Collecting Model Soldiers

UK: David & Charles. Very Good/Very Good. 1975. First Edition. Hard Cover. 8v0 0715367064 Dust jacket complete, unclipped. Red cloth with bright gilt titling on spine. No inscription. Small ink marks on ffep. 187 pages clean and tight. This quiet hobby has only recently grown fast and furiously, in many parts of the world and many of the new afficionados are young and have not yet had time to acquire much knowledge of the background to the hobby or the model makers, for instance, who have made the pastime practicable. Another recent factor is the comparatively new advent of two completely new schools of model soldier enthusiasts: the converters, and the private makers or `freelancers'. The skill they display in reassembling and painting make them an important influence on the scene. John Garratt begins by filling in the comparatively early background, including the emergence of `the masters', and then goes on to the new men in the model making world, covering the United States as well as Europe. Every aspect and type is dealt with: flats, the plastic and polystyrene revolutions, collecting and painting, converting and display; and the appendices supply much additional essential information such as names of makers and suppliers, prices and books for further reading. The civilian side of the hobby is also dealt with and all but the most experienced practisers of the hobby will be surprised and delighted to learn that the great Goya himself was a model maker. With its admirably wide range of illustrations this is, all in all, a handbook that is as informative as it is attractive. Jacket photograph by courtesy Downing Street Studios, Farnham .