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.

Mexican Revolution from White Tower Miniatures.

 I went along to the London Toy Soldier Show at the weekend to see Matt Thair, who was showcasing a mass of his new castings for the latest range of White Tower Miniatures Mexican Revolution figures, here's what they look like:

A much overlooked period for collectors and wargamers, Mexico had a turbulent and continuous history of  revolution through the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, as it struggled to transform from an Imperial Adventure to Dictatorship and finally a Federal Republican Government.  Involving shifting factions and sometimes spilling over the borders, it was rather a haphazard irregular affair offering endless scenarios for gamers, something like a "Back of Beyond" in Central America.

There are some new artillery with their attendant crews, like this heavy cannon (looks like a Parrot gun to me) and a French 75mm, very useful for several armies as it was widely exported.

An unusual touch, but very welcome, are several train riders, peasants and accessories designed to go on Timpo trains, they also fit nicely inside 54mm vehicles.

More of the train riders and a mounted Mexican General, the Federales are on their way!

The ladies haven't been forgotten either, there are plenty of Soldaderas armed to the teeth to support their menfolk.  The new 75mm gun can be seen with it's crew in the right background above.

The figures are available painted in a matt finish or as unpainted castings and mix well with western figures from all plastic manufacturers.  Matt also brought along new castings of replacement weapons for Britains Deetail etc, you can see them and the full range of Mexican Revolution  figures on their website here: White Tower Miniatures