Thursday, April 30, 2026

Toysolders - A selfpainted "Almoravid Warrior"

Manufacturers;   ReconquerDesigns, JohnJenkinsDesign, King&Country

Scale:   60mm (1:30)


Hi,

after several posts with ready painted figures from different ranges I want to dedicate this post to my newest selfpainted figure. It is an Almoravid warrior from the naufacturer ReconquerDesigns

This company does a lot of really cool looking medieval figures in 28mm scale for 3d printing. You can find the figures here:  ReconquerDesigns on "myminifactory"  

I bought the set you can see on the last pictures of this post. It also includes a Crusader Knight but at the moment I am glad that I was able to finish this warrior. Due to an aching back I have to stop painting figures after a maximum of 30 minutes at the moment. It´s getting better, but about three days ago I wasn´t able to paint at all. So the Crusader Knight is also on the workbench but it will take me some more days to finish this miniature.

Again I won´t only print and paint this set of figures for my wargaming collection, but also for my collection of toysoldiers. So I scaled the figures up to 60mm. The figures really are an excellent extension to the figures of the usual manufacturers.

I have many templates for Crusader Knights like Templars or Hospitaller Knights. But there is a lack of templates concerning the Muslim forces of the Crusades. I have three Sarazens within my collection of toysoldiers from King&Country and also two Almoravid archers and one mounted flagbearer made by JohnJenkinsDesign. I decided to go for the Almoravid archers to be used as a template and wanted to paint the printed warrior in the style and in the colors of them. It was not so easy but it came out quite well. 

Hope you like it. :)


Cheers

Mike

The selfpainted warrior combined with the Almoravid archers made by JohnJenkins.

         

The 3d printed warrior in 60mm ...



A comparison to the templates from JohnJenkinsDesign.


Not to forget to include the mounted flagbearer.

My Muslim warriors so far - a mixture of JJD, King&Country and one selfpainted figure from
ReconquerDesigns.

Here is the set the warrior is taken from.







Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Toysoldiers - "Battle on the Monongahela" - Rearranging the showcase

Manufacturer:   JohnJenkinsDesign

Scale:   60mm (1:30)



Hi,

last week I tried to rearrange my showcase of the "Battle on the Monongahela" that took place on th of July in 1755.

A force of about 2.200 British soldiers under command of General Braddock marched towards Fort Duquesne (present day Pittburgh, Pennsylvania) in order to arrest it from the French.

On July 7, Braddock´s columns reached the mouth of Turtle Creek, a stream entering the Monongahela about 13 km from its junction with the Alleghemy River where Fort Duquesne was located. The direct and shortest way lay through a difficult country and a dangerous defile, Accordingly Braddock preferred to ford the Monongahela twice in order to reach his destination.

The French decided to ambush the advancing British column with some 900 men. The French Commander Beaujeu only convinced his native allies to join the war party after he had dressed himself up as an Indian.

The outcome of the engagement was a desaster for the British. General Braddock had been morally wounded. On the British side from the 1.33 NCO´s and men who took part to the engagement, only 43 came off unharmed. Of 86 officers, 73 were killed or disabled. The wounded men left on the field were killed.

There is a very good scene from the series "The war that made America" on YouTube that tells a bit more about the battle.

"The war that made America" - Monongahela

I had been inspired to rearrange my showcase because I had currently seen the trailer of "Young Washington", a movie that will be published on July 3rd in the US. I hope that this movie will also be published in Germany for the trailer looks really good.

Trailer "Young Washington"

I also just watched the TV mini series "George Washington" on YouTube. This series is from 1984 with James Mason and Trevor Howard. Within this movie there is also a part dedicated to the "Battle on the Monongahela".

TV mini series "George Washington"

Rearranging my own showcase I got aware that it is very hard to place terrain and figures on a limited space of about 95cm by 55cm. I was not able to place the British artillery and the ammunition cart that I already was able to include into my collection. So either the collection is already too big or the showcase is just too small. 

The first option is fake for sure because there are still some sets from this range by JohnJenkins that my collection is still missing. So I guess it must be the second option - the showcase is too small. In lack of being able to stretch the shelves it may be a good idea to split the battle on two shelves, every one of them showing different stages of the engagement.

Hope you enjoy watching the videos and also the pictures.


Cheers

Mike


General Braddock mortally wounded and young George Washington´s attempt to rescue him.


The Redcoats are suffering heavy casualties.

Attackint with a cruel warcry.

The death of the French commander Beaujeu.

Ambush.

Fierce melee fighting.

The warband of native warriors ...

... attacks the Redcoats from all sides.




Sunday, April 26, 2026

Toysoldiers - A short video about some FIW stuff

Manufacturer:   JohnJenkinsDesign

Scale:   60mm (1:30)


Hi,

just a short video showing a part of my collection of figures of the FrenchIndianWar. All figures are JohnJenkinsDesign. The tents are JGMiniatures and the big log cabin and the big palisade are selfmade.

I tried to combine some different ranges. Refugees (own range) are arriving at an fortified outpost (St.Francis-range). I know that there are some palisades missing in the front of the display. But to be honest I used to display this scene in this way. But the palisades just obstructed the view on the figures. I am sure this won´t be the final attempt to display the scene.

Cheers

Mike