Cross De Guerre

CROSS de GUERRE

Article from Toy Soldier & Model Figure
Issue Thirty, by Courtesy of
Ashdown Publishing Ltd. England UK

Although Derek Cross is best known for his vast range of distinctive Napoleonic figures, there's a lot more to All The Queen's Men as Rob Hendrie found out.

    I once visited an artist to talk about his architectural. paintings which I assumed was all he did. But nosing around I found abstracts here, photo-realisms there, impressionist seascapes by the dozen and a too-cute-for-words pet portrait on the easel! It knocks you off balance to expect one thing but to find many others. That memory came back when I met Derek Cross at All The Queen’s  Men. I expected to see troops of his trademark Napoleonics but also found an abundance  of other themes, scales and styles. Recent 75mm English Civil War figures towered above new American Civil War cavalry, traditional toy soldiers were being painted to order and on every shelf so many campaigns were being waged that I needed a military atlas to get my bearings. AQM offer well over 400 sets: you name it, Derek Cross has done it! 
 
  In fact, put this incredible body of work on display and you'd have a post hollow-cast history of the development of the toy soldier. As importantly, you’d also see an artist developing: pioneering, innovating and, all the while, taking his loyal customer base with him. There are many examples of this but an appropriate one is the American Civil War which Derek has revisited several times over the years. I saw traditional ACW cavalry sets from the 1980's, then a 90's "Pickett’s Charge" where realism and heat of the battle are dominant themes and then a recent release "Dixie - The Spirit of The South" VC2. This is a galloping threesome of  Jeb Stuart, his trumpeter and Standard bearer which takes the art form a stage further. It's a swirling, impressionistic study of grizzled fighters .. a Remington bronze in colour. These initial figures may well be reinforced into an entire Confederate charge. The jaw drops and the mouth waters at the prospect.

  Derek's lifetime of military interest was inspired by his grandfather who fought in the Boer War. As a child his hollow-cast soldiers weren't just for play but also ripe for converting and repainting. National Service allowed him to march in the footsteps of history and connect with the past. It also brought a practical plus: daily reminders of how Blessed with an ability to draw anything he sees, Derek added life drawing to his skills as he trained to be a graphic artist. He's also illustrated books and run his own advertising business. Mix in a love of military history, uniforms and art, often used today for inspiration, plus his lifelong equestrian interests which shine through in the quality and diversity of horses across the ranges, and you start to understand where the figures come from and why they have such movement and life. Character too, Derek and his son Adam paint all the faces to get as much period feel as they can into them. There's also passion and pride, a deep rooted urge to portray "the best army in the world " no matter the period.

  By the late 1970's Derek was working with Alan Caton producing 80mm and 110mm military figure kits - still available but no longer in kit form - which were originally commissioned by various regiments. Derek then joined the vanguard of the metal toy soldier revival in the early 80’s. There was no desire to ape what had gone before, Derek's traditional soldiers were - and are - a dream or two above the best of the past. (These sets are also still available). Although gloss links the past with the present - because customers prefer it - the scale of many of today's vignette and diorama figures is 60mm "so we can get more detail in", says Derek. The style of the current output is distinctive yet hard to categorise as it's unique. Derek describes it as "still toy soldier but using a bit of the gothic approach I think." Today we know him best for his Napoleonics - a theme that AQM pioneered and have made their own - and for staggering pieces like "Scotland Forever", TB366 eighteen Scots Greys hurtling out of Lady Butler's 1881 painting, "The Defence of Hougoumont, 1815" TB382. and "The Storming of Badajoz, 1812" TB397.  The latter pair enjoy the best made and painted architectural bases I've seen. All the larger pieces can be bought on subscription. AQM has also pioneered a unique interlocking scenic base system so series or vignettes which are released in several parts can fit seamlessly together. Originality also extends to the method of making masters. "I think apart from Alan Caton, I'm probably the only person who sculpts in metal and solder and uses copper wire and brass to make originals," says Derek. With a vast archive of castings to act as starting points, he'll use an old horse or figure casting and convert it to his new subject by soldering, fettling and filing.  If, like me, you've ever struggled to make something simple like a sandbag out of a user-friendly material like Milliput, the mind boggles at what Derek achieves sculpting in metal. But it gives him sharper detail and, where a subject demands it, a certain roughness of edge to help get speed and movement. And it's this emphasis on movement which is at the heart of the work. I had the chance to look closely at "The Ragged Square" (TB409) which has now built up - via the interlocking scenic base system - to seven parts (see Issue 28). There's action wherever you look - even the fallen  horse has stirrups and tail in the vertical to give immediacy to its fall.

  Action is further accentuated when castings are assembled and wire is added for reins, sword slings and straps. Each strand is placed and animated according to a figure's action in the overall vignette. This is just another part of the careful choreography which captures the chaos of battle yet shows the clarity of the design. There is real skill in working on two levels: making the big picture work and then, like in a painting, drawing the eye to smaller, intimate moments.

  When I visited, Derek was finalising the master of "The Union Forever" VB1. , a 1st Royal Dragoon , a 2nd Scots Grey and a 6th Inniskilling immortalising the famous charge of the Union Brigade at Waterloo. This is another first. "You have to be original," said Derek. "If you want want to stay ahead." Other recent releases include mounted figures of Napoleon's Dragoons VF1 with a choice of regimental uniform facings and Napoleon's Line Lancer VF2 - also with different facings. There are also 75mm English Civil War figures in a series called "By The Sword Divided". Later this year two further vignettes will be released: "L Battery" the Royal Horse Artillery at Nery on 1st September 1914 and the Charge of the 4th Australian Light Horse at Beersheba.