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It is not laziness from me at all… but sometimes I think they deserve a pic… after all they are the reason behind this Blog.
Guess which is the only one painted by me… lol
The rest are Andrew Stevens work.
Enjoy!
Some of mine for a change!
Work in progress and finished!
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OMG! getting out of lead to paint again!… UK Postal Strikes!… yipee!… what else can go wrong I ask?
REPLICA figures painted by Andrew Stevens (much better painter than me) used as “models”… sometimes I think I am a silly ass and should have concentrated in other model like Brigitte Bardot if you know what I mean… my only consolation is that my collection of models do not age up…
Will add pics this afternoon of the job finished.
Enjoy!
Dorset/Imperial “new” castings
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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.
New Home
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It was not easy to transport this part of my 54mm collection but it was worth the effort believe me!
After all I am going to play one against the other, and game them alone too (one at a time) depending on scenarios.
Enjoy!
Improving sets with bits&pieces (edited 2025)
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Sometimes perfection needs a bit of variety… meaning that the REPLICA set was great but strangely enough the 4 gunners where a bit repetitive… 4 gunners in the same instance or attitude made 8 for a battery… so… with the passing of time I become obsessed by their looks and finally decided to add ramroads and bullets to them… see second pic. It was just a matter of ordering some bits&pieces to IMPERIAL/DORSET miniatures… and glue them on.
Now they look much better in my collection I guess… same to be done to an Indian Raj Battery (Only the bullets). There, now you know what obsessive collecting is… at least mine!
Enjoy!
See spare arm with colour
More from IMPERIAL/DORSET MINIATURES
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Since a very young child I was a fan of P.C.Wren, yes I was able to read at a very young age… since then The BEAU GESTE trilogy (in fact five books and some short stories here & there) influenced my taste for toy soldiers and have collected them in all kind of scales (see elswhere in this Blog). In 54mm my DORSET collection precedes the REPLICA BRITISH 2nd AFHGAN WAR at least a couple of decenies… influenced by A GENTLEMAN’S WAR wargame rules (Howard Whitehouse) I am nowadays squaring the collection into 12 minis units to fight each other (for fun and tweaking the rules a bit). Of course the minis are not only used for AGW… a lot of scenarios can be played with each Army alone… more of that one day.
I let you with two recent additions by Antony Spencer head of design at IMPERIAL/DORSET (and ALL THE QUEEN’S MEN too I guess).
Enjoy!
IMPERIAL/DORSET SOLDIERS Castings
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I was rather laconic yesterday (health issues)… nothing to worry about too much I guess. It is not always fun to be seventy.
Today I will show you what excellent service means… You ask for some French Foreign Legion castings with a detailed note explaining what you want… then Antony from IMPERIAL/DORSET SOLDIERS takes the trouble to send you the pics of them TO BE SURE the match is OK.
You can not ask for more!
I will be back buying from them in a monthly basis… already other orders are on the pipeline. You can not have a better deal!
Enjoy!
Cabinet reorganization (one of several… time after time)
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It was a necessity… specially for the small cabinet… the “TOKIO Tube look” is gone… so are The French Foreign Legion and the late British Empire (Kkaki)… gone to my old office to play A GENTLEMAN’S WAR with them…
So there you have it, the part of the collcetion in action stances is gone back to wargaming in Andorra la Vella… and the “ceremonial part” stays in Pal.
About time if you understand me. Yesterday afternoon it was a lot of work putting the Toy Soldiers in boxes to be moved and reorganizing the display on the small cabinet… the whole of six shelves was “gone”… but the result is satisfactory… I was already told once in Facebook that my figures needed space to “breathe”… alea jacta est.
Enjoy!
Collecting Toy Soldiers (III)
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Updated December 2020.
It required time, but they are in the cabinet at last. I did found Andrew Stevenson line of Traditional Toy Soldiers in FaceBook, his trade mark is REPLICA METAL MODEL SOLDIERS (or simply REPLICA). They are quite Britain’s style but brand new, meaning no Antiquarian prices (or “oldies” look without lead rot and chipping). I can recommend his products because I am really satisfied. I always wanted a range like that and he really adapts himself to your bespoke needs (in fact so well that another order is on the way I fear!).
It was a long wait but worth the time, as usual I could not stop there and passed another order for some odds and ends and some Corps of Guides units (after a while I added Gurkhas and Highlanders too!). THAT would hopefully stop my collecting in 54mm for a while… if you do not count 5 SPAHIS I am asking for at Dorset Soldiers on the 1st of September.
It must be puzzling for some of the readers that I collect in 54mm and wargame mainly (when I do) in 6mm… but that is that.
After years waiting for them the officer of Spahis will get troops to command!, the parcel with 5 SPAHIS is on the post. I was very late on deciding to add them to my collection (after all at some point of their history they rebelled and killed their French Officer’s… similar to the Indian Mutiny but other times and reasons…)… a colourful outfit no doubt about it… but mainly because Henri de Beaujolais was an officer of Spahis… you must be careful with what you read when very young… Dorset Soldiers under a new management (Antony Spencer) after Giles Brown retired.
Well, BTW excellent packaging, boxes, DHL, terms and time elapsed from command until arrival… everything went without a hitch. Customer satisfied. Will buy again from Dorset Soldiers.
The two pics above are from a megaset titled NAVAL BRIGADE, for once it is not mine at all (sadly… lol)… but could not resist posting the pics on the blog. That shows that collecting 54mm toy soldiers is alive and kicking. Andrew REPLICA Metal Model Soldiers. Someone must be very happy with this set!
Collecting Toy Soldiers (II)
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Not that it is very easy this days to find what you need or want, so the core of this post is just to praise the excellent comms and service provided by Replica Metal Model Soldiers Andrew Stevenson.
Andrew Stevenson is a one man band and has a full daytime job and of course a family… so do not expect him to be FAST! (not shouting it is just emphasis)… but oh boy!… well worth the wait.
For those asking themselves about the officer I already had that one. They mix very well with the scale of Britain’s (of course) and particularly ok with Dorset Soldiers.
This is a part of my hobby I do not indulge a lot anymore due to lack of space in the cabinets… but I manage to squeeze in something now and then.
Got 6mm Baccus Chasseurs d’Afrique and Spahis -thanks to Igor (now retired) who suggested the proxies for the later-
