Irish sea raiders were pillaging the coast of Saxon Britain long before the Vikings arrived, they later opposed the Viking incursions into Ireland and continued fighting alongside anyone who would pay them until well after the Normans appeared on the scene. So a useful addition to any Dark Ages collection, sadly nobody ever made 54mm toys soldiers depicting Kerns or Gallowglass, so I gave them my own twist:
When I have a little money, I buy Toy Soldiers; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes. (with apologies to:) ERASMUS
Friday 15 September 2023
Irish Warband
Friday 1 September 2023
Shell craters
Feeling the need for some crafting therapy I cast around the projects I've started over the years but left unfinished, there were plenty to choose from.
Already feeling better for having achieved something.
Thursday 28 April 2022
More of the new display
I've been wondering which figures to display on the extra shelves I added to my IKEA display cabinet, this is what I've come up with so far:
Monday 14 June 2021
King Richard the Lionheart
A recent acquisition, and one I've been after for a long time, is this figure of King Richard the Lionheart as a crusader, made by Cherilea. It's made in hollowcast lead and has been repainted, but quite sympathetically, so I can live with that, what a shame they never made him in plastic.
Saturday 7 November 2020
Highlanders, Cherilea and Replicants toy soldiers
Some time ago I thought it would be a good idea to start a Jacobite collection, I gathered together what figures I had to hand and started painting but somewhere along the line the project just ran out of steam. Since then they've been sitting in a display case amongst my other C18th armies, until last week when the need to free up space meant they had to find a new home. while they were out I thought I'd take a few pics, and here they are:
Monday 10 February 2020
Milliput or Green Stuff?
Getting back to the Green Stuff, I found it easy to mix and easy to apply but it hardens much faster than Milliput so you have to work fairly quickly, I wasn't expecting that and I don't see how some modellers on other blogs can do such extensive and intricate work using it. I guess it's a bit of a learning curve but on balance I think I still prefer the Milliput.
This lot would never win any prizes in a modelling competition (not that I go in for that sort of thing) but I think I'll get away with it when they're all mixed into a horde on the wargame table. At the end of the day it's all just a bit of fun...……..isn't it?
Wednesday 17 October 2018
Vintage Cherilea Marlborough
Cherilea have a well deserved reputation for producing some of the most poorly sculpted and anatomically challenged figures in the entire world of Toy Soldiers, but it wasn't always the case. Back in the 1930's Wilfred Cherrington, a co-founder of Cherilea, worked with the gifted figure sculptor Richard Courtenay and produced the moulds for his early series of medieval knights (Greenhill, Old Toy Soldier Newsletter 1987). Influence of some sort must have played between the two men as Courtney's early foot figures are very toy like while Cherilea later produced a short range of very fine figures known as the "Baronial Series"
The Baronial Series only ran to three figures, described in the catalogue as:
M1. 15th Century Knight in Gothic Armour
M2. John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
M3. Edward the Black Prince
For some reason the figure of Marlborough came with the horse and sword designed for the Black Prince, I wonder why they did that? I always thought the figure looked a bit over sized for this horse but both are nice sculpts. Alongside the Cherilea figure is an Infantry Officer of the period made by Tradition, this is a modern white metal collectors figure.
The M1 knight (often called the Great Helm Knight) was also made in plastic from the original hollowcast moulds but sadly Marlborough and the Black Prince never made that transition. I don't believe in being prissy with my toys so this Marlborough will be taking his place on the wargames table just as soon as I get his troops painted up.