Rare Sacul knights at the Plastic Warrior Show 2025

 It has been three months now since the Plastic Warrior Show and we are still unearthing the goodies that emerged, here are some more:

These three Sacul mounted knights in plastic were on the table of Joe Bellis at the Plastic Warrior Show last June, notice the one on the right has a shield which is copied from the Britains Wars of the Roses Swoppet range. The Sacul knights were originally made in hollowcast lead and are fairly common in the UK but not so much overseas, later they were made in plastic from the original moulds for a very short time and the plastic versions (above) are very rare. There is just one horse and one rider model but the rider was issued with four different articulated right arms holding an axe, a sword, a standard or a lance.

Curiously the horses turn up more often than the riders and the moveable parts; visor, right arm, shield and scabbard are always moulded in these garish bright colours. The shields are invariably missing, I have one with the original heater shaped shield but I've never seen one with this copy of the Britains WOTR shield in lead or plastic. The Sacul foot knights are extremely rare in plastic, I have only ever seen one example.

My friend Norman Joplin told me "I believe one of the Barrett brothers (Bert) may have been responsible for these along with plastic items marketed as Luntoy and Paramount when I visited his home in Croydon some years ago."  Norman is referring here to the family who originally founded Taylor & Barrett in the 1920's, then later split to form F G Taylor & Sons and A Barrett & Sons after WW2.  The Barrett Brothers bought up moulds from various defunct manufacturers such as Benbros, Paramount and Sacul, which were in due course sold on again to Giles Brown of Dorset Model Soldiers, but that's another story for another day.

The two plastic Sacul knights in my collection, the hollowcast lead versions had a feather plume in their helmet made from the darts used in air guns, the metal point of the dart being pressed into the lead pouring hole of the helmet to leave the brightly coloured tail sticking out.  The same method as used by Timpo in their "Ivanhoe" and "Knights of the Round Table" series, Sacul had been set up by an ex Timpo employee called Lucas (who reversed his name for the firm).  The lead pouring holes were capped off and new plumes engraved into the moulds when they were adapted for use on a plastic injection moulding machine.

The knight on the right has the correct Sacul shield (in plastic) which came with the original hollowcast figure, there is a spigot on the reverse which plugs into the bend in the left arm.  It's curious to note that the horses are made in various colours of plastic and always appear to be factory painted in the Sacul style while the riders are made in a base body colour plastic with multi colour accoutrements in the early swoppet style, this has led us to speculate that the horses might have been produced first in the Sacul factory then sold as a job lot along with the moulds and the riders moulded at a later date.

Also on Joe's table was a good selection of the 60mm Crescent Hurons/Mohicans (I'm never sure which they are supposed to be but I'm sure someone will enlighten us), these are also very hard to find so I thought I'd squeeze in this pic just because they are so nice!

Battle of Saguntum 1811 - 54mm Battle Cry game.

 For our latest game we decided to try a Napoleonic version of Battle Cry and Anthony suggested the Peninsular War Battle of Saguntum 1811.

The scenario sees a Spanish force under General Blake attempting to relieve Sagunto Castle which is under siege by the French under Marshal Suchet.  The Marshal leaves a blocking force at the Castle and heads off to face Blake with his remaining French, Italian and Polish troops.

The Spanish are supported by gunboats offshore protecting their right flank.

The Spanish outnumber the French but both sides are short of artillery and the French are better quality troops.

Blake placed a holding force facing the French left wing while he concentrated most of the Spanish Army on his left flank to lead them in a mass attack against the French right wing.

The French opened with a vigorous attack on the lightly held Spanish right and centre.

Both sides fought themselves to a standstill on the French left as the course of the battle crept across the field to the centre and was finally drawn out on the French right.

The high ground in the centre held by a body of Foot Dragoons was hotly contested, changing hands several times.

On the French right Polish Voltiguers and Italian Hussars under general Chlopicki lined the crest of the Sancti Espiritus hills to await the massed attack of the Spanish.

A spirited counterattack by the Foot Dragoons drives off the Spanish Voluntarios and forces the supporting Horse Artillery to retire

The valiant Poles and Italians hold their ground in face of the Spanish advance.

On the gunboats the gun crews watch the action drift further inland away from the coast and out of range from their broadsides.

The French are finally overwhelmed on their right leaving the Spanish to their victory and the road open to the Castle.

The outcome of the game couldn't have differed more from the course of the actual Battle, in which the Polish troops advanced against the Spanish left and threw them into disarray, fighting in the centre and on the Spanish right was fierce and indecisive but the collapse of the left wing demoralised the Spanish and led to a general withdrawal with heavy losses.  The gunboats along the coast provided a threat but actually saw little action.  With no hope of relief  the garrison surrendered the Castle the next day.

The figures used were sourced from several manufacturers, the Spanish cavalry and most of the infantry were from DSG of Argentina, with a stiffening of grenadiers from the BMC Yorktown set and REAMSA of Spain, the Voluntarios in their distinctive green jackets were made from Helmet kit parts, the gunboat is the remains of a Playmobil pirate ship and the crew are various conversions, General Blake is converted from a Cafe Storme coffee premium.

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On the French side the infantry are mostly Britains Deetail apart from the Polish Volitguers which were made from Helmet Kit parts with an officer from Replicants and the foot Dragoons which are conversions using heads from ATS (Alexanders toy Soldiers), the cavalry are provided by Britains Deetail Cuirassiers, DSG Hussars and Polish Lancers made by PZG (the Polish Association of the Deaf), Marshal Suchet is a Del Prado figure and General Chlopicki is another conversion.

Shamus O D Wade Oojah-Cum-Pivvy range list

 I mentioned in an earlier post that I was attempting to compile a list of all 36 figures in the Oojah-Cum-Pivvy range produced between 1982 and 1984 by Shamus O D Wade, and here it is:

Oojah-Cum-Pivvy, the full set of 36 figures, photo courtesy of liveauctioneers.

These are the O (Ooja-Cum-Pivvy) reference numbers I've identified in the order they are shown in the image above.

O.11 - O.6 - O.10 - O.9 - O.5 - O.12 - O.8 - O.4 - O.15

O.16 - O.34 - O.18 - O.1 – O.21 - O.2 – O.26 - O.30 – O.29 - O.3 - O.14 - O.7

O.22 - O.32 - O.35 - O.36 - O.33 - O.31 – O.19 – O.27 - O.25 - O.20 - O.13 - O.28 - O.24 - O.17 - O.23

O.1         Mexican Infantry Alamo

O.2          Irish Kern (1545)

O.3          Irish Galloglass (1522)

O.4          Soldier of the King of Muli (1931)

O.5          Greek Light Infantry (1813)

O.6          Etruscan Warrior

O.7          Kataphractos c. 1050 (Byzantine) -has a long removable spear

O.8          Basilikoi Anthropoi  c.880 (Byzantine)

O.9          Patzinak  11th century  (Byzantine)

O.10        Varangian Guardsman  c.1030  (Byzantine)

O.11        Hand Gonne Man (Those who kept Faith at Bosworth Field, Aug 22, 1485)

O.12        Man at Arms  (Those who kept Faith at Bosworth Field, Aug 22, 1485)

O.13        King Richard III (Those who kept Faith at Bosworth Field, Aug 22, 1485)

O.14        Wounded Archer (Those who kept Faith at Bosworth Field, Aug 22, 1485)

O.15        Mounted Archer, Fighting on Foot (Those who kept Faith at Bosworth Field, Aug 22, 1485)

O.16        Chief Petty Officer (WRINS) 1945

O.17        Petty Officer (WRINS) 1945

O.18        Leading Auxiliary (WRINS) Naval HQ 1945

O.19        Auxiliary Stripping Gun, Karachi Gunnery School 1945

O.20         Auxiliary (WRINS) Naval HQ New Delhi 1945

O.21        Private Tristan Da Chuna 1944

O.22        Regimental Policeman, Pakistan Armoured Corps, 1983

O.23        Regimental Policeman, Punjab Regiment, Pakistan,1983

O.24        Cadet Southall Squadron Air Training Corps 1964

O.25        Chiswick Armed Association (1798-1802)

O.26        Flight Sergeant Zahir-id-din Barber, Indian Air Force (IAF), Burma, 1944

O.27        Flying Officer P J Chandran, Indian Air Force (IAF), Burma, 1944

O.28        Flight Lieutenant Chopra, Indian Air Force (IAF), Burma, 1944

O.29        Aircraftsman Matthews, Indian Air Force (IAF), Burma, 1944

O.30        Aircraftsman Valiram Shauni, Indian Air Force (IAF), Burma, 1944

O.31        Junior Commander D. Kapila, Women's Auxiliary Corps (India), 1944

O.32        Sergeant A. D'Silva, Women's Auxiliary Corps (India) 1944

O.33        Officer Cadet (Indian), Women's Auxiliary Corps (India), 1945

O.34        Officer Cadet (European), Women's Auxiliary Corps (India), 1945

O.35        Officer Cadet (Anglo-Burmese), Women's Auxiliary Corps (India), 1945

O.36        Corporal, Ceremonial Parade, Women's Auxiliary Corps (India), 1945

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Shamus was well known for his extensive, and perhaps rather esoteric, interest in military history so I expected his selection of subjects for the Oojah-Cum-Pivvy range to be diverse but I was surprised to find that 20th century Indian Armed Forces would comprise half the entire series.

In his Collectors Guide to New Toy Soldiers, Stuart Asquith tells us that the figures were sculpted by Graham Morris and manufactured for Shamus by Peter Cowan of Albion Miniatures, each figure was released singly in a limited edition of 100.  

Having said that it does appear to me that the range does comprise a number of small sets: 

O.7 to O.10 Byzantines, O.11 to O.15 Those who kept Faith at Bosworth Field, O.16 to O.20 Women's Royal Indian Navy, O.26 to O.30 Indian Air Force and O.31 to O.36 Women's Auxiliary Corps (India)

The five "Indian Air Force" figures (numbers O.26 to O.30) were based on a famous Second World War photograph of a Vultee A-31 Vengeance Crew from No.8 Squadron. The photograph (reproduced below from "The Eagle Strikes" shows Flt Lt Haveli Shah Chopra (one of the RAF 24) and his Gunner Fg Offr P J Chandran leaning against an A-31 Vengeance dive bomber, flanked by the three airmen/ground crew Zahir-ud-din Barber, Mathews and Veliram Shauni. 

On a personal note I wanted to compile this listing because I knew Shamus over many years, and although he could be a rather enigmatic character I liked him for his unbounded enthusiastic love of all types of toy soldiers.  I thought there might be a familial link to explain the preponderance of Indian military in the range but could find none, Shamus was born and raised in England to Irish parents while his wife was from Trinidad, they lived in West London where he had a career in advertising and his wife was a barrister.

American Revolution Swoppet conversions at the Plastic Warrior Show 2025

 Dennis Donovan brought along more of his conversions for the American War of Independence, or as some would term it the American Revolutionary War, either way they are stunning figures and he has garnered a well earned reputation for them over the years.

When Dennis first started making his cavalry conversions he used bodies and heads from original Britains Swoppet figures with legs and horses from Helmet kits.  

Over time the Swoppet parts became harder to source so he had a mould made to produce the basic torso in plastic while continuing to use Helmet parts and heads, the result is a range of mounted figures that perfectly compliment the original Britains foot models.

 Britains Swoppet figures inevitably lose their hats and weapons so these ones above have had their missing original parts replaced or remodelled with Miliput.

  Early on I bought several units of Dennis' cavalry conversions when I was building up wargame armies for the period, and some are shown in earlier posts on here, just wish I had the space to get some more!

New Replicants English Civil War figures at the Plastic Warrior Show 2025

 Each year, Peter Cole of Replicants uses the Plastic Warrior Show to launch his latest range of figures, this year he had eight new mounted English Civil War troopers to tempt us, and this is what they look like:

Sold unpainted in packs of two figures and two horses, there are four in floppy hats and four in lobster pot helmets.  Armed with a mixture of swords and firearms, there is also a rather nice trumpeter, they can all be painted up to represent either side in the conflict. 

There are three different horse models, two of them are existing designs (standing, based on the Sacul guards officer horse and the smaller charging mount originally made for the Napoleonic Cossack) the new third one is a striding pose reminiscent of a first version Britains Deetail horse.  Peter told me the reason for the resemblance is that the mould he made for the new horse incorporates the underbelly core from the original Deetail mould and he built the rest of the horse around it, finishing it off with a textured base attached to a front and back hoof.  All three of the horses have an overmoulded saddle.

There was one other new figure (I forgot to take a picture of) which Peter made to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Plastic Warrior.  It is a WW2 merchant seaman using a radio set and Peter told me he chose the subject as an homage to Roy Selwyn-Smith who was a signaller in the Merchant Navy, and also to his own father  who was a signaller in the Royal Navy.