Pure Nostalgia (1 Viewer)

[Mirof]

I have those 3 books in my library since many, many years .
he uniform are superb and colourfull .
But .... almost nobody made figures of those armies ( except Tradition of London who made some ) and here and there sometime 1 piece from various makers .

Like this one from Poste Militaire I painted 35 years ago

 

[Martin Tabony]

I have those 3 books in my library since many, many years .
he uniform are superb and colourfull .
But .... almost nobody made figures of those armies ( except Tradition of London who made some ) and here and there sometime 1 piece from various makers .

Like this one from Poste Militaire I painted 35 years ago
View attachment 186535

I've often thought of making them but I'm not sure there is a market.

Martin

 

[blaster]

Hello Mirof and Martin,

Yeah, those books really bring out the nostalgic best in military miniatures then.

As to why there was no market for this type and period of figures, I suspect the answer lies in the lack of any decent information on the uniforms available then, aside from these three uncommon books. By contrast, there is a wealth of info on British army (and German WWII uniforms) then. The German WWII market was probably fuelled by other interests in armour, availability of cheap 1/35 plastic kits which translated to a huge growth in all related material.

Perhaps there will be a surge of interest in this period with the publication of many excellent Schiffer and Miltaria Verlag books.

Rgds Victor

 

[Martin Tabony]

Hello Mirof and Martin,

Yeah, those books really bring out the nostalgic best in military miniatures then.

As to why there was no market for this type and period of figures, I suspect the answer lies in the lack of any decent information on the uniforms available then, aside from these three uncommon books. By contrast, there is a wealth of info on British army (and German WWII uniforms) then. The German WWII market was probably fuelled by other interests in armour, availability of cheap 1/35 plastic kits which translated to a huge growth in all related material.

Perhaps there will be a surge of interest in this period with the publication of many excellent Schiffer and Miltaria Verlag books.

Rgds Victor

My first love will always be the British Army but I've managed to collect a fair bit of reference on various other armies during the Victorian period. For instanceI don't know if you've ever heard of Carl Becker. His Imperial German illustrations are superb.

Martin

 

[hotel3alpha]

Gents,

I had a ton of these types of books when I was a kid. I put them in a box with my comics when we moved one time and never saw them again. In that box I had a whole collection of Sgt Rock comics and uniform books of British regimental uniforms. I remember one specifically that had to do with the gear that was worn during the Falkland Islands.

Freaking sucks that was lost.

John from Texas

 

[blaster]

Hello Martin and John,

Yes I have nice Schiffer book on Carl Becker. Great artist!

I do get some oldies thru ABE books now and then. For the relatively cheap price when compared to newer books, I think that there is a lot of info left in these older books.

Rgds Victor

 

[blaster]

I was aware of some of the hard cover books done by a Major RM Barnes on the uniforms of the British and Commonwealth armed forces. I bought this paperback reprint of one of his books (1950!). The pics, all illustrated by the author, are quite attractive and the text contains nuggets of info on specific regt traditions.

 

[Martin Tabony]

There's also a book by Money Barnes on the uniforms of Scottish regiments. I don't think it matters how old the book is, sometimes they have been written from original source material. You often find newer books are simply referencing them anyway!
I also use Abe Books sometimes I buy a book just because I couldn't afford it as a kid. I probably collect more reference than figures.

Martin

 

[blaster]

Hello Martin,

You've pre-empted me on the Scottish book... I am still reading this one and am enjoying the illustrations.

I remember borrowing several copies of his hardback books from the public libraries, mixture of colour and b/w illustrations.

Rgds Victor

 

[blaster]

And here's the companion paperback on the Scottish regiments.

Very, very nice drawings. I really like the imposing figure of the London Scottish Drum Major John Goodman (3rd picture, bottom row). This was done as an excellent 100mm figure but I'll probably do this in 1/32.

 

[blaster]

Here is a hardback copy of Barnes British Empire book. I had always liked and borrowed this copy from the library. Finally decided to buy my own from Abe books. The regiments featured include many native troops. I would really like to do the Kings African Rifles Drum Major figure featured on the cover.

The illustrations include the 2nd Lifeguards kettledrummer in that short-lived Polish czapka costume. However, this time, the upper part of the helmet (red comb) is convex outwards rising up, contrary to my expectations on how these polish helmets were adapted for use within the British Army at that time. The text accompanying this plate gives maddeningly brief details on the costume. Also, it indicates that drum banners were attached loosely to show off the silver drums, contrary to the Windsor Parade painting on the kettledrummer (1830).

 

[Al Fisher]

I was aware of some of the hard cover books done by a Major RM Barnes on the uniforms of the British and Commonwealth armed forces. I bought this paperback reprint of one of his books (1950!). The pics, all illustrated by the author, are quite attractive and the text contains nuggets of info on specific regt traditions.

I've had this book for over 60 yrs and still refer to it. A real treasure!

Bosun Al

 

[blaster]

Here's a new book about the best known sets of toy soldiers evah! I had to hang the book to dry out from the amount of salivation produced from flipping through its pages.

 

[Go for Broke]

I bought the Airfix book after seeing Victor's post. I wish they had more photos of soldiers than box art. I didn't realize they made so many different sets. This book brought back so many memories and I'm really enjoying it.

 

[Obee]

This book brought back so many memories and I'm really enjoying it.

Me too

John

 

[blaster]

Hi All,

I don't think that I have posted these two Almark books before. Can't remember, this is too long a thread...

One on the LifeGuards and another on the Coldstream Guards, both by Charles Stadden. Chokeful of uniform minutiae and pictures.

Rgds Victor

 

[blaster]

I've been doing a lot of public transport travelling these past few weeks. So to while away the time, I've packed along various small books to read along the way. Blandford and Almark aren't the only publishers with great reads. I also collect these books on interior décor and architecture to plan dioramas for my figures. Here's another great oldie in my collection on the French Empire style.

 

[Martin Tabony]

Hi All,

I don't think that I have posted these two Almark books before. Can't remember, this is too long a thread...

One on the LifeGuards and another on the Coldstream Guards, both by Charles Stadden. Chokeful of uniform minutiae and pictures.

Rgds Victor

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It may not surprise you to learn that I have multiple copies of the one covering The Life Guards. The oldest I've had since being a child, so perhaps it influenced my choice of regiment to serve in

Martin

 

[blaster]

Here's a Mil Mod article on Yeomanry and their machineguns.

 

[blaster]

Yorkshire Yeomanry.