Reader’s Contributions Part Five Axel, Greg, Erwin we have three interesting shares from our readers. First up is Axel Sohnius from Germany who has done a Viking fort to sell at The German Plastic Show in Herne Germany. New Greg Liska has a new conversion mounted American War of Independence flag bearers. Finally Erwin Sell has an article on jescan figures and comics
Reader’s Contributions Part Five Axel, Greg, Erwin Viking Fort
Axel and I started a correspondance after Ebay purchase. Laurie and I finally met him at Plastic Warrior Show. Axel a very good artist and if I remember right he did illustrations for a children’s book.
Axel send me photos of his latest project a Viking fortress. The last few weeks he thought of making something using his old wooden forts that are not complete. Axel found he had parts for from five or six old wooden forts in the cellar.
He studied the Viking castles like Trelleborg in books. You can all see examples on wikipedia. The fort goes well with Cheriela and Timpo figures
Axel will be offering it for sale at Herne on December 3. He wants to find out what people are talking about the idea of Viking Castle so he will show them. He is hoping someone buys so he does not have to take it home. You can see more photos here.
Reader’s Contributions Part Five Axel, Greg, Erwin AWI Mounted Flag Bearers
Greg has new project mounte AWI riders. So let us let him explain his project.
OK, more work on less than state of the art figures. Just hear me out. I don’t know of any AWI mounted color bearers other than swoppit type figures, which I do not collect. I had 6 broken Lido color bearers that I had been using as artillerymen, but with the availability of the BMC artillery crews, this became unnecessary.
Now, at the same time, I had decided to make a ‘unit’ of ACW Lido and Timmee figures. 
The standing firing pose is apparently supposed to be mounted, but he’s no cavalryman. He has no riding boots or pants, his rifle has a bayonet on it and it’s no carbine. He’s got full infantry pack on his back, which would have been carried on the horse in a very different configuration. As a standing firing pose, he looks a bit odd. So, I knew where I would get the bottom halves for my mounted flag bearers.
I decided to take it a step further. I added their bottoms to the standing firing pose and the result is rather an improvement. He looks much more natural and convincing. In addition, while I was digging around I found 2 of the ACW stabbing from overhead pose that were broken. I used their bottoms on 2 of the standing firing pose. I think it works. The flag bearers were done 1 for each type of unit: blue – Continentals, red- British, black – Hessians (going with CTS figures cast in black), white – French, brown – state militia, green – either another state militia or as Brit Legion. Thanks for looking. PS – Lido foot figures ALWAYS get bases added because they annoy me off trying to get them to stand!
Reader’s Contributions Part Five Axel, Greg, Erwin Jescan
Spaniards Toy brands produced many entire figures sets indeed base in cartoons and films direct.
Their brand are the more in entire Europe as well almost world to produce and cover entire sets exclusively base in great epic films . Reamsa Rojas Y Malarat,Pech Hermanos ,Comansi and Jecsan produced figures directly base in Ben Hur, El Cid,Lawrence of Arabia,King Solomon’s Mines,Bridge over river Kwai,Hannibal,The Fall of Roman empire,Cleopatra, Battle of Bulge and western TV series like Rin Tin Tin and others.Also western films such Stagecoach ,Little Big Horn and Shoot out at Gun Coral.Reamsa and Pech Hermanos made one series set each base in semi historical epic film Augustina de Aragon.
One less known set is the Jecsan mongols/tartars figures base in the more famous published Spain cartoon comic magazine(Captain thunder= Captain Trueno) .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capit%C3%A1n_Trueno
The viking and one set knights of Jecsan were also made base in same comic images
Other brands in Spain made sets of the charters as well of this comic.(Jin and Esteroplast were some of them)
As photo below show some poses were copied in detail from comic images.
Picture provided by Juan Martin from Spain .
Admin note: I will photograph my personal box of the Huns for a future article.
Greg, Nice job on those Lido conversions. One in particular, could be a double for the Heralds standing shooting ACW pose.
I always wished that Lido figures were fully rounded and that they had a base to stand on. Again, nice job on them.
The mounted figures would be much improved if you cut the flag down in size.
It’s too big and overwhelms the figure and horse.
Perhaps into a Guidon shape. All 4 Continental Cavalry units carried Guidons and I think that the figures would greatly benefit from that.
Thanks, Bill. I believe I will do that. I’m sure you noticed the flags are just colored electrical tape. Cutting them down will be easy. I got caught up in reproducing the flag that was broken off of the figure. The pose is a bit strange, but I see it as him getting the banner back in position after just uncasing them.
The Lido and Timmee guys have the same primitive level of sculpting and are a match made in…well, let’s say Purgatory. Scale-wise the Timmee guys are all over the place, but generally bigger than the Lido except the stabber. Adding the new legs to the standing firing pose raised him up several millimeters and he fits in better. They ALL got bases because unlike the Timmee guys, there was no attempt to make 3 points of contact on the ground to balance their figures that have no base.
Greg, When you redo the flags, cut the end of a spear
off, from a junk figure and use it as a flag pole top.
It will dress up the Guidon.
Broken TimMee Indians are perfect for this.
Arrowheads or spear points are what you want.
I normally use the tip of cocktail spears. $1.99 for about a million of them.
Greg, I bought a color printer for around $50 on sale. I use card stock to print flags, badges, background scenes and even 2D figures. The copier helps me to scale them to 54mm. You can find a wide variety of really nice flags online and size them to fit your soldier projects. The only limitation is your imagination. I have some great bar room scenes inside my tin and plastic buildings that are very vivid when looking through the windows. The printer may be one of the best things I ever bought for my collection.
A lot of possibility with that and I do have a good color printer. I want the flags generic to leave them more uses, like the one unit that is either British Legion or another State Militia. Sometimes the French may be used as Militia, too. All depends on the scenario my son and I are developing.
Love the Viking buildings, Great detail Excellent work and something very different.
The Viking castle is great! I see possibilities to do most of that with leftover FT Apache walls. Great job!
I think the legs from the stabbing down guy look the best, but they both work. In fact all three look pretty good to me.
Thanks, Ed. It made them taller, too. They fit in better with the Timmee guys.
I wonder how the legs from the guy that is holding the rifle vertically would work with the top half of the shooting pose. I would imagine pretty good.
Oh, I don’t want to cut any of them up. The 2 advancing with rifles poses are the best Lido has. I leave them alone and the more of them, the better!
I like the Viking fortress idea as i will call it .Viking fortress were generally circular and smallest compare to later scandinavian normand era medieval stone/wood castles and keeps .Yet because castles and forts in viking era are not that famous or well action known ,neither strong used and more as shelters than defensive i will think it has a curious appearance more than big interest in overall x collectors.
Still the fort had many interesting well ideas and realistic by just using simple parts and mix decor from many brands.Well done and hope sale quick and good .
My thoughts.
Best..
Nice work Greg, Good conversions.
Thanks, Darren. Another bunch of old figures rescued from the land fill!
Greg.I’m honest .
I like the legs change in Lido more than mounted.The mounted pose to me looks odd in my honest opinion.
I can not figure out holding banner as that mounted other that signaling. My view only please.
The Lido w high boots I can give more use as Russian 1860 to 1879 wars more than ACW .The base is always a plus.Well done and smart easy way propper use of spare parts.
My thoughts.
I agree, Erwin. It is an odd pose, but it was what I had to work with to fulfill a perceived need, which is the reason why I convert anyhow. To me it looks like he is returning the colors to position after uncasing them. A ‘frozen moment in time’ sort of pose. Not optimal, but (to me) acceptable.
The ACW guys have leggings on, not boots. If you look at the pic enlarged, it’s about as clear as Lido sculpts can get. Leggings were used by both sides and although it was not part of the standard Federal uniform, state raised units used whatever they pleased as long as they stayed within the rather vague guidelines, which were little more than, “wear blue”. Take a look at The Iron Brigade. They wore leggings until the end of the war, although not all members.