Rereading this Wells biography by Claire Tomalin and noticed again, sadly very few mentions of toy soldiers, Floor Games, Little Wars …
Crossposted from my Man of TIN Blog Two
Claire Tomalin, Biographer of H G Wells and Little Wars …
Month: August 2025
Early Science Fiction Bronte Sisters and Brother Branwell with ImagiNations Worlds or planets? Star Gothic
One moment I was researching what early Science Fiction the Bronte family (early fantasy or RPG players) might have read that influenced their paracosmic juvenile and adult ImagiNations … the next thing I know this Star Goth poster fusing Star Wars and the Brontes was created whilst I was playing with AI image generators.
Read and See how this accidentally happened – Crossposted from my fully colour illustrated Man of TIN Blog Two:
Airfix WW2 Imperial Japanese into Not Quite Star Wars Imperial Space troopers
Imperial Space Dark Troopers from WW2 Airfix Japanese – troop now completed.
Seen here as they began as a gift of some heads and figures from Alan Tradgardland Gruber.
I was looking for preferably cheap pound store toy soldiers that could spare to use for the sixteen old (or new) heads from Alan Tradgardland Gruber.
I raided my pound store spares tin of Toy Story and TimMee copies of ‘modern’ WW2 and Korea (or Vietnam?) American infantry figures.
Other conversions would be paint conversions.
To see how they turned out, read more / crossposted from my Man of TIN Blog Two:
All part of my Close Little Space Wars project.
Steam Fair Soldier Haul 2025
A couple of hours on a hot day at a local west country steam traction rally. There were the familiar and usual model tents, the craft tents and working agricultural bygones.
In amongst all the rusty spare vehicle parts and old tools were lots of farm, lorry and steam engine boxed collectibles and the mandatory rummage boxes of unloved railway waggons (many never to run again?) and obligatory bashed up toy cars.
My eyes seek out and focus on khaki brown and olive drab in such situations. Mostly bashed Dinky and Matchbox types, a few battered spring cannons and almost no toy soldiers … until I spotted an interesting £3 plastic bundle.
You can join me in this unboxing (or debagging?) adventure – crossposted at my fully colour illustrated Man of TIN Blog Two post
Hetain Patel’s Hobby Craft Art Exhibition Come As You Really Are heads to Tate St Ives November 2025
This time last year August 2024 I went to see Hetain Patel’s original London ‘Come As You Really Are’ exhibition at Grants in Croydon.
As part of the exhibition, my hobby offering had been selected and I despatched ‘The Two Hundred’ of my repaired, restored or repainted vintage lead soldiers.
Once the Croydon exhibition finished in October 2024, the exhibition began its tour of the UK to different venues.
By November 2025 this year, it will briefly touch down for a week in Tate St Ives in Cornwall, its closest regional UK tour venue to my Southwest part of Britain.
Read more – crossposted from my Man of TIN Blog Two:
Blog post by Mark Man of TIN, 14 August 2025
Robin Hood Car Boot Finds
Slim toy soldier pickings at the car boot but some intriguing Robin Hood 54mm to 60mm plastic figures
Crossposted by Mark Man of TIN from my fully colour illustrated Man of TIN Blog Two:
Airfix WW2 Imperial Japanese into Imperial Space Troopers?
My blog buddy Alan Tradgardland Gruber has been busy converting and painting the versatile, lightly equipped, almost Nineteenth Century uniformed and putteed Airfix Japanese Infantry into Balkans and WW1 troops by swapping heads.
I know Alan has been busy, not only from his blog but also because Alan very kindly sent me a bag of 17 spare 54mm Airfix Japanese heads.
The Japanese kepi or field cap is quite similar to some of the grey or black uniforms of the Imperial Army and Navy in the Star Wars films.
Useful perhaps, Alan thought, for my Wellsian (Not Quite Star Wars) Close Little Space Wars project figure conversions?
Read and see more of these new space black Imperial uniforms at / crossposted from my Man of TIN Blog Two post here:
For my Not Quite Star Wars project, there is also a section on the interesting evolving costume designs of Imperial Troops from recent series like Star Wars: Andor.
Space Shipping Containers from Card
A crafty family weekend and hacking about a card template to make a generic space building, storage or shipping container for 54mm.
Add Grunge to taste.
Crossposted by Mark Man of TIN from my fully colour illustrated Man of TIN Blog Two:
Airfix Space Warriors left and right, TimMee Galaxy Laser Quest centre – BattleStar Galactica style in 1970s brown and beige.
All part of my Close Little Space Wars Project in 54mm
Grom-8 the space sheep dog?
Another rather familiar space dog character for my space reinvention of the ‘One Man and his Dog’ hex 1970s board game. ‘One Spaceman and His Space Dog’?
Read more at/ Crossposted from my fully colour illustrated Man of TIN Blog Two:
Toy Soldier Collector Magazines TSCHF 2025
Just renewed my annual subscription to this fine magazine!
Crossposted from my Man of TIN Blog Two
Man of Tin blog 