Calpe Miniatures make high quality 25mm wargames figures for gamers and collectors. Although the figures fall into the 25mm figure bracket, they are large 25s and measure approximately 30mm from the sole of the foot to the top of the head (without headdress). The figures were originally designed by the sculptor to match an existing collection of Peter Gilder's famous 'Connoisseur' figures and remain a good height match for these figures. Compatible manufacturers are Front Rank and Elite figures.
At present the range of figure releases only covers the Prussian Army of 1807-15.
14th April 2008
I would like to apologise to those of you waiting for the Saxons or for ordered figures.
In the last month it has become increasingly obvious that my Vulcanising press (the mould making machine) has developed a serious problem.
I first noticed this when I inspected the master mould for the new Saxon figures.
Initially it looked perfect, but on closer inspection of the first figures to come off the mould, there was an obvious loss of detail that could only be accounted for by either bad rubber or a faulty machine.
After extensive and time consuming tests it has become obvious that - not only is the machine at fault - but that the problem is rapidly getting worse.
I have isolated the problem to the heating elements.
In its present state the machine is unusable - the rubber does not heat up sufficiently and therefore does not flow into the fine detail on the figure. The real problem is that the company that made the machines is no longer in business so I cannot get the machine repaired easily. I am attempting to repair the machine myself but acquiring the parts may prove problematic. If I cannot get the parts I will have to buy a new machine. At best I will be unable to make new moulds for at least two weeks. The worst case scenario is my having to purchase a new valcaniser as this will take between two and three months while the machine is made, delivered and installed.
I will keep you posted but please be patient while I sort out this nuisance of a problem. Without a vulcaniser I am out of business!
23rd January 2008
I am aware that a number of customers have been waiting for some time for their orders.
This has been caused by an unexpectedly large volume of sales preceding Christmas.
I managed to keep up with orders until the first week or so of December and then the pressure to finish the new Saxon figures took over and packing had to take second place.
The fact that the orders continued to roll in up to, and beyond, Christmas is rewarding and reassuring but has created a bit of a backlog of orders.
I am sure you will all understand that I reached the point where I did have to stop packing and sculpting and join my family to celebrate Christmas.
Visiting relatives, a pre-planned winter break with my wife and the closing date for my tax return have added to the delay and the mounting pile of orders.
I am now back at work and will make packing my priority until I have sent all orders out. Since I did not hit the Christmas deadline with the Saxons they can now wait a bit longer. I will try to have all orders out and be up to date with this side of the business by the first week in February. I can only apologise for the delay and thank you for your patience.
As for the Saxons: the first set of figures is well on the way to completion. They are in the march-attack pose and the rank-and-file musketeer figures are complete. I am working on the command figures at the moment. These include NCOs, musician, sapper, standard bearer, officers etc. I will try to get some photos posted on the Befreiungskreige site in the near future.
Once again thank you all for your support and understanding.
Peter
19th November 2007
Details of the new trail arms Prussian musketeers and a new Prussian corps command set have been added to the site.
Also added today is an Introduction to the Saxons article intended to explain how extensive research has affected the decision to produce these figures in campaign uniforms. I am asking Martin who runs the Calpe Web site to post this both here and on his personal blog site. Martin's site allows you to write your comments so that you can respond to the points made in the article.
29th July 2007
I am now closed for business until September 1st.
This break allows me to get some much need rest and to carry out the maintenance which gets postponed during the course of a busy working year.
I have recently finished the trail arms musketeer figures, as I promised, but will not release them until September for obvious reasons. The release date had been planned for the beginning of July but was set back by the moulding rubber shortage earlier in this year. I have also commissioned both the French and Saxon artillery and hope to be able to release some of these pieces by the end of this year or the start of '08. Future releases will include the charging Prussian musketeers and the first of the Saxon line infantry. The re-sculpted dragoons may also stage an appearance if things go smoothly over the next few months.
Now on to some bad news - I am afraid I have to, reluctantly, put my prices up. I ordered a new consignment of metal this week and received a shock at the price I had to pay for my usual grade of metal. Having checked several suppliers they all quoted prices of between £9 and £10 a kilo for this tin rich metal. Last year I was paying less than £7 a kilo. When you are buying hundreds of kilos of metal at a time this price increase runs into an unforeseen extra cost of over a thousand pounds. Added to the high price of energy I'm afraid I can no longer absorb these increases without passing some of the costs on to you, the customer. I have held my prices for some time now. Increasing sales have offset the price rises of energy and metal but this latest increase really dents my profit margins.
My prices will go up from 80p per figure to 90p. Horses from £1 to £1.20. Guns from £4.00 to £4.50. Limbers from £12 to £13. Caissons and heavy limbers from £15 to £16. These prices are still below those of my competitors.
Have a pleasant summer.
8th July 2007
Details of the new versions of advancing Prussian musketeers have been added to the site.
14th May 2007
It has been an interesting year so far.
It started badly when I picked up a viral infection in early January.
As most of us do, I tried to shrug it off and continued working until I felt so ill I had to take some time off.
It took me the rest of the month to recover from ‘the bug’ and I was left feeling tired and washed out.
In February I tried to regain the initiative by giving the new command groups my full attention. While I was sculpting these figures (and a number of new horses) my ‘Research Group’ was finalising the arrangements for this year’s research trip. We decided to go to Eastern Germany and to visit the sites of the battles of Leipzig, Dresden, Gross-Beeren etc.
In early March the American member of our research group, Buddy Hoch, came over and stayed me for a few days prior to our departure for Leipzig. While he was staying with me he arranged a visit to the Perry brothers and they invited me to tag along. We spent a very enjoyable afternoon with them and I came away impressed not only by their talent but also by their passion for the hobby and their open friendliness. Buddy and I then met up with Peter Bunde in Leipzig and we set off on our planned tour of the battlefields and museums. The trip was the usual mixture of revelation and disappointment. Those of you who visit museums with any regularity will know what I mean. Sometimes you walk into a museum and find something totally unexpected while at other times you have to face the disappointment of the ‘closed for renovation’ sign. We had our fair share of both in this year’s trip but all three of us enjoyed the few days we spent together. The rest of March was taken up with the completion of the command groups and a number of other sets of figures I am working on (more on this later).
So far this ‘blog’ may seem no more than a boring narrative of my year but all these events – the illness, the trip to the Perrys and the research trip - are important in the decisions I have reached as to what I am going to do going forward.
April was taken up with mould making and sculpting; it was also fairly busy in terms of orders. While I was packing, mould making and casting, I was mulling over the events in the previous months. Let me start by saying that the illness in January really made me stop and think about whether I was actually profiting from what I do. Financially, I can state quite categorically that I would be better off doing just about anything other than running Calpe. Yes, the business has loads of potential and it is covering all its costs (with a small profit) but, in terms of money in the pocket I could earn my keep more easily elsewhere. At the end of January I seriously considered winding Calpe up and going off for a long holiday in the sun to recover properly.
The only thing that stopped me from doing so is the real enjoyment I still get out of sculpting, moulding and painting figures. In truth I would continue making and painting figures even if I did stop trading. Financially I am fairly secure, with income from other sources. So, if profit is not the incentive I will have to increase the enjoyment I get out of running Calpe. From now on I will do that which maximises returns in this area. Put simply, I will make the figures that I want.
Let me give you an example – I am painting Krafft’s Brigade from Bulow’s Third Corps at present. I have painted the 9th Reserve Regiment and the Newark Landwehr regiment that were part of this brigade but the line infantry regiment (The Colburg Infantry Regiment 2nd Pommeranians) remains unpainted. When I picked out the musketeer figures for this regiment I realised that I did not actually like them. My sculpting has moved on and I can do much better now. These figures are for my own collection and I want the best, so I actually started re-sculpting the line infantry. There are sound business arguments for doing this - such as the fact that I am selling six of the new landwehr figures for each line infantry figure (so it is obvious that customers think the same). However, if truth be told, I am doing this because I want the new figures!
I can visualise many customers, who have been waiting for the French, throwing their hands up in horror. My answer to this is that the French will come but in their own good time. The question of a ‘good time’ for the French brings me to my second point. Why make more French figures for a saturated market when well sculpted and cast figures are available from other manufacturers? The visit to the Perrys brought this question to the fore. I liked them, enjoyed their company and certainly appreciated their work. Alan knows that I will have to make the French as he had to make them; no Napoleonic range of figures can be complete without them. However, at present there is no rush to make these figures as any collector can build up a French army by buying Front Rank or Perry Figures. Looking at the hobby from a collector’s point of view, rather than a manufacturer, it makes more sense to go for something that has not been done rather than something that has! I think the view that competition with other manufacturers is the key to success, is one I will choose not adhere to. Rather I will look for what needs to be done.
My next major range of figures will not be the French, it will be the Saxons instead. The visit to East Germany helped me make up my mind in this respect. Most of our time was spent in Saxony visiting museums replete with Saxon exhibits. Having said this, the French are not completely out of the picture, as no manufacturer makes an accurate set of artillery and equipment pieces for the French army of 1812-15. I have put in my research time into this gap in the market and I recently commissioned the necessary pieces. I will release a full and historically accurate set of French artillery pieces, limbers and caissons as soon as I am able for the simple reason that nobody else does. Once the French artillery is complete, work on the French line infantry will continue.
This is my release schedule for what remains of this year. If there are any delays or changes I will notify you all on the Web site. There is a good chance that I may shuffle these around as the year progresses as I am working on other things as well. The dragoons, for example, are coming on nicely and I will release these as soon as the full range is complete (three sets in all plus the feldjaegers). The one release I do guarantee is the Saxon infantry in December. There will be Saxons for Christmas!! The French artillery will also be released as soon as it is ready but this will take some time as the first masters will not be ready until October at the earliest. The pieces will then have to be put into moulds and finally the figures and horses will have to be made to complement the range. By the time the guns, limbers and caissons have all been completed I cannot see anything being released until early next year.
Peter
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