Flea Market Finds

While rummaging through several plastic bins at a Flea Market I was hoping to find some “Monsters in my Pocket” or M.U.S.C.L.E. specimens. I didn’t find either, but I did find these two blokes. They stand between 2.75 and 3 inches tall. Both of the figures came partially painted and have a fair amount of detail.

Viking with Battle Axe

The battle axe extends down to the axe head itself which terminates into a square block of plastic giving some bulk to this miniature.

Medieval or Viking Warrior

Although he is missing a pike or a spear, the battle implement can easily be fashioned from a piece of styrene.

Replicants Town Crier

Replicants 25th Anniversary 1/32 Plastic Figure

I purchased this figure some time ago and presented this figure along with the rest of my purchase at the time. Although I have thought of purchasing a few more 1/32 pieces, especially now that Replicants has some fine sales, I haven’t made any purchases of this size of miniature since

Armies in Plastics New 1-32 Military Figures

Armies on Plastic is offering a few new sets of historically-accurate 1/32 scale figures. The new sets include:

• Spanish American War, #5611, 1898 – Cuban Insurrectos
• Spanish American War, #5612, 1898 – Spanish Regular Infantry
• Russo-Japanese War, # 5613, 1904-1905 Japanese Army, Summer Dress
• Boxer Rebellion, #5614, China – 1900 – Japanese Army Winter Dress
• World War I, #5615, Japanese Army Khaki Dress
• American War of 1812, #5616, American Army
• American War of 1812, #5617, British Army Waterloo 1815
• American War of 1812, #5618, Battle of Chippawa American Army

Collecting Replicants Miniatures

Replicants is a manufacture of limited run polythene 1/32 (54mm) figures and produces figures in many unique poses. They produce a varied line of figures that include medieval, American Civil War, American Wild West, Napoleonic soldiers, and other period pieces.

The figures come in a verity of colors; colors used I presume, are what they have on hand on the day the production. Polythene is a hard plastic and produces figures with sharp details. There are a few pieces on the site that are out of production. There might be a few of these figures lying about. Just contact the manufacturer and ask for availability.

I have painted five figures from my collection so far. This is my first experience with this sized figure, and I must say that working with a larger figure definitely makes painting and detailing them easier on the eyes.

My First Thoughts on Replicants Figures-Cleaning then Up-Painting

Replicants offers many uniquely posed 1/32 (54mm) figures. My first order included ten figures and consisted of several period pieces and a set of Apache Scouts or are they Renegades. The figures care cast in polythene. This is a relatively hard plastic and this is where I believe the problem with the clean-up of these castings lies.

Most of the castings are pretty clean of flash, but some of the figures do require clean-up of flash and parting lines. I have tried using a file to rid the casting of their flash, but this leaves more flash and stubble behind.

I found that using a blade of sharp and sturdy pocket knife to scrape the flash works well, but this is a tedious job, and only works to a point. I find it very hard to scrape away every bit of the flash. After a good scrape you are still be stuck with some stubble.

What seems to work exceptionally well, after the initial scraping, is to take a lit match or two and melt the flash stubble from the figure. I simply make a quick pass over the affected area and then rub my finger over the area to smooth the plastic down. Be careful here, you don’t want to melt the figure and you don’t want to inhale the smoke from this operation.

Once I was happy with the overall process, I scrubbed the pieces with soap and an old tooth brush. Once the pieces were dry I gave them a primer coat of grey spray paint. The grey paint will cover even the darkest of colors used on some of the castings. White did the job on lighter colored pieces, but it does take a couple coats of white on the darker castings. I was a bit worried here, that the second coat of paint might obscure some of the details on the casting.

Some say that you should start with the light colors than move to the darker. This makes good sense in that you can usually can give the brush a quick wipe and go for a darker color without having to wash the brush.

My Miniatures by Size

QYY	Size	Manufacturer(s)
10	54mm (1/32)	Replicants
1	40mm	HistoriFigs
4	30mm	HistoriFigs
7	28mm	HistoriFigs Foundry Artizan Designs
16	25mm	Reaper Miniatures HistoriFigs