kogu
2nd Lieutenant
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2007
- Messages
- 3,635
Hi all,
Here and tonight I want to share a very, very special Christmas present I got this year.
It did not make it on time for the Christmas Day due to an extremely short period of time for the making, and then of course the common delays that happen at the postal services around the holidays.
I did receive a little folder for Christmas though, that had the email traffic printed out and a few pics of the casting before the painting and then some of the painted figure, so I knew what I am getting.
Let me tell you a little bit about it.
By now, a lot of you know that I do have a grandson, as can be seen in my thread about the slot car race track for Christmas ^&grin
A few weeks ago, his other Grandma and me were having dinner and some chat about "all and nothing".
At some point we came to talk about my hobby, and I actually elaborated quite a bit about it, and especially about the core of my collection, which are the figures I got from John Firth.
Talked about John, talked about Alan Caton, who sculpted the majority of my John Firth collection, talked about and showed her the features in the "Toy Soldier Collector" magazine, and on and on.
Well, she really got a good idea how enthusiastic I can get when it comes to our great hobby ^&grin
I also told her that I will have some shelf space available next year, so that Aidan, my grandson, can display his figures in my room as well, a number of plastic figures, and Britains Deetail.
Told her, that it would be nice if I can get him interested in the hobby.
At the end, and after looking at my cabinet, with my "British Empire" collection, she told me that those guys (John and Alan) really do outstanding work and if I could provide her with their email addresses.
Of course, I gladly did :redface2: :rolleyes2:
She then contacted John and Alan, and inquired about a little project she had in mind.
As you can see below, this worked out very well.
Both, Alan Caton and John Firth, were most cooperative and managed to get this little scene done in a minimum of time and it got shipped a few days prior to Christmas.
She wanted a Soldier and a little boy (me and my grandson) displayed within a military context, so it would make a piece for my Toy Soldier collection.
Alan Caton then sculpted this Australian Light Horse Trooper from the WWI era with a little boy at his side (a custom made one of a kind), sent it to John Firth who painted it in his excellent Superior Gloss style.
In addition she got several family members together to pitch in some funds for the project.
So, this Christmas, I not only received a wonderful customized piece for my collection, but also for the very first time a Christmas present from family members, directly related to my hobby.
Usually, although my hobby is accepted, all I get to hear when I show some new piece, that I am most excited about, is a "That's nice" or "Good", no matter how excited I am ^&grin
Well, now I have something to show that is from my family, which really is a very important factor to me, and makes me extremely happy and proud now.
A big, big THANK YOU to Alan Caton and John Firth and of course to Michelle (the other grandma) and all the family members who made this work.
The main credit, of course, goes to Michelle, who took the initiative and got this project going.
Alright, that's the story I wanted to share and here now you see the result.
A very, very special Christmas present!
Happy Collecting!
Konrad
Here and tonight I want to share a very, very special Christmas present I got this year.
It did not make it on time for the Christmas Day due to an extremely short period of time for the making, and then of course the common delays that happen at the postal services around the holidays.
I did receive a little folder for Christmas though, that had the email traffic printed out and a few pics of the casting before the painting and then some of the painted figure, so I knew what I am getting.
Let me tell you a little bit about it.
By now, a lot of you know that I do have a grandson, as can be seen in my thread about the slot car race track for Christmas ^&grin
A few weeks ago, his other Grandma and me were having dinner and some chat about "all and nothing".
At some point we came to talk about my hobby, and I actually elaborated quite a bit about it, and especially about the core of my collection, which are the figures I got from John Firth.
Talked about John, talked about Alan Caton, who sculpted the majority of my John Firth collection, talked about and showed her the features in the "Toy Soldier Collector" magazine, and on and on.
Well, she really got a good idea how enthusiastic I can get when it comes to our great hobby ^&grin
I also told her that I will have some shelf space available next year, so that Aidan, my grandson, can display his figures in my room as well, a number of plastic figures, and Britains Deetail.
Told her, that it would be nice if I can get him interested in the hobby.
At the end, and after looking at my cabinet, with my "British Empire" collection, she told me that those guys (John and Alan) really do outstanding work and if I could provide her with their email addresses.
Of course, I gladly did :redface2: :rolleyes2:
She then contacted John and Alan, and inquired about a little project she had in mind.
As you can see below, this worked out very well.
Both, Alan Caton and John Firth, were most cooperative and managed to get this little scene done in a minimum of time and it got shipped a few days prior to Christmas.
She wanted a Soldier and a little boy (me and my grandson) displayed within a military context, so it would make a piece for my Toy Soldier collection.
Alan Caton then sculpted this Australian Light Horse Trooper from the WWI era with a little boy at his side (a custom made one of a kind), sent it to John Firth who painted it in his excellent Superior Gloss style.
In addition she got several family members together to pitch in some funds for the project.
So, this Christmas, I not only received a wonderful customized piece for my collection, but also for the very first time a Christmas present from family members, directly related to my hobby.
Usually, although my hobby is accepted, all I get to hear when I show some new piece, that I am most excited about, is a "That's nice" or "Good", no matter how excited I am ^&grin
Well, now I have something to show that is from my family, which really is a very important factor to me, and makes me extremely happy and proud now.
A big, big THANK YOU to Alan Caton and John Firth and of course to Michelle (the other grandma) and all the family members who made this work.
The main credit, of course, goes to Michelle, who took the initiative and got this project going.
Alright, that's the story I wanted to share and here now you see the result.
A very, very special Christmas present!
Happy Collecting!
Konrad
