry’s added to my Old Minifigs.

I even did it with customized Playmobils (75mm).

I used those well known pics on the cover and backcover of my Spanish Second Edition (unavailable because of the I.R.S. that was pesting me every year!… I am not American you kow… and I pay my taxes in Andorra!) So I deleted the books from amazon and that put an end to the harassing.

The second and final English Edition (try ebay if you must)

42mm (Britain’s “B” Scale) by Andrew Stevenson (REPLICA METAL MODEL SOLDIERS)

It was a gift! (It came with an order of 54MM casts you have seen ad nauseam…)

I did paint it between colours on other projects in 54MM… quite pleased with the result… not as pricey as 54MM… and they look smart for the size!

Queen’s Bays (more or less…) for a while I was tempted enough… some would love that scale! (see Graham Hilditch)… It was like the old days when I painted a lot of 25/28MM wargames figures.

I rather keep me in the 54MM lot though (details are easier at my age)… but though to show it here nevertheless.

Enjoy!

NAPOLEON versus Ridley-Scott. 25mm MINIFIGS and a thirty years passion

As it is, with the current NAPOLEON movie creating a bit (or a lot) of disturbance in the pacific waters of History I have decided to refresh this Post from long time ago.

I went to see the movie in a theater, in fact I was invited by my eldest son&family… so I could not decline (I planned to go for the Blu-Ray extended version or director’s cut if it ever is commercialized…). You see… I am a fan of Ridley-Scott movies… since I saw THE DUELISTS!… Blade Runner… Gladiator…Black Hawk Down… are very good too. BUT: one thing is “MOVIES” and the other History (different from actual facts sometimes too often)… I think it is a mistake to judge NAPOLEON by its History standards (which are very much distorted or incomplete)… I am grateful for an epic movie even if it is a bit too dark for my aesthetic taste… Kubrick was not able to do it (to his credit)… and I think it is fairly impossible to resume Napoleon Bonaparte in a 2 or 3 hours film… the period is too long to condense… and if you loose precious footage decapitating Marie-Antoinette etc even worse…

From an strictly cinematic experience it was boring, full of cliches, too many flags and a lovely lass!… would not go to a theater to see it again. It is a pity in a way because it could have been so much better. Would I still buy the Director’s Cur?… of course matter of fact!… KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is much better in that format too!. Joaquim Phoenix can not represent a young Napoleon and a sick Napoleon 25 years later as hard as he tries… not a bad actor… a bad script!… as for the battle sequences any Napoleonic Wargamer will tell you ad nauseam all the mistakes… me included! (but we are a minority… a learned minority perhaps in the napoleonic period… but I confess I am not an expert neither in the Romans (well a bit) or The Crusades (only have read an interesting book about it!). It is the same with the Little Big Horn or Greasy Grass … I own (and have read more than a hundred books about it… I just hope Ridley-Scott does not a film about it!).

My recommendation?… go to see it and judge for yourself!… if not a moderate expert yo will probably enjoy.

More than 200 years… and still present in our collective memory for what it was… a genius (with faults and virtues) and I personally think quite ahead of its time. Nobody seriously studies Napoleon without noticing that it was not exclusively Napoleon fighting offensive wars (mainly) but defending France against old monarchies coalitions because of the ideas (seen as dangerous) of the French Revolution (which has also controversy attached). Of course having a military background (after all he was an Artillery Officer) and following the European tradition that Clausewitz will formulate a posteriori he went to war frequently enough (understatement) as it was the custom in Europe, nowadays he is still remembered for his Civil Code (nearly 200 years of life) and abolishing feudal privileges. He also reinstated slavery in the Caribbean Sea (to his shame). He was not perfect but had a great brain and “je ne sais quoi”.

This post has really a lot of pics!

Napoleonic wargaming was my passion for almost thirty years, in 25mm because I was stupid enough to do not choose 15mm in the first place (minis in the late seventies had no such vast offer and traders… even if MINIFIGS did 15mm too!) so MINIFIGS 25mm (after all I was coming down from plastic 54mm and up from AIRFIX 20MM) I went for… and no regrets, was quite happy with my collection who also extended to other periods and wars (I though it would be very difficult to paint such small figures in 15mm because of the lavish uniforms of the napoleonic wars!).

Was interested for many years (obsessed is a better description) with the battle of Waterloo, could the Emperor have won? In context and after years of reading about it, I arrived at the conclusion that it was a NO WIN – NO WIN situation, it would have been 1813 all over again… with Austrians and Russians and what not invading France which was exhausted… and that’s that.

Have some pics of my years indulging in that particular wargamers fetish. And remember the fact that I painted myself all the Waterloo minis!… LOL

Battling with my little brother… many years from now… yours truly on the left.

Waterloo set on my “wargames room” in fact part of my office!… weekend well employed.

Prussians arriving on the French right flank… 1815. The dark green area was a removable extension of the biggest table at my office.

The British Heavy Cavalry charge. Waterloo 1815.

British “heavy” (in fact medium) Cavalry close up.

French Heavy Cavalry of the Imperial Guard + Cuirassiers on their left.

French Light Cavalry of the Imperial Guard.

French Grand battery (background out of focus)

The fictional South Essex of Cornwell’s Sharpe (see right of pic).

Denmark Infantry. With a change of Command stand they become Swiss…

Austrian Grenadiers, Swedish Infantry and Russian Grenadiers.

Portuguese Line and Light Infantry (Caçadores).

Napoleonic units: early Spanish 1808 , Duchy of Warsaw and Wurtemberg Infantry.

Different Napoleonic units: Kingdom of Naples, Saxons and Bavarians.

After a deep crisis with 25mm wargaming I sold them all. After some years toying with Playmobil (75mm) conversions and quite classical 54mm toy soldier collecting I went back to wargaming but in 6mm this time! (see the other Posts). Cheers

Closing Time! (Meaning the end of other people pics. Only my own work from now on)

I’ve been doing this for years now… and in a way it is quite futile… followers of this Blog must know that from now on Saturdays and Sundays I will not Post as a rule (with exceptions). And this is just the first step… in slowing down.

AND as I have gone over the 500.000 visits mark (including robots)… I am gonna end Posting Facebook pics you can go to Facebook to see for yourself:

Go to Facebook, search for Scott Lesch, Graham Hilditch, Alan Harrison, Gian Lucca Cocchi, Daniel Hodgson, James Opie, Tony Dilley, REPLICA, Andrew Stevenson, Antony Spencer, Imperial Miniatures, Dorset Soldiers, Ducal (or Fort-Ducal), Stuart Asquith, Dan Allen, Donald Featherstone, Daniel Borris, Paul Watson, Tradition of London, RPWorldModels, Baccus, Peter Berry, Dave Mitchell, Bill Horan, John Firth, Roberto Lodoli, Al Fisher, John Clarke, Timothy Hyndman, Paul Griffith, Gavin Holliday, John Clarke, Stefano Allorini, Massimo Vittucci, Alan Green, Steve Snark, Claude Bailey, Bertolini, Howard Whitehouse, Frankowski, Der Alte Fritz, Glenn Robert Pearce, God’s Own Scale, British Bulldog, Steadfast Soldiers, New Buckenham Historical Wargamers, Perry Miniatures, MINIFIGS, Nate Fogt, Alejo Dorca, etc. Groups like: H.G.Wells Little Wars, www.mytoysoldiersandme.com, Playmobil Pictures and Dioramas, 6MM wargaming, W.Britains, Dixon Miniatures, To The Redoubt Miniatures, Perry Miniatures, A Gentleman’s War etc etc etc… Just browse my Posts and then go to Facebook… I am sure some of you already do.

What I intent is just Post my Own Collection or work in this Blog… including Books recommendations or reviews. This transition will go smoothly I guess, it has been a pleasure to entertain you (if I did at all).

Another thing is I want to eliminate the pics I collected but have nothing to do with me… the categories are too crowded as it is and is hard to find things in them… I guess too many info to begin with. So I am in the process of “cleaning up”. Many things I delete are nice pics mind, but as I have said a quick search in Facebook or Instagram will bring them to you.

But the scope of this Blog is turning to a more intimate diary (and no daily entries) and only when I find I have something worth to say IMHO.

Have my Best Regards!

My old Toy Soldiers (Lieutenants Chard & Bromhead) modified and repainted

Those are mine… and as I have told you in “CLOSING TIME” this is what I am going to Post from now on.

After buying painting and displaying the “new” Chard&Bromhead by Dorset Soldiers I did not knew what to do with my “old one’s”… finally I repainted the RPWM Bromhead as an extra officer of Royal Artillery (quite an easy job!)… and kept Chard as it was but he has joined the Royal West Kent (have not decided yet if attached as a Royal Engineer or simply an officer of the RWH.

Enjoy.