Toy Soldier Art

Dragons!

These fellows are a lot of fun and a lot of work to paint. The dragon mold is one of those odd things I found on Ebay, Our dragon is a flightless fellow with a curious blend of crocodilian and dinosaurian features. In some way, he reminds me of the Allosauraus...but with some BIG differences. My wife liked them so much she took three to work to use as paperweights / desk ornaments. I believe these dinosaurs used to be sold in gift shops as pewter ornaments, sans paint. A shame, because a good paint job brings out their reptilian charm.

The dragons pictured here are almost twice the height of a regular toy soldier. They have nice detail. Whoever sculpted them had a good understanding of those details that bring out the exotic nuances of the lizardly sort. Scales, angular faces and those too-short Tyrannosaurus type arms evoke a feeling of reptilian menace. The dragons would be great for science fiction and fantasy type scenarios. Imagine a couple of spacemen or a Viking encountering these fellows.

Dragons, living dinosaurs and massive lizard monsters are the stuff of fantasy, be it science fiction or sword-and-sorcery. Make of it what you will. For those of us of a certain age, we know all too well movies that pit giant reptilian against astronauts, the military, cavemen. common folk and even cowboys & Indians. Any little boy who ever had a bag of plastic dinosaurs might have pitted them against his assorted hoard of army men and knights and Western gunslingers.

This hobby of ours accommodates a lot of temperaments and preferences. Though I do not indulge in it much, I am glad there is a fantasy genre in the toy soldier hobby. People enjoy it and it gives many a chance to express their creativity. I have seen some wonderfully-rendered fantasy miniatures and dioramas. The genre has even emerged in the realm of plastic soldiers. Several companies make skeleton warriors and a host of bizarre creatures. Be warned that if you choose to paint them, you may find yourself going beyond the standard toy soldier paint job. Fantasy figures seem to call for a little extra attention. I certainly was reminded of that when painting the dragons.

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