With Brian Carrick’s permission, a reprint of his Big Wars article from the Battle / Military Modelling Manual 1982/3. Loved this …
https://poundstoreplasticwarriors.wordpress.com/2017/06/30/brian-carricks-big-wars/
Crossposted from my sister blog, Pound Store Plastic Warriors, by Mark Man of TIN, June 30, 2017.
More lovely Plastic pound store inspiration or more seaside plastic tat?
A useful collection of Combat Mission 80 Soldiers plastic Airfix copies per bag, some now so long copied, cloned, shrunken and ‘degraded’ that they have acquired a slender toy soldier charm of their own.
Crossposted from my sister blog Pound Store Plastic Warriors – Little Wars on a Budget.
A special offer or ‘promotion of the month’ for March 2017 on the Prince August website led me to try these Alamo Chess set pawns at a reduced price, which I bought alongside their American Civil War and Napoleonic chess set pawn moulds.
http://shop.princeaugust.ie/chess-sets
These 54mm toy soldier chess pawn moulds in silicone rubber are available separately from buying the whole chess set moulds.
These figures cast well and cleanly, using Prince August Model Metal, aside from the occasional glitch on the Alamo American figure rifle butt which is easily repaired.
By mixing the sets together, a varied Confederate or Union type Army or Militia can easily be created. I like the powder horns on the Alamo figures, and think that these could serve for figures from earlier periods than the Alamo.
These figures with different paint schemes will bulk out the ranks of any 54mm toy soldier army.
Officer figures are included only in the whole Chess Set of moulds, admittedly on a slightly raised base. These bases could of course be adapted or removed. Alternatively other suitable figures could be used.
Standard bearers should be easily created from the rifleman figure by adapting the musket into a flag standard.
These figures are of course great for “Imagi-nation” games with some alternative paint work.
Slender of build as these chess pawns are, I was concerned how they matched up to other 54mm castings. Some castings from home cast and vintage moulds seem closer to 50mm.
However in a quick line up with other manufacturers , they match these slighter figures and my previous castings from metal home cast moulds well enough.
Perefect for parades, perfect for gaming – lots of possibilities.
Blogposted by Mark, Man of TIN, March 2017.
Today – it’s Burns Night, Rabby Burns Birthday. Here is my Highland tribute to Burns , once a former volunteer or militia man of the Napoleonic invasion scare.
http://scottishmilitary.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/robert-burns-and-royal-dumfries.html
Robert Burns received a full military funeral in 1796 as a member of the Royal Dumfries Volunteers.
Casting my Burns Night Highlander
I spent part of a day off home-casting metal toy soldiers like this 54mm Highlander, something I haven’t done for several years.
Some eBay finds of vintage metal toy soldier moulds you ‘buy blind’ and aren’t too sure what you’re getting. This was one such mould. Not yet sure of the manufacturer.
Sometimes the moulds have been over cleaned purely for show, apparently like some people collect and display vintage butter pats or cake tins. Sometimes they are cracked, damaged or overworn.
The only glitch was the casting getting stuck for a while, not prised out until very cool, so maybe some mould release powder next time.
This figure is not highly detailed but has minimal flash and a lovely vintage ‘Toy Soldier’ feel to it.
I look forward to making many more and getting them painted up for 54mm games this year. More photos of other moulds and castings to come soon.
Happy Burns Night (or Happy Birthday) if you are celebrating the occasion.
One of Burns’ Napoleonic wartime poems …
Does Haughty Gaul Invasion Threat?
(The Dumfries Volunteers) by Robert Burns
Does haughty Gaul invasion threat?
Then let the louns beware, Sir!
There’s wooden walls upon our seas,
And volunteers on shore, Sir!
The Nith shall run to Corsincon,
And Criffel sink in Solway,
Ere we permit a Foreign Foe
On British ground to rally!
We’ll ne’er permit a Foreign Foe
On British ground to rally!
O let us not, like snarling curs,
In wrangling be divided,
Till, slap! come in an inco loun,
And wi’ a rung decide it!
Be Britain still to Britain true,
Amang oursels united!
For never but by British hands
Maun British wrangs be righted!
No! never but by British hands
Shall British wrangs be righted!
The Kettle o’ the Kirk and State,
Perhaps a clout may fail in’t;
But deil a foreign tinkler loun
Shall ever ca’a nail in’t.
Our father’s blude the Kettle bought,
And wha wad dare to spoil it;
By Heav’ns! the sacrilegious dog
Shall fuel be to boil it!
By Heav’ns! the sacrilegious dog
Shall fuel be to boil it!
The wretch that would a tyrant own,
And the wretch, his true-born brother,
Who would set the Mob aboon the Throne,
May they be damn’d together!
Who will not sing “God save the King,”
Shall hang as high’s the steeple;
But while we sing “God save the King,”
We’ll ne’er forget The People!
But while we sing “God save the King,”
We’ll ne’er forget The People!
Two ways of reading the last verse of this supposedly patriotic poem!
A painting of Burns in his volunteer uniform by Scots military artist Douglas N. Anderson (who works for Osprey) can be found here http://halifaxburnsclub.org/Militia_Fletcher.html
For more about the Napoleonic era Volunteers in Britain https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Volunteer_Corps
Posted by Mark, Man of TIN blog, 25 January 2017.
To try to separate the joy of ‘Pound Store Plastic Warriors’ from the other gaming content on the Man of Tin blog, I set up in early September a sister blog site for this material in future, subtitled “Little Wars on a Budget“:
https://poundstoreplasticwarriors.wordpress.com
It will also extend my ‘free’ 3GB allowance of photos per blog on the WordPress site system as this is soon used up photographing games or figures.
A summary of some previous pound store links on the Man of Tin blog:
Some thoughts and links on Garden Wargames:
https://poundstoreplasticwarriors.wordpress.com/2016/09/14/garden-wargames-1/
Posted by Mr MIN, Man of TIN, September 2016.
