Miniatures Learning from Toy Soldiers

[Seduzal]

Sorry guys but I don't have the patience to that detailed work!

 

[Waterloo50]

Posted this before but its worth sharing again, now this is dedication.

 

[johan_steele]

The last model I worked. A 1/35 scale Diorama of a WW2 Stug III in Italy. The model kit was donated to the Museum and I figured what the heck it's been years but...

 

[DixieRifles]

The model kit was donated to the Museum

Nice diorama.
What museum?

 

[Michael_Schaffner]

First, thanks for the compliments on the figures. They don't compare to the work I did when younger, and it had been some years since I last painted any, but I went for a job that I hoped would be both attractive and serviceable.

To answer the basics. All figures are 54mm (about 2 1/2") plastics. The enlisted men come from a set manufactured by the British company "A Call to Arms," called "Civil War Union Coloured Infantry," available commercially from several sources, e.g.: http://www.battlefieldlegendstoysol...n_coloured_infantry_16_plastic_figures#images

The NCOs and Officers were grabbed from another set. I painted them all using hobbyist's acrylics and put on a heavy clear varnish so they would stand some use.

For background on the inspiration, I volunteer at the AACWM on occasion and work with Marquett (who is the full time permanent historical interpreter) on drill, equipment, and other aspects of a USCT soldier's life. It's fairly easy to cover the School of the Soldier with what we have, but as we never have enough people for School of the Company, it seemed something else was necessary for that. Thus the toy soldiers.

Altogether the set contains 32 rifles, a Captain, a Lieutenant, 1st Sergeant, and 2nd Sergeant, roughly representing the "present for duty" strength of a late war company. Each figure is mounted on a base about 1 1/2" square with a little square tag showing NCO or officer ID or, for the men, a designation of rank and number -- F1, F2, R1, R2. With these we can go through the USCT Infantry Tactics (a separate manual superseding Casey's though for all practical purposes virtually identical) to demonstrate company drill.

The maneuvers we go through range from fairly basic (moving from a line of battle to a column marching by the flank) to somewhat complex (forming a line of skirmishers forward "on the ___ file"). We open the book, read the relevant passage, I demonstrate with the models, then I invite Marquett to do it.

It's a simple but effective process and I recommend it to any group of reenactors or living historians. Officers and NCOs can see how formation changes are supposed to work and soldiers can more easily get an idea of how some things like "company into line" are meant to unfold. In some ways for a ranker it's superior to actual drill because you can work through the big picture.

The toy soldiers aren't particularly expensive and you don't need to paint them. You can even use coins, but I thought this would better enable people to envision the motions in real life. It also works well for showing visitors, though we haven't yet done much of that.

Interestingly, a variation of this approach was used during the civil war itself. An officer developed and marketed boxed sets of markers with instructions for different arms and called them "The Automaton Company," "The Automaton Battery", etc. You often see the ads in the back of other publications like the Tactics or Kautz's "Customs of Service." Unfortunately I haven't found them reproduced anywhere.

Thanks Alan, for posting this, and giving the little heroes their moment of fame...

 

[johan_steele]

Nice diorama.
What museum?

ALIVEO Military Museum. I've done work for museums at Keesler AFB, Ellsworth AFB and a few others though I would be really surprised if any of my work was still on display.

 

[Story]

For the Peanut Gallery, American Civil War soldiers are available in a variety of scales and materials (pewter, hard and soft plastics).

This will give you an idea of the available sizes.

Note: 18mm = HO scale, more or less. Some of you older folks might be familiar with these.

Sorry guys but I don't have the patience to that detailed work!

There's actually folks who can be hired to do the painting.

 

[Championhilz]

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[Championhilz]

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Here are some of my troops - I have the Iron Brigade

 

[Championhilz]

Here is the Iron Brigade in action:

 

[Championhilz]

 

[DixieRifles]

Here are some of my troops - I have the Iron Brigade

I have a few stands of CW infantry that I want to sale. I painted a brigade of CS and US but never really used them "in battle". The CS was meant to be Walthall's Mississippi Brigade. The US unit could be the Iron Brigade.
I have several packets of un-painted figures. I think they are 15mm. They need a home.

 

[Waterloo50]

I have a few stands of CW infantry that I want to sale. I painted a brigade of CS and US but never really used them "in battle". The CS was meant to be Walthall's Mississippi Brigade. The US unit could be the Iron Brigade.
I have several packets of un-painted figures. I think they are 15mm. They need a home.

You could perhaps advertise them on this forum in 'Market , I'm pretty sure that they would sell in no time at all.

 

[gary]

I did 1/1200 ship models myself and have a model for almost all the major ships (battleships, cruisers and most carriers) of WW II.

 

[James N.]

I have a few stands of CW infantry that I want to sale. I painted a brigade of CS and US but never really used them "in battle". The CS was meant to be Walthall's Mississippi Brigade. The US unit could be the Iron Brigade.
I have several packets of un-painted figures. I think they are 15mm. They need a home.

You and me both! But mine are the now-unused 25mm French Napoleonic line soldiers wearing overcoats. I intended to paint a French brigade based on an order-of-battle I have somewhere for one from the Peninsular War (Spain ca. 1808-13) but never found the inspiration to paint after I acquired all the figures needed!

 

[MAJOR DUNDEE]

Back in the 80's, Italian brand Esci issued US and CS infantry on 1/72 scale, the molding was better than Airfix's soldiers, figures were much more detailled, rather I've always prefered Airfix...

 

[MAJOR DUNDEE]

Airfix never issued their Civil War soldiers on the 1/32 scale, what they did for their ww2 range, and even cowboys,indians, and 7th cavalry ; they were among the finest toy soldiers ever made.

 

[MAJOR DUNDEE]

Here's a thread on a similar subject, although some of the images are no longer available (just scroll down the page for more that are): https://civilwartalk.com/threads/toy-soldiers.80913/

I added there some pics of Britains and Starlux (USCW ranges)...I've always though that for both brands, their Confederate were too "clean", with similar equipment, nice uniforms...let's say they were April 1861 Confederate, freshly equiped...

 

[DixieRifles]

Back in the 80's, Italian brand Esci issued US and CS infantry on 1/72 scale,

But these were plastic. Too flexible. One bend and the paint pops off.

We had a History Project in high school, and my buddy and I decided to build dioramas using plastic 1/72 figures. He made a Civil War diorama depicting Shiloh and I choose a WW2 diorama that depicted the 31st Infantry Division fighting the Japanese in the Pacific. Even when mounting them on a large base, any slight touch or bump and the bayonet would flip off the paint.

 

[Michael_Schaffner]

Plastic will hold paint if treated right. The USCT figures were washed in detergent, dried, and given a primer of latex mold material. The latter dulled some of the detail, but allows a little flexibility, especially when the paint is acrylic and a varnish is overlaid on top. I had much more of an issue years ago when I used Testor's enamels or a superior paint like Humbrol's. My favorite figures have been flats painted with oils...