Empress Miniatures: New ECW Sir Thomas Fairfax Commander

Empress Miniatures: New ECW Sir Thomas Fairfax Commander

Empress Miniatures: New Hollywood Western Gunslingers

Empress Miniatures: New Hollywood Western Gunslingers

Empress Miniatures: New Jazz Age Imperialism Sikh Infantry

Empress Miniatures: New Jazz Age Imperialism Sikh Infantry

Empress Miniatures: New Afghan Warriors on Camels

Empress Miniatures: New Afghan Warriors on Camels

Empress Miniatures: New WWII British 75mm Pack Howitzer

Empress Miniatures: Todays new release is the 75mm pack howitzer and the three crew. The elevation mechanism on the 75 was very unusual and when modelling could have created a very difficult model to assemble. We therefore took the easy option of providing two different sections for the front trail. This enables the gun to made in the firing position or in various moving and glider loading positions. Another set based upon the Arnhem battle with the crew taken from original photographs.

Empress Miniatures: New Matabele/ Zulu Married Warriors and Basotho Cavalry

Empress Miniatures: Todays release is three packs of Matabele/ Zulu married warriors and some Basotho cavalry one of which work for mounted Zulu warriors that were few but useful for scouting.

OR 56 Zulu or Matabele Warriors, Married. Pack 5.

OR57 Mounted Basotho SET VII

OR58 Mounted Basotho / Zulus Set VIII

Empress Miniatures: New Colonial India & Africa Wars British & Sepoy Infantry

Empress Miniatures: Some new releases for the GAPS ( Gwalior, Afghanistan, Punjaub and Scinde.) range in our India and Africa Colonial Wars room. GAPS47A HM 44th Regiment. Light Order, GAPS51 HM44th Regiment. Light Order, GAPS51A HM 44th Regiment. Light Order and GAPS52 Bengal Native Infantry. Designed for the action at Behmaru Heights, Afghanistan but work for other battles and conflicts such as China or India.

Empress Miniatures: New WWII German Infantry Preview

Empress Miniatures: New World War Two German Infantry Preview

Empress Miniatures: New 28mm Matabele Zulu Warriors Release

Empress Miniatures: Todays release is a group of 28mm Matabele Zulu for both our African wars range and Zulu War range. Superbly sculpted by Ebob these chaps work very well with our existing Zulu war range.

Empress Miniatures: New Early WWII Soviet Infantry Release

Empress Miniatures: New Early WWII Soviet Infantry Release

Empress Miniatures: New Modern Hand Held AT Weapon Teams

Empress Miniatures: ZSU13 Hand held AT weapons, Javelin team and NLAW team moving and firing. Also a Javelin rocket in flight.

Empress Miniatures: New ECW Artillery and Crew Release

Empress Miniatures: Two more releases. Although part of our specific ECW range they work for Thirty Years War. ECW 129 - a Robinette 1 pound shot and two crew. Based upon one in the the Royal Armouries collection. ECW 130 - a pony and handler. The vast majority of logistical supply was moved around the country by pack horse. This model is of the handler, Tig, and her pony.

Empress Miniatures: New Vietnam Walker Bulldog Tank

Empress Miniatures: New release for the 28mm Vietnam range is a Walker Bulldog.

Empress Miniatures: New Deadwood Western Gunfighters

Empress Miniatures: Some more western gunfight characters inspired by the series Deadwood.

Empress Miniatures: New Resin Parachutes Scenery!

Empress Miniatures: Two sets of resin parachutes. These come unpainted so they can be painted however you want. 4 resin parachutes to add as terrain scatter. Available in both 20mm and 28mm.

Empress Miniatures: New Thirty War Armoured Pikemen

Empress Miniatures: Some new Thirty Years War releases.

Empress Miniatures: New Spanish Civil War Miniatures Preview

Empress Miniatures: A preview of something different. We have been trying to find the time to get back onto the Spanish Civil War range and have finally crammed some figures in. This is a command group featuring an interrogation and propaganda broadcast. The poor Republican has no doubt been forced into this by the fat Nationalist intelligence officer whilst Franco looks on. Also in the works are Nationalist infantry.

Empress Miniatures: New WWI and RCW Miniatures Release

Empress Miniatures: We have four new packs for the WW1 and RCW ranges in these rooms in the shop. Superbly sculpted by Paul Hicks with huge character.

Empress Miniatures: New Colonial Dragoon Guard Cavalry

Empress Miniatures: Two new packs are now in the shop; These are the command packs for the 7th Dragoon Guards in South Africa; OR 48 7th Dragoon Guards Comd I (Brass helmets), OR 49 7th Dragoon Guards Comd II (Watering caps).

Iron Duke Miniatures: Business Closure - Colonial Ranges Acquired by Empress Miniatures

Iron Duke Miniatures: I'm sorry to have to announce that I'm departing the toy making business and closing down IDM. Bear with me while I explain why, and I'm sure you'll be able to see that I have no other choice. I Started IDM in 2015, nine years ago, when the cost of materials, metal primarily, was easily half what it was a couple of months ago. That left room enough to sell my goods through a distributor, namely my chums at Empress Miniatures. The margin however was always destined to be narrower in that kind of business model than for a company that did all its own retail in-house. Since we started costs have edged ever upwards and the margin has been narrowing all the while. About six to eight weeks ago we were hit amidships by a 25% increase in the cost of metal. 

There was some hope that it might be a temporary hike, but frankly I can sense no immediate prospect of a downwards turn. The changed situation left me with three options. To continue as before would have necessitated a significant price hike to you, the customer, when you purchased IDM goodies from Empress. Given an already relatively low volume of sales in what is very obviously a niche field, that was not a tenable road to go down. The second option was to take over retail myself, which, by cutting out Empress as the distributor, would have left a margin sufficient to continue. However, I have lots of other time consuming things to do, in researching and writing books, giving lectures and what-not, and could not afford to devote myself to processing orders and packing parcels on a daily basis. Not an attractive option. The third and final option was to cut myself out of the picture and that is what I decided in the end to do. The silver lining to the cloud is that I've passed all my moulds over to Empress, so that you will still be able to buy everything I've manufactured up to this point. Crucially, from the customer's point of view, as we sit here today, the goods will be sold at the same price as formerly. In some ways this news is not really news at all.

In essence everything that is an Iron Duke Miniature today, will become an Empress Miniatures tomorrow. Obviously the time might come when Empress are compelled to put their prices up....a 25% increase in the cost of metal is no laughing matter, so we can only keep hoping for that downward turn to transpire. Of course the bad news is that I will not be able to achieve everything that I had hoped to achieve. I can make no promises in respect of future development of the ranges. That will be Empress's business now. I'll leave the IDM website intact for a short while, in order that anybody who wants to copy any of the uniform/historical notes to be found there has the opportunity to do so. But I do emphasize that it will be a short while only.

I've managed to make some nice toys over the past nine years, including the Indian Mutiny range, which preceded the present African and Indian ranges and which was sold to Empress at an earlier point in time. Of course the key players in IDM accomplishing what it has were the fine sculptors that turned to for me. I'd like to express my gratitude to them all and also articulate my admiration for their astonishing skillsets. The lead sculptor of course was the remarkably talented Paul Hicks, who continues to do wonders for other companies. No less important roles were played by e-Bob, Tony Boustead, Niels Rullkotter and John Hart. Thank you chaps. Nor must I forget to express my gratitude to Iain McDonald, the proprietor of 'Flags of War', who made all the IDM flagsheets for me. They too will now go across to become Empress products.

That's about it. I'm sorry to have to jump and pull the ripcord, a year or two earlier than I had originally intended, but 'c'est la guerre' as they say. I'm sure you will understand the necessity that compels me to call it a day. I hope you continue to derive great table top success with the miniatures I've managed to bring to the marketplace. Thanks to all of you who bought my toys or even just admired them from a distance. It was a blast while it lasted. With my very best wishes to all, Mike.