1986 advert for Fine Art Castings Doctor Who range

Flicking through old issues of Miniature Wargames, my eyes were drawn to this advert in Issue 33, from Feb 1986.

How curious, thinks I. Now, like all Oldhammerers, I was aware of the Citadel Doctor Who range, but here was something I hadn't come across before. So, after a bit of google searching, a bit of a Doctor Who wargames miniature history.

According to the Lost Minis Wiki, Fine Art Castings produced possibly the first licensed range of Doctor Who minis, first advertised in 1984. As can be seen in the advert, most of their minis seem to have been at a larger scale, but they did produce a small range of 25mm minis, mostly focussed on the enemies: Daleks, Cybermen, and Sontarans. Pictures of painted examples of these can be found on the aforementioned Lost Minis Wiki website. While are there plenty of examples of Fine Arts Castings Doctor Who minis kicking around the net, including on ebay, they all seem to be at the larger scales (esp 40mm). Here's an example of their packaging:

And here's a 25mm Earthshock Cyberman from their range, painted by Mark Dixon and taken from the Lost Minis Wiki just as an example of the range

though I won't nick any more than the one pic from there as it seems a bit cheeky, if you want more examples, click the link.

It's a couple years after Fine Art Castings - in 1986, to be precise, to support the FASA Doctor Who Game - that Citadel started releasing their Doctor Who minis. More information and pictures can be found on the Stuff of Legends site.

Steve Casey has done an excellent job photographing Doctor Who minis from Bryan Ansell's collection, many of which can still be seen on display at the Wargames Foundry.

And then after that... well, we're onto Harlequin Miniatures' extensive range for the Doctor Who: Invasion Earth wargame, produced from 1997 onwards. Many of these are still available from Black Tree Designs, from whom I obtained the bulk of my own collection of daleks.

Bringing us through more or less to the present day - Heresy Miniatures produced an excellent range of 'stand ins' for Doctor Who, in their "scientists and civilians" range, unlicensed but certainly filling a need. And to be honest, I wish I'd bought some of them while they were available because almost all of that range has now disappeared, I presume so as not to step on the feet of the new license holders, Warlord Games, who now have the important job of taking Doctor Who miniatures wargaming into the "New Who" era.

But if, like Thansants, LittleLeadPerson, and myself, you're still very much grounded in the Old Who era, and looking for a game to bring your Doctor Who minis out of retirement, watch this space, as we're organising an event at the Foundry - at the moment, looking very likely to be at the start of July. And if, by any chance, you have some 25mm Fine Art Castings Doctor Who minis, do bring them along and give them a game, we'd love to see them!