The Military Workshop
1st Lieutenant
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2005
- Messages
- 4,778
Andy Neilson has just started his Australian tour which takes him to Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne.
First stop was Brisbane. On his first day Andy, myself and a few other collectors visited Mark's new specially built "shed", 9 x 9 metres, to see his collection. Waynepoo has already put up a thread with photos which give you a good idea of the extent of the collection. Mark collects from many brands and across many subjects and some shelves have possibly a hundred figures. His vehicle collection is incredible. He still has plenty of spare space for displays and had set up an Australian Vietnam armour display in centre of the room. Fair to say we were all very impressed and many thanks to Mark for letting us see what he has collected so far.
I had booked a place for dinner nearby. When we were shown to our table what should be right next to our table but a full size replica of Ned Kelly's helmet and body armour ! Must be a sign. Clearly Mark lives in Bushranger country.
During the main collectors dinner Andy had plenty of time to meet people and some came prepared with photos to show him whilst discussing suggested items. Two actually had same subject.
We set up the following displays and items :
Blackhawk Down display with two Humvee's and 15 Rangers. Same as previously posted on TF by Andy.
Western diorama with the new chuck wagon and previously released figures. Similar to diorama put up by Andy on TF previously. There were also 5 unpainted phototypes (4 to go with Magnificent 7). One was a cowboy leaning against a post with sign and a suggestion was made that the figure also be done without being attached to a post.
4 Western buildings made by Wayne.
5 unpainted Roman civilians including butcher set.
Painted Irish Guards mascot Seamus which is a great likeness of an Irish wolfhound.
A display of some previously released K&C facades with the recently released Shermans and US tankers and French civilians.
One of the soon to be released Huey's with Long Tan figures on one side and US Marines on the other. (Note the rear rotor blade met with a minor accident and is not on as nobody had glue with them).
Andy also had some images and sketches to show us and these included :
Ned Kelly sketch as previously put up by Andy a few days ago. Idea is will be a boxed set with Police figures.
Blackhawk Down sketches of Rangers and militia.
Colour photo of a RAF Battle of Britain planning room with WAAF plotters and large map table (large part of UK and coast of Europe). Behind is a Squadron readiness board. 7 figures in this. I took a photo of this photo.
Sketches of upcoming Magnificent Seven figures.
Colour image of 4 musicians from Liverpool which looked familiar. I recall playing their music when playing on the floor with my Timpo figures in Liverpool as a kid. A complete re-do of a glossy set Andy did in the 90's.
Colour image of Eric Hartmann's plane which will come with the pilot figure (unfortunately I missed this when taking photos).
Andy talked about the items on display and some of the background of making them. He also mentioned a couple of museums he had visited and where he had got inspiration from.
Of particular interest was that the Blackhawk Down and Western dioramas were backdrops which slotted into the ground base. Backdrop width 24" and I think 12" high. These are prototypes for a future flat packed product designed to allow more affordable display options. Andy mentioned cost (ie. handpainting), size and postage costs for buildings was an issue for dealers and collectors. I totally agree on this point as shipping costs are a killer for large diorama items.
After Andy's talk there were questions and plenty of suggestions. Some suggestions were only of interest to Australians and Andy said not likely to be commercial enough as also need some potential sales from rest of the world.
During the visit Andy heard many great ideas and I am confident some are definites for the future. However I wont be mentioning what they are. He has three more stops to go and no doubt will run some of them by others and hear some more.
I will say Roman civilians and Blackhawk Down (both Sven (Sydney dealer) and I pushed for BHD) were a result of last years visit so next year will be interesting to see what comes of this visit.
It was great to see Andy again and this was actually his 13th visit to Australia. I will say what Andy showed us this time was probably the most impressive of all the trips and you can see he has been busy coming up with new ideas and products.
So on behalf of myself and Brisbane collectors I would like to thank Andy for coming down under. We always enjoy catching up with him and look forward to the next visit to see what he brings with him.
I will see if I can get some assistance to put up pictures in this thread.
PS. On Wednesday there is the decider game of State of Origin (Rugby League) which is based on where players first came from (ie. hence Origin). Queensland v New South Wales. That is the game where they dont wear helmets and padding. Currently 1 game each with the decider in Brisbane. Andy will still be in enemy territory in NSW. However since he always lands first in Brisbane I am pretty sure that makes him a Queensland supporter !.
First stop was Brisbane. On his first day Andy, myself and a few other collectors visited Mark's new specially built "shed", 9 x 9 metres, to see his collection. Waynepoo has already put up a thread with photos which give you a good idea of the extent of the collection. Mark collects from many brands and across many subjects and some shelves have possibly a hundred figures. His vehicle collection is incredible. He still has plenty of spare space for displays and had set up an Australian Vietnam armour display in centre of the room. Fair to say we were all very impressed and many thanks to Mark for letting us see what he has collected so far.
I had booked a place for dinner nearby. When we were shown to our table what should be right next to our table but a full size replica of Ned Kelly's helmet and body armour ! Must be a sign. Clearly Mark lives in Bushranger country.
During the main collectors dinner Andy had plenty of time to meet people and some came prepared with photos to show him whilst discussing suggested items. Two actually had same subject.
We set up the following displays and items :
Blackhawk Down display with two Humvee's and 15 Rangers. Same as previously posted on TF by Andy.
Western diorama with the new chuck wagon and previously released figures. Similar to diorama put up by Andy on TF previously. There were also 5 unpainted phototypes (4 to go with Magnificent 7). One was a cowboy leaning against a post with sign and a suggestion was made that the figure also be done without being attached to a post.
4 Western buildings made by Wayne.
5 unpainted Roman civilians including butcher set.
Painted Irish Guards mascot Seamus which is a great likeness of an Irish wolfhound.
A display of some previously released K&C facades with the recently released Shermans and US tankers and French civilians.
One of the soon to be released Huey's with Long Tan figures on one side and US Marines on the other. (Note the rear rotor blade met with a minor accident and is not on as nobody had glue with them).
Andy also had some images and sketches to show us and these included :
Ned Kelly sketch as previously put up by Andy a few days ago. Idea is will be a boxed set with Police figures.
Blackhawk Down sketches of Rangers and militia.
Colour photo of a RAF Battle of Britain planning room with WAAF plotters and large map table (large part of UK and coast of Europe). Behind is a Squadron readiness board. 7 figures in this. I took a photo of this photo.
Sketches of upcoming Magnificent Seven figures.
Colour image of 4 musicians from Liverpool which looked familiar. I recall playing their music when playing on the floor with my Timpo figures in Liverpool as a kid. A complete re-do of a glossy set Andy did in the 90's.
Colour image of Eric Hartmann's plane which will come with the pilot figure (unfortunately I missed this when taking photos).
Andy talked about the items on display and some of the background of making them. He also mentioned a couple of museums he had visited and where he had got inspiration from.
Of particular interest was that the Blackhawk Down and Western dioramas were backdrops which slotted into the ground base. Backdrop width 24" and I think 12" high. These are prototypes for a future flat packed product designed to allow more affordable display options. Andy mentioned cost (ie. handpainting), size and postage costs for buildings was an issue for dealers and collectors. I totally agree on this point as shipping costs are a killer for large diorama items.
After Andy's talk there were questions and plenty of suggestions. Some suggestions were only of interest to Australians and Andy said not likely to be commercial enough as also need some potential sales from rest of the world.
During the visit Andy heard many great ideas and I am confident some are definites for the future. However I wont be mentioning what they are. He has three more stops to go and no doubt will run some of them by others and hear some more.
I will say Roman civilians and Blackhawk Down (both Sven (Sydney dealer) and I pushed for BHD) were a result of last years visit so next year will be interesting to see what comes of this visit.
It was great to see Andy again and this was actually his 13th visit to Australia. I will say what Andy showed us this time was probably the most impressive of all the trips and you can see he has been busy coming up with new ideas and products.
So on behalf of myself and Brisbane collectors I would like to thank Andy for coming down under. We always enjoy catching up with him and look forward to the next visit to see what he brings with him.
I will see if I can get some assistance to put up pictures in this thread.
PS. On Wednesday there is the decider game of State of Origin (Rugby League) which is based on where players first came from (ie. hence Origin). Queensland v New South Wales. That is the game where they dont wear helmets and padding. Currently 1 game each with the decider in Brisbane. Andy will still be in enemy territory in NSW. However since he always lands first in Brisbane I am pretty sure that makes him a Queensland supporter !.
. A raid on the bank coming up. Robin.
Robin.
