- I use the term "MILITARY
MINIATURES" rather loosely here, going far beyond lead soliders.
My interest in MILITARY MINIATURES started with my fairly-extensive set of
immediate-pre-WWII large-scale Britains tanks and armo(u)red fighting vehicles (AFV)
which I "bombed"* into scrap as a child, a set of Britains marching U. S. Marines
which I treasured until they, too, ended up melted down into ingots (which I still
have), a set of smaller-scale Meccano acquired during the war (how?), a few of which
survive, and extended into a replacement set of the smaller Meccano vehicles built up
as a teen to replace those I destroyed, all of which survive virtually intact.
During the war, I became aware of the black resin aircraft spotter models and
managed to get a Stuka Ju-87b that inflicted most of the damage to my Britains.
As the war ended, the Comet AUTHENTICAST line of spotter models of tanks, planes,
and ships became available to the public and I bought a few ships and all the tanks.
At that point, however, plastic kits came onto the market and I started building them
(or, at least, starting them) in vast quantities.
(10 Aug 05)
* - I should add "shelling" to "bombing" because much of the damage was inflicted,
now that I think back on it, by repeated and rather accurate punishment from my
spring-loaded Britains cannon and their tiny but lethal lead shells.
(06 Jun 05) and
(10 Aug 05)
[I had erroneously written "Meccano" for large scale modles and the cannon
but they were Britains, NOT Meccano.]
Britains? Britains? I still have a Britains cannon, a
long-barrelled model (possibly a 25-pounder?); I modified it so flame and smoke
would come out of the barrel, instead of spraying all around the striker at the breech,
when it is used to fire off caps and it resides in my box of Fourth of July paraphernalia.
Sure enough, there it was, 8" (20cm) long from muzzle to pintle, and not too much the
worse for wear:
(10 Aug 05)
(10 Aug 05 pictures by and © 2005 S. Belriner, III - all rights reserved)
It's not my original childhood one but a later replacement and it shows some evidence
of heavy (if only annual - usually) use; the gases and other byproducts of the
explosion of caps have worked their way between the the two halves of the cast
barrel and resulted in a fine emergence of corrosion along the upper and lower seams.
There is no model number, only "BRITAINS LTD" under the trail; an
auctioneer lists it as a "Naval Gun".
(26 Aug 05)
I still have many of those later Meccano models and am de-accessioning as I get older.
Throughout all this, I also kept a steady interest in miniature railroading (I
can't really call it model railroading because I have little regard for
authenticity, cobbering up atrocities that make serious
modelers shudder). Along with the advent of plastic kits, Rivarossi in Italy
began pumping out a prodigious variety of military vehicles in HO and I picked up
many of them; they, too, reside on the HO Berlinerwerke layout. Then, in 1979,
I got interested in Z scale (1:220) and started the
Berlinerwerke-Z in 1980, which led to the aquisition of a frightening number of
microscopic miniatures, including some military ones.
During my teens, I also got heavily into HO and near-HO (1:87.1) Dinky models.
Most of my Dinkys (both military and civilian) are ensconced on my HO layout to this
day.
Because of the bewildering array of web pages I have created since this website was
begun on 30 May 1996, many of which are about, or touch on, military miniatures, I
am building up this page to index, cross-index, and consolidate information from my
hobby, ordnance, railroad, aviation, and marine pages. It will always be only a
work in progress.
INDEX:
On this Military Miniatures page:
Unindexed so far; please scoll away.
The main Hobby page:
The main Ordnance page:
The main Aviation page:
The main Naval and Marine page:
The main Comet AUTHENTICAST page:
The main Meccano Dinky page:
The main Gilbert ERECTOR page:
The main Model RR page:
The main Z Scale Model RR page:
{to be continued}
MILITARY MINIATURES
This page was inspired by an inquiry from Australia about a model of an L5 105mm
Pack Howitzer manufactured by Oto Melara, the Italian ordnance firm,
successor to Breda and Terni (Genoa) and Odero (Leghorn). The model was a
large-scale replica, approximately 55-60cm in length, fully articulated with removeable
trails, breech block, muzzle brake, etc., and was often given to various customers,
including artillery regiments so-equipped. Understandably, the regiments will
not part with theirs for any price and so my correspondent seeks a model through
other venues. Here is the L5 in several variations:
(images courtesy of W. Setzinger)
Does anyone out there have such a model they'd be willing to sell? If so,
please contact me and I'll pass your direction along.
(06 Jun 05)
[This quest reminds me of my start in ordnance, when I asked President Truman for
the large-scale M-46 Patton model with which he had just been presented (probably
by Chrysler) ca. 1946, as related on my main ordnance
page.]
(10 Aug 05)
As I note on my so-called Culture page, I got my mother a
54mm military miniature of old Franz Josef in his white uniform and green, feathered
shako, reading a proclamation; she said he had a cabbage on his head but loved it
dearly. It was destroyed after her passing and I'd love to find some
replacements for my family.
(10 Aug 05)
Among the many names, both reverèd and cursèd, in the military miniatures pantheon
are/were Dinky, Meccano, Britains, Comet, Authenticast, Superior, QualiCast, Custom
Cast, 19th Nineteenth Century, Battle Honors, Old Glory 15's, Revell, Renwal,
Adams, Solido, and many, many others.
{to be continued}
For military miniatures by Parade Square, Imperial, and Bussler, for reproductions of,
and spare parts for, William Britains toy soldiers, for all sorts of related hobby items,
and for Z-scale (1:220) model railroad equipment, contact
my friend Ron Ruddell's:
London Bridge Collector's Toys, Ltd.
16 South 3rd Street (new address)
Emmaus, Pennsylvania 18049
610-967-6887 (FAX: 610-967-6887
E-Mail: lbct@londonbridgetoys.com
THUMBS UP!
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S. Berliner, III
To contact S. Berliner, III, please click here.
© Copyright S. Berliner, III -
2005
- All rights reserved.
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(Logos from 1945 Comet AUTHENTICAST Catalog)
times.