More from White Tower Miniatures

 There's a lot more to White Tower Miniatures than the new Mexican Revolution range, Matthew also brought along enough of his "Legends of the West" range to fill an additional two tables:

I've been eying these fine resin copies of the Elastolin composition tipi for some time and couldn't resist the temptation any longer, Matt told me that he kept the original and uses is as a guide to match the colours and style when he paints them, and I think he's really caught the vintage character here.  I've bid on original tipis several times in the past but never been successful so I'm particularly pleased to have picked this one up.  The damaged Chief kneeling, made in Germany by Leyla, was languishing in a junk box, unloved and unwanted, so I felt compelled to rescue him - No toy soldier left behind!

This is a selection of the spare parts offered by White Tower Miniatures, as you can see the castings are very crisp and clean of flash.  The shields and visors are replacement parts for Britains Wars of the Roses Swoppet knights, very useful as these are invariably missing from the originals, I'll be using them on conversions.  The bunchuk with cattle skull is a replacement for the one carried by the Elastolin plastic mounted Mongol.  I can find plenty of uses for the pitchfork, mace and axes which comes from White Tower's own range.

Knowing that I have been steadily building up a Samurai collection for wargaming, Matthew very kindly gifted me these Tamiya figures which he'd found at at car boot sale and thought I might find a use for. Although they are quite delicate it won't take much work to complete them and just look at how much work someone has put into painting the designs on their leggings!  Many thanks Matt.

Lineol, Elastolin etc. 1930's composition toy soldier display.

 Another display has recently made it to the shelves, this time 1930's Composition figures in combat poses, mostly made in Germany but also from France Belgium and Czechoslovakia.

On the left the tinplate vehicles crossing the bridge (Kubelwagen and Schwimmwagen) were made in Czechoslovakia by Gonio in 1992, they are 1/24th scale to match most German composition figures.  They are extremely well detailed with opening doors, folding windshield and accessories such as tools and weapons.  These two Axis vehicles came in different paint schemes for the European theatre, Afrika Korps and Medical variants.  There were also vehicles for the Allies; Willy's Jeep with trailer, Dodge Truck and M3 Half Track. 

In the Centre the attack is in full swing, machineguns give covering fire while the infantry charge home against the Allied trenches.

On the left, just in the nick of time reinforcements arrive to bolster the Allied line.  The cavalry and marching infantry to the rear left were made in Belgium by DURSO while the anti-aircraft gun and heavy trench mortar were made by Solido.

The anti-aircraft MG and loader (bottom right foreground) are in a hollow plaster material were made in France by DC - Domage et Cie, probably the most consistent and prolific of French toy soldier manufacturers.  They produced hollow lead figures from the 1920's and Aluminium under the name ALUDO (ALUminium DOmage) from 1937, during the war years 1939 to 1945 they made the figures shown above in plaster composition as metals were unavailable, post war they resumed production in metal until the early 1950's when they began to phase out the hollow lead range replacing it with acetate plastic figures under the name ACEDO (ACEtate DOmage).  The ALUDO and ACEDO ranges continued to be sold together through the 1950's with the aluminium figures being steadily phased out and ACEDO moving into more modern thermoplastics until production ended in the late 1960's.

Allied planes swoop in to straffe the Pioneers using flamethrowers to assault the Allied trenches.  

Support troops, Engineers and Signals get to work behind the assault units while Luftwaffe troops guard the airfield.  The two Fokker Triplanes are modern tinplate tourist items purchased in Greece and probably made in S.E. Asia, they are rather crude models but fit well with vintage composition figures.

Anti-aircraft fire hits one of the British planes and it crashes in No Mans Land (Elastolin made a very dramatic model of a plane crashing but this one is a modern resin aquarium ornament).

The General Staff observe the action and await reports from the front line, the two sturdy looking officers cameoed in the centre of shot were made by Kienel, a minor German maker who produced a range of high quality distinctive figures.

The tinplate machinegun (left foreground) and anti-tank gun (centre) are good examples of the camouflage pattern and colours used by Elastolin in the mid 1930's.

A pair of British infantry by Lineol drag a tinplate cart with machine gun, the officer behind them, scanning the skies with his binoculars was made by DURSO.

Right foreground, the telephone operator (headless!) and prone Officer with binoculars sheltering behind a log are copies of Elastolin poses made in Czechoslovakia by Durolin.  The large Elastolin explosion beyond them originally contained a small bulb wired to a battery to simulate the effect of the blast. 

There are some other composition figure displays to come; Parade and Bandsmen, Mounted, Medical and Campsite, 1920's and earlier, Wild West, Postwar Warsaw Pact, 54mm and Personalities.  It might just take a while to get around to them all.

Medieval figures on display.

 Slowly getting around to putting figures back on display after they had to be packed away for work on the house a few years ago, a change is as good as a rest and it's good to see them out again.

Medieval figures always add a good splash of colour and and these are some of my favourites, lots of conversions and some will get pulled out from time to time to serve in a wargame but mostly their purpose is to please the eye.  

The Playmobil ship is crewed by Einar and his men from "The Vikings" movie, as portrayed here in plastic by the French firm Ougen, Matt Thair has now produced the set in metal and you can see it here: White Tower Miniatures  

The castle walls and towers are from a Foreign Legion fort gifted to me by another friend Barrie Blood who commissioned it from a chap called John Russell, who exhibited his wargame buildings at the first Plastic Warrior Show and built the Spanish Town shown in the previous post One Hour Wargames - Double Delay

 The fort was built in scale for 54mm toy soldiers and rather large so I solved the storage problem by incorporating it into this display, it should come out without to much difficulty if needed for a wargame.

In the foreground an assortment of figures made in Poland by PZG (Polski Związek Głuchych - The Polish Association of the Deaf), rear right a mounted knight made in Italy by Nardi and Joan of Arc made in France by Starlux.

Two Elastolin siege engines, behind them a group of crossbowmen made in France by RF (Rene Fisher).

Lords and Ladies of the Court, too many to list but included are figures by Elastolin and Starlux with many conversions and also a few chessmen.

More conversions with a resin model of Joan of Arc (mounted) sold in France as a tourist item.

Some folk heroes are dotted around in this corner, including Robin Hood figures made in England by Crescent and Italy by Res Plastics, some of the Wiliam Tell set from REAMSA of Spain (Resinas Artificiales Moldeadas S.A.- Moulded Artificial Resins Ltd.) and yet another Joan of Arc on foot which is a Starlux conversion.

In another corner the musicians and jesters strike up the band.  The larger yellow jester was made in Germany by Heinerle, Manurba, Domplast (take your pick) the smaller one beside him is a ceramic knick knack and the seated piper is a shepherd boy made by Elastolin.

In the foreground a group of crossbowmen made by Res Plastics and offered in Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs, there are four figures each with different styles of armour, pavise and bows.

In the foreground various footmen made by Starlux, behind them Edward The Black Prince is a Starlux conversion made by Vince Mattocks and the mounted knight to his right was made in France by Guilbert.

In the tower are three figures from the Alexander Nevsky set made in Russia at the Progress factory in Moscow, I bought these at the second Plastic Warrior Show back in 1987 from a chap who was importing figures made in the old Iron Curtain countries, I think he was the only dealer at the show that year.  To the right of the standard bearer is the portrait figure of Albrecht Gessler from the William Tell set made in Spain by REAMSA (Resinas Artificiales Moldeadas S.A.- Moulded Artificial Resins Ltd.), this is the later reissue made by Oliver.

You can never have enough archers, the front row kneeling are Starlux behind them are mostly figures by Rene Fisher.

Other plunder from the Plastic Warrior Show 2025

 I've been going a bit overboard with the medievals this past year or so, to the detriment of collecting other historical periods, but I haven't neglected them entirely:

My last sweep of the show turned up these four odds and ends for just £1 each, two late version French Revolutionaries made in France by JIM, a Crescent Russian for my Winter War project and a large resin touristy tat knight, not really my thing but I just loved the pose.

The PW Show has always been as much (if not more) of a social occasion than anything else, for many who attend it's the one day of the year they get to meet face to face with friends they've known for many years and there is often a gifting of figures.

Graham Apperley gave me the first two, a cowgirl on bucking bronco made in USA by Beton (Bergen Toy and Novelty Co) and a Gaucho made in Argentina by EGToys (Ezio Guggiari) who were producing these distinctive figures between 1943 and 1965, 

Michael Mordaunt-Smith gave me the red plastic figure of Jim Hardie from the 1950's American tv series "Tales of Wells Fargo" which he is currently producing from an old mould, the original figure was made in America by Louis Marx but the consensus of opinion is that this is a copy as it is noticeably smaller. 

The 70mm green figure of Sir Gawain was made in Spain and is very similar to, but not a copy, of the figure made by Elastolin for their Prinz Eisenhrz set, based on the Prince Valiant comic strip created in America by Hal Foster. It was given to me by Paul Stadinger (aka Stad) who at one time was the U.S. agent and distributor for Plastic Warrior magazine, and has been attending the show regularly since the 1990's. 

This group above came from Andreas Dittmann another regular long term visitor to the show from Germany, an Elastolin trumpeter, Lineol grenade thrower, a pair of plaster sheep with a lamb and an early post war East German infantryman made in a papiermache/plaster composition mix by P G H Effelder.

My thanks go to Graham, Michael, Paul and Andreas for their kind gifts and the many years of friendship we have shared. 

And finally......this was actually my first purchase of day, an Art Deco Renault tank, carved in wood, roughly in scale for 54mm figures, the consensus of opinion was that it had been manufactured commercially rather than being "shedware".  I'm tempted to paint it, but I won't!

Assorted Ancients now on display.

 Following on from the previous post, here are closeups of the second new shelf.  The shelves are inside a pine wardrobe built into a chimney alcove, long since unfit for purpose but I'm averse to ripping out period features so it now houses toy soldiers and the original doors provide some protection from the dust.

In the background are a group of  Neanderthals made in France by Starlux.  

In front of them are hoplites made in Greece by PAL and later versions made by Athena (Aohna), the easiest way to tell them apart is the earlier PAL figures have a flat square base with no markings underneath while the Athena ones have a sculptured base marked Aohna underneath, the PAL versions also have metal pins attaching their arms.  

In the left foreground are Greeks/Romans made in Italy by Tibidabo (green bases) and to their right are two made in France by Clairet (tan bases)

In the centre, various Roman signifiers by Atlantic, REAMSA, Marx and Elastolin, in front of them are three large rubber figures made in Italy by Xiloplasto.

The large colourful figure in the sentre is one of the Louis Marx Ancient Chinese Warriors.  The large blue Romans beside him are reissues made in Spain by Oliver. 

The two Samurai at rear left were made in Poland by PZG (the Polish Association of the Deaf), in front of them are Ancient Egyptians made in Spain by Jecsan, with more Samurai to the forefront, these ones made in Italy by Res Plastics for Kinder eggs.

A better view of the Res Plastics Samurai, I started picking these up with the intention of creating a wargames army with them but the fiddly parts and loose weapons made them impractical for this, so they are now consigned to the shelf and my Samurai armies are now made up from Technolog, Furuta, gashapon and various kit figures.

In the centre the unpainted Roman and Tribune in red cloak were sculpted by Peter Evans and cast in Resin by Peter Cole (before he set up his company Replicants to make figures in plastic), the idea was that they would make additional poses to go with the Louis Marx Ben Hur playset which had just been reissued from the original moulds by a company in Mexico.  

To their right are two coffee premiums made in Belgium by Cafe Storme.

The four Carolingians marching in the foreground are 45mm solid lead figures made in Germany by Heyde.

The large mounted Roman on the left was originally made France in hollowcast lead by JSF (Jouets Standard Francais), this is a plastic version made form the original mould.  On th right next to him is another mounted Roman, made in Hong Kong it is a copy of a Crescent foot figure on a copy of a Herald horse.

This is the set of four made by Res Plastics for Kinder eggs, they are often described as being Samurai but I am advised (by someone to knows vastly more than I do about ancient armour) that they are in fact Ancient Chinese (they still look like Samurai to me, what do you think?)

Elastolin Bundeswehr from the car boot sale.

 Among the finds at the car boot sale last weekend were these post war composition figures of the German Bundeswehr made by Elastolin, which warrant a post of their own.

The immediate post war production of Elastolin was something of a hybrid, utilising the same "sawdust and glue" composition mixture for the bodies but introducing a new pattern of head made in plastic and wearing an American style M1 helmet.  Elastolin used the same composition bodies with this plastic head and just different painting schemes to depict both Bundeswehr (as shown above) and American GI's for the export market.  Previously the pre war American infantry were made entirely in composition material and wore the British Army style Brodie helmet.  

Elastolin had been using the bodies of their German infantry with separate plug in heads and different painting schemes to depict various contemporary armies since the early 1930's but this was the first instance of them utilising plastic parts.  The flag was the same pattern of tinplate standard that they had been using pre war but was painted in the black, red and gold colours of the national flag of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Elastolin style trenches

 Following on from the previous post, here is a command post I made many years back in the style of the old Elastolin modular trench sections:

For many years (more like decades!) I had been bidding at various auctions on original Elastolin entrenchments but without any success.  It's not that they're rare, they come up all the time, it's just that they are desirable and always sell for silly money.  So I decided to make my own.

Based roughly on an original model from the 1930's the basic structure is formed from polystyrene packing, the whole thing then covered in papier mache and sprinkled with sawdust for texture.  The entrance posts and lintels were provided by the stick from a firework rocket and the steps just cardboard folded into a concertina shape.  The paint scheme follows the original, an overall wash of earth brown with a drybrush of grass green and the odd highlight of drybrushed yellow.

The only problem is storage, the figures are 7cm tall so it's a big old piece of kit and the only place I can find for it at the moment is balancing rather precariously on top on another glass display case!

Plastic Warrior Show 2023

 The PW Show has been running annually since 1985 (2 years COVID lockdown excepted), and on Saturday someone said to me "It pretty much runs itself now doesn't it".  Well, no it doesn't, there are always problems, there are so many things outside of our control, and the Gods love to have fun with mortals who make plans.  This year they had a lot of fun and we had a lot of challenges but the support and camaraderie of the enthusiasts who overcame the travel problems and turned up carried the day.  So if you were one of them, thank you, you're the ones who really make the show.

I always use the show as an opportunity to clear out stuff I no longer need, stuff that has sat in a cupboard unloved, unlooked at and unused for years.  I wanted it when I bought it, perhaps on a whim, or maybe for a project that never came to fruition (plenty of them!), some stuff was just picked up to save it from the skip or the ravages of tiny fingers, whatever.  

The important thing is that it gives someone else some pleasure in acquisition, takes up their storage space and ultimately becomes their problem.  It also frees up space in my cupboards and in my head for me to get more stuff.  This was my haul for the day (plus several bags of Hing Fat WW2 out of the pic), by coincidence I ended the day with as much cash in my pocket as I started it, so in my personal microeconomic view I got all this stuff for nothing.

This is the Garibaldi Red Shirt set made in Italy by Co-Ma, I've only been searching 40 years for them so I expect they'll be turning up all over the place now.  Very similar to Atlantic in style but a bit smaller at about 50mm tall, four of them should have muskets in black plastic, I'll give them Timpo ones.

I do like to see English cavalry in a pillbox cap, this composition figure was made in France by Bon Dufour, badly damaged but condition has never been an issue for me.

Some odds and ends for various collections, a couple of Natives from PZG of Poland, some composition figures gifted from Andreas Dittmann who came over with the collectors from Germany and some French infantry by Toumoulage that will find employment in the International Brigade for my Spanish Civil War project.

I usually try to get lots of photos of the tables to encourage more people to come to the show, this year I didn't really have time to wander around taking pics but here are a few bits that give a flavour of what it's all about.  

When I got home I took a few more pics of the stuff I bought and I'll try to get them posted up over the next few days.

August von Mackensen by Elastolin and Lineol

 I've always liked figures of Hussars and Lancers, light cavalry in general I suppose, and here are three examples of composition personality figures portraying Field Marshal von Makensen from the 1930's.

The first one on the right was made by Elastolin and is showing some deterioration where the wire armature it is built around is rusting and causing the composite material to crack.  Middle also by Elastolin but 2nd quality late production, you can see it is smaller and the paint quality not so good.  On the right is the version made by Lineol which I think is by far the best of the three.