Arms Reduction at Pound Land

Once a hundred, now seventy … Previous centurions need not apply. 

Crossposted by Mark Man of TIN from his Pound Store Plastic Warriors blog, 13 February 2019

https://poundstoreplasticwarriors.wordpress.com/2019/02/12/30-percent-less-troops-at-poundland/

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Unpacking a happy jumble tin of plastic soldiers

https://poundstoreplasticwarriors.wordpress.com/2019/02/08/whats-in-this-tin-of-plastic-pound-store-warriors/

Crossposted from Pound Store Plastic Warriors blog by Mark, Man of TIN blog, 8 February 2019.

Wargaming Warrior Women on The Raft blog

With FEMbruary in mind, you could do well to visit the interesting blogposts, references and figure lists at The Raft blog section on Wargaming Warrior Women.  I visited this site for the Dahomey Warrior Women section last year https://wargamingraft.wordpress.com/wargaming-warrior-women/

Some of the interesting Warrior Women articles on this blog (screenshot).

Well worth spending some time reading and browsing here.

Here are some of my last year’s FEMbruary posts which link with The Raft’s history research:

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2018/03/10/dahomey-amazons/

https://wordpress.com/post/poundstoreplasticwarriors.wordpress.com/4016

Blog posted by Mark, Man of TIN on 5th FEMbruary 2019.

FEMbruary 2019 and new Bad Squiddo female 28mm figures

FEMbruary 2019 – some new Land Girls at work from Bad Squiddo – and a free guinea pig.

I bought my first Bad Squiddo figures from Annie Norman last year, some fine 28mm Land Girls at Rest, as part of the FEMbruary challenge 2018.

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2018/02/15/fembruary-3-annie-normans-bad-squiddo-land-girl-picnic-and-a-cuppa/

FEMbruary 2018 Bad Squiddo Land Girls at rest – work in progress  on the glossy acrylic painting table last year.

This FEMbruary challenge 2019 I have chosen two packs of Bad Squiddo female figures:

Women of WW2 – Russian Soviet  infantry command figures

Women of WW2 – Land Army Girls at work.

The quirky packing by Annie and team at Bad Squiddo: postcards, teabag and free guinea pig! Annie Norman has this whole thing about “peegs”.

Unusual and charming figures, these Land Girls will get the gloss acrylic Toy Soldier paintwork style https://badsquiddogames.com/shop#!/Womens-Land-Army-at-work/p/93150439/category=21735085

Close up of the Bad Squiddo WW2 Russian Women Command Group in 28mm.

https://badsquiddogames.com/shop#!/Female-Soviet-Command-Officer-Medic-Radio-3/p/77396868/category=21735085

As I don’t have any 28mm WW2 figures to game with, I will base these Bad Squiddo figures up individually but they  will,  for the time being,  work as great little diorama vignettes.

FEMbruary 2019?

Once more, like 2018,  fantasy gaming blogger Leadballoony has set the FEMbruary 2019 challenge to paint some more believable female miniatures than the usual unbelievable chainmail bikini female fantasy (or male fantasy?) figures.

https://leadballoony.com/2019/01/31/more-scumbos-and-the-fembruary-challenge/

This year, matching book bloggers like Cupcakes and Machetes, https://cupcakesandmachetes.wordpress.com I have chosen a book for FEMbruary as well, to match the Bad Squiddo female Russian figures.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jul/23/unwomanly-face-of-war-svetlana-alexievich-monument-to-courage-soviet-women-war

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/02/unwomanly-face-of-war-svetlana-alexievich-review

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/295/295606/the-unwomanly-face-of-war/9780141983530.html

The Unwomanly Face of War looks to be a fascinating and suitably challenging read for FEMbruary 2019.

FEMbruary 2018 recap

Last year I featured several of the female figures in my toy soldier collection

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2018/02/11/fembruary-challenge-1-two-queens-and-one-vc/

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2018/02/15/fembruary-post-2-a-few-more-female-figures-and-a-florence/

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2018/02/09/fembruary-hobby-challenge-conversions/

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2018/02/21/fembruary-post-no-4-a-womans-right-to-vote-and-serve-march/

FEMbruary 2018 even extended to my Pound Store Plastic Warriors blog

https://poundstoreplasticwarriors.wordpress.com/2018/02/15/colonial-amazons-women-soldiers-of-dahomey-and-siam

And I marched on (with Marvin at the Suburban Militarism blog pitching in) and on into March and International Women’s Day March 8th …

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2018/03/08/mary-seacole-and-the-crimean-war/

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2018/03/31/marching-for-votes-for-women

54mm Suffragette Conversions underway,  including Airfix footballer FEMbruary / March 2018

Happy FEMbruary 2019 – It should be fun.
What might you do as your FEMbruary challenge?

Blogposted by Mark, Man of TIN on 31 January / 1st FEMbruary 2019.

Combat Mission Military Soldier Playsets

Cross posted from my other plastic, budget-conscious gaming blog, Pound Store Plastic Warriors, here is some simple and cheap playset therapy:

https://poundstoreplasticwarriors.wordpress.com/2019/01/21/combat-mission-military-soldier-play-set/

https://poundstoreplasticwarriors.wordpress.com/2019/01/22/combat-mission-soldier-play-set-2/

 Man of TIN salutes the contents of  this Combat Mission Soldier Set – apologies for the slightly fuzzy screenshot of Playset 2. How could so much fun pack into so small a box? (Redcoated  Man of TIN not included).

With the usual budget playset ‘hallmark’ of a  bizarre mix of scales and periods,  there are some useful 45mm to 50mm figures and accessories for gaming. Who could want for more?

Crossposted by Mark, Man of TIN blog, 23 January 2019.

 

More Toy Wreckage for the Repair Bench – Opening Boxes 1 to 3

 

Box No1. Damaged horses and cavalry

Cowboy turning in the saddle to fire, nice pose

Box No. 1 Zoo animals and oddities – an elephant and a giraffe each with a broken leg.

Box. No. 1 Damaged foot figures and infantry – bits of Zulu, footballer, cowboys and soldiers and some stray heads and horse legs.

One of the delights of slowly unpacking presents after Christmas is to look in these wreckage and repair boxes. I bought these cheaply online over the least few months to store away, bought as part of my Christmas present in advance, paid for using my Christmas gift money.

Box No. 1 contained some interesting zoo animals, lots of cowboys and cavalry along with some battered foot figures.

Box No. 2 contained an equally eclectic mixture of damaged and destroyed figures to be repaired and converted. None have reached the stage of melting down.

Box No. 2 colourful Cowboys and Indian figures.

Some spirited Cowboy and Indian poses to repair.

Box No. 2 bronzed American Indian on horseback, nice pose

Box No. 3 contained another eclectic mix of makers and figures from cowboys to redcoats.

Box No. 2 – Aluminium Yeoman of the Guard by Quiralu or Wendal?

Box No. 3 had an interesting mix of much less damaged figures. I photographed these fast against fading natural light.

Box No. 3 – An interesting mix of figures and makers. The cavalryman is a fine figure!

Box No. 3 – Some more serious “military miniature” figures 1805 Austrian Infantry by Prokop, and in Blue a damaged Fine Art Castings. Willie Figures horse at top.

Who could resist this cheeky wee chappie, whoever made him. See comment below – Zinnmeister 40mm moulding. 

Box No. 3 Useful infantry figures for repair including a stretcher case with feet embedded in plasticine to make him stand and play again.

Box No. 4 – a shoebox of delight – still remains to be explored and photographed.

It is always a delight to explore these joblot boxes and work out what to repair first.

Some ragtag motley regiments may be possible, once repaired and repainted where necessary,  figures made suitable again for garden or floor games in the spirit of H.G. Wells.

Using some wonderful illustrated toy soldier  books by Norman Joplin, Andrew Rose and James Opie, I should be able to work out who made some of the less familiar figures. This gives me clues towards whether to repair, restore or convert.

Another order for Dorset Soldiers spare arms and heads may be due later in the year, once my current batch of Broken Britain’s figure repairs from 2018 are finally off the repair bench.

Blogposted by Mark, Man of TIN January 2019.

2018 blogposts on Broken Britains and broken lead toy soldiers include:

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2018/12/10/man-of-tin-advent-calendar-day-10-the-boys-to-entertain-you-or-broken-britains-rearmed/

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2018/06/25/rearming-the-native-american-indians-wip-1/

 

Toot Toot!

Emily the Stirling Engine arrives at a vintage wooden station crowded with 15mm Peter Laing Victorian Civilians.

Cross posted by Mark Man of TIN from my occasional railway / gaming blog

https://sidetracked2017blog.wordpress.com/2019/01/13/emily-the-stirling-4-2-2-engine/

Black and white version.

Blogposted by Mark, Man of TIN, 14 January 2019