Praetorian
Guest
- Joined
- May 28, 2007
- Messages
- 103
Hi Guys,
Just spoke to Andy this morning on the following subjects to get his input.
The Upcoming ‘88
Over the years K&C has produced several different 88’s… each one unique in its own way. At Chicago a couple of years ago he bought one of ‘Metal Shed’s’ fantastic hand-made 88’s mounted on the 12 ton half-track. ‘Now that’s a wee bit different,’ Andy thought to himself. A while later he saw George Bradford’s excellent book ‘German Early War Armoured Fighting Vehicles’ and, lo and behold, one of the vehicles featured was the same ‘88 complete with a full set of plans. The rest as they say is history… the only major decisions left were a) to do it Wehrmacht… Waffen SS or Luftwaffe ground troops and b) which ‘Theatre of Operations’… Eastern Front… North Africa… Western Front.
As you all know Wehrmacht and Normandy won out. As is ‘par for the course’ on the forum it’s impossible to please all the collectors all the time but as Andy says, at least he pleases most of them (and himself).
Nile River Gunboats
In the dim’n’distant past K&C did indeed produce 5 ‘pocket’ gunboats. Andy did the design and they were all built by a professional model maker in Scotland. All five were named after comic books from Andy’s youth… the little flotilla comprised Her Majesty’s Gun Boats… ‘Dandy’… ‘Beano’… ‘Hotspur’… ‘Wizard’ and ‘Topper’. All were sold to K&C collectors in Hong Kong. They were produced in the late 1990’s.
The Roughriders
The first K&C Roughriders were an exclusive produced for Mr. Albert ‘BOO’ Hauser, the then owner of ‘Kings X’ in San Antonio. Several years later Andy’s good friend screenwriter, historian and toy soldier collector Dan Gagliasso was working on the ‘Roughriders’ television movie starring Tom Berenger. During a visit to LA, Dan took Andy to meet the movie’s director, John Milius at Warner Bros. studio in Burbank. John suggested Andy should do a mini series based on the movie’s characters. Andy decided it should be ‘action-style’ and matt finish. Several months later ‘Teddy Roosevelt, the Roughriders and the Charge up San Juan Hill’ appeared. Kings X had the US market and K&C sold it elsewhere around the world.
Rumour has it that a set was presented to Tom Berenger by none other than Richard Conte. Andy sent complimentary sets to director John Milius and Dan Gagliasso.
Saving Private Ryan
Again, Andy sent ‘thank you’ sets to Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. He got a very nice note back from Mr. Spielberg. Some time later, through Dan Gagliasso again, Andy and Dan had a long dinner with Capt. Dale Dye, former US Marine and Military Advisor on ‘Ryan’… ‘Band of Brothers’… ‘Platoon’… and countless other war films. Andy and Dale (both being Marines) got on extremely well and Dale told some great tales of ‘behind-the-scenes’ exploits and adventures on some of his movies.
Again Andy presented Dale with a couple of the very first D-Day sets as a little thank you for the evening. At the time Dale was just about to leave LA for England to begin filming ‘Band of Brothers’. He extended a kind invitation for Andy to visit the set just outside of London. But that, as they say, is another story…
Happy Collecting!
Just spoke to Andy this morning on the following subjects to get his input.
The Upcoming ‘88
Over the years K&C has produced several different 88’s… each one unique in its own way. At Chicago a couple of years ago he bought one of ‘Metal Shed’s’ fantastic hand-made 88’s mounted on the 12 ton half-track. ‘Now that’s a wee bit different,’ Andy thought to himself. A while later he saw George Bradford’s excellent book ‘German Early War Armoured Fighting Vehicles’ and, lo and behold, one of the vehicles featured was the same ‘88 complete with a full set of plans. The rest as they say is history… the only major decisions left were a) to do it Wehrmacht… Waffen SS or Luftwaffe ground troops and b) which ‘Theatre of Operations’… Eastern Front… North Africa… Western Front.
As you all know Wehrmacht and Normandy won out. As is ‘par for the course’ on the forum it’s impossible to please all the collectors all the time but as Andy says, at least he pleases most of them (and himself).
Nile River Gunboats
In the dim’n’distant past K&C did indeed produce 5 ‘pocket’ gunboats. Andy did the design and they were all built by a professional model maker in Scotland. All five were named after comic books from Andy’s youth… the little flotilla comprised Her Majesty’s Gun Boats… ‘Dandy’… ‘Beano’… ‘Hotspur’… ‘Wizard’ and ‘Topper’. All were sold to K&C collectors in Hong Kong. They were produced in the late 1990’s.
The Roughriders
The first K&C Roughriders were an exclusive produced for Mr. Albert ‘BOO’ Hauser, the then owner of ‘Kings X’ in San Antonio. Several years later Andy’s good friend screenwriter, historian and toy soldier collector Dan Gagliasso was working on the ‘Roughriders’ television movie starring Tom Berenger. During a visit to LA, Dan took Andy to meet the movie’s director, John Milius at Warner Bros. studio in Burbank. John suggested Andy should do a mini series based on the movie’s characters. Andy decided it should be ‘action-style’ and matt finish. Several months later ‘Teddy Roosevelt, the Roughriders and the Charge up San Juan Hill’ appeared. Kings X had the US market and K&C sold it elsewhere around the world.
Rumour has it that a set was presented to Tom Berenger by none other than Richard Conte. Andy sent complimentary sets to director John Milius and Dan Gagliasso.
Saving Private Ryan
Again, Andy sent ‘thank you’ sets to Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. He got a very nice note back from Mr. Spielberg. Some time later, through Dan Gagliasso again, Andy and Dan had a long dinner with Capt. Dale Dye, former US Marine and Military Advisor on ‘Ryan’… ‘Band of Brothers’… ‘Platoon’… and countless other war films. Andy and Dale (both being Marines) got on extremely well and Dale told some great tales of ‘behind-the-scenes’ exploits and adventures on some of his movies.
Again Andy presented Dale with a couple of the very first D-Day sets as a little thank you for the evening. At the time Dale was just about to leave LA for England to begin filming ‘Band of Brothers’. He extended a kind invitation for Andy to visit the set just outside of London. But that, as they say, is another story…
Happy Collecting!
