A dialogue with Julian Benassi... plus Manchester Model Fair 1979

 

Following on from the recent post about his 25mm Greeks, I came across this interview in Model Soldier magazine... very late 70's I think; I've put them all away and have now forgotten...

Atlantic plastics were always something I wanted as a child... my dad's boss bought a bunch of WW2 figures for his son whilst in Italy I think and boy, was I ever jealous...

Lastly, a review of  Manchester Model Fair I went back on December 1st, 1979... I can remember going up the escalator to the venue but little of the show itself... amazing how a picture can jog a memory! A pic Joe Shaw sitting at the table in the first pic. He was a master painter and did the Poste Militaire large scale minis I used to drool over at Northern Militaire and other shows back in the day. I chatted to him on the few occasions he came to the GW Manchester shop (where I worked for 2 out of 3 years in the early to mid 80's). Lovely bloke.. he was after the old complete adventurer which was already long oop so I searched mine out and gave it to him. Never saw it painted unfortunately.

Again the images should be high enough resolution to download and peruse at your leisure.

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Any thoughts on anything please do leave a comment and/or email me on enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk, even if it is to berate me for my penchant for coffee :)

Peter Laing 15mm Catalogue - possibly 1980?

 

Well, as the title suggests... I think it's from 1980 but could be wrong. Quite a growth from when he started in 1972. I do remember sending off for a sample figure back in the early to mid 70's (self stamped addressed envelope and a postal order etc)... the mini I received was 'interesting' to my young eyes... indeed I had no idea what had been sent and it put me off metals for a while. Shame as now I would love to have some examples. Lots of excellent blogs out there for collectors of his pieces. They do come up on eBay etc regularly but are soon snapped up.

Edit... found the little nugget... can't remember what year/month/mag it was from but does anyone else know what happened after this?

Some excellent blog articles below - please let me know if I've missed any etc and I'll add them.

https://collectingpeterlaing15mmfigures.wordpress.com/

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/tag/peter-laing-15mm/

http://timstanks.blogspot.com/2015/06/peter-laing-15mm-miniatures.html

https://sidetracked2017blog.wordpress.com/tag/15mm-peter-laing-figures/

https://battlegames.co.uk/memories-of-peter-laing/

https://wargamingmiscellanybackup.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/peter-laing-15mm-scale-pioneer/

https://wargamehermit.blogspot.com/2019/03/exciting-new-peter-laing-find.html

https://wargamehermit.blogspot.com/search/label/Peter%20Laing

A few images I've gathered on the internet/eBay... not sure who the original owner is anywhere so full kudos to them and, if any objection I will remove of course. Only here for illustrative purposes.

Hopefully the images of the catalogue are high enough resolution to see properly and/or download etc. If you enjoy the blog, please follow it and become a Politico (top left) - it makes me feel like I'm appreciated! Also, if you fancy buying me a coffee, I'm always grateful... blogging is thirsty work... thank you to those that have sent me my caffeine fix already!

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Any thoughts please do leave a comment and/or email me on enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk

A little bit of painting done... Hinchliffe, Archive & Tom Meier

 

As usual I am procrastinating regarding getting the next Kickstarter ready... I really am my own worst enemy as 'money's too tight to mention'. What goes on in this head of mine I really don't know! Between dog walking and painting minis I must squeeze in Noggin painting! A real mixed bunch here, two Citadel orcs, two Hinchliffe Models' Yonderley Men, two Archive Miniatures' historicals (Sassanid peasant levy and Gaul drawing sword) and a new Tom Meier elf from Darksword…

One Citadel Fantasy Tribe orc and a C15 one... the FT orcs are one of my favourite ranges... 15 codes, 13 of which were 'personalised' - about 20 (or more) versions of each sculpt. Makes collecting difficult!

Hinchliffe Models FA46 Yonderley Man with Spear and Shield. Sculpted by Peter Gilder, I'm pretty certain they used a brass button for the shield... something I've seen for Dragontooth and Minifigs before now.

FA45 Yonderley Man with Sword and Shield

Mike over at Broadsword Miniatures has all of the Hinchliffe fantasy back up and running - tell him I sent you!

http://broadswordsandbeasts.blogspot.com/p/broadsword-miniatures.html

Edit - image courtesy of Mike showing the master sculpted by Peter Gilder himself... and the guilty brass button! Get over to the link above and get some minis for your collection - tell him I sent you!

Great tribute blog to Peter Gilder; https://petergilderalifeinwargaming.blogspot.com/

Archive Miniatures 073 Sassanid Peasant Levy, sculpted by Nevile Stocken. Casting wasn't particularly good unfortunately but called out to be painted at long last...

061 Gaul Drawing Sword... a potentially lovely sculpt partly ruined by worn out moulds. Of the pack of three, this was the 'least worst'.

Tom Meier High Elf Warrior with Spear for Darksword Miniatures (available here). Tom has a life-size bronze (?) sculpt like this in his garden... pics on a link below... 

 

 

More images of the garden version over on Jacob Fathbruckner's Ral Partha Legacy site here.

So, another few bits of the lead pile of shame painted... more to come.

If you enjoy the blog, please follow it and become a Politico (top left) - it makes me feel like I'm appreciated! Also, if you fancy buying me a coffee, I'm always grateful... blogging is thirsty work...

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Any thoughts please do leave a comment and/or email me on enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk