Tuesday 19 March 2024

Heritage / Der Kriegspielers 'air power' and more...


I managed to pick up another old catalogue, this time from Walthers Inc of Milwaukee. It's a second edition version for 1975 and shows no 'taint' of fantasy or science fiction... that time was about to come!

And what a selection of goodies! They did offer trade discounts but, looking at the order form, it didn't extend to miniatures...


The 'air power' range described itself as;

'All metal precision cast actual scale model recognition aircraft super-detailed for use with mini armor, ships or as a separate collection of the aircraft of World War II'.

That ties in with the militaries use of GHQ 1/285 micro armour 'recognition' aspect. I wonder how lucrative the military contracts were back then!

The range at that time was as below... I don't know as yet if it was expanded but will start to collate and update on the Lost Minis WIKI later. I picked all of these up a few years back, along with some Heritage Napoleonettes (15mm), mainly so I could record them for posterity as usual. Can't see this gaming history disappear. The early packs (as per the listing below) only showed Der Kriegspielers however once they joined forces with Heritage Models that was changed along with the artwork. 


The rear of the blister pack;


The few blisters I have;













They are lovely miniatures and I'd love to find out more about them so, if you know, please leave a comment!

They also had a page of GHQ 20mm wargaming figures. I have a few examples of these and they are lovely figures, as you would expect from GHQ. There are some pics if you check the GHQ label on the right of the blog.


I also got a oldish (from 2001 which, at my age, cannot be described as old any more...) catalogue for TCS. It's full of wargames bits and bobs including a 25mm fantasy range of which I do have a couple of pieces somewhere - pieces I've never been able to identify! Very shiny metal. I must find out more.



Also, I found parts of the Hinchliffe Models Medieval Siege Tower cladding kit. I'd picked these up in a bits box of stuff about 10 years ago and had completely forgotten them. Unfortunately it's not a complete set and some pieces are duplicated. One day I'll find the rest!

Hope everyone is well. I'm suffering from my regular 'man-flu' which, as usual, hits my chest and so old man karaoke is currently off the cards. Most upsetting!

Take care.

David


Sunday 17 March 2024

Oldhammer Marvels! The Citadel Giant Chaos Battering Ram...


Opening a box I picked up (I think) in the 90's... a Citadel Chaz Elliott monster of a sculpt (every pun intended). Excuse the wobbly camera, the iPhone needs to go for repair. I did paint one for the GW Manchester shop back in the day but it went the way of my painted Dwarf Steam Cannon unfortunately...



More later!

 

Sunday 3 March 2024

Fellowship of the Cheese!

 

A total joy to receive was a set of RRB Minis mice at arms, sculpted by David Bezio. Whilst he was sculpting them he posted WIPs on Facebook so of course I had to goad him into making a Fellowship set. He didn't disappoint! These are tiny little figures, approximately 10mm tall. The pics tell the whole story. All the greens are David's own images, used with permission. I've tentatively mounted them on 20 round bases...







And , of course, the wonderful Bakshi artwork... just needs a mouse Gollum now of course.

The full Mice At Arms army set is available in the UK although the link has details of getting them from RRB Minis in the USA and also the rules via David Bezio's 'Lulu' account.

https://thelittlesoldiercompany.co.uk/product/mice-at-arms-army-set/

So what have I been up to?

I've also been painting a lovely Sarissa Precission ''Pissoir' to go with the upcoming Napoleoniques. I found it whilst, as usual, looking for something else and, again as usual, had to start that.




Getting closer to finishing the upcoming new minis; the Ogre and Slug Wizard along with a few toadstools. Oh, and there's the first of the demonic Ludbletters there as well...


Pete Brown at the Mouldmaker now has the Napoleonique minis in his hands and I'm hoping to get a hold of them soon and get the Kickstarter fulfilled.



More later!


Sunday 25 February 2024

The joys of a Warhammer 40K bits box...

 

Sorting out boxes which is my favourite hobby pastime! This was part of a job lot given to me years ago by a friend... he used blue tac to attach weapons so they could be changed when needed. Sacrilege!

The tub is just plastic, most of the rest are metal barring the Space Marine / Ork vehicle bits etc.










Spent a pleasant evening in last night with the hound finishing the first series of HBO's 'Rome'. I'd ordered the second series on Friday and it arrived yesterday meaning I stayed up till 01:30 watching the first 2 episodes... rather tired today.


Trying to get a little painting done but, as always, ADHD hits and I get everything else started and nothing completed. Hoping to get the upcoming Napoleoniques molded and off to Kickstarter backers soon.


Martin Buck has done a stellar job on these including Napoleon himself (on the balcony in the pic).

Well, off to paint a little. More later.


Saturday 30 December 2023

Bryan Ansell has passed away.


I just heard that Bryan passed away this morning. So many stories to tell and now gone like the fleeting mists of time. So sad. He passed away peacefully with his family by his side. RIP Bryan. I'll raise a glass for you shortly. He joins his father, Cliff, who passed in 2019.

The tribute from Diane's Facebook age.

A poor pic of me, Bryan and Tony at BOYL a few years back. Bryan and the family made me feel so welcome that my usual anxiety issues could disappear for the weekend.


Bryan back in the day (1979) looking through the figure trays...


I'm sure there will be many tributes to him and I'll post links when I find them. 

RIP Bryan.

Wednesday 27 December 2023

Merry Christmas one & all!

 


Slightly belated as I was hit, once again, by man flu over the last two days. 

Artwork by my good friend Tony Yates.

Saturday 16 December 2023

Let's Get Napoleon!


Shameless promotion for the Kickstarter for my new range of 'Napoleoniques'. A set of 28mm miniatures sculpted by Martin Buck. Pete Brown has already produced the master molds so I'm now trying to raise funding for the production molds and, hopefully, to finance expanding the range. They're a great tongue-in-cheek bunch for skirmish games such as The Silver Bayonet etc.


I've started painting a set but I am well known as one of the slowest painters around...


Comparison with a Flintloque Orc and a Front Rank mini.


Please give the Kickstarter a look and let me know what you think...


Scale ruler to show the size...


If you haven't played this then it is proving very popular...


Managed to get one painted...