Memoir 44 - Battle of Carpiquet in 54mm part 2

As part of Operation Windsor of 4th July 1944 the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade advanced from the Normandy bridgehead to capture the airfield outside the village of Carpiquet and this is the scenario that Anthony and I chose to play using 54mm toy soldiers and the Memoir 44 game system devised by Richard Borg.

The Canadian armour advances, this game system is very much about the tanks, they have great mobility and firepower but their full potential can only be exercised in open country, their effectiveness is much diminished against troops in cover.

On the German left wing, infantry of both sides move cautiously forward, probing and making maximum use of terrain for cover.

The two panzer units on the German right wing have elite status, which gives them a marginal edge in tank on tank combat, they launched an all out attack and made short work of the opposing Shermans

Infantry have great resilience when in cover, several times the defenders were forced out of their positions but quickly regrouped and returned to the fray.

The Allied armour eventually broke out of the bocage but by then the panzers had command of the open ground and there was nothing for it but to fall back.

The game was fast paced and the outcome played out very similar to the original action in 1944, from that point of view we judged it to have worked well.  Visually it was nice to see the Britains Deetail figures on the table and six figure units looked about right but I think we need to work on the representation of built up areas (which I feel is an issue with grid based games) and perhaps some explosive blast markers.  It lasted about an hour and a half.

Elsewhere, the latest issue of Plastic Warrior magazine arrived in the post this morning (see PW link in column on the left), the Woking Games Day is being held this Saturday (for details see the Little Wars Revisited link in the column on the left) and we also have the London Toy Soldier Show coming up on the 30th March, so a busy few weeks ahead.

A few of last year's finds

Rather late in the day but I just came across more pics of some figures I got at last year's Plastic Warrior Show.  I didn't take a table last year because I felt in need of a big spend up on toy soldiers and you just can't do that with the same reckless abandon when you've got to look after a stall. I bought heaps of stuff, stocking up on fodder for conversions which I won't bore anyone with, so here are just a couple of the less usual bits:

This is the original plaster form for the mould of a Charbens red Indian which never went into production.  It's very difficult to visualise the finished product from looking at the inverse impression in the mould so the chap who sold it to me had made a metal casting to see what the figure would have looked like,

These plasters came from the estate of John Riccardini who had worked as a freelance designer for several UK toy manufacturers, principally Charbens, these are red Indian legs from the Timpo swoppet range. These plaster forms were first cast around the master figure and would then be sent to the foundry where they would then be copied in brass, fine detail would be engraved into the brass to finish the mould and the plaster could be discarded. I have several original brass moulds but these are the only plasters I have ever had. I only met Mr Riccardini once and he was a very nice chap, he engraved his name into one of these moulds, I suppose to assert his intellectual rights, which is a nice touch, I wish I'd made more effort to stay in touch with him. Too late, another missed opportunity to learn from the people who made the toys.

A mounted Roman officer made in France by JSF (Jouets Standart Francais), originally made in hollowcast lead, this plastic version has a high plaster content and is starting to deteriorate but happily is still all in one piece. 

Another figure from JSF from a series of French army off duty, it's a very large set with many unusual poses but quite hard to find and very sought after when they do turn up.

Well that's it until after the PW show next week, I thought it was time I did a post about proper toy soldier collecting as this blog has become rather 54mm wargaming heavy of late, but as that has always been the prime focus for my collecting activity it will probably continue to be the direction that this blog takes.

Good hunting!

Plastic Warrior Show 2018

For those that don't already know, or who are searching the web for information on the UK Toy and Model Soldier Show, more commonly referred to as the Plastic Warrior Show 2018, it will be held on Saturday 12th May 2018. 

The venue is: The Harlequin Suite at the Winning Post Inn Chertsey Road, Twickenham, TW2 6LS.  Doors open to General Public from 10.30 (there is no earlybird entry).  Link to website: http://www.fayre-square.com/pub/winning-post-whitton-twickenham/c0487/ 

  This will be our 5th year at this venue and it has proved popular with dealers and collectors. There are a just a couple of tables left before it's sold out so this year looks like it will be a bumper event with many collectors taking space to shift some of their surplus.  Travel information and directions are at the bottom of this post.

If you've never been before here's a taster of last year's show:

A boxed Cherilea 7th Cavalry and Indians set, the buckboard and canoe are quite hard to find and I don't think I've ever seen that tepee before.

While primarily a show for collectors of old plastic toy soldiers there are plenty of accesories and recent manufactured figures for the 54mm wargamer.  This table had a model of Rorkes Drift and a whole Wild West town for sale.

All sorts of unusual bits and pieces here, the show attracts traders and collectors from all over Europe and beyond offering figures we otherwise don't get to see so often in England.

A large part of the fun is rummaging through all the cheapo junk boxes.

You never know what will turn up.

The show is primarily for for 54mm plastic figures but there is also usually plenty of 1/72 stuff and even a bit of Action Man stuff slips in, so if you fancy a little wallow in nostalgia you should go along and treat yourself to a few new toys.

Travel Directions to the Plastic Warrior Show 2018. London Toy Soldier Show.

From Outside London take M25, M3, A316, go over one roundabout and entrance to the winning Post is after 500 metres on your left.  From Inner London, after Richmond Circus follow A316 and continue straight on over 3 roundabouts.  You will pass the Winning Post on your right.  At the next roundabout take the 4th exit and entrance to the Winning Post will be on your left after 500 metres.

FREE PARKING.  There is extensive free parking at the site and in the residential roads behind the Winning Post, The Harlequin Suite is to the right of the main building.

By Public Transport.  From Central London and the South of England by overground train (South West Trains) from Waterloo or Clapham Junction to Whitton Station.  There are 8 trains an hour and the journey time is approx. 30 minutes, this is a loop line so 4 trains an hour run from two different platforms at Waterloo Station.   From the North of England by train to London arriving at Kings Cross St. Pancras or Euston. take the London Underground Victoria line just 6 stops to Vauxhall and change for South West Trains to Whitton Station as above.   Whitton Station is just 3 minutes walk from the Winning Post - turn left out of the station past Jubilee Avenue and Pauline Crescent, the next turning on your left is the entrance to the Winning Post.

At the time of writing (16.03.2018) there are no planned Engineering Works on this line.

Should you wish to take the London Underground to Richmond as in previous years, the easiest thing is to change platform and take a South West Train service to Whitton Station as above (4 trains an hour from Richmond, journey time 8 minutes).  Alternatively you could get a black cab or a H22 bus from the taxi rank and bus stop outside the station.

Oyster cards are accepted on all London Underground lines, buses and South West Trains to Whitton Station.

The Winning Post Inn opens from 08.00 to 11.00 serving breakfast or coffee for those who arrive early, the pub serves drinks from 11.00 and Lunches from 12.00.  There is a cashpoint on site but Whitton town center with a full range of shops and banks is just 3 minutes walk from the hall.  Within the Winning Post complex is a Premier Inn travel hotel for those who want to break their journey and stay overnight. 

Plastic Warrior Show 2015

The 30th UK Toy and Model Soldier Show, better known as the Plastic Warrior Show will be held on Saturday 23rd May 2015

Please note it will be at the New Venue that we used last year.

The Harlequin Suite at the Winning Post Inn Chertsey Road, Twickenham, TW2 6LS.  Saturday 23rd May 2015, doors open to General Public from 10.30.  Link to website: http://www.fayre-square.com/pub/winning-post-whitton-twickenham/c0487/

Travel Directions.

By Car.  From Outside London take M25, M3, A316, go over one roundabout and entrance to the Winning Post is after 500 metres on your left.  From Inner London, after Richmond Circus follow A316 and continue straight on over 3 roundabouts.  You will pass the Winning Post on your right.  At the next roundabout take the 4th exit and entrance to the Winning Post will be on your left after 500 metres.

FREE PARKING.  There is extensive free parking at the site and in the residential roads behind the Winning Post, The Harlequin Suite is to the right of the main building.

By Public Transport.  From Central London and the South of England by overground train (South West Trains) from Waterloo or Clapham Junction to Whitton Station.  There are 8 trains an hour and the journey time is approx. 30 minutes, this is a loop line so 4 trains an hour run from two different platforms at Waterloo Station.   From the North of England by train to London arriving at Kings Cross St. Pancras or Euston. take the London Underground Victoria line just 6 stops to Vauxhall and change for South West Trains to Whitton Station as above.   Whitton Station is just 3 minutes walk from the Winning Post - turn left out of the station past Jubilee Avenue and Pauline Crescent, the next turning on your left is the entrance to the Winning Post.

Late news: There are no engineering works scheduled for 23rd May on South West Trains but the District Line underground will not be running between Turnham Green and Richmond (there will be a bus replacement service)

Should you wish to take the London Underground to Richmond as in previous years, the easiest thing is to change platform and take a South West Train service to Whitton Station as above (4 trains an hour from Richmond, journey time 8 minutes).  alternatively you could get a black cab or a H22 bus from the taxi rank and bus stop outside the station.

Oyster cards are accepted on all London Underground lines, buses and South West Trains to Whitton Station.

The Winning Post Inn opens from 07.00 to 11.00 serving breakfast or coffee for those who arrive early, the pub serves drinks from 11.00 and Lunches from 12.00.  There is a cashpoint on site but Whitton town center with a full range of shops and banks is just 3 minutes walk from the hall.  Within the Winning Post complex is a Premier Inn travel hotel for those who want to break their journey and stay overnight.  Link to website:http://www.premierinn.com/en/hotel/TWIWIN/twickenham-stadium

Plastic Warrior Show 2014

Well, as I said in an earlier post, the Plastic Warrior Show is over for another year and I am late in getting around to commenting on it so here are a few pics I snapped to give a flavour of the event:

A Roman marching fort (from Hadrian's Wall?), it looks like an upscale of the Airfix 1/72 model much beloved in my youth.  There is an article on the building of this fine piece in the latest issue of Plastic Warrior magazine.

One of the rather more organised tables.  PW is a fairly small show, relatively speaking, with rarely more than 60 sellers and over the years has resolutely resisted the temptation to expand in order to specialise in old plastic toy soldiers (from 1/72 to 12") exclusively.  It is a place where most tables are taken by collectors looking to turn out their spare or unwanted items so you never know what is going to turn up.

This table is more typical of the eclectic mix, piled haphazardly box on top of box, it is a burrowers cornucopia.

It's always worth a look under the table too!

A rather nice old zoo made by Binbak, the entrance gatehouse has a revolving turnstile which I thought was a nice touch.  Behind that some Marx 12" WW2 British infantry, only issued in the UK and not seen very often, complete sets of the 12" WW1 French infantry and Highlanders had already sold by the time I got my camera out.

I didn't catch the name of who made this rather fine circus train but I think it is French, anyone from the Soldat Plastique 1/32 forum able to help with this?

The star of the show as far as I was concerned was this boxed Cherilea Cleopatra set.  Previously I've only ever seen a smaller boxed set containing just the Egyptian figures with the sphinx (lower left and  right) but the palm trees are a nice addition as is the pet cheetah.

A close up on the cheetah, I think it's actually the lioness from the zoo set but with a bit of chain wrapped around it's neck and spots painted on, now that's what I call adding value!

That's all from the show till next year folks.

Plastic Warrior Magazine hits 30 and I have a late life crisis.

At the weekend the latest issue of Plastic Warrior Magazine hit my doormat, I opened the cover and browsed the contents which are headed by a statement "The original plastic figure magazine first published in 1985" and then it hit me this means PW has now been in continuous uninterrupted publication for 30 years.  That has to be some kind of a milestone, there aught to be a party at the very least.  I remember the excitement of receiving the very first issue and the magazine has been a constant element for more than half of my lifetime.  But where have all those years gone?  I don't feel any different now from then but I see myself in a recent photo and I could be looking at a picture of my Dad and it all happened in the blink of an eye!

It's okay just a momentary wobble, here's the latest issue:

Inside you'll find: News, Views and Other Stuff, an in-depth research of Britains Eyes Right U.S. Sets, a look at the collection of one of the readers, an interview with new manufacturer Austin Miniatures, Readers Letters, Book Review - Spot On models, Elastolin 40mm siege engines and artillery etc. New Products - from Pvblis, A Call to Arms, Armies in Plastic, Pegasus and Expeditionary Force.  Converters Corner: the Brooklyn Red Legs from the ACW.  A review of plastic models of Napoleon.  Minor Makers - VP Boxed Set. Wot The !&*$? identification of readers unknown figures.  Media Models - featuring the work of Joe Black. and last but not least Readers Small Ads.

Posts have been sparse this past nine months as I have been back at work, a simple, undemanding 9 to 5 job which I assured myself would not affect my work/life balance.
Alas this is not working out as planned........... ho-hum.

New Replicants figures at the Plastic Warrior Show May 2013

The annual Plastic Warrior Show was held on May 4th 2013 and it has become something of a tradition for Replicants to launch new product at this event each year, this time around they had ten new figures and here they are:

The new Replicants figures, painted, on their stall at the PW Show, the photo didn't come out that great so clearer pics are below.  Back left are four Culloden Scots, back right two ACW and front centre four new medieval knights with the existing figure of Simon de Montfort that they were made to accompany.

The four new Jacobite Scots, executed in true swashbuckling poses full of action and originality.  Sculpted by Peter Cole who constantly strives to defy and confound the limitations imposed on producing figures from a two part mould, the chap clubbing with rifle is probably my favourite and the one with two pistols is straight out of the old Rob Roy comic strip. 

Along with the previous four Replicants in this series, the six Cherilea highlanders and a clutch of various AWI militiamen that will stand in as lowland Scots I have about thirty figures ready to portray the Jacobites for the expanding C18th project, and that's before delving into the realm of conversions, so this interest is beginning to gather it's own momentum, much encouraged by this: 

The Battle of Culloden in 54mm as portrayed by Dirk Donvil's Belgian group PMCD Mobilisatie.  Enjoy.

Actually I would prefer to be directing my attention towards the Jacobite Rising in Ireland but I don't think the figures above would fit the bill and I can't find  anything much in the way of uniform sources.  Anyone out there able to give me a steer in the right direction?

The four C13th knights to go with the previously issued figure of Simon de Montford at the Battle of Lewes in the 2nd Barons War.  Great animation, the bases are sculptured in the style of the old Britains "Wars of the Roses" knights, which has become something of a signature for Replicants figures.

No extra photos of the new ACW standing and kneeling figures, I didn't get them because frankly I am awash with such poses, but there must be a big demand for them or they wouldn't have bothered to bring them out.  The two figures are suitable for either side and look very similar to earlier Replicants/Marksman issues.  All Replicants figurees are distributed by Steve Weston's Plasticsoldiers

Other new figures at the Plastic Warrior Show were a range of Marlburians sculpted by Mr Len Cooksey of Ivanhoe figures, moulded in resin.  Sadly I can't show you them because by the time I'd battled my way through to his stall they were all sold out!  No doubt they will reappear at the London Show in June (but sadly I may not be able to attend this)

Amongst many other things I picked up a couple of sets of Barzo Conquistadors for a C16th/Wars of Religion project that has been simmering away for a while now, the musketeers and crossbowmen will be useful but the rest of the poses are a bit odd and will need some work before they see the light of day again. 

And finally..............a gratuitous shot of tables groaning under the weight of plastic. 

The Plastic Warrior Show moved to a new venue this year just a couple of miles up the road from Richmond, West London, where it has been held for the past twenty years (yes it really has been that long) and there was a fair bit of anxiety about how the new site would be received.  Happily it seems to have gone down very well with the dealers and attendance through the door was way up on previous years, so our fears about people finding the place were groundless.  In addition to the horde of Continental European dealers and collectors who made it (far to many to mention individually), we welcomed Ron Barzo and Jim McGough, Paul and Laurie Stadinger all from the U.S.A. and Brenton Hoffman all the way from Australia. 

In fact there was only one person who complained that the new venue was too difficult to get to and he had come all the way from.................. you guessed it.  London!  

See y'all next year folks.

Plastic Warrior Show 2013

The 28th UK Toy and Model Soldier Show, better known as the Plastic Warrior Show will be held on Saturday 4th May 2013 at a new venue, the Winning Post, which is about a 5 minute drive from the old hall which will be closed until September 2014 for redevelopment.  Full details of the show and travel directions are on the new Plastic Warrior blog here: Plastic Warrior

This show is generally considered to be the premier event for collectors and wargamers of 54mm plastic toy soldiers with dealers attending from all over Europe and the Americas,  vintage and modern plastic figures in smaller scales HO/OO are also included.  In the past this event has also been used by manufacturers such as Replicants, Barzo and Armies in Plastic etc. to showcase new products.

New Armies in Plastic at Plastic Warrior Show - May 2012

Showcased at the Plastic Warior Show were some new items from Armies in Plastic, artillery for the American Revolution and War of 1812 ranges.  The figures are not new but the guns are, a howitzer and a mortar plus a bonus - there was some spare room on the mould so they have made a small "dragon head" barrel which can be fixed to either of these guns to turn them into Chinese Boxer Rebellion cannon. 

Also on show were the Camel Corps artillery with figures in red plastic, I was just about to embark on the conversion of some camel borne artillery for my Funny Little Wars Turkish army so these will save me the bother.  In the bottom right of the picture you can also just aboout make out the new trench sections AIP plan to produce, they are made of foam and come in modular form so you can make a line of trenches as long as you like.

And here's the man who makes them, Tony Ciccorello (hope I've spelt that right) of Armies in Plastic.

Seen at the Plastic Warrior Show - May 2012

Now that I feel suitably recovered from the exertions of the day here are a few of the photos I took at the Plastic Warrior Show last weekend:

This rather fine mounted Saracen made in France by JIM was on the stall of Belgian collector Daniel Lepers, shame about the horse's tail though.

The joy of attending a show is the plethora of boxes to rummage through.

Even bigger boxes, plenty of raw materiel for collectors building armies or making conversions.

And then some good stuff

At the start of the show these shelves were full, you can see from the gaps that by the time I got my camera out nearly half had been sold by collector Joe Bellis.  Click on the picture to enlarge then click again and you will see:

Top row - bartender and gambler with derringer pistol from the Cherilea Western Bar Brawl set.

Second row - Large scale (65/70mm) Lone Star Indians, these have swoppet heads, looks like the whole set here.

Third row - The Cherilea Great Helm Knight, originally made in hollow cast lead as part of the Baronial Series, the mould for the horse was modified for the plastic version to make it a rearing rather than charging pose, also I have never seen the plastic version with the knights helm so I suspect they dispensed with it.

Fourth row - Four Monarch Highlanders (two each with double handed sword and claymore and buckler shield) which I mentioned recently in the post about Monarch Conquistadors, a Speedwell FFL, a Trojan WW2 Australian and at the end a Britains ECW roundhead.

Fifth row - A couple of the rare Crescent 65mm Mohicans, a Cherilea Davy Crockett, seven Timpo Cossacks - very hard to find these undamaged, Charbens FFL officer and another of the Trojan Australians.

Bottom row - Crescent mounted Arabs, FFL and First World War British Cavalry, the foot figures are two Cherilea Nubians, a prone Japanese machine gunner from Trojan (hard to see), a very rare Cherilea Indian firing a bow - previously made in hollow cast lead and finally a Cherilea Davy Crockett.

Plastic Warrior Show - 5th May 2012.

The 27th Annual Plastic Warrior show will be held on 5th May 2012 at:

The Queen Charlotte Hall, Richmond Adult and Community College, Parkshot, Richmond, TW9 2RE (the usual venue)

Doors open 11.00

The Plastic Warrior anniversary souvenir figures.

Can we really have been doing this for 27 years?  I have attended every one and remember the first one like it was only yesterday, it was so bad that there very nearly wasn't a second one.  The Show was the brainchild of Peter Evans who booked the hall, arranged tables, did the advertising and roped in the dealers, his Mum made sandwiches and tea for the refreshment stall. 

There were only four dealers but they were big names on the London collectors scene at the time: Seamus Wade, Peter Flataus, Bill Kingsman and Roy Lemon, they all normally dealt in old lead but acquired some plastics when they bought up collections, it was good of them to take the time out to support us.  They sold the plastics very cheap and by the end Seamus was begging people to take them for nothing so he didn't have to carry anything home.

Several of us put on displays of our collections, a big feature of the early PW shows were wargames and "the fight".  Ross Perry (whose Dad had written two books on 54mm wargaming) put on a massive medieval castle siege game, it looked magnificent but took so long to set up there was no time to play it.  "The fight" was a reenactment, usually some sort of duel or personal combat. in this first one Peter and a chap called Bob Chitson dressed up in chainmail and helmets then went at each other with broadswords.  Their ferocity was actually quite frightening to watch, when Peter bludgeoned Bob around the head we all just stared on in a terrified mesmeric awe.......... an ambulance was called and Bob was taken to hospital with concussion.

My contribution was to man the door and take the entry fees, not too onerous a task as only four people turned up, I had taken my new rather enthusiastic young girlfriend along with me for the day, she dumped me shortly after this.  One of the exhibitors had brought along models which had featured in Don Featherstone's book "Skirmish Wargames" there was an amazing two storey western saloon, a pirate ship and a Peninsular War Spanish town, at the end of the show he didn't want to take them home, Ross took the first two but couldn't squeeze the town into his car and convinced me to take it rather than see it go on a skip. 

When the curtain came down we divied up Peter's Mum's unsold sandwiches and headed out into the dank North London dusk only to find that half the cars had been vandalised.

It had not been a success, we all agreed that, but Peter assured us this always happened with a first show and next year would be better and, of course, he was right.  With a highly sceptical team in tow Peter went ahead and arranged the second show, he managed to get some prime time coverage on Danny Baker's TV show and PW has never looked back.

The Figures

By the tenth show we had already imported remoulds of Marx figures from Mexico and Dulcop's from Italy so had some feel for the collectors retail market.  Peter Cole had been making figures in resin for some time but the process was slow and the materials made them too costly, he thought he had found a way to make short runs of plastic figures that would be reasonably affordable and we agreed to back him.  As an experiment we commisioned him to make a figure to celbrate the 10th PW show.  Herald had made a set of four infantrymen standing at attenetion, a highlander in glengary, sikh, guardsman and modern infantry in beret, we felt there should also have been a boer war infantryman in khaki and putees so that's what we went for.  The experiment worked, in fact it was a great success and from the techniques learned the firm of Replicants was born, we were so excited about it none of us noticed that we'd made the figure with his rifle in the wrong hand.

By the time the 20th show came around Peter Cole's firm Replicants was firmly established and didn't need us to sponsor a figure but he made one anyway, a war correspondent from the American Civil War, quite fitting really.  Last year Ron Barzo came over from the US and brought with him a supply of his own souvenier figure, a lady pirate brandishing a cutlass and quite fetching she looks too!  Will there be more such figures to follow?  Who knows, my next post will be after the show so we'll see what turns up.

Latest Plastic Warrior and Figuren Magazines out now

The postman recently brought me the latest issues of Plastic Warrior and figuren magazines.

Plastic Warror issue number 147 has articles on: Marx Guardsmen, Cherilea Diddy Men, Expeditionary Force - a new manufacturer of 40mm dark ages plastic figures for wargaming, Cherilea Commandos, Canadian Timpo boxes, Elastolin copies, Herald ballet dancers, Readers letters and adverts, New product review, Horses and horsepower, Test shots, Stad's Stuff and poplar Plastics update.

There's a lot in there and it's all in colour now, also you can now subscribe thrugh Paypal.  The Plastic Warrior show will be on 5th May, more details in my next post.

Figuren Magazin issue number 1/2012 has articles on: Military inflatable boats, Elastolin tinplate machine gun, Marklin artilery and limber, Kampfpanzerwagen V111 Maus, Lisanto - King Michael of Rumania, Franz Seitz and Helmut Ruckert - sculptors for Froha and Leyla, Roskopf Historic Miniature Models, Exploding tinplate panzerauto (armoured car), Zinc cast vehicles, Searching for early native American toys, Emil Pfeiffer's succesor: Tipple Topple, Unknown papiermache zoo animals, True and false Lineol rabbits, Medieval dioramas with Elastolin figures, Review of DSG Romans and Vikings, Barzo pirate figure, Book reviews: Durso book 1 and 2, Marklin Military Toys 1895 - 1939.

The text is in German but nothing that Google translate can't handle and it's worth subscribing just for the pictures.

Latest Plastic Warrior and Figuren Magazines now out

In the last few days the postman has brought me the latest issues of Plastic Warrior and Figuren Magazines. 

Plastic Warrior number 146 has articles on: The Crescent story, Very early plastic warriors, Where did the toy soldier go?, Book Review, Britains stuff, Wild Young Dirky, UFOs, Auction Review, Cherilea Commandos and Minor Makers - BMS

Figuren Magazin Nr. 4 2011, has articles on: Erich Leistner - Master diorama maker, Bad Nauheim 2011 figure show, A hundred years of Hausser, Pfeiffers 11cm military figures, Gulaschkanone by Metall-Spielwaren Weimar, German made Indian canoes, "Winnetou" boardgame, Modelling book review, Nativity figures and 32nd Herne figure show.

Both magazines are available by subscription direct from the publishers and in my opinion are indispensable if you are a serious collector of old toy soldiers.

Seen at the Plastic Warrior Show 2011

Dealer Steve Weston unveiled the new Sudan Camel Corps by Armies in Plastic at the Plastic Warrior Show in London yesterday. There are two poses, a trooper with slung rifle and an officer with binoculars, the set also comes with two different bagage camels. Very useful.

I was a bit cream crackered when I got back from the show yesterday so left posting until Sunday morning, I've looked in all the usual places on the net for details of the AIP Camel Corps set but can't find any mention of it so I have to keep checking the pic I took to make sure I didn't imagine it! (I'm sure I didn't)

I managed to pick up a few unusual bits for myself yesterday and will try to put some pics up over the next few days now that I'm starting to get the hang of this blog thing. 

Seen at the Plastic Warrior Show

Peter Cole had two new sets of Replicants figures, four new medievals and three English poses for the Jacobite Rebellion, these last come with a choice of two heads, a tricorn and a grenadier mitre so you can effectively make six figures, the mitre heads could also be usefully used to convert Barzo French Indian War figures to give even greater variety to the firing line. These pics didn't come out too sharp, sorry about that.

Seen at the Plastic Warrior Show

Eric Kemp had a stand for Helmet Soldiers and displayed some of the great figures he makes to promote his kits.