For those who might not have come across them before PZG is the Polski Zwiazek Gluchych (Polish Association of the Deaf) and during the Communist regime they used to run employment schemes, one of which was producing toy soldiers. And extremely good toy soldiers at that, I always pick them up whenever I come across them and I've never been too fussy about condition, these three were long overdue for a bit of attention.
The horn blower had lost his lower legs and base, the other two were just broken off their bases at the ankles, all three had lost their weapons. They've all had their legs pinned and filled with miliput, the hornist will need a bit more reconstruction, don't know why I put him on a round base instead of oblong though, didn't think that through!
The finished items, I matched the original paint as best I could, the double handed axes are accessories for 28mm figures, made by Fireforge Games, and the crossbow is from the Replicants range of Britains swoppet replacement parts.
These look splendid, you have certainly done them proud. PZG are completely new to me and what an interesting back story. I will keep an eye for these from now on.
ReplyDeleteThere is a growing community of collectors in Poland today who have recently staged their firsts national exhibition (it was even featured on Polish TV), they have a couple of Groups on Facebook which are worth taking a look at.
DeleteA wonderful job of restoration Brian! The paint looks to be spot on as well! I've always been a big fan of the PZG Napoleonic figures! I did hear a funny rumor about PZG. I was told that they used old ground up plastic toilet seats as the source for their plastic! It's probably due to the fact that the plastic they used was always white!
ReplyDeleteNot so much a rumour Brad, PZG made a vast range of domestic household products and offcuts or surplus materials were never wasted, this reconstituted plastic was very dense and can be brittle but on the whole PZG figures are much more robust today than the softer plastics produced in Western Europe.
DeleteAnd they weren't alone, in the early days of Zang/Herald they had difficulty sourcing plastics and used to buy up the blanks left after spoons and forks had been punched out of plastic sheet, grind the sheets down and feed them into their first injection moulding machine.
Thank you for all of this great information Brian! I always love to learn more about toy soldiers in any form, plastic or metal!
DeleteBrian, some nice restoration work there, and a plastic crossbowman is always useful. Most of mine are those cheap Chinese (kneeling/firing) figures, got twenty now, but sometimes they are missing or few in proportion when you buy a bag. Your converted 8th Army crossbowmen was a clever move!
ReplyDeleteMichael
Thanks Michael, crossbowmen do seem to be very underrepresented in the toy soldier world and the cheapo Chinese ones are a very welcome addition. The 8th Army conversions to crossbowmen were made for me by a friend, Peter Evans, who originally made them for an enormous diorama of the Siege of Rochester Castle that he was commissioned to make for the museum there.
Deletebyły trzy serie po sześć sztuk średniowiecznych wojów: piesi wojowie, piesi pancerni oraz kusznicy
ReplyDeleteThank you for the information jjszczepan, for the benefit of those who don't speak Polish here is what he said: "there were three series of six medieval warriors: foot soldiers, foot soldiers and crossbowmen"
Delete