Scenes from the HIRIART Workshop (3 Viewers)

[ucla1967]

I had asked Guillermo to send me some photos of his workshop, as I always find this sort of thing interesting. This photo shows, top left, an order for various British Regiments. On the lower shelf is my order for the Russian Grodno Hussars. Center left are King's African Rifles castings and to their right are Balkan War Cretan Gendarmerie castings (I have four sets being shipped next week).

 

[ucla1967]

This is a photo of his assembly table. In the front, you can see unassembled French Foreign Legion and ready to assemble parts. The photos on the wall are of new Uruguayan soldiers, not seen before. To the right of the FFL are King's African Rifles and a British Bren Gun Carrier. The power tool is the only one Guillermo uses when he occasionally has to cut off a head and make a new hole. The hand tools include one he refers to as a "miracle tool" that has straighten hundreds of Britains horses legs, swords, rifles, etc., without ever breaking one. His father, Jaime, calls it an extension of his hand. However, the most important tool he uses .is the scalpel

 

[ucla1967]

Storage boxes with castings from the foundry.

 

[Al Fisher]

Eat my heart out! My workshop has NEVER been that clean . . . nor has it ever had such a nice supply of goodies.

Bosun Al

 

[ucla1967]

Eat my heart out! My workshop has NEVER been that clean . . . nor has it ever had such a nice supply of goodies.

Bosun Al

Neatness is nice, but it is not as important as final output. Al. I am sure you do a great job producing figures. The only other workshop I have seen is Bob Walker's; his supply of castings is amazing. You should try and attend one of his annual open houses in November.

Mike

 

[ucla1967]

I really enjoy these glimpses "behind the curtain". Do they farm out their casting? It would make sense, considering the volume of figures they produce. And are the Britains repairs for themselves, or for customers, or both?

Thanks Mike, so do I. If we are lucky, we may get some more looks behind the curtain. They don't sell castings, only finished toy soldiers. I suspect that eliminates the possibility of having a collector who doesn't paint particularly well ultimately reselling his poorly painted Hiriart castings that are not up to their standards. I don't know why he made the specific reference to Britains repairs. I'll ask him and also ask about the origins of the "miracle tool."

 

[ucla1967]

By farm out, I meant subcontract. I am of the Johnnybach school of "Castings? Yes, please!", but this was a different query. Just wondered if the casting is done in-house, along with everything else. The superb painting must take the bulk of their time in itself.

Sorry that I didn't read your question more carefully. They use one or two women as painters who I believe work for them as employees. I am under the impression that Guillermo does the castings in-house.

 

[ucla1967]

I posted these photos of Russian Grodno Hussar castings elsewhere, but thought I would also post them here to consolidate any photos I receive from the workshop in one place. All 25 of these castings, save one which I assume is a paint master, are part of a special non catalog commission I ordered last year.

 

[ucla1967]

These are painted sets of Belgian Force Publique and World War II Hungarian Infantry from my 2012 order in the workshop prior to being boxed.

 

[Wolfgang_UK]

Love these "Inside Stories" - great pictures, watching with intrest.
Would be interesting to know what brand of paint is being used.
kind regards
Wolfgang

 

[ucla1967]

Love these "Inside Stories" - great pictures, watching with intrest.
Would be interesting to know what brand of paint is being used.
kind regards
Wolfgang

Hi Wolfgang,

I am with you---I also love to see what is going on behind the scenes. It is not only interesting, but it gives one a better appreciation for all the work that goes into making toy soldiers. I'll ask him, but I seem to remember a couple of years ago that he said he used (are you ready for this?) Sherwin-Williams paint! Imperial Production's David Cowie in New Zealand also uses house paint, but I don't remember the brand.

Mike

 

[Wolfgang_UK]

I am with you---I also love to see what is going on behind the scenes. It is not only interesting, but it gives one a better appreciation for all the work that goes into making toy soldiers. I'll ask him, but I seem to remember a couple of years ago that he said he used (are you ready for this?) Sherwin-Williams paint! Imperial Production's David Cowie in New Zealand also uses house paint, but I don't remember the brand.

Mike[/QUOTE]


Sometimes hard to believe what can be used for painting great looking miniatures. Totally agree with you and that is why I like these inside looks so much. I wonder what hidden "paint-treasures" are waiting to be discovered by fellow painters and collectors in those DIY store shelves.
Thanks for sharing and answering - yet a new discovery on what paint to use - great stuff..
kind regards
Wolfgang

 

[ucla1967]

I misspoke, the "miracle" tool is actually their "magic" tool. In any case, post #2 shows a small pair of pliers (center right front) which is forty-years old and was used originally by Jaime Hiriart, and now by his son, Guillermo. The only modification to these small pliers was filing off the clamping teeth so that they can straighten bent horses' legs, rifles, swords, etc. without damaging them.

 

[ucla1967]

The paint that Hiriart uses is indeed Sherwin-Williams. It is a synthetic enamel with a brand name of "Lustral Kem." I am not sure if that product is available everywhere or if it is unique to South America. As an example, the gray bases are a mixture of ice gray and black aggregate. For khaki, they use Sherwin-Williams beige; for lighter khaki a mixture of beige and white. The bottom line is that it sounds like it would be fairly difficult to try and match Hiriart's paints for touch ups as compared to if they used Humbrol or Testors.

 

[ucla1967]

This morning Guillermo sent me two new photos from his workshop showing sets that had been painted prior to boxing. The first photo shows my 2013 special commission order of 1912 Balkan War Bulgarian Infantry. This is a great looking set; I especially like the flag and their leggings. The other sets in the photo are for someone else. They are the King's African Rifles and Belgian Congo Force Publique which are now part of the regular Hiriart catalog and were originally part of a special commission order that I placed in 2012.

The second photo show my 1912 Balkan War Greeks which were also a 2013 order special commission. Note their Haverlock neck protectors.

 

[ucla1967]

Guillermo is in the process of moving to larger quarters. The first photo shows his new assembly table. The second photo shows some of the castings from my current order which are ready to paint. Front left looks like three sets of Escuela Politecnica Caballeria Guatemala, behind them is a double set of Soviet Honor Guards and a set of Soviet Kremlin Guards. Right front looks like part of five sets of Balkan War Montenegrin Infantry. Behind them are Emperor Alexander Gardegrenadiers. In the back row are an Italian Artilleria a Cavallo and a World War II German gun team. The third photo shows one casting and some of the references he used to sculpt and paint the Montenegrins. These are in addition to the Osprey and other references I originally sent him.

 

[Wolfgang_UK]

Very interesting pictures I love these "behind the scenes" threads. Great reading and thank you for sharing.
Kind regards
Wolfgang:salute::

 

[ucla1967]

Very interesting pictures I love these "behind the scenes" threads. Great reading and thank you for sharing.
Kind regards
Wolfgang:salute::

Thanks Wolfgang. I like them, too. I keep asking for more of them, but Guillermo is so busy putting the orders together that he doesn't remember to take photos or find the time to do so very often.

The first photo of the assembly table in post #16 shows 25 pack mule castings with boxes which are for John (Jackson on the forum) and include three sets of French Chasseurs Alpins and Italian Alpini plus a double set of ten mules without men. In the second photo, I said that they were Montenegrin castings, but upon a closer look, they are actually Waffen-SS bandsmen that I ordered for me. You can see the band's jingling johnnie center rear near the Italian cavalry horsemen.

 

[ucla1967]

I received a new workshop photo from Guillermo showing castings at the armoring stage of production where they are being cleaned and assembled. These castings represent about half of the first half of my 2015 Hiriart order of 120 sets. Like some of you have indicated, I really enjoy seeing these behind the scenes look at how toy soldiers are made.

The front row left has three sets of the 60th Rifles for Damian, resale, and me. Behind them is a double set (18 figures) of Prussian Infantry for Fred. Behind them are Argentine Grenaderos de San Martin (27 figures) for Mark and me. Then there are 76 figures of Colonial Cameron Highlanders, with flag bearers, for Damian, resale, and me, which represent four double sets including two bands.

On the right front are Italian Cacciatori d'Africa for Randy and me. Then King's African Rifles for Andreas and me. There are also greatcoat Prussians for Collin, British Sudan and Punjab Infantry for Fred, Scottish Borderers for Damian and me, and Baden Dragoons for Collin, among others.

The pile of heads, front center, are for the Grenaderos de San Martin. The camels in the box are ready to be cleaned and are for Randy. In the box left rear, are World War I Turks prior to cleaning which are for Brian, Per, and me. Guillermo is also working on a World War II German Marder AFV which I noticed on the workbench under construction.

 

[jrsteel]

Mike do you know how many people are involved in Hiriart production? Who does the painting?