Battlefield Miniatures

Now for a Special Moment...

There is no greater joy than a father and son "team" that shares the same interest. My son Tim has helped me tremendously with first-- our hobby of toy soldier collecting and then in my conversion business. He has never asked for any compensation except for a few soldiers and playsets.

About 3-4 years ago we talked about getting "something" that would be really special and based on one of our favorite movies--ZULU starring Michael Caine and Stanley Baker. But as time went on it seemed like it would only be a dream.

Well, his dream came true last Friday. I was recently surfing on the internet and found a site and business that procured a large number of the item we talked about years ago. So, I decided that now was the time to do this and I did. I purchased it and this item arrived last Friday. I was going to wait until Thanksgiving to give this to Tim but I just couldn't.

So on Friday evening before we went out to dinner we all got together, Tim, Monica, my daughter Lindsay and an American Hero, my son's best friend Matt who just got home recently from Iraq. I made a brief presentation in which I thanked Tim for his many years of helping me. As he opened the 6ft high sealed box-he discovered something he only dreamed about.

An original 1875 British Martini-Henry Mark I rifle with long bayonet and scabbard. This is the famous rifle that was used in the Battle of Rorke's Drift, Natal, South Africa in 1879 and portrayed in the ZULU movie. This weapon was in remarkedly great condition and can actually be fired however we will have it thoroughly inspected by a professional gunsmith. Tim was so excited, not only that night but the whole weekend. It was a dream come true for both of us. Now I will be looking for a nice display case which we can hang on the wall in our den. This "baby" is going to be under cover to be protected from dust and what not.

If you have any interest in the "treasure find" by this company and some really interesting reading, go to this webpage:

Well, we did it again. Another set of unique poses never before done. Here you will see the final results of a project we started almost a year ago. Three new poses depicting British soldiers in a "mounting" position. That's right--mounting NOT mounted. When is the last time you ever saw something like this. These poses depict three different stages of a British soldier "mounting" his horse. The first would be "checking the bridle and reins", then "preparing to mount" and finally "mounting". Because Conte did 2 different color runs in red and tan (a very brilliant move on his part) these figures can be used in diorama's covering both the Zulu Wars and British Colonial era. Please make sure you check the individual pose pictures listed in the "mounted folder" of the Zulu Wars and British Colonial sections of PICTURES! These poses were very labor intensive with each pose taking well over an hour to create.