1898 Miniaturas is the dream come true of Rafael Gómez and Javier Gómez ‘El Mercenario’), two brothers with a decades long link to the world of miniatures that want to show their personal vision of the hobby with this project, a mix of History, modeling and wargaming.

History because 1898 Miniaturas is born with the aim to recreate unfairly forgotten periods of our past, as the Cuban War of Independence and the Spanish-American War, complementing the ranges of miniatures with history or uniformology articles of said conflicts from the pen of renowned authors, and dear friends, like Julio Albi de la Cuesta or Francisco Gracia Alonso.

Modeling because 1898 Miniaturas is, above all, an initiative that intends to release 28mm miniatures for collectors, painters and wargamers with a great level of detail and quality, sculpted by José Hidalgo, current sculptor and owner of Miniaturas Beneito and with extensive experience in the sector. Without forgetting, of course, the historical rigor, for which we have accredited advisers like Luis Sorando Muzás or William Combs, or the painting techniques to paint them, by Javier Gómez ‘El Mercenario’.

And Wargame because the 1898 Miniaturas ranges are ideal to recreate conflicts at different scales, from small unit skirmishes to field battles. For this we will offer adaptations of different rulesets for this period, as well as different game scenarios.

Our Team

Rafael Gómez Valero

Founder of 1898 Miniaturas. I am the owner of Atlantica Juegos, a store specializing on miniatures, wargames and Military History.

My first experience with this hobby happened during High School with role playing games. Later, back in 1990, at the age of 22, I opened my first store in Madrid called “El Baluarte”, specialized in board wargames, role playing games and fantasy games. I had always been very fond of military history, so as soon as I had the first historical miniatures in my hands (Napoleonics from Front Rank, by the way) I decided to get fully involved in this subject and opened a section just for historical wargames miniatures.

A couple of years later I entered the Librería Atlántica team, which was the germ of current Atlantica Juegos, which over the years has become a national benchmark in miniaturism, wargaming and Military History. Despite becoming my way of life, twenty-six years later I still feel passionate about this hobby, for which I raise the stakes with this new and exciting project, 1898 Miniaturas.

Javier Gómez Valero

Founder of 1898 Miniatures. I am a PhD in History, professional miniature painter more known as 'El Mercenario' and coeditor of Desperta Ferro Ediciones.

My first contact with miniaturism came in the late 80’s thanks to role playing games and some infamous orc miniatures that I “colored” with Humbrol paints from my brothers. However, from very early on I developed a passion for history that lasts until today and, being barely 15, I began to paint Napoleonic miniatures. Therefore it is not surprising that after finishing high school I enrolled in History, which I combined with working part time in Atlántica Juegos and painting miniatures by commission.

After graduating I decided to dedicate myself more and more to miniaturism, acquiring with my good friend and by then partner David Gómez the nickname ‘El Mercenario’, a job that for two years I combined with the direction of the unfortunately defunct Spanish version of the magazine Wargames: Soldiers and Strategy (still available in its international version). Working solo, I painted miniatures for private collectors around the world, as well as for top brands like Perry Miniatures or Front Rank, and I have written dozens of articles for magazines and industry blogs, as well as the book Painting Wargame Miniatures (Pen & Sword, 2015).

In 2008 I moved to Barcelona and joined the Alpha Ares club, which since 2014 I have the honor of presiding over. My life took a turn in 2010, the year when I founded, together with Alberto Perez and Carlos de la Rocha, Desperta Ferro Ediciones, an editorial specializing in Political and Military History and Archeology that in a short time has become an indispensable reference in the sector, which I dedicate myself in body and soul (although I always try to spare some time to paint).

Collaborators

José Hidalgo

Sculptor of 1898 Miniaturas

My first contact with miniature soldiers was in the late 70’s, with Montaplex envelopes. Yes, much water has flowed under the bridge since then… And I have not stopped, first with 1:72 miniatures from Esci, Matchbox, etc, then with some models and the jump to bigger scales, both in plastic and metal. I began to collaborate with Fernando Beneito in 1995 or 1996, in the courses he gave in his workshop, and learned a more refined painting technique. I also took my first steps with putty, although I had already tried to do something with it years before. I started working for him about 2002. Fernando passed away in 2005, and his widow and me kept on for a couple of years more with Miniatures Beneito until she decided to leave it and I took charge, until now. I currently dedicate myself to sculpting originals, painting box art and casting copies.

William Combs

Historical advisor of 1898 Miniaturas

William K. Combs, called “Bill” by all who know him, was born in 1955 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He attended the University of Cincinnati and has worked at several living history museums in Illinois and New York. He is currently the business manager of the Ohio Valley Military Society, an organization that sponsors the largest militaria collector fairs in the United States. Bill saw his first rayadillo uniform in a display at the Ohio Historical Society museum in the mid-1970s. He recalls that he thought it was the most beautiful uniform he had even seen. From that moment was born his passion for the study and collecting of the history and material culture of the Spanish colonial army from before 1898. For over 40 years he has focused his research on the uniforms and arms used by the defenders of Spain’s tropical empire. Some of the fruits of his labors can be viewed on his website. A comprehensive book covering the period of 1851-1898 is planned in the future.

Luis Sorando Muzás

Historical adviser of 1898 Miniaturas

Luis Sorando Muzás (Zaragoza 1961) is a founding member of the Spanish Napoleonic Association and president of A.H.C. Volunteers of Aragon. Adviser of the Army Museum, he is the author of ‘Flags, standards and trophies of the Army Museum 1700-1843. Catalogue raisonne’, and more than 100 essays and articles on Spanish flags and uniforms, especially from the Napoleonic period. He has been twice awarded the research prize of the Sieges of Zaragoza and the medal “Pro Memoria” of the Polish Government for his collaboration in spreading the study and the memory of its soldiers that fought in Spain.

Àlex Claramunt Soto

Historical adviser of 1898 Miniaturas

Àlex Claramunt Soto is director of Desperta Ferro Modern History magazine, as well as a doctor in Media, Communication and Culture, and a graduate in Journalism from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. His interest is focused on the military history of the 16th to 18th centuries, on which he has published two books and various articles.

Foundry Miniatures Ltd manufacture the world's largest range of 28mm metal miniatures for gamers, collectors, modellers and painters.

Clifford Ansell was looking for an interesting retirement job that would keep him busy. Cliff had spent much of his life working in the mining industry (apart from a few years away with the Royal Navy in the 1940s) he ended up a mining engineer and an expert on mine safety, ventilation and dust suppression. In the 60s Cliff moved on to a second career as a maths teacher: he taught maths at Bishop Dunn Comprehensive in Nottingham.

Cliff's son was, and is, my father: Bryan Ansell who had made toy soldiers with Skytrex, Tabletop, Asgard and Citadel/Games Workshop. He ended up owning GW and was responsible for games like Warhammer Fantasy Battle, 40K, Space Hulk etc.

When Cliff announced that he was going to take early retirement, Bryan suggested that Cliff might like to have a go at manufacturing toy soldiers himself.

Cliff was already experienced in dealing with both stubborn Lancashire miners and wilful, disorganised children: so it was clear that the strange mindset of the confused denizens of the toy soldier industry would be absolutely no problem for Cliff to handle.

As it happened: this was the time when Citadel was starting to change from metal based models to their new "slotta bases", and also ceasing to make historical models. Bryan was able to set Foundry up with a number of discontinued ranges - Barons Wars and Wars of the Roses Medievals, Samurai and the Vikings, Normans and Saxons, Woodland Indians, Huns and Elizabethans initially (these had all previously served as Human forces in Warhammer Fantasy Battle for some years). Further hundreds of other Citadel models followed. We still make those models at Foundry today, though we cannot manage to have them all in stock at the same time.

Michael and Alan Perry sculpted almost all these models and were keen to continue sculpting historical models for their own painting and wargaming purposes, so they continued to sculpt new Foundry ranges for Cliff for quite some years. Alistair Morrison and Dave Andrews both contributed ranges too.

So, Foundry was up and running very quickly indeed. Cliff first had premises in Sherwood, then moved to a larger unit in New Basford. The upstairs in New Basford was taken by Alistair and Trish Morrison: who sculpted the Marauder range for Games Workshop up there.

For a long period, Foundry was making many master moulds and production moulds for Games Workshop whenever they found themselves with more moulds than they could handle. Over the years many ex Games Workshop staff worked for Foundry; most notably John "Bones" Ellard, "Ep" Epworth, Andy Pattinson, Kevin Adams, Colin Dixon and Shane Hoyle.

In 1991 my father left Games Workshop and went off to Guernsey for a decade or so. In Guernsey he had three children, restored four old houses (he does that wherever he goes: not the children, just the houses) started Guernsey Foundry and made Seven Years War, Old West, Pirates and Darkest Africa models these were mostly sculpted by Mark Copplestone. When he came back to England in 2000 he brought his ranges and a couple of the Guernsey staff with him, started restoring a house near Newark and took over running Foundry from Cliff. He produced more Seven Years War, Darkest Africa and loads more Old West, then Street Violence, Vikings, Gladiators, various Romans, 16th century Swashbucklers, huge ranges of Greeks and Macedonians, Fantasy and various odds and ends.

In 2005 my father left Foundry and went back to gardening and restoring houses.

We only re-entered the world of toy soldiers because my cousin Neil Littlewood went to work at Foundry for a while, and it became apparent that there were serious problems that needed sorting out. In the end we stepped in, and the Ansell family are running the factory again.

We have moved Foundry into the huge old Carriage Court alongside our house in East Stoke.

Cheers

Marcus