The men stand perfectly straight at attention, with all eyes locked forward. Some have uniforms that are new and sparking clean, while others show signs of obvious aging. There are even a few that have the battle scars of years of service, from broken weapons to something as serious as severed limbs. Ken Nye of Freeport eyes his troops with more than the careful eye of a typical army commander. Since he created these small regiments with his own hands, they hold a big place in his heart. His vast collection of personally-created replicas of the original Britain’s toy soldiers are proudly displayed in cases, including one that his wife of 42 years, Ann, made of glass and cherry wood so that her husband could display his troops.

“She really was the one who worked with her hands,” Nye confesses. “Ann is a master craftsperson. Knitting, shadow boxes, needlepoint. You name it. So she was the first true creative person in the family.”

Sitting at a desk he built, which serves as “soldier central,” Nye says, “I’ve been making these for about 17 years, but it goes back way further. My brother, Bill, and I started collecting the original Britain’s soldiers when we were kids in the ’50s.” As boys in Chappaqua, N.Y., Ken and Bill would play with their beloved toy soldiers.

“There were a lot of rocks around our home,” recalls Virginia Newton, Nye’s mom. “The two of them would set up their fortresses in the dirt and around the rocks, and just play for hours.”

Up in the attic

But as happens with all little boys, they grew up, leaving their childhood interests behind.

“I got older, went to high school and the soldiers were packed up in a box and put in the attic. I didn’t see them again until Ann and I got married and got our own place. Mom then gave the box to me so she didn’t have to keep them in her house anymore.”

Nye always loved his collection; however, it didn’t become a passion until after his son, who’s also Ken but with a different middle name, went off to college.

“It was 1988 and Ken had gone to Colby College. Ann and I went out there for a parents’ weekend, and we stopped by a craft fair in the school’s field house. Like most guys, I really didn’t want to be at some craft fair, but I looked around. Suddenly, I saw a table full of ‘my soldiers.’ There was an older gentleman there and his collection looked brand new! I went over to him and asked him, ‘Where did you get these?’ The man answered, ‘I made them.’ I was fascinated.”

It turns out that there was more. The man who owned the display was one of Nye’s former college professors. “Of course, we were both a bit older than the last time we saw each other, so we didn’t recognize each other right away, but it was professor Pastana, my geography instructor.” Nye was so captivated by the collection, that the following weekend, he drove to Pastana’s home to find out how to make the replicas.

The notes that Nye took that day are still in the small, spiral-bound green notebook he took with him that day. The entire process of making the toy soldiers is written out in careful detail – a student’s transcription of a mentor’s lesson.

First a mold, then pewter

“I came home and I was all fired up. I made the calls I needed to get the materials to get started. I made my first mold the following weekend”.

Everything is done by hand. First, there must be an original to cast for a mold, and Ken had plenty of these in his own collection. That toy soldier is soaked in paint remover to get a clean original. Next, the molds are made by sculpting them out of clay and inserting the original figure into the mold. Then, silicone rubber is poured over the clay to create the permanent mold. Melting the pewter in a small, cast-iron pan over a Coleman burner in the garage is the next step so that it can poured into the permanent mold.

For Nye, the real labor of love begins after the pewter is cast.

“After they come out of the molds, they are a dark gray. They need to be ground down to be prepared for painting.”

The painting is the payoff for him. “I want them to look like toy soldiers. I’m not trying to create miniatures for the purpose of being historically accurate, really. I paint them with pink cheeks and dimples. This is how they look lifelike.”

All of Nye’s molds are catalogued, by name and number in his original, green notebook. This way, if there’s a particular figure that Nye wants to make, all he has to do is look it up, find the number and go to a shelf under his desk to retrieve the mold.

“The process is long, but one mold can make hundreds of figures, so it’s worth it.”

Play’s the thing

Despite the hours of work and detail, Nye is emphatic about the purpose of his soldiers. “They are meant to be played with. They are toy soldiers, after all. Some buy them just to display, but that’s not what they’re supposed to be for. They should be touched. Yes, they can break that way, but I can always make another.”

For years, Nye made his soldiers and his collection grew. He also shared his soldiers with his nephews and niece, but their interest faded when they grew up.

“I started to ask myself, ‘Who am I doing this for?'”

Then, early one winter, his wife was co-chairing a local church’s holiday craft fair in Yarmouth. “I figured, ‘What the heck.’ I set up a table with a bunch of soldiers. I brought a book with me, expecting to be bored for most of the day. But it happened again. First, a little boy came up and just stared, wide-eyed. Then, he asked the question, ‘Where’d you get these?’ I smiled and just as I heard all those years ago, I replied, ‘I made them.”

Nye’s soldiers were so popular that he made $1,300 that day. Word spread quickly and there were so many calls that he finally made up brochures for “The Toy Soldier Shop.”

But anyone who is looking for a store may be surprised.

“The ‘shop’ is really my house, but it was just easier to put together information on small brochures and give out price lists. That way people could call ahead of time to arrange a time to come take a look at the soldiers and buy what they want.”

Collecting and making toy soldiers has been a part of Nye’s life for more than 40 years in all. And as with any long term relationship, the passion can fade sometimes.

“I do go in cycles. There will be years that I won’t really do much with them. Then, one day, something will happen, nothing specific really, and I’ll pick them up again.” Even after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease about seven years ago, he didn’t slow down.

Recently a new love that has come into his life: poetry.

“I’ve always loved writing, and I wrote a poem for Ann. It’s taken off from there.” Nye is currently working on getting a volume of poetry called “Searching for the Spring: A Mainer’s Musings on Life” published.

Still, nothing will completely take the place of his troops. As he places the soldiers back in their display, it is easy to see the powerful, nostalgic hold that they have on him.

“In some respects, I’m still playing with my toy soldiers,” he concludes as he shuts the glass door of the display case.

SIDEBAR:

Toy soldiers on the march

Average price of Ken Nye’s individual pieces: $11 to $20

Price for a full, six-piece set: $60

People can contact Nye by calling The Toy Soldier Shop, Yarmouth, 865-9298.

Nye will be displaying and selling his soldiers at the First Universalist Church holiday craft fair, 97 Main St., Yarmouth, on Saturday, Dec. 4. The fair will be 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. In addition to craft tables, a luncheon of homemade soups and breads will be available.