Once upon Mithril…

This topic has 7 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 7 months ago by Gildor.

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April 25, 2021 at 5:28 pm #1013
Gildor
MMP Elder
I create this new thread of images to post my own casts of the old 1984 moulds of Fantasy Miniatures I recently bought. Those are the very early stage works of Chris Tubb, before Mithril and even before the “cast” versions of Fantasy armies (CHaracters and Friends&Foes)
They do not exist as cast versions because at all and as far as I know I have never seen detailed (if any) pictures of any of them on the net… only “concept art” images of the mould blister card.

so here comes the first one I tried (quite hard to achieve, the mould is not very well thought at all and lacks necessary vents):

– Mould 657 “Wizards” (those are the very first attempts at sculptis wizard/enchantress/druid) by Chris :

[imgz url=http://mmp.faerylands.eu/uploads/2_moud657.jpg]http://mmp.faerylands.eu/uploads/thumbs/2_moud657.jpg[/imgz]
April 25, 2021 at 5:28 pm #39551
Gildor
MMP Elder
I create this new thread of images to post my own casts of the old 1984 moulds of Fantasy Miniatures I recently bought. Those are the very early stage works of Chris Tubb, before Mithril and even before the “cast” versions of Fantasy armies (CHaracters and Friends&Foes)
They do not exist as cast versions because at all and as far as I know I have never seen detailed (if any) pictures of any of them on the net… only “concept art” images of the mould blister card.

so here comes the first one I tried (quite hard to achieve, the mould is not very well thought at all and lacks necessary vents):

– Mould 657 “Wizards” (those are the very first attempts at sculptis wizard/enchantress/druid) by Chris :

[imgz url=http://mmp.faerylands.eu/uploads/2_moud657.jpg]http://mmp.faerylands.eu/uploads/thumbs/2_moud657.jpg[/imgz]
April 26, 2021 at 12:03 pm #39552
Maenas
Participant
Great casts!
The enchantress makes me think of future hobbit sculpts and the left one is a perfect Gandalf attempt.
Chris has to see them, so early works by him made so long ago!
Thanks for sharing, keep them coming
April 26, 2021 at 4:32 pm #39553
Gildor
MMP Elder
I will cast others in some time, I had difficulty getting those one correctly already because I lacked good casting accessories, but I just bought some that could help….
April 29, 2021 at 3:55 pm #39558
Maenas
Participant
You are on fire master Gildor… Should change your title to Elf caster? or that would bring confusion? xD
May 8, 2021 at 12:37 am #47948
Gildor
MMP Elder
I am currently investigating moulds and casts from PA… trying to discover everything they’ve done and figure out who’s done what.
So far I learned that from Prince August creation in 1958, their sculptor was the reknown Holger Eriksson who made all moulds until 1978 and approximatly at the same date Chris Tubb became their new sculptor.
I tracked down moulds from mould n°1 to more than 900… with quite lots of gaps. but the only thing I know is that from 1 to 73, figures were 40mm semi flat, made by Holger Eriksson it seems but I have a small doubt … above mould 49 it may be Chris Tubb
Moulds 1xx are for Animals (by Holger Eriksson too) , 2xx are for Cowboys & Indians (Holger Eriksson too),

4xx are 54mm (by Chris Tubb) Prussian then Medieval knights

5xx are Napoleonic 25mm (by Chris Tubb)

moulds for Fantasy begin at 651 and finish at 693, produced between 1981 and 1986…. all in 25mm, Later a small series 620-625 was made in 32mm for elf armies (around 2000, they are quite recent) All by Chris Tubb. ReadyMade Characters and Friends&Foes were only introduced in 1985 along with some corresponding moulds, only moulds existed until then.
It would mean that the casts I posted in the earlier post are from a 1981 mould and sculpt, thus explaining how raw it can be in terms of detail as opposed to later moulds such as 690…

I read somewhere there are moulds from 601-608 about Prehistoric figures but I can’t track any info on them… and then moulds beginning with 7xx are those for chessboard pieces.
8xx are kits for modular Parade soldiers
9xx are made by Chris too but different subseries exist Karoliners (S9xx), Irish Wild Geese (i9xx) and French Regiment (F9xx) and also Vikingar (Vikings & Saxons) 961 and above

well if I have to track down everything the man had produced there are at least one thousand historical references in addition to Mithril…
If any of you have some info to share to complete my investigations they are welcome…
I am also looking for the original Prince August catalog n°1 (date 1983 I think)

tracking everything ever produced by PA is giving me a headache…. listing Mithril is far easier…

“Elves seldom give unguarded advice, for advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill.” (Gildor Inglorion, LOTR1)
May 8, 2021 at 4:38 pm #47949
Maenas
Participant
Looks almost like an archaeological investigation… Maybe looking into some french/english/german renowned miniature magazines from that era would give some more insight, since internet was too young, to have original info about this… I think.

—
Mae govannen mellon nín.
May 8, 2021 at 5:29 pm #47950
Gildor
MMP Elder
i tried to track down Holger Eriksson works but he produced for many others brands before and after PA… the refs I lack the mosts are the moulds betwen 1-10 which are modern USA soldiers

But well, since I focus mainly on Chris I’d prefer to have info on his work, rather than all PA… but Chris has not been answering any of my mails for three weeks…

“Elves seldom give unguarded advice, for advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill.” (Gildor Inglorion, LOTR1)
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