Wednesday 25 March 2015

'So As A Fool Returneth To His Folly'


The large amount of casting metal I have at the moment ( care of 'B' ) has set me thinking of revamping my 54mm Toy Soldier collection . The above box bought cheaply at a car boot sale set me off on the 'home casting' hobby and I've got about 60 + figures cast up and painted .


The original concept was to play with them outside in the garden - as H.G. Wells did, but the combination of the British weather , a new dog and the fear that the neighbours would think me even weirder than they do at present - the project stalled .


I did try a couple of games indoors on my wargaming table but the lack of suitable scenery was a problem .


The figures themselves are I think some of the older Prince August multi part moulds which are the very devil to cast and fit together - needing large amounts of 'Green Stuff' and super glue to construct them .


Then there was the problem of an enemy . The moulds make up a British soldier with a selection of heads ( peaked cap , bearskin etc. ) , so what to do about an opponent for this vaguely Edwardian army ? . Luckily Irregular Miniatures came to the rescue , as they do various separate heads for their 54mm range of figures , so I purchased some heads with 'Picklehaubes' and started forming a German army .


There still remains the problem of suitable terrain , it occurred to me that seeing I was using 'Toy Soldier' type figures I should use stylised 'Toy Soldier' scenery - with a 'Toy Town' feel about it . So I've started making up some , now I hate making scenery ( only slightly worse than painting limbers and teams ) so this will be a testing time but I hope to be able to show some of the results soon .








10 comments:

  1. Wonderful stuff - where did the cannon come from?

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    1. An Antique and Collector Fair - and rather cheap if I remember rightly , Tony

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  2. Sheets of thick mdf or ply cut into squares for contour, and multi coloured building bricks for buildings, as per the original 'Little Wars'.

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    1. Looked into the Brick houses idea - the bricks are rather expensive , but will investigate further , the contour hills I already have , Tony

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  3. Your toy soldier collection is terrific!
    My neighbors would think me very strange if I gamed in the yard.

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    1. The dog is the big problem - would run off with figures and chew them ! , Tony

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  4. You have done an excellent job of the Figures Tony..do like the Royal Artillery. 54mm does have a certain charm. Irregular to the rescue- the Prussians look great too. I'd encourage You to soldier on Tony.....an excellent Project. Regards. KEV.

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    1. The great thing is they paint up very quickly as well , Tony

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  5. Splendid little war indeed- I look forward to seeing more of this project...
    Alan

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