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Completed British Brigadier General -1812, Phoenix Miniatures 54mm metal

Discussion in 'vBench (Works in Progress)' started by KenBoyle, Apr 18, 2019.

  1. KenBoyle PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States
    This is, more or less, a companion piece to my Phoenix Royal Navy Captain that I posted a while ago (available in my Work Bench).

    This vignette, I titled "Dreams of Glory", is also from Phoenix's Regency range released in the 70's. It was sculpted by Tim Richards.

    The Brigadier General has fallen asleep after a few drinks and dreams of past glory, his faithful dog watching over him.



    There were no changes to the figure other than normal cleanup. This is the second time I painted him. The last time was in the 70's and I donated the vignette to an Annual MMSI fund raiser auction.



    As with the Royal Navy Captain, I added a rug to the base which was also purchased back in the 70's prior to the internet and home color printers. It came with cardboard versions of a dozen different rugs.

    The floor of wooden planks was simply scribed into the base with a hobby knife.


    As I said before, Phoenix miniatures were well done, back in the day, and still stand up as fun sculptures today.

    That said, I must add a word of caution. As I mentioned in my last post, the Phoenix range is available from https://www.sanddmodels.co.uk/. In fact this figure was purchased from them recently along with a few others. The Brigadier was a good casting with just minor cleanup. However a couple of other kits had some issues. Apparently some of the molds are pretty old and in poor shape. Pieces have torn out of the molds resulting in excess material in the casting that needs to be removed. I am cleaning up the ones I received and they will be fine in the end, but it's still a lot of work. The cost of the figures is very reasonable compared to more current releases from other manufacturers, but, then again, these are really old figures.

    So just be aware of the issue. If I lived in the UK, I might have approached the company, but, being in the States, I was willing to do the work to clean up the ones I purchased.



    Thanks for looking and I'll be back with some more oldies soon.

    Cheers,
    Ken


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  2. harrytheheid A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    What a trip down memory lane.
    I think Phoenix Miniatures were responsible for sparking my interested in this hobby way back in the 1970's as they seemed to be featured in every succeeding issue of Military Modeling magazine at the time.
    Of course I couldn't afford them having zip cash left after blowing it all on what were my much more important hobbies back then; Motorbikes and the Ladies.
    I did buy some Phoenix castings five or six years ago, and sanddmodels were a pleasure to deal with. Perhaps I was lucky but those castings needed minimal clean up work.
    You can spot them lurking way at the back of this old diorama.
    Phoenix.JPG

    And I'll also be using two of them in this new vignette.
    Phoenix 2.JPG

    Many genuine thanks for posting the photos of your "Dreaming Brigadier General" Ken.
    He's most definitely a figure full of character and charm; extremely well painted and posed in a nice little setting.
    I love it.
    (y)
    Cheers
    H
    captnenglish and KenBoyle like this.
  3. KenBoyle PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States

    Thanks Harry! Much appreciated. Nice to hear from others with memories of Phoenix.

    I also enjoyed seeing some of your work... Great job!

    Cheers,
    Ken
    harrytheheid likes this.
  4. Oda A Fixture

    Another blast from the past painted to a very high standard .Ken,once more,proves that the "modern"fixation" with impeccably sculpt and cast figures doesn't stand up to much scrutiny.All that a modeller needs is paint,brushes and a lot of love for the hobby and he/she can produce little works of art like the brigadier,no matter what figure he/she is working on.

    Oda.
    KenBoyle and harrytheheid like this.
  5. MoboSchreuder A Fixture

    Wonderful work and beautiful painting

    Mobo
    KenBoyle and harrytheheid like this.
  6. harrytheheid A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Guys, I don't know if you're aware, but Alexanders Toy Soldiers do similar character figures; and they can be bought as castings so the option is there for them to be painted in any preferred style.
    I particularly like the (mainly) civilian Edwardian range called "Newbury Street".
    If you scroll down through this link you'll find a number of pretty interesting stuff that I think would paint up very well.
    https://www.ats-uk.net/www.ats-uk.net/info.php?p=32

    They also do these, which look rather special, and they're infinitely cheaper if ordered as castings.
    https://www.ats-uk.net/www.ats-uk.net/info.php?p=16

    There was an amazing set for the Duchess of Richmond's Ball just prior to Waterloo that I seem to remember ran to around +40 figures, and I was tempted to get into that range at one time, but unfortunately it seems to be OOP now, which is a real shame.
    Anyhoo, just some thoughts that tend to reinforce the points Oda makes in his post.

    Cheers
    H
    KenBoyle and Oda like this.
  7. fabrizio19691969 A Fixture

    i love this piece!!!!!!!!
    KenBoyle, harrytheheid and Oda like this.
  8. fogie A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    I too was very fond of these - indeed I believe they were some of Tim Richards' finest work ( before he
    went in a different direction). The originals were cast in pewter and so were crisp, sharp, and full of great
    charm and character. If the moulds are a bit worn then so what - all the other attributes are still there.
    KenBoyle and harrytheheid like this.
  9. misfit151 A Fixture

    Another great trip down memory lane....;).....lovely Job Ken. (y).....Mike
    KenBoyle and harrytheheid like this.
  10. KenBoyle PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States

    Thanks Oda! I appreciate the kind comments. I truly love doing the oldies, both for the memories and the challenge. Obviously though, I try and pick figures that are reasonably sculpted. :) There is a borderline between challenge and frustration that I prefer not to cross. ;) The main goal is to have fun. It's a hobby after all!

    Cheers,
    Ken
  11. KenBoyle PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States

    Thanks Mobo!

    Cheers,
    Ken
  12. KenBoyle PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States

    Thanks for the info Harry. Some real interesting figures here. (y)

    Cheers,
    Ken
    harrytheheid likes this.
  13. KenBoyle PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States


    Thanks Fabrizio! It was a lot of fun to do. :)

    Cheers,
    Ken
  14. KenBoyle PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States
    Thanks Mike! Even though some castings are a little rough in spots, I find it worth while to put in the effort to clean them up. I mentioned the issue primarily so buyers aren't surprised.

    Cheers,
    Ken
  15. KenBoyle PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States

    Thanks Mike! Just an oldie painting oldies. What could be more appropriate? :) :) :)

    Cheers,
    Ken
  16. oldtrousers PlanetFigure Supporter

    Oh man, I love this figure! Great job, Ken!

    Scott
    harrytheheid and KenBoyle like this.
  17. KenBoyle PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States


    Appreciate the kind comments Scott! The Brigadier has always been one of my favorites. :)

    Cheers,
    Ken
    oldtrousers likes this.
  18. Viking Bob PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    That's me on a Sunday afternoon without the uniform. Superb painting Ken and thank you for the trip down memory lane again.
    harrytheheid and KenBoyle like this.
  19. fogie A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    One of my personal favourites, Ken, was from the Victorian range - the pair sitting in deck chairs on the
    beach. (I have a very old family photo showing one of my tribe of great-aunts who looks exactly like the
    sleepy chap's wife !)
    harrytheheid and KenBoyle like this.
  20. KenBoyle PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States

    Thanks Bob! I agree, but being retired, that's me most afternoons, except my chair reclines. (y) :)

    Cheers,
    Ken

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