My Visit with HIRIART in Montevideo (1 Viewer)

[ucla1967]

On a recent two week tour of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, I had the opportunity on Saturday, January 26th to visit Hiriart in Montevideo, Uruguay. I took a round trip ferry from Buenos Aires to Montevideo.. It was a long 18 hour day for me, but I was able to spend a delightful eight hours with Guillermo Hiriart and his father, Jaime, in their workshop. They were very gracious hosts who treated me to a very good filet steak dinner.

Although Guillermo can correspond in English via email, his spoken English is limited while my spoken Spanish is non existent. So, he arranged to have a friend and Hiriart collector, Leslie, who speaks English, join us for the day. Leslie is with the Uruguayan security detail at the American Embassy and is employed directly by the American government. Prior to his current position, he was employed for 10 years at the British Embassy in a similar position.

The work shop is located on the second floor of a small, narrow three story building. Guillermo's father, who started Hiriart Soldados de Coleccion, lives in an apartment on the third floor with his wife. Attached are photos of Guillermo, 46-year-old, Jaime, 77-years old, and me, also 77-years old. Also a photo of them with Leslie. You can see how fit and trim they are compared to my 25 pounds over weight figure.

 

[ucla1967]

Jaime served in the Uruguayan Army, ultimately as an officer. In the previous post's photos, in the upper left hand corner, there is a black and white photo of eight Uruguayan soldiers in about 1959. Jaime is the one in the back row, far right. They are wearing American M1 helmets, World War II British battle gear, and armed with German bolt-action Mausers. In a training accident, two of these soldiers, who were standing on either side of him, were killed while he didn't receive a scratch. He is a very lucky man.

 

[ucla1967]

The Hiriart's toy soldier business is a classic example of a family run, small cottage enterprise. Jaime does most of the sculpting while Guillermo does most everything else including casting, armoring, painting faces and gold/silver trim (two women, including his sister-in-law, paint the figure's bodies), attaching the finished figures to tie cards, packing, and shipping. I have been buying their toy soldiers for my collection and for about three dozen other collectors since 2005. They are currently working on my 2019 Order #15 which has 156 sets on it, including many double sets. They produce classic, glossy 54mm figures and have more than 400 sets in their catalog plus hundreds of other non catalog sets most of which were inspired by W. Britains. On page 26 of their book entitled "Hiriart Soldados de Coleccion Toy Soldiers" by Diego M. Lascano, it is stated that their annual product is about 7,500 figures.

 

[ucla1967]

Attached are photos from the Hiriart work shop:


1) The two-part epoxy resin used to sculpt the figures.

2 & 3) Some of the hundreds of silicon molds used to cast their figures.

4) The inside a mold.

5) A well used work table.


Hiriart does not spin cast their figures, but rather uses gravity casting. The bodies and bases are cast at the same time, while the arms and heads are cast separately.

 

[jrsteel]

What a great trip! Hope to see more photos. Are most of their soldiers sold locally?

 

[ucla1967]

What a great trip! Hope to see more photos. Are most of their soldiers sold locally?

Thanks, it was a great trip. More photos to follow. Actually, most are sold in North America.

 

[ucla1967]

The first three photos show just some of the many boxes containing castings in the work shop. The last two photos are work-in progress castings mainly from my current order of mounted Prussian Guard and Totenkopf Husaren (I think) including two bands.

 

[ucla1967]

These are sets in various stages of painting from my current pending order.

 

[ucla1967]

Work shop shelves holding mainly single figures from various sets or future projects.

 

[ucla1967]

More work shop shelves with single figures from various sets or future projects plus miscellaneous stuff.

 

[Imperial Miniatures]

Thanks for the pictures - as I've commented before. it is always fascinating to see other people's way of working...

 

[ucla1967]

Thanks for the pictures - as I've commented before. it is always fascinating to see other people's way of working...

You are very welcome. It is my pleasure. I also agree that it is fascinating to see how this is all done.

 

[ucla1967]

Some more photos of various single figures or sets in the work shop.

 

[ucla1967]

More shelf and single figure photos in the work shop. The last photo shows smaller scale (1/48 I think) figures.

 

[ucla1967]

As I boarded the ferry for the return trip to Buenos Aires, I took these three photos of Uruguayan Naval vessels anchored in Montevideo harbor on the River Platte. This something you don't see every day. Hiriart collector Mike N., who is a Pasadena attorney, was kind enough to identify what I was seeing.

Photo 1: Ex-Volksmarine Kondor II Coastal Minesweeper which the Germans sold to Uruguay after they removed the East Block weapons and mounted Swedish 40mm bofors. They are now used as coastal patrol craft.

Photo 2: Big to small. Ship marked "2" and the one behind it are French designed Commandant Riviere Frigates which were first sold to Portugal, who in turn sold them to Uruguay. The next ship is an ex-Bundesmarine Coastal Survey ship. The last ship is a YP which is a harbor craft which services larger ships.

Photo 3: Another Riviere Frigate and behind it is an ex-Bundesmarine Type 701e AOE ship which is configured as a support fleet replentishment ship with general stores and a repair platform for frigates, submarines, and fast attack craft.

 

[ucla1967]

Just to wrap up my visit, here are the final two photos which were taken by Guillermo.

1) The ferry I took from Buenos Aires arriving in Montevideo.

2) A selfie with Guillermo, Jaime, Leslie, and me. It is the first selfie I have ever appeared in and, based on the outcome, probably the last one.