Westerners (1 Viewer)

[Ivanhoe]

An extreme amount of work...you end up with great new, unique figures that can provide years of enjoyment !

It is amazing to see these.

Thank you !

 

[johnnybach]

An extreme amount of work...you end up with great new, unique figures that can provide years of enjoyment !

It is amazing to see these.

Thank you !

I've been restoring, converting or just repainting these for a few years now - and am now trying to collect as many of the old British Hollowcast Cowboys and Native American figures produced by the famous companies, as I can. All the old producers of these figures have now sadly gone - and hollowcasts haven't been produced by any of them since the sixties either.

I also collect castings produced by modern day producers - such as Whitetower Miniatures and others - who make them too - for me to paint.

B&T, Britains, Charbens Cherilea, Crescent, Fry, Fylde, Harvey, John Hill (Johillco), Segal, Taylor & Barrett , Timpo. Sorry if I've missed out some of the smaller producers - but that just about covers the old ones I know of. Look out for them at shows and swap-meets - or even car boot sales, where they frequently turn up. Most cost very little, when compared to what modern TS usually cost these days - and a colourful and jolly collection can be quite quickly amassed at a small cost. I buy a lot from Giles Brown at Dorset Soldiers - as he buys them up from other dealers - or the above shows - and trades in them with collectors all over the World. He can sometimes supply complete examples - but I like to find the damaged old boys to repair and restore, whenever I can. I like the challenge of restoration - and to that effect, Giles can often supply many of the broken or missing parts to help with that too.

I just very much enjoy doing it - as you aren't constrained by any "uniform" rules with these - and can let your imagination go a bit when painting clothing and equipment - as I frequently do! (as you can doubtless see). Some of mine carry weapons never produced by the above companies originally - so can frequently be said to be unique - which I like too. In short - they are just great fun.

Here's another pair of Cowboys - sitting at their camp-fire and playing on accordian and guitar. these three pieces were by Timpo - who produced them in metal first, during the 1950's - and then plastic - before eventually ceasing production altogether. I only collect them in metal - so was very pleased to find these to paint up - as I've been on the look out for them for a few years. Indeed, some of them are getting tricky and/or pricey to find, nowadays, so get them whilst you can is my motto.



Keep looking in - as I will be finishing off more, from time to time. I'll have to do them again in "Collections" before long. Glad you are enjoying them - jb

 

[johnnybach]

Time to saddle up agin pardners.

Completed a few more Native Americans today - so here's a couple of pics below.

Note that I have included one you've seen before (Britains mounted chief with Tomahawk), to compare with what began as the same figure. I gave him a recycled arm with a spear this time.

The walking braves include one from B&T on the left of top pic, - who carries a tomahawk - but I gave him a knife in his other hand too - made from a broken cavalry sabre. The crawling brave had his original tomahawk snapped off - so I gave him another made from a paper clip for the handle - and a bit of scrap metal filed to shape and drilled through. A coat of paint - and - good as new. Our brave smoking the pipe - was just a repaint - but I copied a pic of a real Indian blanket that I found on the internet. The last crescent kneeling brave was just a repaint - but I added a new string to his bow (paper clip again).





Next come the Cowboys. no apologies for including my two favourite Timpo musicians ( as I'm so pleased to have them at last!). Note they are sitting in the back of a "work in progress" - which will become a buckboard some day. I bought the wheels from dorset Soldiers - and the rest is made from Ice lolly Sticks. Needs a horse - so I'll keep looking.

Note the Bucking bronco rider - which I'm quite proud of. he arrived without any base and back legs. Two spares were found (Dorset) and cut and pinned to shape - then cemented securely into a thicker than normal base of my own fabrication with epoxy resin glue. Solid once again - I made him just leap a tad higher than the original (Johillco). My sleeping cowboy is a Crescent - found in a box of oldies at Dorset again - he is another all time favourite

Hope you like 'em. jb

 

[Ivanhoe]

Great job on your Britain's "mounted chief" (with spear), I would not have known it was a conversion.

Both their horses are beautiful !

If you had not told us about the composition of the "buckboard", I would not have known it was not metal...paint job conceals that well.

You should be very proud of your work.

Thanks again.

 

[johnnybach]

Great job on your Britain's "mounted chief" (with spear), I would not have known it was a conversion.

Both their horses are beautiful !

If you had not told us about the composition of the "buckboard", I would not have known it was not metal...paint job conceals that well.

You should be very proud of your work.

Thanks again.

Yo Dude! glad you like 'em. If you are careful - conversions like these are easy. Reason is - the right arm on these Britains figures was often fixed on with a soft metal rivet. You frequently find them with either a missing arm altogether ( as with this one), or various bits broken on the arm.

Giles Brown of Dorset Soldiers began his business - as a producer of replacement parts for broken Toy Soldiers (TS), and has continued that right up until today. So.............if you ever need a spare for a broken one.........try e-mailing either a pic, or a description of what you need.

I don't like loose arms flapping about, so I always trim off the rivet - and glue on arms etc., permanently - in whatever pose I want. The replacement arm on my Chief with a spear however, was originally a broken one on a Cavalry soldier - but with a bit of trimming and shaping with scalpel and file (and a small bit of milliput to create the new short sleeve), became his arm. Drilling through the hand with a pin-vice - provided the hole for the spear - which was made by straightening out a paper clip. the moral therefore is - never throw away any "broken bits"!

And - voila - at the end of a small bit of very pleasant work - you get a figure that Britains never produced. And with careful painting - you also get it in a better finish than the originals - as we hobbyists have the time that the professional producers didn't have - due to production and price issues.

Once you've done a few - the progression to removing and replacing more serious bits on other figures - becomes a doddle too (easier).

I'm always trying to urge others to "have a go" - as I find repairing broken TS's so rewarding - and not just financially (though that IS a factor, with the cost of many new TS these days. You can frequently pick up maybe 20 broken figures, fot the cost of just ONE from the market leaders!).

As to my Buckboard - well, thanks for the compliment. Again, the skills you pick up whilst repairing figures often transfer to other things too. I have made a number of vehicles now - using purchased "tricky bits" such as wheels etc., - and then other parts from coffee stirrers or lolly sticks - which can frequently be collected for free when enjoying consumption of the above^&grin.

Here's a pic which helps explain some of the things mentioned - below. Note the newly cast "spare" arms with weapons, and the old cavalry arms with stumps of broken swords - which get trimmed away. Paper-clips - this one is a jumbo size - but smaller ones are useful for pinning fine parts too. Pin-vices (I use several different sizes - so have various of them ready for different size holes, saves messing about changing drills). Incidentally, if you just want (say) a hand with a pistol, you can always trim off the part you want for fixing to an existing good arm).

Anyhoo - hope this helps explain - and maybe encourage others to "have a go" too. It really is a rewarding experience to save some of these from the junk-pile, and produce a nice shiny "new" Glossy Toy Soldier - or in this case Cowboys and native Americans - to be enjoyed, all over again. Cheers - jb.

 

[nmrocks]

Time to saddle up agin pardners.

Completed a few more Native Americans today - so here's a couple of pics below.

Note that I have included one you've seen before (Britains mounted chief with Tomahawk), to compare with what began as the same figure. I gave him a recycled arm with a spear this time.

The walking braves include one from B&T on the left of top pic, - who carries a tomahawk - but I gave him a knife in his other hand too - made from a broken cavalry sabre. The crawling brave had his original tomahawk snapped off - so I gave him another made from a paper clip for the handle - and a bit of scrap metal filed to shape and drilled through. A coat of paint - and - good as new. Our brave smoking the pipe - was just a repaint - but I copied a pic of a real Indian blanket that I found on the internet. The last crescent kneeling brave was just a repaint - but I added a new string to his bow (paper clip again).





Next come the Cowboys. no apologies for including my two favourite Timpo musicians ( as I'm so pleased to have them at last!). Note they are sitting in the back of a "work in progress" - which will become a buckboard some day. I bought the wheels from dorset Soldiers - and the rest is made from Ice lolly Sticks. Needs a horse - so I'll keep looking.

Note the Bucking bronco rider - which I'm quite proud of. he arrived without any base and back legs. Two spares were found (Dorset) and cut and pinned to shape - then cemented securely into a thicker than normal base of my own fabrication with epoxy resin glue. Solid once again - I made him just leap a tad higher than the original (Johillco). My sleeping cowboy is a Crescent - found in a box of oldies at Dorset again - he is another all time favourite

Hope you like 'em. jb

You do a great job with these figures JB and the high gloss finish really sets them off! Your collection must be very large, spectacular and the creators joy.
Merry Christmas my Friend,
Ray

 

[Ivanhoe]

Thank you !

Love the pin vise (silver one)...looks like mine...great tool...used to try and use electric drill...ugh !

I like conversions & repairs...cannot paint like you can though (love those feathers on the war bonnets)...never steady enough...especially eyes.

Agree with you on the restoration.

You make my snowy cold days...just viewing your work.

 

[johnnybach]

You do a great job with these figures JB and the high gloss finish really sets them off! Your collection must be very large, spectacular and the creators joy.
Merry Christmas my Friend,
Ray

Cheers Ray - they certainly do create a great deal of joy for me! glad you and a few others do too, once again. Have a super Xmas - and I hope Santa is kind and the holiday doesn't leave you too flat!!!!!!

I amassed so many figures this time, it is taking a determined effort to get them all completed - and yes - by the end of this lot - my collection will have grown once again. So much so, in fact, I think I will need to take stock of exactly what I do have after I have completed them all.

Here's a few more completions for you to look at anyway: I've put them in front of my "Chuck Wagon" this time - as I think it was overdue another outing! ( and dusting!).

I have another two mounted cowboys to show this time. The green shirted hombre is a nice example from Johillco - he's another "old boy" and was found almost perfect - but missing his hand with pistol. As shown earlier - a simple fix meant drilling and pinning on a new hand and gun. (Dorset Soldiers spare). A new base will help stabilise him for another 80 odd years or even more, hopefully.

The other figure is another compendium figure. The horse is from Benbros originally - another British Company name from the 1950's, but was missing his rider. However, I already had a cowboy (minus his left arm), from another old British TS company - Fylde - but no horse. They were introduced - and surprisingly, the figure fitted the saddle of this Benbros horse perfectly. So..........a new arm was found with rifle - and grafted on to my figure. He didn't have a pistol - so I added a holstered example to his gun-belt (milliput) - and this was the result. I thought he looked quite nice - so decided to make him a Texas Ranger ( so gave him a badge).





I have been busy this afternoon - making up some new bases for the remaining horses I have left to repaint - so thought everyone might like to take a look at how they are coming along. The pic below shows how my remaining four horses look now.


At the rear - there is a Johillco Chief - just fitted onto his new base. In front, from L to R - are another Benbros Walking horse - a Timpo pony - and another Benbros standing mount. In front of these are the blank pieces of alloy I'm using to make the new bases, all cut from the smallish sheet i have with a hacksaw. Note that the Timpo base has been filed clean - with rounded corners. I will clean the others up - and then drill and pin each of these three - so that they will sit on the new bases in exactly the same way as my Chief was.

That's all for now - but - I'll be back with a few more later.

Cheers Ray - jb:salute::

 

[johnnybach]

Thank you !

Love the pin vise (silver one)...looks like mine...great tool...used to try and use electric drill...ugh !

I like conversions & repairs...cannot paint like you can though (love those feathers on the war bonnets)...never steady enough...especially eyes.

Agree with you on the restoration.

You make my snowy cold days...just viewing your work.

So....we share something in common, compadre. Keep that silver boy spinning!^&grin

As for the painting - I just give it a shot - in the comparatively simple glossy style that I like the best - and am just pleased that a few others seem to like 'em too.

I use an Optivisor these days - and a good lamp with a "daylight" bulb. These help enormously - have you ever tried one of these head visors out??? Makes a great difference to vision.

Thank you for your very kind words - glad you enjoy what I do. Keep warm - jb

 

[johnnybach]

Work is beginning to hot up around here pardners - and NOT the painting kind! You know, treats like shopping - getting the Commandant to and from the hairdressers and fabric shops etc.,

However, despite all of these delightful distractions - and survival from the great trolley race in the Supermarket (saw my first incident of car-park rage in Tesco's) earlier today - I've managed to get a few more pieces underway.

At the centre of this pic is a Britains cowboy, turned in the saddle and firing his pistol left handed to the rear. A good pose to use with some chasing group this one. he required a couple of new front legs - but is about 90% complete now.

The others have all been mostly based up now - which you saw at an earlier stage - except for the nice Timpo on the right - who was complete except for a lost tail. A spare was found and glued in place. His base is also okay (frequently found warped - so sometimes needs a new one).

My last piece - now safely on a new base is an unusual one - of a rodeo steer being ridden by a cowboy. This was originally made by Crescent back in the 1950's. I found the steer and the bottom half of his rider in a cardboard box - the top half of the rider ( from waist up)having been snapped off and lost at some time in the past. Another rummage in the box ( we are back under the stairs at Dorset now) - unearthed the top half of a different cowboy - whose bottom half was missing.

Hmmmmm......................... a quick look at the two partial figures - indicated a possible good result - so parting with a pound - I bought the two parts.
After quite a bit of repair work to both parts - a marriage was eventually arranged - and the piece now looks like this. Tricky to fit onto the base - because of the steer's very thin legs (which were also just half-round - the inside edge being flat) - I eventually attached long pins to the inside edge of three legs - and sculpted the inside edges with some milliput to hide the pins. Result - attached fine to the base - so will now be secure.

My last horse - lying down - is by Fylde (easy to ID - he has it conveniently embossed underneath). A really nice example - I think he will go well with the sleeping johillco coiwboy seen earlier.

I hope to start off his and the rodeo rider paintwork tonight - all being well.

see you later amigos. jb

 

[johnnybach]

Here's a few pics - for after Xmas - showing a few developments.

Here's a few cowpokes, pardners. Around my trusty Chuck-wagon, there are my two Timpo cowboy musicians who are serenading "Cookie" - who is a Britains cowboy conversion. Originally a walking cowboy - I found him minus his head - so substituted an ACW head with kepi from my "spares" box. A new arm with a knife was fabricated - and with a milliput apron - a new Veteran Old Soldier Cookie figure was born.

At the rear right - a repaired Johillco Bronco Buster (that you've seen earlier) is performing, whilst in front of them is another Bronco ( as yet without a rider), who is also showing his displeasure at being "tamed" by my "Cowgirl with whip" (a Johillco figure - now with whip arm restored too). This splendid horse was found originally, in rather a sad state of repair - with a large hole in the saddle area, and both front legs and chest area broken. However, thanks to the magic of milliput, armiture for the front legs, and a splash or two of Superglue and paint - he is now restored ( and also now, with a solid base) to give a bit of pleasure for another 70 years or maybe even more!

To the right of the sleeping cowboy (Crescent). you see a Rodeo Cowboy figure - on a steer. If he looks strange - that's because he is. I found the bottom half - Steer plus cowboy legs - but no top half, in an old cardboard box. Originally a Crescent figure - he had no top half - which should have been a cowboy holding a hat in his right arm, held in the air. BUT............... No such luck - despite searching vainly - his top half had gone. BUT............in yet another box - I found another top half of another cowboy (very much the worse for wear). In fact - he was literally, legless, ( and possibly by Benbros). Would he fit????????????

So..................top half of one figure...............bottom half (plus steer) of another.............. hmmmmmm................

The result is this "new" figure. Rodeo cowboy on a steer, which is Crescent on the bottom half - and (maybe) Benbros on top. Took a bit of work with some milliput, a new base and and a few pins. Note that a central joint in the body of a cowboy, can often be disguised with a gun-belt with a pistol at the hip!!!

Plenty more to follow............a bit later. jb

 

[johnnybach]

Next up...a few mounted Native Americans and a Bison.

My two Chiefs at the rear have already been discussed - and are mixed figures. Three of the others are Britains - although all were found either without their moveable arms, or they were broken. They also had other faults/repairs discussed earlier. I have replaced the two identical mount figures arms with different weapons (Dorset Soldier spares) - and/or modified them somewhat. The bison was originally Britains too - but has also a repaired face (milliput).

My star piece, however - is the galloping Johillco Indian Chief with rifle at the centre of the pic - with long flowing feathered head-dress down his back. I found this piece, remarkably intact! He's a pre-WW2 figure - so over 80 years old - and still intact!!! I gave him anew base, anyway - and an extra careful paint-job. Even though all of the others required repair or modification of some sort - this one needed hardly any work - other than a strip and repaint - and I was just so pleased to find him in this state! jb

 

[johnnybach]

And.............some dismounted ones.



Here are a few more of my growing tribe. My two archers are both from Crescent - as is my seated pipe smoker and drummer ( really enjoyed painting that drum). The Chief holding hatchet and knife at rear right is from B&T - and not so easy to find , nowadays. In front of him - is a similarly armed chief from Britains whilst I think that the crawling chief was by Johillco - and is very finely modelled. He had lost his weapon, by the way, so I gave him a new tomahawk and a knife at his other side. I made his hatchet from a piece of scrap lead and a paper-clip.

 

[zblang]

I love them! Great job

 

[johnnybach]

And my last post for tonight - will give me the greatest of pleasure. I have just completed the last of my figures - which will allow me to show something that I have been after - ever since I started collecting this genre - and takes me straight back to my days in the Wild West of Cardiff, wher I grew up, as a kid.

A small gang of us kids would spend hours - finding a likely subject - tying him/her to a tree - and (dressed as best we could) dance around the tree - usually giving out what we thought war whoops might sound like.

If we remembered - we might even untie him/her afterwards.

I have collected enough now to show you what we thought ( in our wildest dreams, what we looked like - so here it is.



Cowboy tied to a tree ( Timpo) - surrounded by 3 Crescent braves, one (very similar) by Reka, two Britains Chiefs with tomahawks, a Britains brave with captured carbine, a B&T Chief and a Crescent drummer - whipping them all up to fever pitch.

I feel that the palefaces hair (beautifully styled by (well me actually) won't stay in place long!!!{eek3}

If I tell you what I had to do to get these figures to this point - I'd be here all night - suffice to say - it took a while - and there were a few repairs and modifications made to almost every figure. Was it worth the effort? - You bet pardners!! jb

 

[nmrocks]

So much Great stuff JB! musta really had the nose to the grindstone, even if it was with a smile!
Ray

 

[johnnybach]

So much Great stuff JB! musta really had the nose to the grindstone, even if it was with a smile!
Ray

Cheers Ray - glad you like 'em too. With so much not worth watching on TV lately - it hasn't been hard to slip away and do an hour or two painting - usually accompanied by a fovourite track or two whilst I'm at it during the evenings. When you really enjoy what you do - it isn't "work" at all is it? And yes, usually accompanied by a very large smile.

Hope you had a good Xmas - and have a Happy Flat New Year^&grin:salute::jb

 

[Ivanhoe]

You are correct on the "paleface's" hair...I love his eyes !

The way you 'restore' and paint...these figures all look just like 'out-of-the-box', they all fit together so perfect...like all one massive set.

Thank you

 

[johnnybach]

You are correct on the "paleface's" hair...I love his eyes !

The way you 'restore' and paint...these figures all look just like 'out-of-the-box', they all fit together so perfect...like all one massive set.

Thank you

Ha-ha! ............they are popping a bit, aren't they!

Glad you spotted the fact that I'm trying to make all of these different products from different manufacturers look "as one set". As that's precisely what I'm trying to do.

Lottsa little tricks employed. Firstly - I always use the same paint (Humbrol), and made the decision at the start - to use the unrealistic colour for Native American skin parts - which, in true Glossy Toy Soldier style, is a mixture of Red/brown (100) and Scarlet(20) in a 50/50 mix. Feathers are always Ivory white with red tips, so they look like the same tribe. They are always High Gloss, and I try to use mainly primary colours for clothing - although buckskins are used a lot for pants and sometimes jackets. Again, I stick to a limited palette - to get that same look, wherever possible.

Cowboys are mostly primary coloured too - just like the original figures.

Glossy for me - IS - Toy Soldier. Any other medium just doesn't do it - for me.

Glad you like 'em too, which pleases me. jb

 

[johnnybach]

Here are my final two Native Americans from this latest batch of oldies to repair and/or refurbish and repaint.

The standing figure is by old Britains - whilst his mounted friend is by Crescent - both figures hollowcast, and dating from around the 1950's.





And this is what ALL of my Native American haul look like, on this occasion. More cowboys to come - later. jb