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Amazing toy soldiers / From Egypt to Nam, including the Alamo in mindblowing detail

MaybeACoordinator

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MaybeACoordinator

MaybeACoordinator 8349

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A Wikipedia rabbithole today took me from reading about Phil Collins to this site. 

Man, as a childhood collector of army men, my mind is freaking blown.

They ain't cheap. To do it up right, you need Phil Collins money. Or King of Tonga money. He's another collector.

Since this is a Texas site, start with the Alamo collection. As you can see it is far beyond the usual Crockett / Travis / Bowie / Santa Anna deal. He has figures for dozens of other defenders in there by name. 

RTA108(s)_800_600_1550721513.jpg

James Murray Brown

RTA117(s)_800_600_1550721486.jpg

George Neggan of South Carolina

RTA083(s)_800_600_1432261651.jpg

Bowie

 

And then...man. Every war and many other episodes from history, like street life in old Hong Kong, the life of Jesus, the Old West. I feel ten years old again. 

 

 

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NotActuallyALonghorn

NotActuallyALonghorn 4976

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7 hours ago, smuggs said:

 

Was I asleep during the part of Texas history class when the teacher explained why the defenders of the Alamo wore PF Chang's sous-chef hats?

That was actually a pretty popular style hat in the 1830's, particularly for military or sailor types. They actually did a really good job with the clothing. Hunting shirts (basically the large overshirt that was split down the center with fringe and often fringed shoulder capes and worn to protect the nicer clothes underneath) would have been very common on the frontier still at that time. Buckskin leggings worn over pants or with just a breechclout, and moccasins or shoepacks would have completed the outfit for the more frontier types, while those from the cities would be more apt to dress like the Count of Monte Cristo or some other movie/novel set in a similar time period.

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atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89674

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Just a cursory glance at some of the 1800s American soldiers, as well as WWII stuff, and they really put a lot of effort into the details - things like rank, etc.  I am extremely impressed. I'm actually kind of curious about their workflow.

Lot of people do a lot of WWII diorama and the like, but I can't imagine a huge demand for stuff like the WWII Nazi/SS wedding, etc.

@RDCanecutter what are your thoughts?

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RDCanecutter

RDCanecutter 26445

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36 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Just a cursory glance at some of the 1800s American soldiers, as well as WWII stuff, and they really put a lot of effort into the details - things like rank, etc.  I am extremely impressed. I'm actually kind of curious about their workflow.

Lot of people do a lot of WWII diorama and the like, but I can't imagine a huge demand for stuff like the WWII Nazi/SS wedding, etc.

@RDCanecutter what are your thoughts?

These aren't gaming figures so I don't know what's up with all the SS. I have known a couple of dudes who were obsessed by the SS, and any conversation would start with how much they disliked the SS, yet there they were, libraries of SS books, maybe reenacting SS. Go figure. Maybe it's like people who obsess over vampires or monster movies.

When I was a starvling student painting minis to eat, I made a big deal about not painting Nazi stuff. Possibly I was being a bit dramatic, because I never met anybody who wanted to commission an SS wedding.

When I was playing WW2 games in tournaments, I had all kinds of nationalities so you could match it to your opponent. My favorites were my Americans, but I also kept a bunch of Germans I could run, because, y'know, WW2. The games were point-based and one time I saw that I had the perfect set-up to run my little Krauts as SS. So I did, except as the Charlemagne Division, a unit formed from French speakers. The main benefit of this was I got to speak in an outrageous French accent while I taunted silly English pig-dogs and such. So I'll probably burn in 1/100th scale hell.

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davidg

davidg 4038

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Has anyone found a video showing the production process of these pieces? How are they molded? Curious how they go about making them.

Also wondering about the thought process where you decide to make a run of bent over backwards, topless Egyptian women with big hooters.

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atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 89674

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1 hour ago, davidg said:

Has anyone found a video showing the production process of these pieces? How are they molded? Curious how they go about making them.

Also wondering about the thought process where you decide to make a run of bent over backwards, topless Egyptian women with big hooters.

I'm insanely curious as well.  There's a lot of stuff on there that makes me go "wow, that's really cool", but a lot of head-scratching stuff as well.  They obviously are making what people are buying.

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RDCanecutter

RDCanecutter 26445

Posted
Posted (edited)
12 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Sorry, although I found the SS thing odd, I was more curious what you thought about all of their offerings/qualities, etc.

Sorry, once and future gamer here, it doesn't take much to send me into full nerd-babble.

Obviously they have a nice product. From my brief time as an apprentice on a spin caster making bootleg models, here's how I think they do it:

The "dolls" (original sculptures that they make the molds from) may be as much as three times the size of the models. Then they use some form of cadcam thingy to shrink it down to what looks to be 54mm models. Those are probably done in groups at the same time on a spin-caster where identical molds branch out like spokes of a wheel. This would all be pretty fast once you have the molds set up. Some kind of metal like pewter, or maybe it's just plain lead.

The real work is the painting. I am guessing they hit them with a black spray undercoat, then they build it up with what looks like a standard 3-layer style where you start with the darkest version a color, then mid range, then pick out highlights with a brighter version. This is easy to teach new painters and would keep the whole line more consistent.

No doubt they have one dude going at it on flesh colors for a bunch at a time, while somebody else does uniforms, and Mrs. Steady puts in the eyes.

After that, looks like a satin acrylic coat, let dry for a couple days, then out the door.

Anyway, that's my guess. If I were to paint to this standard, I'd need to charge $20/figure to make minimum wage, and I'm fast. I guess the Chinese painters get somewhat less.

The buildings/tanks look like resin castings, which you can do at your kitchen table if you know how. (I don't.)

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TexasEd

TexasEd 8067

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Posted (edited)
20 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

Blah, Blah...

So I did, except as the Charlemagne Division, a unit formed from French speakers. The main benefit of this was I got to speak in an outrageous French accent while I taunted silly English pig-dogs and such. So I'll probably burn in 1/100th scale hell.

 

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NTVTXN

NTVTXN 1432

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On 3/22/2021 at 12:01 AM, atomheartbevo said:

I'm insanely curious as well.  There's a lot of stuff on there that makes me go "wow, that's really cool", but a lot of head-scratching stuff as well.  They obviously are making what people are buying.

 

On 3/22/2021 at 9:18 AM, RDCanecutter said:

Sorry, once and future gamer here, it doesn't take much to send me into full nerd-babble.

Obviously they have a nice product. From my brief time as an apprentice on a spin caster making bootleg models, here's how I think they do it:

The "dolls" (original sculptures that they make the molds from) may be as much as three times the size of the models. Then they use some form of cadcam thingy to shrink it down to what looks to be 54mm models. Those are probably done in groups at the same time on a spin-caster where identical molds branch out like spokes of a wheel. This would all be pretty fast once you have the molds set up. Some kind of metal like pewter, or maybe it's just plain lead.

The real work is the painting. I am guessing they hit them with a black spray undercoat, then they build it up with what looks like a standard 3-layer style where you start with the darkest version a color, then mid range, then pick out highlights with a brighter version. This is easy to teach new painters and would keep the whole line more consistent.

No doubt they have one dude going at it on flesh colors for a bunch at a time, while somebody else does uniforms, and Mrs. Steady puts in the eyes.

After that, looks like a satin acrylic coat, let dry for a couple days, then out the door.

Anyway, that's my guess. If I were to paint to this standard, I'd need to charge $20/figure to make minimum wage, and I'm fast. I guess the Chinese painters get somewhat less.

The buildings/tanks look like resin castings, which you can do at your kitchen table if you know how. (I don't.)

First, my apologies for just “busting in” on y’all’s thread/convo. I am in NO way an expert or even a novice at any of this. However, I have a buddy who is WAYYY into this stuff and insanely talented at sculpting and painting the figurines. He actually owns his own paint company that I’m sure some of you may use to paint. 
Anyway, he told me that he uses a 3D printer to make the figures. He scans them into the computer, then “prints” them. Anyway, again- Sorry to just jump in...

Carry on! 😬🤘🏻

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RDCanecutter

RDCanecutter 26445

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On 5/7/2021 at 10:08 PM, NTVTXN said:

 

First, my apologies for just “busting in” on y’all’s thread/convo. I am in NO way an expert or even a novice at any of this. However, I have a buddy who is WAYYY into this stuff and insanely talented at sculpting and painting the figurines. He actually owns his own paint company that I’m sure some of you may use to paint. 
Anyway, he told me that he uses a 3D printer to make the figures. He scans them into the computer, then “prints” them. Anyway, again- Sorry to just jump in...

Carry on! 😬🤘🏻

Reaper?

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Armybrat

Armybrat 40849

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On 3/21/2021 at 7:17 PM, RDCanecutter said:

These aren't gaming figures so I don't know what's up with all the SS. I have known a couple of dudes who were obsessed by the SS, and any conversation would start with how much they disliked the SS, yet there they were, libraries of SS books, maybe reenacting SS. Go figure. Maybe it's like people who obsess over vampires or monster movies.

When I was a starvling student painting minis to eat, I made a big deal about not painting Nazi stuff. Possibly I was being a bit dramatic, because I never met anybody who wanted to commission an SS wedding.

When I was playing WW2 games in tournaments, I had all kinds of nationalities so you could match it to your opponent. My favorites were my Americans, but I also kept a bunch of Germans I could run, because, y'know, WW2. The games were point-based and one time I saw that I had the perfect set-up to run my little Krauts as SS. So I did, except as the Charlemagne Division, a unit formed from French speakers. The main benefit of this was I got to speak in an outrageous French accent while I taunted silly English pig-dogs and such. So I'll probably burn in 1/100th scale hell.

My first girlfriend, Trudy, was the daughter of an SS Captain. At the end of the War her mom divorced him and eventually married a US Army sergeant.

Trudy was nice even though her German Shepherd dawg bit the shit out of my arm one time.

 

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ROFL BOX

ROFL BOX 6649

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Sorta sad that FPS type games have nearly murderated the 1/100th games.  I first came across these probably 3 decades ago @ a mini-con for gaming (D&D, etc) with hex boards & became enthralled with MicroArmor type games.

They had a 4x8 sheet of wood set on sawhorses... threw down a piece of astroturf & some foam under that for terrain, plopped some random trees here & there... out came the dice (20 siders, 8 siders, 4 siders...) & bam, the game was afoot.
 

1:285/6mm Scale Micro Armour – GHQ Models

 

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RDCanecutter

RDCanecutter 26445

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In a particularly manic phase, I made "microarmor" 1/285 scale units for a complete French and German 1914 Division, out of matchsticks glued to cardboard chits.

It wasn't man for man. Two matchstick men equalled a platoon. Still made hundreds of them. I made the men 1/4" tall, and figured out ways to carve the sticks so they'd look like cavalry or artillery from a couple feet away.

Well what do you know-- tossed them in a drawer more than 20 years ago, and there they are.

 

IMG_4421.jpg

IMG_4422.jpg

IMG_4423.jpg

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BottleRocket

BottleRocket 646

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The Bryan Museum in Galveston has a great hand-crafted diorama with 2000 soldiers depicting the Battle of San Jacinto.   The museum sells these figures in the gift shop and I invested in three dead Mexicans.  Or two dead and one resting Mexican.  Or three drunk Mexicans.  I don't really know what I bought but the sales lady was a little distressed that this is what I chose to buy instead of a lovely Sam Houston or ROT infantrymen.      

 

 

aaa mexican.jpg

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