ALY MORRISON'S "BUTTERFLY" ADVENTURES IN THE WORLD OF WARGAMES AND TOY SOLDIERS

Monday, 28 April 2025

The Hundred Days… Some Useful Tools and Units Assembled.

Greetings…

I thought I would show you some useful ‘Tools of the trade’ that I have been using while I’ve been sticking lots of plastic toys together…

First up…

Where to put all those bits…


For a while I’ve been using off cuts from the heavy duty liner that was used for tanking out my cellar…

They work okay but it’s a struggle to get anything in that is bigger than an infantryman…

So…

Go big or go home 😁

Half a dozen spray can lids taped together… 

This gives me loads of room… I can put multiples of the same figure in each ‘Pot’ and cavalryman with ease…

It is also a lot more stable… And there are plenty of ‘unwanted’ lids out there.

Next…

Super Glue ‘Floss’…


Okay… It may seem like a daft idea… At first….(Me! Having daft ideas… Whatever next)

I’ve only been using a small amount of Super Glue on this project…But when I do use it I use one of these..

I put a drop of glue on an old paint lid or a coin and use the pointy end as an applicator…

If too much goes on the bit I am gluing I use the ‘Floss. To remove the excess…. “Simples “ 😁

And Next…

My favourite Scalpel Blade…


For me the 15C is the first choice for cleaning up plastic figures… I like the small blade, which makes it easier to get into all those nooks and crannies…It is also good for scraping off mould lines and carving.

The only thing it has trouble with is the heavy cutting… 


I use my trusty Side Snips for that…

Next…

Here’s an Old School Oldie…

Yup!…

Dissolve some bits of Sprue in Thin Liquid Cement…

You are looking for a runny PVA consistency… Put in a few bits at a time until you are happy with the results.

This is excellent stuff for filling in little holes and gaps as well as tidying up where you have scraped back areas a bit too vigorously…

Of course if necessary it can be smoothed out a bit more with some Thin Cement.

Hopefully this will be of some help to someone or maybe even spark off some new ideas and techniques.


Progress wise…

Still not much on the painting front…

But there are now plenty of toys stuck together…

All the best    Aly…


Hmmm!… I should really try and be a bit more consistent with my box naming protocols.🤔





Monday, 21 April 2025

The Hundred Days… All Twelve French Imperial Guard Engineers.

Greetings…

I thought I would post a shot of all twelve of my Engineer conversations…


As I have already said..I am very pleased how these have come out… and I am looking forward to getting some paint on them…

The converting/assembling continues at a reasonable pace so hopefully more photos soon.


All the best   Aly



Thursday, 17 April 2025

The Hundred Days…. French Imperial Guard Engineers.

Greetings…

Here are a few more simple conversations…

French Imperial Guard Engineers…


These are made from FN250 French Napoleonic Infantry Battalion 1807-1814… with Carabiner heads from… 

FN 120 Plastic French Napoleonic Heavy Cavalry.

https://www.perry-miniatures.com/product-category/plastic-ranges/box-sets/

The plumes were sculpted from Green Stuff…

These will be a 12 man unit when they are finished… 

They were brigaded with the Marins of the Guard which I think are doable if I stick to the campaign uniform.

I am very pleased with how they have turned out… Another simple but effective conversion.


All the best   Aly



Saturday, 12 April 2025

The Hundred Days… Getting Stuck In.

Greetings…

With my Blepharitis still make it difficult/uncomfortable to paint toy soldiers…They did say it could take a while to clear and I should be patient… Sigh!

I have decided to spend my time sticking plastic figures together… Which is actually something I wouldn’t normally enjoy…But needs must.

I have actually managed to stick together a lot of Victrix Rus and Islamic cavalry (Being used as Khazars) but I have yet to take any pictures of them.

So here we have some Hundred Days “period” miniatures that I have also been doing.

First up… Some French 3rd Infantry Regiment 1815…

Against regulations it appears that the 3rd’s Flank Companies continued to wear Cords and tall Plumes with their 1812 Bardin uniforms up to 1815.

The figures started life as Perry Miniatures FN100 Plastic French Napoleonic Line Infantry with heads taken from FN250 French Napoleonic Infantry Battalion 1807-1814…

A little bit of sculpting was done to create the 1812 Shako Plates…


https://www.perry-miniatures.com/product-category/plastic-ranges/box-sets/page/2/


A simple and quick conversion which should look really nice when they are eventually painted.


The finished unit with four additional skirmishers…

Once finished the toys are stored in a labelled freezer carton… Surprisingly organised for me.




This is them undercoated and waiting patiently for paint…

I have stuck quite a few units together ( Napoleonic, Rus, Khazars and even some ACW) now and once they are photographed I shall post them and attempt to explain how they were created.

Despite my misgivings about sticking plastic figures together I have really enjoyed this…

The choice of plastic Napoleonic figures out there is quite dizzying.. Sadly no Dutch/Belgians or Nassau as yet…

The eye is improving (slowly). I have started basing some figures and I have a Rus test figure waiting to be photographed…


All the best   Aly