Sets in preparation

As the collection is beginning to get organised, I am starting to prepare various sets for painting.

Here are three sets being selected.

                                            Wilken     The Golden Calf

                                            Neckel      Rococco Ball

                                            Segom    Assurbanipal Assyrian Lion Hunt

An ambitious diorama

I obviously like the dioramic display.

Throwing caution to the wind, I procured this set of "Hannibal Crossing The Rhone" from Schmidtiell, and have mounted them on a temporary base to play with the display. Really at this stage, I may have bitten off more than I can chew...:)

Older zinnfiguren in my collection

Two sets obtained from Berliner Zinnfiguren.

I painted this large piece several years back and framed it as a single piece. It didn't turn me on to zinnfiguren then.

                                                               Field Marshal Blucher

I think that the main appeal of zinnfiguren for me is in the smaller scales, where several pieces can be juxtaposed to give creative displays.


The next piece that I did then was a Bedouin camp scene. This set was mounted on hardboard and made to slope towards the front. I placed the whole scene in a box and made a picture frame for it.

                                                           Bedouin camp scene diorama

Napoleon's Coronation Sacre by JL David

One of my favourite paintings, I am currently painting up two sets of this scene produced by Segom, one for my self and the other for another collector. It's probably going to take a while...

Ilya Repin's Cossacks writing a mocking letter to the Sultan

A nice little set from Braune painted some time back.

I may decide to repaint them in the future. The bane of dust settling on wet paint struck again.

Jean Leon Gerome's Snake Charmer

This great little set from Western Miniatures is part of their extensive Arabia series. Very evocative pieces. I am still finalising this set, can't decide between a panel display or a small diorama.

Frederick at Sansoucci

This set from Berliner Zinnfiguren features Frederick The Great performing a concert at Sansoucci, painted by Adolf Menzel. I painted these figures some time back and am still waiting to mount them properly.

The bane of all figure collections is dust, which is obvious here.

Anyway, enjoy these figures.

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I just discovered this feature on this blog template. Enjoy!

Organising the collection

I embed my figures into slots cut into thick cardboard sheets. These are organised thematically, labelled and stored in carton boxes.

Goya (in detail)

Detailed shots of King Carlos, Queen Luisa and her daughter, the Duchess of Alba, Godoy's mistress as the Naked Maja and one of Goya's dark paintings.

Goya, Spanish Painter

The sets are not expensive. Small thematic sets can be purchased from numerous dealers. 

This lovely little set is a great starter. It can be obtained from Berliner Zinnfiguren. 

The pieces comprise personalities taken from Fransico Goya's paintings. I have also painted a scene from one of his dark paintings on the easel. The pieces were mounted on a black cardboard which was cut to fit into a commercial frame.

As the flat figures have depth created by their bases, this depth has to be accomodated if basic photo frames are to be adapted for display. This shows how the frame can be simply modified with sides built up with basswood strips, and held in place with paper tape.