I’ve been stocking up on figures for the Spinneyworld store, so I took the opportunity to have a look inside Tamiya’s Campus Friends 2 box- with a quick look back at the original, and a bonus box from Hasegawa.
You can find these figures, and more, in the Spinneyworld store.
Update: The RC transmitters are now available in the Spinneyworld shop. You can also get them as STL files if you want to print your own.
The product development process for the Spinneyworld shop is not very organised. I have a lot of ideas for things that need designing, and a lifelong problem concentrating on what I should be doing. Sometimes, the only way to get anything done is to trick my procrastinating brain into making something that isn’t on the to-do list.
Which is why Action Man now has a radio control transmitter.
I sat down with Blender yesterday, and built the model up based on photo reference, printing test pieces last night.
There are some changes needed before it sees production. The main one is to the trigger, which was super fragile, and pinged off as soon as I put the controller into the figure’s hand.
The final version will be available in 1:6, 1:12, and 1:24 scales, and this post is partly another psychological trick, designed to shame me into getting the work done, rather than sitting on it for a few more months.
From the Spinneyworld blog-
Some new stock has come in recently, and I’ve taken the opportunity to shoot a couple of unboxing videos.
First, some figures from Hasegawa-
Then the “Type T” lowrider kit, also from Hasegawa-
From the Spinneyworld blog:
A few years ago, I wrote a post listing all the model figure manufacturers I could find sites for. I updated it in 2013, and it’s now time to do it again.
One of 2020’s aims is to build and paint more figures, to improve my skills, so this is as much a placeholder for me as a resource for you.
Alternative Images – USA Film and fantasy resin kit figures. Some dead image links, so I don’t know how up to date it is.
Andrea Miniatures – One of the world’s premier figure manufacturers. You can get Andrea figures on Amazon.
Armorcast – USA Fantasy and Wargame figures
Miniaturas by F. M. Beneito – Spain Historical Miniatures specialist
BNA Model World – Australian model shop. More than just figures.
W Britains – Military figure manufacturer
Bronze Age Miniatures. 28mm and 54mm figures, mostly for gaming.
Creative Beast. Mostly dinosaurs, but some fantasy figures.
Le Cimier – France Military Figures, tools and reference books
Denizen Miniatures – 1:43 motor racing figures- drivers, pit crew, etc, – and 90mm fantasy and sci-fi figures.
Devils Own Resin An interesting selection, but no obvious buying links.
Dragon Models – USA Home page of Dragon Models.
Dream Master Creations – USA Erotic resin figures
The Dunken Company – figure casting supplies and moulds.
Dutkins’ Collectables – Among the many products sold by this company are figure models.
El-Greco Miniatures – A shop with a wide range of companies stocked. I have bought from them in the past, and will do so again.
El Viejo Dragón Miniaturas – Spain Historical Figure specialists
Fontegris Miniatures. The Fontegris site has been taken over by a beauty product retailer. This is a list of their products at Noble Knight games.
Frontline Figures – Beautiful 54mm award winning collectible figures!!
Germania Figuren 1:72nd figures in resin and pewter, as well as 3D printed items in various scales and even 3D files for home printing.
Gremlins in the Garage! – USA Welcome to Gremlins in the Garage the first webzine dedicated to figure kit modeling
Ground Zero Games. Gaming miniatures and fantasy figures.
Wayne “The Dane” Hansen – Figure Kits and Sculpting Supplies
Hassle Free miniatures Gaming figures and accessories. Great figures, mostly in 28mm. I own a few, and love the company’s sense of humour. The models are great sculpts, and tongue was firmly in cheek when most of the names were thought up.
HaT Industrie – HäT Industrie produces 1/72 and 1/32 scale soft plastic military miniatures or toy soldiers. Our goal is to produce a line of figures not produced by any of the past or present manufacturers.
Historex Agents – UK Historex Agents represents over 70 different companies, specialising in connoisseur model soldier kits and AFV conversion set
Hobby Search – buy direct from Japan
Image Anime – USA General Anime kits and figures
Jimmy Flintstone/ Dr Flintbone Primarily manufacturers of hot rod and custom car bodies in resin, Jimmy Flintstone also produce figures to complement the vehicles. Dr. Flintbone is the more adult arm.
Kaiyodo – Japan Star wars, Godzilla (original) and Anime figures.
King & Country – Design and manufacture the most amazing (and affordable) range of toy soldiers, miniature figures,military vehicles, model aircraft and buildings in the world today! All our products are hand-made and hand-painted to the highest professional standards.
Kings X Toy Soldiers – Models from various toy soldier manufacturers, plus an exclusive range of Alamo figures
Legends – Kits, accessories, reference materials, Japanese si-fi & anime, from all over the world.
MBM Models – Holland Military, Sci-Fi and Fantasy fig specialists
Micro Mark – tools for the serious modeller
Mic Shaun’s Closet – Plastic figures from many periods to include Napoleonic, American Civil War, Alamo and World War II from a variety of manufacturers.
Minutemen Toy Soldiers – USA Military figure kits and gaming specialists
Mithril Figures – Ireland Mithril was founded in 1987 and has been dedicated since then to the creation of miniature figures, inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s world of Middle-earth as portrayed in his famous works “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings”.
Moebius Models. Licenced re-releases of old Aurora kits.
Monsters In Motion: A Sci-Fi Gallery – Welcome to Monsters In Motion, the world’s greatest gallery of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror & Famous Movie Personalities as finished statues and model kits for the hobbyist and collector.
Paleocraft – models of extinct animals
Pegaso Models – Italy Manufacturers of 54mm, 75mm, and 90mm figures.
Prince August Factory Shop – Ireland Military figures for the collector, together with moulds and Chess sets
Quarter Kit – France White metal and diecast military miniatures
Reaper Minis – Minis, paints, and more.
Ronin Miniatures – Based in Ukraine, and trading through an Etsy shop, Ronin produce figures primarily in 54mm/1:32.
Saratoga Soldier Shop – USA Pewter Civil War and American revolution figures
Sideshow Inc – USA Site specializing in liscensed figurative vinyl/resin model kits and collectibles based on some of todays leading artists, including: Clive Barker, Bernie Wrightson, Tim Bradstreet, Frank Kelly Freas, Brom, and Bill Stout.
Der Sockelshop German webshop stocking Modern Armies In Miniature, and others.
Spectral Motion Inc – This company sells some amazing horror figures!!
S & S Models – UK 1:76 scale model figures, games and accessories
Stockade Miniatures, Inc – USA “Soldiers of the World” figures, plus metal and plastic figures from a variety of manufacturers
Styrene Studio – Excellent resin figures
Tedtoy Miniatures Online – USA Civil War Military figure specialists
The Toy Soldier Company – The Toy Soldier Company featuring the sales of toy soldier figures, sets, books and accessories
Valiant Enterprises. Figures and wargaming miniatures.
Watson Sculptures and Models – Dinosaur, Ancient reptile and Prehistoric figures and models
Zotz – Mexico Glamour and Erotic figure specialists
As we all go into social distancing, it’s time to get back to the workbench.
I’ve made a couple of videos already, and I’m likely to make more. The exact timetable will be worked out as I go along, but, for now, some timelapse I shot over the last two weekends.
1- Putting some figures together, so I can practice figure painting-
2- Diving into the big box of dismantled Gundam I won on eBay, and seeing how many I can put back together-
More coming soon!
I’m going to start designing more stuff for 3D printing soon. Here’s one of my existing products. For use with 1:32nd scale/54mm figures, they bring an extra range of gestures to your models.
Wrong Frank, I know. I’m trying to get some modelling done, after a few years of carting kits around but never starting on them. First up, I thought I’d try my hand at painting some of the wargame/RPG related figures I’ve picked up from various places. Everything was painted separately then brought together. I modeled the flagstones with putty, then glued the machine in place. Frank was on his own base, so I had to cut that off to add him to the scene.
Not a bad first effort for someone getting back into the hobby. The only problem is, most of my paints have been sitting in boxes for years and have dried up. I’ve got a growing list of colours I need to replace.
As a bit of off the wall promotion for Slashed I’ve decided to have a go at creating miniature figures of as many of the characters as possible. These will be based upon existing 28mm gaming figures adapted and painted to suit. So I’ve had an enjoyable few hours this week surfing gaming sites and ordering the first few figures. I’d just like to recommend Heresy Miniatures and Hasslefree Miniatures, both of whom turned around my orders quickly and got them to me within a couple of days. They also packed sweeties with the deliveries, and that sort of thing works for me every time.
Top German modelmakers Preiser now do a 1:87th scale Barack and Michelle Obama for your railway layout.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
There is no scale specified for these Horrified B-Movie Actors figures, which is a shame. With heights of 6.4cm to 7.6cm I’d guess at 1:20-something. You might be able to mix them up with model cars for a diorama- a 1950s Chevy, battered ’40s Ford and a creeping blob maybe. Or you could replace the blob with glow in the dark zombies. Or, if the screamers are Creationists, the Evolving Darwin set.
Other sets include the Paparazzi and the Office Monkeys.
via BoingBoing
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Update – October 2013 I am working my way through this list and updating, removing and adding links where possible.
This site has a list of companies that manufacture model figures. However, a lot of the links go to dead sites, so I thought I’d work my way through and produce a more up to date collection. I have merely weeded out the dead links, and occasionally chased down new addresses. I’ve also added a couple of manufacturers I’ve found in my surfing. I cannot vouch for any of these companies except for Historex-Agents, who I have successfully ordered stuff from.
Andrea Miniatures – One of the world’s premier figure manufacturers. You can get Andrea figures on Amazon.co.uk.
Armorcast – USA Fantasy and Wargame figures
Bronze Age Miniatures. 28mm and 54mm figures, mostly for gaming.
Comet Miniatures Not a manufacturer, but they have an interesting range of kits in stock.
Creative Beast. Mostly dinosaurs, but some fantasy figures.
Disturbed Earth Productions – USA Fantasy and Horror figures and Busts
Dragon Models – USA Home page of Dragon Models.
Dream Master Creations – USA Erotic resin figures
Dutkins’ Collectables – Among the many products sold by this company are figure models.
Dynasty Scale Models – Military figures and busts
Fontegris Miniatures. Spanish resin and white metal figure manufacturers.
Frontier Models – UK Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Horror Model Specialists
Gremlins in the Garage! – USA Welcome to Gremlins in the Garage the first webzine dedicated to figure kit modeling
Ground Zero Games. Gaming miniatures and fantasy figures.
Wayne “The Dane” Hansen – Figure Kits and Sculpting Supplies
Hassle Free miniatures Gaming figures and accessories.
Hobby Search – buy direct from Japan
The House of Anime – USA Anime figures and dolls
Image Anime – USA General Anime kits and figures
Jimmy Flintstone/ Dr Flintbone Primarily manufacturers of hot rod and custom car bodies in resin, Jimmy Flintstone also produce figures to complement the vehicles. Dr. Flintbone is the more adult arm.
Kaiyodo – Japan Star wars, Godzilla (original) and Anime figures.
K’resin kits – France Anime, Comics and Movies resin and vynl kits : Alien, Batman, City hunter, Cobra, Crow, Die hard,Frankenstein, etc
Legends – We carry products (kits, accessories, reference materials, Japanese si-fi & anime) from all over the world.
MBM Models – Holland Military, Sci-Fi and Fantasy fig specialists
Menagerie Productions – USA Fantasy and ‘Paleo’ kits and figures
Micro Mark – tools for the serious modeller
Moebius Models. Licenced re-releases of old Aurora kits.
Monsters In Motion: A Sci-Fi Gallery – Welcome to Monsters In Motion, the world’s greatest gallery of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror & Famous Movie Personalities as finished statues and model kits for the hobbyist and collector.
New World Miniatures 1:35th and 1:16th scale military miniatures.
Paleocraft – models of extinct animals
Phebus Creations. French company producing sci-fi, fantasy, war and civilian figures in 1:43rd, 1:35th, 1:24th and larger.
Rising Sun Creations – USA Anime collectable superstore
Sideshow Inc – USA Site specializing in liscensed figurative vinyl/resin model kits and collectibles based on some of todays leading artists, including: Clive Barker, Bernie Wrightson, Tim Bradstreet, Frank Kelly Freas, Brom, and Bill Stout.
Solarwind Productions – Welcome to the fantasy figure world of Solarwind Productions.We design, develop and manufacture high quality, limited edition resin kits.
Spectral Motion Inc – This company sells some amazing horror figures!!
Styrene Studio – Excellent resin figures
Swede Creations – Manufacturer of Collectible Fantasy, Horror and Related Resin Sculptures.
Watson Sculptures and Models – Dinosaur, Ancient reptile and Prehistoric figures and models
Zotz – Mexico Glamour and Erotic figure specialists
W Britains – Military figure manufacturer
Le Cimier – France Military Figures, tools and reference books
Diecast Direct – UK Suppliers of Elite Command Diecast American Civil War, WWII, Napoleonic and Roman figures
The Dunken Company – figure casting supplies and moulds.
Miniaturas by F. M. Beneito – Spain Historical Miniature
s specialist
Elisena – Metal figures – Italy An Italian manufacturer with a lot of interesting products (figures, flats, bases etc.).
El Viejo Dragón Miniaturas – Spain Historical Figure specialists
Frontline Figures – Beautiful 54mm award winning collectible figures!!
Gene Gill Miniatures – Historical landmark miniatures are amazingly petite, with an average height of 3″ to 5″. Each replica is strictly one-of-a kind and the artist will not duplicate a piece nor will he mass-produce one.
HaT Industrie – HäT Industrie produces 1/72 and 1/32 scale soft plastic military miniatures or toy soldiers. Our goal is to produce a line of figures not produced by any of the past or present manufacturers.
Historex Agents – UK Historex Agents represents over 70 different companies, specialising in connoisseur model soldier kits and AFV conversion sets
Historical Miniatures – USA Custom made military figures for the collector
Imperial Gallery Military Model Figurines – UK Military figures through the ages
William King Military Miniatures – UK Wonderfully detailed Military figures
Kings X Toy Soldiers – Models from various toy soldier manufacturers, plus an exclusive range of Alamo figures
The Last Square – Historical Miniatures;| Military History Books; Limited Edition Art Prints; Painting Service
Metal Modeles – France Collectable model figurines
Miniature Alliance – USA Recreations of conflicts in miniature
Minutemen Toy Soldiers – USA Military figure kits and gaming specialists
Pegaso Models – Italy Manufacturers of 54mm, 75mm, and 90mm figures.
Prince August Factory Shop – Ireland Military figures for the collector, together with moulds and Chess sets
Quarter Kit – France White metal and diecast military miniatures
Saratoga Soldier Shop – USA Pewter Civil War and American revolution figures
Stockade Miniatures, Inc – USA “Soldiers of the World” figures, plus metal and plastic figures from a variety of manufacturers
S & S Models – UK 1:76 scale model figures, games and accessories
Tedtoy Miniatures Online – USA Civil War Military figure specialists
The Toy Soldier Company – The Toy Soldier Company featuring the sales of toy soldier figures, sets, books and accessories
Toy Soldiers of San Diego – USA We offer a wide variety of plastic figures from many periods to include Napoleonic, American Civil War, Alamo and World War II from a variety of manufacturers.
DragonNet – UK This page is a showcase of Dragons and other Legendary creatures. All the figures are either white metal, pewter or resin and are mounted on rock or semi- precious stone.
Hard Hero Enterprises – USA Hard Hero Enterprises offers fine limited edition sculptures in bronze, porcelain, or resin.
King & Country – Design and manufacture the most amazing (and affordable) range of toy soldiers, miniature figures,military vehicles, model aircraft and buildings in the world today! All our products are hand-made and hand-painted to the highest professional standards.
Mithril Figures – Ireland Mithril was founded in 1987 and has been dedicated since then to the creation of miniature figures, inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s world of Middle-earth as portrayed in his famous works “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings”.
Valiant Enterprises. Figures and wargaming miniatures.
Ron Wall Miniatures – USA Ron Wall Miniatures are the very finest in collectible toy soldiers. Currently featured are the American Civil War, Custer (Custer’s Last Stand at Little Big Horn), Sioux Indian War, The Gambler and The Wild West Series. Each 54 mm, pewter figure is hand painted and made in America.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
In Japan you can get fetish videos of models crushing model railway layouts. I don’t care how hot they are, no-one’s playing Godzilla with my models.
Action figures in Singapore protested an anime company’s policies. Pictures of the event are here.
Both via BoingBoing
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Ebob miniatures supply a few ranges of 28mm wargaming figures, including one for a paintballing game. They also have, on their tools and accessories page, armatures and base figures for sculptors which have an interesting licencing agreement whereby they can be used as the basis of products. Some are entirely royalty free whilst others require a higher fee. I’ve long fancied having a go at sculpting some figures, perhaps this is where I should get the blanks from.
Technorati tag: Scale Models
Wired has an article about people who modify action figures to fill gaps in their collections.
I have a lot of GI Joe figures available to me at the moment. They’re all earmarked for the bot-crossing project, but I’m sure one or two could be given paint jobs and new fittings.
via BoingBoing
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Action Figure
Hat, who make an interesting of soft plastic figures, have started a wiki to discuss painting tips and wargaming rules for their products.
Technorati tag: Scale Models, Model Figure
The Times and Der Spiegel discover the naughtier accessories available for model railway fans. The Spiegel article has a small gallery.
Technorati tag: Scale Models