P is for Partially Seen Elsewhere - Acédo African Scene

I posted my small sample of these elsewhere, the same day, I think, but I shot a better sample on Mercator Trading's stall at the show (last London show of last year?), so we can have a better look at this French production now.

Acédo, the plastics 'arm'  of Domage et Cie (Domage and Co.), the company also behind Aludo (aluminium production), are responsible for this little set-up! Obviously made in polymerised cellulose acetate, and apparently depicting a peaceful, or civilian take on African life in a rural village, sans modernism!

 

I wondered about the trees and huts, as they looked a bit homemade (huts) and converted from something like Playmobil (trees), but a quick Google that evening revealed similar huts and some similar, but very different-shaped trees, so I think the pieces were made as flat sections, or bare boughs, and then assembled, with heat, glue and hand-held pyro-gravure work - to hide the joins. Portable hairdryers were invented in the 1920's, and can be set 'too hot' (for scalps!), so all very doable.

 

The running boy and drummer being not warlike, although the full set does include a warrior with spear and shield and a white hunter in pale safari-suit, the warrior is sort of waving his spear & shield as if 'beating' the game toward the hunter.

Close-up of my previously seen sample, other colours of loin-cloth turn-up including dark blue and white, but I don't know what other animals might be considered part of the set, a rhino, hippo, ostrich and more monkeys were in the 'zoo' sets, so there was a species-bank to pick from!

 

Usually found decorated, and the only one seen, on the day, I don't know if it's a late production thing, unpainted, or if it has been stripped, due to poor wear of the original decoration?

S is for Sorry, I'm Having a Rather Lazy Week!

I've just sat here for two hours and not posted anything, as I also couldn't be arsed to this afternoon before I went to work, but here's something from the unsorted folder!

Domage et Cie ('et Compagnie, like our &Co.,), who would go on to be known as  Aludo, producing aluminium toys, then Acédo, as a producer of polymer-acetate figures, were first branded D et C, where they could be found making these pastoral subjects, among other things, also in an early plastic, but with more of a recycled polystyrene feel?. Here the shepherd meets his paramour, while the farmer's not around!

Beautifully marked-up on the base, leaving no real doubt as to their lineage! And only about 60-mil, so a nice 54mm without the heavy bases, which have been modelled to resemble turned-wood! 'Unbreakable' it says (in French, and they know what they're talking about, they all speak it!), and to be fair, neither of these has any damage, but both Domage! And are they replacing earlier wooden or composition figures from the same line?

H is for How They Come In - Sandown Park, November, 2 of 2

It's not that I'm trying to beat 2017's post total, that's an imposable target, this late in the year, but we’ve had a few wet days here, which I've used to get some of these folder's cleared-off the PC! Second half of the plunder from the last Sandown show now.

 

A Speedwell Japanese soldier, who had lost his head in all the excitement, already glued back-on, it's not a good job, and as the rifle and hat have been re-painted, I will probably strip him right back, re-do the head with pinning and repaint him more realistically, as a spare, someday.

A Timpo Indian from the earlier solids, taken from hollow-cast moulds I think, and a probably home-cast, probably modern ACW in whitemetal, but he's pretty enough and was in a bag with other stuff!

 

Hong Kong diver, resin anthropomorphic pig, a horse which I think is a bit of Dom-for-Heinerle and a driver sitting on an unrelated crate of bottles in a dense vinyl. The figure itself is polystyrene, and may go with that grey one which keeps turning up?

 

Three odd little aliens I know nothing about, might be Kinder and one has a plug on his foot, along with a Heimo-Bully Dalton brother (Averell or Jack?) from France's Lucky Luke comic strip.

Horton-Trix-Briains Lilliput station staff and passengers,

along with a hotel porter (red jacket)

Acédo Jungle plastic from France

Mostly Marty-M Toy (May Moon) WWII, but the driver is another colour and may be from a different maker, while the chap down the bottom with the marbled Lido knock-off, is taken from the Swoppet mortar man and will be from a third producer.

 

Other figures with the driver include a modern pirate, Manurba swivel-waist, modern cop and - probably - French bazaar cyclist, although he may be a board-game piece or cracker-toy?

 

From the sublime, to the ridiculous, is unfair, but exactly the sort of occasion for that phrase! Lone Star's swivel/jointed-limb farm animals above, we looked at a complete with tab cow here, and, Kinder wildlife below.

Q is for Quiralux's Quirky Quarrelers

Just a quicky, this shot's been in Picasa since 2013, and I thought it could finally fly free on the Internet!

I thought these were probably late, or even re-issue medievals (from another party) from Quiralux, being a bit flashy and unpainted apart from the beginnings of some home-paint on a couple of them, but I was wrong . . .

. . . they are from a paint-your-own set from Quiralux themselves! Seen here on the right with one of those naff brushes and some pots of - almost certainly - water-based paint. A window-box set of painted ones to the left, although they are all the same as the Acédo ones we saw here I think? Who made them first, I don't know, but French-made foot knights and men-at-arms anyway!

S is for Seen Elsewhere - Ancients and Medievals

Although we're starting with part of a fantasy vignette, which sort of covers both periods while actually being of neither! It's a odd genre, fantasy, sort of mythology without the real people or places, yet always with the extraordinary odds, but mostly a more medieval setting, with lots of iron and steel dragging it away from the Ancient period, which is technically set in the Bronze Age?

McFarlane Toys have a series of Lego-likey sets pertaining to the recent phenomena known as Game of Thrones, and each of the sets, alongside all the standard and shaped bricks, have a number of PVC vinyl figures, this is the  . . . can't remember and it's in storage now, black throne, iron throne, throne of steel . . . as you can tell I haven't followed it at all! There's a dragon I think, and some snow-yetis who live in a wall, and a 'babe' who keeps getting her 'tits out for the lads'?

Although they look like action figures, they are more like the stuff we've bee seeing from 3D/4D/4M; plug/slot together, soft polymer 'kits', and while the standing chap (character or generic guard?) has slight movement in his helmet and a separate sword (which keeps falling off!), he's no more sophisticated than a swoppet, just better detailed, but with little interchangeability.

The semi-dead, skinny-cadaver bloke on the throne is a 'site specific' sculpt and just sits there looking bloody miserable and a bit evil. But they are nice figures; about 55/60mm, they'll fit-in with all sorts of other stuff.

Ooh, these are nice! Proper 'Ancients'; they're Greek Greeks . . . from Greece! Sculpting is similar to the Crio premiums, but they are 120-odd mm, I have one somewhere, but this quadripartite squad are 54mm and while they may share a sculptor, and could be another Crio issue, I suspect from the colours and single pose (I bought them individually, but from the same seller) that they may be from a local (to Greece) board-game? Help appreciated on this one!

Fun shot - there are several sets of Hong Kong Romans, taken from various sources, but these conversations (mostly paint) from Crescent knights are the most fun, Peter Evans gave me two or all three of the small scale (25mm) ones, and I think the 54mm's may have come from Chris Smith - cheers both!

These two are the larger figures from the Design Eye books which we looked at on Small Scale World a while ago, but I also shot them both for another place - Horus and a generic royal who could be one of Eleanor's brood; Richard I or John?

Ultimate Explorers - Ancient Egypt
Ultimate Explorers - Castle

Taking us nicely from Ancient to Medieval;

These are Acédo, late soft polyethylene production (I think I have some hard 'styrene, earlier ones somewhere, but the chocolate/maroon bases and colour schemes are the same I think), and rather nice, there's a late Norman look to them and a clear French'ness, I feel, to the sculpts?

I wasn't sure about this chap as he was hard plastic, but came with the above, however I was assured he was another Acedo, so he'll do! He needs a sword, but I have a bag full of old swords including broken ones, so I'll have a look and see if there's something suitable for a blob of glue!

I scored these at the Spring Sandown Park show I think, and they may have been on the blog - checks; yes they were, and so were yesterday's Elastolin aliens, but that's the nature of these posts! Compare this catapult with the probably Ougan one in the above Design Eye castle-post link, a much nicer finished item altogether!

The maneuverable mantlet shields and blacksmith, back with his wheel! As we have seen them before I can't add much, but they were a nice group of lesser-common siege accessories and crew in the smaller 40mm range, happy to have them!