Old Plastic Toy Soldier Repairs

Broken toy soldiers can be picked up very cheaply as most people are not going to repair them. Repairing them is fulfilling although it need not be to the original pose.

Below, left to right, Mokarex? queen, Cherilea WW2 German, Marksman US naval officer, Marxman Roman. All are made of hard plastic except for the German.

The Queen and naval officer just needed new hands. I used plastic coated flower wire and drilled holes to receive it. The Green Stuff started to dry out too fast as I was doing a few figures with the same mixture. The moisturizer I used to shape it also made the Green Stuff very difficult to get to adhere to the wire. I used Super Glue and also some baking soda mixed with graphite to make the additions stick.

I had extra difficulty with the Roman's arm. Originally I was going to have his hand on his hip. It wasn't working out well so instead I put his arm behind his back and added a putty dagger! What he is intending I don't know - why be sneaky with a dagger when one has a sword? However, it makes for an unusual and interesting pose. This latter was added from a soft plastic one left over from one of my Greeks. I also had to glue the Romans legs back after they broke when I was handling him.

The Cherilea German has been described as a very strange looking figure due to the shape of and color of the helmet. The red turnback on the coat also looks unhistorical as does the light grey plastic. Actually, as one who likes imagi-nations I wouldn't mind having a hundred of this pose and painting it up in a totally fictitious color scheme. Marching figures always look good, especially behind tanks. I don't know if I'll paint him historically or in keeping with the toy color scheme.

                                     Cafe Storme Roman with broken spear or signifier removed.

 The Romans will be repainted with red tunics and plumes and will man my Patran catapults.