Beginning in about 1967 the Scruby catalog included a picture reference for the various figure sizes offered by Jack Scruby. This picture fits in nicely with the current topic of ‘Figure Size’.

The following text and image have been scanned from the 1968 edition of ‘Jack Scruby’s Catalogue of Military Miniatures’.

In our illustration above of the various scales of Scruby Miniatures, you’ll note the dotted lines. Actually, in measuring tin soldiers, one measures from the bottom of the feet to the top of the head. The stand and the man’s headgear are not counted. Thus, a 30mm miniature which is supposed to stand about l l/4 inch tall, with hat piece on will stand higher, depending also on the thickness of the stand it is placed on.

My third posting on the topic of ‘figure sizes’ to follow the discussion on The Miniatures Page follow this link to the topic of: Size of Old Miniatures…

The following text has been scanned from the 1966 edition of ‘Jack Scruby’s Catalogue of Military Miniatures’.

25mm SOLDIERS OF THE AFRICAN WARS. 1880 – 1900

As you can tell by the illustration, 25mm is a new scale for Scruby Miniatures. We went into this size model soldier so that we could match some of the so-called “20mm” scale models available from England and Europe. As you can see it would not be advisable to inter—mix the Scruby 20mm and 25mm scale figures in a war game army.

Therefore it is our intention to eventually give 20mm 25mm the customer a very wide variety of models of the many African `Wars of the turn of the century, in this new scale. When the entire series of projected castings is available, it should present the collector with the opportunity of getting the very finest models in this interesting period of military history — all in one matched scale.

GENERAL INFORMATION

The first series of these new 25mm scale Scruby Miniatures are designed for the Sudan War of 1898 (We call it the “River War” after Winston Churchill). A full listing of the models appears on the back of this page.

Further series of 25mm models will soon be developed for the Boer War, the Wars along the Northwest Frontier in India, and we shall also include French soldiers of African campaigns, Arabs as “oppostion”, Italian Colonial troops, German soldiers and natives to oppose them.

The idea behind “brushfire” colonial war games is to try and have a “balanced” force for both opponents. Since historically the natives had little chance against the firepower of the European troops, war games of natives versus European soldiers never really makes for good action on the table top. It is best to make up mythical colonial wars, where one European power is pitted against another, and where the native troops are available as auxiliaries. With the entire continent of Africa to “fight” in, and with a balanced force of native and white troops to oppose one another, then the brushfire colonial war game is truly exciting…

My second posting on the topic of ‘figure sizes’ to follow the discussion on The Miniatures Page follow this link to the topic of: Size of Old Miniatures…

The following text has been scanned from an early 1960’s ‘Jack Scruby’s Catalogue of Military Miniatures’ (the earliest catalog in my collection, that I can date accurately, is from 1963. The section is titled: 20mm Military Miniatures.

I believe I can truthfully say that I helped to pioneer the 20mm scale lead soldier in the United States. When I first approached John Greenwood and Kathleen Ball (of England) about manufacturing their 20mm models, I knew of no other person manufacturing this size soldier. Of course the HO gauge models for railroading had long been on the market (and 20mm scale is the same as HO gauge), but only a few military vehicles were available at that time.

In a few short years, one can see how the popularity of these tiny figures have grown by merely looking through Section Two of this catalogue, and seeing the large listing of models that are available. Until one has seen these tiny soldiers, one cannot realize how much detail can be cast on them.

When painted, and lined up on a war game table, the overall sight is pretty tremendous. Also, since they are in HO scale, terrain pieces for the war game setup are easy to buy anywhere.

Since I began manufacturing these 20mm figures, many other concerns have realized their sales value, and today one finds many military miniatures – both in lead and plastic – on the market. I well remember that I hesitated in securing the manufacturing rights of this size model, and that John Greenwood told me that someday, this would turn out to be the most popular of all war game soldiers. There is no question in my mind today that he knew what he was talking about.

In the following listings, all models with the prefix “GB” before their catalogue number are molded from the Greenwood and Ball original figures. Those with the prefix “GS” are models that have been designed by myself from original Greenwood and Ball “spreadeagle” pattern figures. All 20mm horses are Greenwood and Ball originals, but in some cases I have designed the riders. These are prefixed with the words “GSC”.

Those war game generals, who have a space and storage problem, will find the 20mm soldier ideal. Despite their small size, the work of painting this size model is easy, and actually much faster than in the larger size soldiers. And by using “moving trays”, and mounting these soldiers on them, one eliminates the problem of moving such tiny castings around on the war game table. All in all, there is little doubt but that the 20mm model soldier is here to stay.

Incidentally, a 20mm figure (infantry) stands exactly 3/4 of an inch in height!

It seems as if we are always having discussions concerning figure size or scale. One such discussion can be found on The Miniatures Page today. The topic being: Size of Old Miniatures…

This will be the first of several postings on the topic (I’ll link to these posts from the the topic on The Miniatures Page).

The following text has been scanned from an early 1960’s ‘Jack Scruby’s Catalogue of Military Miniatures’ (the earliest catalog in my collection, that I can date accurately, is from 1963. The section is titled: 30mm Military Miniatures.

The first section of this catalogue is devoted to listing the many military miniatures which I manufacture in 30mm Scale.

A 30mm Scale model soldier actually measures l and 1/4 inch, from top of stand to top of head (without counting the hat). This represents the proportions of a six foot human, and this size model has been manufactured for several centuries in Germany, and is probably the most popular size miniature of the “flat” soldiers so well known throughout Europe.

The 54mm model soldier (standing 2 l/8 inch tall) has been adopted as the “standard” size for many years in the United States and England, mainly due to the Britains, Ltd. lead soldiers and their influence on the market. Until a few years ago, most collectors “frowned” upon any other size model soldier than the 54mm size.

It would be difficult to say which designer pioneered the 30mm scale model, but there is little question but that HOLGER ERIKSSON of Sweden was one of the foremost manufacturers who popularized this size lead soldier, And it would be true to say that in only a few years’ time, this size model soldier has “taken over” on the war game table, and most of us have large armies of 54mm scale soldiers which have long been gathering dust on our shelves — having long ago been replaced when the 30mm figure became readily available.

By using a 30mm model soldier for war games, the player practically doubles the amount of “space” which he had available with 54mm figures, and at the same time cuts in half the amount of storage room he needs to keep his armies in between war games.

When I began designing and manufacturing 30mm scale soldiers, there were none available except the SAE models (which original figures were designed by Eriksson), and feeling against this “sub-standard” size soldier was mixed.

Today, the 30mm scale figure has finally come into its own- is accepted by collectors (who are not war gamers), and one finds most manufacturers of model soldiers producing some 30mm scale miniatures.

In the following section devoted to 30mm scale miniatures, you will find the most complete listing of miniatures ever available. All models with the prefix “S” before the catalogue number are my own original design. All those with the prefix “X” are designed by Tom Cox, and all those with “E” are designed by Holger Eriksson. The letter “C” denotes that these are cavalry models.

Today is a production and packaging day here at HistoriFigs HQ. Alison is busy sorting and bagging WWII miniatures. I’ve been busy with packaging. It is surprising how much work running the paper cutter can be. Or maybe it is just that I don’t have the best setup, my back needs a rest!

So, while I’m taking a short break, I figured I should keep working and post a few minor updates:

• Human Infantry in Greatcoats (Blasted Planets) are available Now – still need to finish the update for the website.
  Really just a few last edits and then uploading the pictures. Shooting for getting this done by the end of the day.
• Chickasaurus (original recipe) is available Now ($2.25 each) – will be included in website update.
• Wooly Bool (soft and cuddly) is also ready to ship ($3.00 each) – will be added to site with the update.
• A few new head options + some new ‘bits’ packs will also be added to the Blasted Planets website with the update.

• Scruby 20mm Napoleonic – Working on a budget for a remolding of the Entire line. Stay tuned for more info and details. There will some Amazing Pre-order Specials with this one
• Scruby 30mm ACW remolding has stalled a bit due to some missing masters. Looks like I wil need to re-master a handful of these before we can commit to a re-molding
• Two small War of 1812 projects in the works – well, maybe three, if I can sort out the New N-gauge figures (sculpting by Jay Miller)
• New mold for our standard wheel for the 30mm Artillery range – will have Artillery stock on hand at Little Wars

• Fully restocked on 10mm FIW terrain bits (and yes, I’ll be sure the webpage is restored)
• I’ve been sculpting a few new pieces – more info after Little Wars
• Targeting be ready for Little Wars by Monday night – better than my usual 8am Friday 🙂

OK, well I had better get bcd to work – plenty to do. Look for more news next week.