Hobbyist Remco de Groot Breathes New Life Into Retro Plastic Miniatures

One thousand Roman soldiers. That's the number Remco de Groot has set as his milestone before he'll even pick up a single plank of wood to start building his Gaulish village. The Dutch collector paints vintage 1970s Asterix plastic figures and is building an army of 1,000 Roman soldiers for a future Gaulish village diorama. It's a project that lives at the precise intersection of childhood nostalgia, serious miniature craft, and the kind of long-horizon ambition that most painters reserve only for their most fevered dreams.

A Collector Born From Comics

Remco de Groot was born in 1962 in Amsterdam and now lives in Almelo in the eastern Netherlands. Like many readers of his generation, he discovered Asterix as a child and quickly became captivated by the adventures of the indomitable Gauls. The franchise created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo wasn't just entertainment for Remco; it shaped decades of collecting. Over the years he collected all the albums, and during the 1980s and 1990s his interest in comics expanded to many other series. Humorous stories and expressive artwork remain his favorites, and today his home contains several meters of shelving filled with comic books from a wide range of series.

But while the comic collection grew broad, his collecting instinct eventually sharpened toward something far more specific.

How Painting Entered the Picture

Remco's journey into miniature painting began through his son, who painted historical miniatures of tin, particularly Napoleonic soldiers. That's a familiar story in this hobby: someone close picks up a brush and the bug spreads. For Remco, it led him to a fair in Antwerp. At a fair in Antwerp he discovered a set of tin Asterix miniatures. Their comic-style appearance immediately appealed to him, and he bought several to paint himself. The experience proved addictive, but there was one problem: the tin figures were expensive and no longer widely available. Completing the series would be difficult.

That practical obstacle pushed him back toward something he already knew. In the 1970s, small plastic Asterix figurines were distributed across Europe as promotional items with chewing gum. The figures were sealed in small plastic bags, making the character inside a mystery. Children often tried to guess the contents by feeling the bag, though the result was not always the figure they hoped for. Today these toys are commonly referred to by collectors as "Dunking" figures. Many survived in attics, toy boxes, and forgotten collections, and they occasionally resurface when people begin clearing out old belongings. For Remco, they were the perfect affordable, authentic, and still-findable alternative to the costly tin range.

The Prep Work Nobody Skips

This is where things get properly hobby-specific. These aren't freshly cast plastics coming off a modern sprue; they're 50-year-old figures with decades of dust, old paint, and unknown storage history. Remco's preparation reflects that reality.

Before painting, each figurine undergoes careful preparation. Remco begins by cleaning the plastic, sometimes soaking it for several days to remove old paint or dirt. Because the legs of the figures can be fragile, he drills two small holes under the feet and inserts pieces of paperclip wire through the legs to strengthen the structure.

That structural reinforcement step is smart and worth noting. Thin plastic legs on figures that have spent decades in a toy box aren't going to survive handling without support. Once the figure is stable: the figures are mounted on a cork and sprayed with a grey primer. The painting itself is done with water-based acrylic paints, which are odorless, dry quickly, and allow precise work.

A Deliberate Style Choice

Here's where Remco's approach diverges from what you'll see on most competition painting tables. Using a very fine 5×0 brush, Remco recreates the bold colors of the original comic style. While many miniature painters focus on advanced shading techniques and realistic effects, Remco deliberately follows the visual language of the Asterix albums. The figures are painted in strong, recognizable colors that immediately evoke the world of the comics.

That's a creative philosophy worth sitting with. The goal isn't photorealism or pushing advanced techniques like Non-Metallic Metal or zenithal highlighting. The goal is fidelity to the source material: flat, punchy, unmistakably Asterix. Within the community, the consensus has formed around this work, with fellow forum members calling Remco "the king of painting Asterix Legionaries of Rome."

The Roman Army and the Long Game

Remco intends to build a large diorama of the famous Gaulish village, complete with its wooden palisade. On the outside of that fence will stand an enormous Roman force preparing, perhaps unwisely, to challenge the indomitable Gauls. When the milestone of one thousand soldiers is reached, he plans to begin constructing the village itself.

The scale of that ambition means the project generates its own collecting challenges. Because Remco often buys complete sets while searching for the Roman soldiers, he ends up with many duplicate figures. These extras sometimes find new life through conversions or creative variations. When he displays what he has already painted at events, the reaction is consistent: rows of painted Romans attract curious visitors, and many are surprised to learn that the figures themselves are more than fifty years old. In the era of 3D printing, some assume the miniatures are modern creations, until Remco explains their vintage origin.

Where to See It in Person

The project isn't just a private obsession unfolding on a desk in Almelo. On March 28 and 29, 2026, Remco will appear at a model-building exhibition in Lingen, Germany. There he will not only display his collection but also paint figures live so visitors can watch the process.

Later in the year, the event becomes his own. He will organize FIGZ, a fair dedicated to miniature figures. The event will take place on June 7, 2026, in Arnhem at Dennenweg 106. Entry is free, and visitors can view the painted figures as well as browse through duplicate items from Remco's collection. Because he is organizing the event himself, Remco will not be painting during the fair, but the figures will still be there to admire.

An Open Call for Reinforcements

Remco's project continues to grow, and he is always looking for additional Roman soldiers from the 1970s plastic series. Anyone who still has these figures tucked away and would like to contribute to the project can contact him at bfduel@gmail.com.

There's something fitting about a project this size drawing on a distributed network of attic finds and old toy boxes across Europe. Every donated figure is one step closer to the palisade going up and the village coming to life. The army isn't yet at a thousand, but with the patience and precision Remco brings to each 5×0 brushstroke, it's only a matter of time.