ONWTC diorama at the Chicago show. (1 Viewer)

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Hi There! I know a few of you made it to the OTSN show in Chicago. For those of you that had a chance to see it, what did you think of the large diorama that we brought to the show? It used a fair number of components that I made for Conte while I worked for him, altought they were heavily modified. We are thinking of producing some structures like this... more detailed than the playset versions and available as seperate items. Would there be any interest in this kind of product? Ken

 

[Steven Chong]

Ken:
I thought the diorama anchored by the Conte Church building was fantastic. If you are talking about facades, buildings and bases suitable for the WWII European theater, I personally would be interested if they work with the larger K&C WWII European figures (1/30 scale and 60mm and up). While I have been supporting a position that larger manufacturers should not change their styles and scale simply to match K&C, I have to admit that the majority of the WWII European figures that I collect are made by K&C, so I would want a larger scale diorama piece. If the diorama pieces you are proposing also work for the Napoleonic era, I would be interested in either 1/30 and 1/32 scale: 1/30 for my K&C figures and 1/32 for my Frontline figures.

 

[jazzeum]

Ken,

That was awesome, simply fantastic. I wish I had room for something like that (not to mention the dollars). Great job.

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Hey there is something I should point out to you guys and it is something that has worked for the large scale Railroad buildings that I have made for some manufacturers. Keep in mind that the doorways that were are used to are from a period of mass produced, standardized and regulated periods. When driving through Brittany and Normandy you will see buildings still being usd from the 17th and 18th century with improvements made post WWI and WWII.
Doorway heights can be a bit tight and low on some of the early builings and from the turn of the 19th century and through the first half of the 20th century they can be high...in commercial structures even 9 feet.
New buildings made here would accomodate the 65 to 70mm figures done by K&C to a degree, but the lion's share of product on the market will be the smaller size used by ONWTC, Conte, Frontline and W. Britain's. I know what is coming from three of these companies as I have done some or all of the work and the selection will be large!

 

[jazzeum]

If I'm not mistaken, the doors for the facades on the K & C Normandy set may be a little low. This may be due to the reasons mentioned by Ken that doors were made lower then since people, by and large, were smaller in size.

 

[Steven Chong]

If I'm not mistaken, the doors for the facades on the K & C Normandy set may be a little low. This may be due to the reasons mentioned by Ken that doors were made lower then since people, by and large, were smaller in size.

Brad:
Though larger than 1/32 or traditional 54 mm, K&C's early DD and WS figures are noticably smaller than the current BOB figures. The early DD looks good in the doorways of the Normandy facades but not the latest BOB, so I think they were designed for the sizes of the figures at that time.

 

[jazzeum]

Steven,

The newer are a little bigger but not all of the older ones are universally smaller. Even the smaller ones when fitted against a door seem big for that door. However, these buildings are excellent backdrops and I'm not sure how many of us are looking at the height of the soldier v. the size of the doors. I've just recently (in the last week and a half) completed the set and if I had the chance I would buy duplicates just because they go so well.

When in Chicago, I saw the Frontline Normandy Village, which is very nice. Unfortunately, that is designed for a true 54 and I don't think it will work with K & C too well. However, it's very nicely done, notwithstanding.

 

[TLP]

Hi Ken long time reader of the threads, very few posts. Huge fan of your work!

I would love too see some adds to the line. I consider the Conte stuff by far the best out there. Facades suck! Your full buildings are the only way to go!

Two ideas come to mind, first Conte produces some of your work, I know MTSC has talked about it but perhaps you could sell the buildings you have already done indavidually?

If not add to them. a set of matching row houses over shops say twice the size of your two story euro would be perfect. Would look great across from my Church and priory.
A cafe which there is some mention on ONWTC site? Perhaps an addition to your Brick house? It annoys the hell out of me when you have to wonder where the rest of a building went to?
If Conte doesnt want to reissue them make new ones, Church add on pieces!
Additional hedge row pieces would be great as would a new farm compound as well. If its 3D and half as food as your conte stuff. It will sell.


To be short, if you already have the Conte stuff, your **** happy with it and want more. If you dont have it you want it. Your diorama is by far one of the best out there. To be able to duplicate it is great to add would be better!

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Hello there! I believe that Richard Conte may re release some of his WWII buildings at some point. I know that for a very short time he listed them as seperate items, but had a supply problem. I also know that there are some new buildings in the works from him.
As for ONWTC, we will probably do some more scenics beyond what we have now, and there will be some full round structures in the mix. I do think that facades have a place in collections and that is why our first offering was just that. The lion's share of collectors display their collections in bookcases and china cabinets that usually do not exceed 12 inches in depth and 30-32 inches wide. This is why we approched our scenic as a modular section that can be added on to.
As far as structures in the round, by next year we hope to be able to bring a new diorama with mostly ONWTC structures that will be available as very limited editions as these will be entirly made in th US. Novel today eh? We travel to Europe often and I am always taking photos ofinteresting small structures. I have boxes of images of small stone and wooden buildings in Normandy and Brittany. These will have a higher degree of finish than the playset products also.

 

[binder001]

I like the idea of more European structures available for dioramas. I hope the prices can be kept "reasonable".

It would be nice to have some Conte buildings available again, but I won't hold my breath. The church would be nice, but I think other suppliers can do it just as well.

Good luck on the scenic accessories!

 

[TLP]

Sounds great Ken. I am fortunate by having four Nephew's and one young one my self. My collection spends very little time on the shelf. I have actually gone to a lot of plastics and playset pieces because of the fact it gets used often! As a matter a fact its simply toys at this point, but in many ways thats what it was meant to be.

I look forward to all of your new stuff, I will also keep checking in at your site and Mich toy. Thanks for the reply and information, while this community may be small I have never seen this level of involvement and interest for consumers from manufactures. Its great.

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

You know it is great to hear that young folks are still getting to play with toy soldiers...that is why I am in this industry and every one I talk to remembers the toys they had...or wished they had as a kid. I have had hundreds of plastic samples and test shots given to me over the years and I am almost down to zero again as I give them freely to the young collectors that have interest.
We can all marvel at the detail of our high priced and historically accurate minitures, but a real service is being done by the companies that still produce plastic soldiers that can be played with. The collecting will come later and hopefully continue to support the industry so that we manufacturers can still make a living at this. I would truly hate to see everyone collect the same thing and only have three or four companies to choose from. Hats off to Classic. Conte, TSSD, Britain's, Papo, and all the other plastic manufacturers!