Showing posts with label composition toy soldier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label composition toy soldier. Show all posts

Sunday 28 August 2022

London Toy Soldier Show March 2022

I went along to the London Toy Soldier Show back in March, but I'm only getting around to putting up the pictures now, It's been that sort of a year! I have to say the event was rather sparse compared to pre-pandemic times but I suppose that's only to be expected as people begin to re-emerge and things slowly get back to the old normal.  Nonetheless I managed pick up a fairly eclectic haul, but first stop was at the game being run by members of the Little Wars Revisited Forum.

Several spectators took part in this demonstration game which saw Fort Pippin take centre stage.

The stylised terrain is really quite charming.....

......as is this rather neat little armoured train!

I bought these from Harry Kemp who just returned with a junk box of plastics from the Nanterre Show in Paris. Top left is a copy of an Elastolin Turk made by Cane of Italy, next two are by JEM of France and the bottom row are by Bonux of France. The four small size figures of WW2 Russian and Japanese infantry were premiums in packets of bubble gum available across the EU in the 1970's under various names such as Dargaud y Tito and Dunkin.

Odds and Ends!  A rather fine Swedish hussar from the Tennfigurer range made by Holger Eriksson, I'll get around to painting him one day (hopefully) the mounted figure in the centre is made of a composition material in post-war Communist Hungary and finally a Britains hollowcast Togoland Warrior in need of some TLC.

I've no idea what these are or who made them, solid white metal and quite chunky, I have them in mind for a Wars of Religion project which has been simmering on the back burner for several decades, the riders will be going on nice sturdy Deetail mounts.


Thursday 10 February 2022

Early Hussars by Manzsoldaten

This rather nice pair of Hussars were made in Germany circa 1910/20 by Manzsoldaten, one of the minor makers of composition toy soldiers, and one of my all time favourites.  I particularly like the style of the horse' heads although the leggy stride of that foreleg is a bit off-putting.

Early Manzsoldaten figures don't carry a makers mark but are characterised by being semi flat, which is unusual for composition figures, and have this distinctive oval base.  Earlier German composition figures from this period tended to be quite large, typically 10cm, before settling down to 6.5cm and 7cm in the 1920s and 30s but these are unusual in that the riders are roughly 54mm, not looking bad for a pair of centenarians.

Friday 21 January 2022

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.

Monday 3 January 2022

1920's Lineol Knight

This mounted knight stands 140mm from base to top of plume and was part of an early set of medieval figures produced in the 1920's by Lineol.  Made from the usual "sawdust and glue" composition material it was part of a jousting tournament, with six foot figures representing members of the Court and attendants plus two mounted knights with two different horses.  The other knight had a couched lance on a rearing horse, I once had the other horse and it was one of the most spectacular pieces I've ever owned but I let it go to a German dealer......... and have regretted that ever since!

The horse trappings are parti-coloured green and white but this one has clearly collected a lot of grime over the past hundred years. I really should give him a gentle clean but I rather like the aged patina and if I removed it I really couldn't wait around another hundred years for it to come back!