Essex Models Alan K. Recent Finds (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter tdubel
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maddadicus
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2. WW1 British Vignete with Ambulance Driver, Dog
3. British RAMC with Driver, Lady and Dog, Rider
Almost perfect complements to Metal Sheds stuff...Is there an actual mfg.'s name or history of ? ...Michael
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Louis Badolato
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You're right about that Brad!:smile2: These are right up my alley. Tom, great stuff!^&cool^&cool. Does Essex make any WW1 air war related vignettes? If so, where can I buy them?
maddadicus
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I asked first..Thanks , Brad for waking Louis up before 10:00 am...:rolleyes2: Michael
tdubel
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Hi Guys, I don't know much about it, the gentleman's name is Alan Kelsey and unfortunately I don't think they are still being made. Mainly from what I understand is one off models/vignettes, so I would assume he made everything and anything so to speak. I see them from time to time as "Essex Regiment". Anything I have ever found it really cool!
TD
maddadicus
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I found this in a Herald Tribune article....
Last Modified: Monday, August 26, 2002 at 12:00 a.m.
BRADENTON -- If the toy soldiers in Alan F. Kelsey's home came to life, there would be one crazy war.
Johnny Rebs would be clashing with World War I Doughboys, and Ringling Circus wagons might be circled to prevent an onslaught of Royal Scots Greys who've run astray from the Battle of Waterloo.
Kelsey, who does business as The Essex Regiment, has made virtually every one of the hundreds of toy soldiers and calvary officers on horseback and in wagons that populate his Bradenton home. And those are just the ones he's keeping.
The rest he sells almost as fast as he can make them.
Kelsey, now 77, became an amateur painter while he was a lumber salesman in Buffalo, New York. He began creating and painting toy soldiers as an alternative to painting canvasses in the 1980s.
He moved to Bradenton in 1990, and turned professional at about the same time.
The way it happened: His wife suggested he take some of his models to a church crafts show in Bradenton to see if he could sell them.
One customer, a dealer, paid Kelsey's full retail price for dozens of soldiers, with a view toward reselling them at a marked-up price.
Kelsey sees selling as a way to support his hobby. He tries to find new poses for each soldier he makes, just to satisfy his own artistic sense that no two are exactly alike.
All models are on the same scale of 1/32 of an inch to the foot. They are built to last -- assembled with solder and brazing, and double-primed and tripled painted.
Several large manufacturers create hand-painted die-cast soldiers and sell to a thriving audience through specialty magazines. But what Kelsey does is more customized. He buys molds, then casts his own toy soldiers by pouring a special molten metal into the molds.
In these molds, the arms, legs, head and torso are all cast separately. It is up to the craftsman to assemble them the way he sees fit, then paint them up to give them life.
For example, Kelsey recently completed a set of 10 Royal Scots Greys, british calvary troops on horseback, dressed as they would have been for combat in the Battle of Waterloo.
One horse's head might be turned to the left, another to the right. One soldier might be holding a sword up in the air, while another might be aiming his sword straight ahead.
A wealthy Sarasota doctor snapped up the Royal Scots Greys before they ever left Kelsey's home.
A south Florida collector buys almost every Ringling Circus wagon Kelsey makes as soon as the artisan is willing to release it.
Born in London, Kelsey and his wife immigrated to Buffalo New York in 1957 and became U.S. citizens in 1961.
Essex Regiment sells foot soldiers for an average of $20 apiece and mounted figures for an average of $40.
Kelsey has shown his wares for the past four years at the South Florida Toy Soldier and Action Figure Show, held in February in West Palm Beach. He has already reserved a spot for the 2003 show.
He makes very few other appearances. But this fall, he will be showing some of his work at the Sarasota Model Railroad Club show, to be held Sept. 28 at the Manatee Civic Center.
Michael
Last Modified: Monday, August 26, 2002 at 12:00 a.m.
BRADENTON -- If the toy soldiers in Alan F. Kelsey's home came to life, there would be one crazy war.
Johnny Rebs would be clashing with World War I Doughboys, and Ringling Circus wagons might be circled to prevent an onslaught of Royal Scots Greys who've run astray from the Battle of Waterloo.
Kelsey, who does business as The Essex Regiment, has made virtually every one of the hundreds of toy soldiers and calvary officers on horseback and in wagons that populate his Bradenton home. And those are just the ones he's keeping.
The rest he sells almost as fast as he can make them.
Kelsey, now 77, became an amateur painter while he was a lumber salesman in Buffalo, New York. He began creating and painting toy soldiers as an alternative to painting canvasses in the 1980s.
He moved to Bradenton in 1990, and turned professional at about the same time.
The way it happened: His wife suggested he take some of his models to a church crafts show in Bradenton to see if he could sell them.
One customer, a dealer, paid Kelsey's full retail price for dozens of soldiers, with a view toward reselling them at a marked-up price.
Kelsey sees selling as a way to support his hobby. He tries to find new poses for each soldier he makes, just to satisfy his own artistic sense that no two are exactly alike.
All models are on the same scale of 1/32 of an inch to the foot. They are built to last -- assembled with solder and brazing, and double-primed and tripled painted.
Several large manufacturers create hand-painted die-cast soldiers and sell to a thriving audience through specialty magazines. But what Kelsey does is more customized. He buys molds, then casts his own toy soldiers by pouring a special molten metal into the molds.
In these molds, the arms, legs, head and torso are all cast separately. It is up to the craftsman to assemble them the way he sees fit, then paint them up to give them life.
For example, Kelsey recently completed a set of 10 Royal Scots Greys, british calvary troops on horseback, dressed as they would have been for combat in the Battle of Waterloo.
One horse's head might be turned to the left, another to the right. One soldier might be holding a sword up in the air, while another might be aiming his sword straight ahead.
A wealthy Sarasota doctor snapped up the Royal Scots Greys before they ever left Kelsey's home.
A south Florida collector buys almost every Ringling Circus wagon Kelsey makes as soon as the artisan is willing to release it.
Born in London, Kelsey and his wife immigrated to Buffalo New York in 1957 and became U.S. citizens in 1961.
Essex Regiment sells foot soldiers for an average of $20 apiece and mounted figures for an average of $40.
Kelsey has shown his wares for the past four years at the South Florida Toy Soldier and Action Figure Show, held in February in West Palm Beach. He has already reserved a spot for the 2003 show.
He makes very few other appearances. But this fall, he will be showing some of his work at the Sarasota Model Railroad Club show, to be held Sept. 28 at the Manatee Civic Center.
Michael