Showing posts with label Julian Benassi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Julian Benassi. Show all posts

Thursday, 24 February 2022

A dialogue with Julian Benassi... plus Manchester Model Fair 1979

 

Following on from the recent post about his 25mm Greeks, I came across this interview in Model Soldier magazine... very late 70's I think; I've put them all away and have now forgotten...





Atlantic plastics were always something I wanted as a child... my dad's boss bought a bunch of WW2 figures for his son whilst in Italy I think and boy, was I ever jealous...


Lastly, a review of  Manchester Model Fair I went back on December 1st, 1979... I can remember going up the escalator to the venue but little of the show itself... amazing how a picture can jog a memory! A pic Joe Shaw sitting at the table in the first pic. He was a master painter and did the Poste Militaire large scale minis I used to drool over at Northern Militaire and other shows back in the day. I chatted to him on the few occasions he came to the GW Manchester shop (where I worked for 2 out of 3 years in the early to mid 80's). Lovely bloke.. he was after the old complete adventurer which was already long oop so I searched mine out and gave it to him. Never saw it painted unfortunately.


Again the images should be high enough resolution to download and peruse at your leisure.

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Tuesday, 15 February 2022

Julian Benassi - 25mm ancient Greeks and a Hinchliffe Models video!


17.11.2022 Edit. It is with deep regret that I discovered that Julian Benassi passed away on the 20th August this year. RIP.

Major Julian Benassi was mostly known back in the day for his larger scale historical pieces. I have fond memories of looking through Military Modelling magazine and gazing in awe at the painted examples either on the front page or in the Hinchliffe Models' ads (although later he released under his own name). I saw a few small adverts for his 25mm ancient Greek ranges although never came across any examples back then... also a range of fantasy that I'm hoping to see one day (although I wonder if they are the later additions to the Hinchliffe fantasy/sci-fi range... certainly not sculpted by Peter Gilder but possibly Dave Rotor... (on the Lost Minis WIKI here).

The man himself...

A small Military Modelling ad from 1981



I have seen a listing for the Ancient Greeks however can't find it! Pics will have to do instead until I get my act together...

The box they came in via eBay... not the original packaging I assume!

















Lovely old school miniatures. I'm told Warrior Miniatures has them now and have emailed them earlier... just checked their website and this is one the front page 'Unfortunately due to personal circumstances we are unable to take any orders or respond to queries at this time.' I do hope they're ok.

There are a lot of old school catalogues, including Hinchliffe via this great site below;


A lot of anecdotes about the man himself from Ron Tamburrini on https://www.planetfigure.com/ - use their search engine and search for Benassi. Ron worked with the Major back in the day and it makes great reading plus, the site itself is a wonder of the hobby. 

If you have an more pics or info please let me know and I'll update the post.

There is a wonderful video of Hinchliffe Models in its heyday on YouTube. Well worth watching.



If you like the blog, please follow it and become a Politico (top left) - it makes me feel like I'm appreciated! Also, if you fancy buying me a coffee, I'm always grateful... blogging is thirsty work... https://ko-fi.com/davidwood

Any thoughts please do leave a comment and/or email me on enquiries@deartonyblair.co.uk