'Victory V'

Westgate Hall Canterbury - Ex Army Drill Hall - NEEDS YOUR VOTE!!!!

2011-10-22T18:11:00.000+01:00

Dear blogging friends....yes first blog entry this year but thats due to Health, loosing job, geting a new job and.....the purpose of this post ....saving the ex Buffs/East kent Mounted Rifles/TA Artillery drill hall!!! It has been a community centre run by the council since the 1970's and 18 months ago the council voted to demolish it !!! as seen abpve even the Luftwaffe failed in that endeavour!!!

Being a community Development professional I suggested madly on facebook we could save it by setting up a charitable trust to take over the hall as an asset transfer from the council. Well after immense hard work committeees, negotiations, business plans, events etc etc etc we were granted the hall by Canterbury City Council's cabinet in July. We have also attracted a commercial partner Curzon cinemas to sub lease a part of the hall while we run the remainder as the 'village hall' for Canterbury.

above is an impression of what it will look like once we have taken over and refurbished and re developed the hall

Above us our logo!! what we need is some additional funding for our project to cover the immense leagal fees/planning permissions/architects fees etc etc and we are in the Community First competition to win £6,000 for community projects. We need to be in the top three we are now 4th!! aaaagh so close so if anyone has got a moment help us save the hall by going to http://communityforce.natwest.com/project/5891

A Huge thank you from a hardworking and dedicated team!!! also see our website at http://www.westgatecommunityhall.org.uk/ and below us me the 'ginger haired fellow' with Trust members and some Malaysian Students who helped us recently tidy up the garden at the hall

Below is a photo of one of our well attended events!!

I know its not plastic Kits or Wargame figures BUT it is a part of our military history we are saving and I intend there to be a display within the hall of the halls military past, probably involving the local Western Front Association Group remember vote now Thank you ever so much.... Fraxinus... http://communityforce.natwest.com/project/5891

We would like your vote to help us secure the Westgate Hall, Canterbury, for the community. Destined for the bulldozer a year ago; we’ve kept it open and are ready to transform it into a modern community space. But we can’t do it without your help.

What does your charity/project do?

Our mission is to preserve, refurbish, and manage the Hall as a community centre for all, we will make sure that activities that were under threat, such as ceroc, salsa, blood donations and antiques & collectables, continue and thrive. Then we will create a space where people of all ages can pursue their interests, learn, play, dance, celebrate and meet. A community cafe will be open to all in the daytime, offering another informal space for meeting. We will build community in Canterbury.

How does your charity/project support the local community?

It is the only large community space remaining within Canterbury’s City Walls. In the words of one of our supporters “All of us, Canterbury old timers and newcomers, are passionate that the Westgate Hall should continue to play its role as a gathering place, an island of stability, where district and city residents and users of all ages can meet, work and play … [it] will make a fundamental contribution to the quality of life in Canterbury … both now and in the years to come.”

What do you plan to use the CommunityForce award for?

The council’s decision to agree in principle to give us a 99 year lease is only the end of the beginning. Whilst we have enthused community and have an incredible amount of pro bono support there is still a lot of work to be done before we can take the keys. We have an urgent need to pay legal fees, draw up and submit renovation plans for a new roof. The hall has been under funded for many years and it needs your support to get it watertight and back on track.

Wargames Show in Ramsgate

2010-11-13T17:15:00.000Z

Ok so the picture doesn't correspond with the title of this post!! but as I havn't got any pictures of a wargames show at Ramsgate etc thought I would scan the cover of 1 of 6 issues of the 'With the Flag to Pretoria' I picked up today at the Antiques fair in Westgate Hall , Canterbury where the Trust I belong to is hoping to take over the centre and has a stand once a month. 'sadly'!! there are some interesting stalls including a very good and reasonable book stall, a militaria specialist and vintage diecast stand and I do succumb!!

I do love these period jingoistic magazines mostly for the artwork which is superb, This cover is by Caton Woodville the famous military illustrator & painter.

Anyway stop woffling, the show is a small show run by Michael of Red Knight games (previously the Snipers Nest in Ramsgate) couple of weeks ago I went to the shop and it had been replaced by a sweet shop!!!so no Great War figs or Perry French Dragoons in there then, the new shop owner said that the wargames shop had moved to the New Marlow Innovation centre at the Marlow Academy on the outskirts of Ramsgate.

I ventured up there recently and the best thing is you get a cup of coffee now hurrah, michael's is a great chap always helpful with ordering figures in and supporting the local clubs, mostly concentrating on attending shows and trading from the enterprise centre for the local wargamers than paying silly high street rents.

Anyway tomorrow is the 3rd wargames show proceeds of which go to the Britsish legion, it's a small local show, but it is getting gradually bigger, This year there will be about half a dozen demo or participation games, a few trade stands, a raffle, refreshments and piles of free parking immediately outside the venue. All this for a mere £2 entrance which goes to the British Legion.

This year it’s being held at the Marlowe Academy, on Marlowe Way, Ramsgate CT12 6FA on Sunday 14th November from 10.00am-4.00pm. Should you need more info then get in touch with those nice folk at Red Knight, namely Michael or Sheree, on either 01843 598640, or their mobile 07745 284925, or drop them an email via redknightwargames@yahoo.co.uk or even wander along to their premises at the Marlowe Innovation Centre in the bright orange building opposite the Academy. This last bit of info is 'nicked' from 6 Mil Phils blog, the first Wargames/modelling blogger I have ever met (must attend more shows I suppose!!) a

Now there is a link between a Ramsgate school and the 110 year old magazine this advert !

Jolly glad to see they had an isolation infirmary....important consideration for all parents that!!

Busy Summer/Autumn 2010 & Hectic Winter Ahead!!!

2010-11-07T23:49:00.000Z

As usual 'life' has taken over the 'hobby' and Blogging so next few weeks will be some 'catchup articles' on visiting historic sites during 2010 especially those with a military nature,stuff to come includes; Forts on the Isle of Wight, Dover Castle, Biggin Hill Air Show, Igtham Mote, Sissinghurst Castle, etc etc etc!

What bit of 'life' has taken all my modelling time ....well usual family stuff and a knackered back& neck (on my third form of physio!!) BUT due to the economic climate and being a Funding & Community Development specilaist I have been 'snowed' under with work (The rumours are true I have been locked up in Maidstone Museum .....match funding gap in excess of £1 million......anyone feeling generous?) AND in volunteering in my local community.....Big Society is not new Mr Cameroon!!!! I have been a trustee of 2 charities, forming a new one last year (Switch Youth cafe with a £338,000 lottery grant), chairman of a small allotment association (must catch up with those responsibilities!!) BUT chiefly helping establish and acting as a special advisor to the new Westgate Community Trust (Canterbury) there will be a story on this as its main remit is to save the large community centre in the centre of Canterbury, Kent from demolition by the local council (cost saving apparently). Now the Hall was constructed as a Drill Hall in around 1905 for the Territorial battalions of the 'Buffs' and East Kent Mounted Rifles.....so lots of interesting history and a great community campaign story to relate.

I have started some figure painting again & model building and will add updates when there is something worth seeing!! Read loads of historical fiction.....Low's Viking books are awesome!! and tomorrow I will give an update on 'Mutleys Models' a new shop in Canterbury (yes thats its name!!) Westgate Games and a model show in Ramsgate next weekend!!

There would be some more pictures but 'Browse' does not seem to be cooperating in the 'insert image' feature of this new posting, one pic and it's gone 'kaput' !!!

English Civil War Troopers Armour in Maidstone Museum, Kent

2010-04-30T10:38:00.000+01:00

Troopers armour of the English Civil War, on display in Maidstone Museum in Kent. The armour bears the commonwealth mark of the Tower of London. This armour would of course been worn over a tough buff coat that would have also provided some protection against sword blows.

The English Civil War section in the museum, sadly is limited to one cabinet and a brief description of the battle of Maidstone which I will relate soon accompanied with photo's of the town. The painting in the background is of Lady Ann Brockman 1600-1660 wife of Sir William Brockman staunch royalist and Sherriff of Kent in 1643. The painting dates from around 1642. The displays in this section of the room are dated & contained in cabinets which annoyingly effect the quality of the photographs with 'reflection issues'

Nimrod into Bruntingthorpe 27.04.10

2010-04-27T16:26:00.000+01:00

Matt Varnish

2010-04-27T08:16:00.000+01:00

One of the useful reasons to belong to the Britmodeller forum, logo link at top of this page or go to this page in the tips & tools section although you might have to join (a painless & free exercise), is too pick up handy modelling/painting etc etc ideas plus you can ask for help if you need an answer to a 'neerdy' question which you may have on what colour is the underwing surfaces of a 1940 Avro Widget III. This forum seems particularly helpful & if you are not a modelller but mostly class yourdelf as a wargamer...who paints figures & creates armies to fight table top games with.... well the skills are the same when it comes to painting & constructing wargaming models or scenary. I'm both although I am having a bit of a 'model building moment' thanks to the forums starter kit group build which finishes on May 2nd...I've built 2 models in 3 weeks & thats doubled last years output already!!...now some Warlord ECW beckon!!!

The picture of Galeria Matt varnish is in response to Grimsby Wargamings plea for recommendations for a Matt varnish...actually Humbrol is one of the better varnishes but for consistency of quality go with a specialist arts product it can be sprayed on or brushed on with equaly good effect.

Brigade Models Belgian WW1 Dog carts released at Salute

2010-04-22T21:42:00.000+01:00

wow look at these lovely's been waiting for ages for these to materialise from the Kentish firm of Brigade models.....and as usual they are going to be released at salute.....yes that massive model show which always takes place at that time of the year when MOT, car tax & summer holiday costs all conspire to impose immediate poverty on my bank balance!!! I just know that attending Salute would be 'fatal' !! Anyway aiming to visit wargame shows in the Autumn this year

Airfix Starter set challenge 'take 2' Iranian F5-A !!!!!!

2010-04-22T19:28:00.000+01:00

Sorry chaps no wargames figures although some Warlord ECW Firelock storming party are ready for undercoating...but another plane as I had promised the Britmodeller Group build I would construct 2 models ...so here we go the Freedom Fighter F-5A in all its glory....nose cone about 4mm too big for fusalage....lots of emery boarding to reduce it flush with rest of fusalage....otherwise OK ...no filler allowed so the display stand slot & wing fit gap filled with paired down 'sprue' . This will be finished in Iranian Air Force markings from 1965!!! now I know B****er all about the F5 & the Iranian Air Force but it's fun modelling!! Given up on orange squash & wagon wheels....Jennings Cumberland Ale & home made 'sloe Vodka' instead....painting with Humbrol acrylic 11 could be interesting!!!!!

A W Seahawk 'Starter Set' Group Build Challenge Completed

2010-04-20T19:43:00.000+01:00

Well chuffed to have finished this challenge on Britmodeller Forum. Just as a reminder this was the one that you went back to your childhood and built the kit from the box using just the glue, brush & AWFUL acrylic paints supplied! A few other bits like masking tape 1 file & a craft knife were allowed, but no Airbrushes, spray cans or filler could be used.

The worse bit was painting the beast, the paints supplied in little plastic pots were dreadful & could only be applied in several thin coats. Surprisingly the underside white went OK, the topside grey was very streaky & then did the classic...... although being well stirred initially half way through the paint job it turned a slightly different hue of grey & less satin finish....I then stopped probably 1 coat short of finishing the fusalage.

The grey was hard work!!

Ready for decals & adding the dangly bits under the wings

Finished complete with a little display placque I made from spare sprue, box art & masking tape!!

Heath Robinson or what!!

Nose showing the super card markings

Inverted looks ok from a distance

passes muster closer up

Anyway thats it .....I did say on the forum I would build another if I have time before the month is out. I will then slap together the Northrop F -5A Freedom Fighter..... a plane I know little about and this is in Iranian Markings!!

Anyway if you want to look at the real thing have a look at the Royal Navy Historic Flight based at Yeovilton.

2 posts down Robert commented on his father being on Ark Royal as a marine..and he took photo's of the aircraft ..excellent if possible please post them somewhere or e mail some shots to me that would be great especially the Seahawks,Vixens and Gannets

English Civil War inspiration from a Bottle of Ale!! - Batemans 'Dark Lord'

2010-04-19T23:28:00.000+01:00

Inspiration for wargaming & painting little soldiers comes from many quarters, Airfix & nostalgia is a common theme on this blog then there are all the lovely books us modellers & wargamers 'need' , wargames magazines, wargames & model shows, likeminded bloggers, figure manufacturers websites etc etc.

However todays inspiration has come from BEER....yes good old English Ale spotted in Morrisons this evening (they have carried on Safeways buying policy of stocking an excellent range of real ales) was a bottle of Batemans Dark Lord commemorating 'Black Tom' who as the label on the back of the bottle says fought at the Battle of Winceby.

Hmmm intriguing now I know the main battles of the ECW and reasonably well up on the western campaign, but Winceby (in Lincolnshire) had passed me by. On googling 'Battle of Winceby' I found it was a small engagement in 1643 involving 6,000 men with about 200 casualties on the royalist side & 20 lost in the parliamentary cause. The Dark Lord 'Black Tom' they refer too must of course be non other than Sir Thomas Fairfax who lead the second charge at the battle after Cromwell's horse had been shot from beneath him. Anyway no point in me copying and pasting loads of gumph on this as either you know all this and more already or just follow the links......and after consuming the contents of this rich malty dark ale I can't be bothered to type more!!

Anyway perhaps the inspiration is to paint a figure of Fairfax himself and Bicorne miniatures do one see below.....any others?? perhaps Warlord Games will do eventually, or convert a figure using the bottle label for inspiration...complete with red eyes!!

Airfix Kit, Kiplings House, De La Warr Pavilion & Hastings ...phew busy Easter!!

2010-04-05T22:03:00.001+01:00

Okay weekend started with a bit of concerted 'Airfix Starter Kit Challenge' work, great fun just using whats supplied 1 paintbrush, cement,4 awful acrylic colours + you can only use masking tape, rubber bands, a file,modelling knife & a bit of nose weight if recommended in the instructions. By Sunday after various interuptions like easter egg consumption & family stuff the airframe is complete!

Sub assemblys built Hurrah...the only awful bit was attaching the tail as the moulds & therefore the locating pegs are slightly 'out' so repositioned tail unit. Painting is the next bit & with no Halfords primer allowed I'm ever so slightly worried!!

Of course to make all this authentic I have only drunk orange squash, consumed wagon wheels (yes they are smaller!!) & listened to period rock music like ACDC 'Dirty Deeds Done Cheap'

Anyway Easter monday is family time so we decided to 'crack' the first 'stately pile' of the new decade with a visit to Kiplings modest house Batemans in East Sussex.

Yes shot of the garden with house in distance....due to electrical fault the house was closed!!! BUM!!! the mill wheel wasn't working due to technical fault & grass paths by river closed due to mud!!!!

So folks this is what we saw plus RK's Rolls Royce in it's garage but as that was behind some plexi glass arrangement couldn't get a decent shot!

So joint decision 'lets head for the coast' which meant by going due South we ended up in Bexhill on Sea famous for an iconic bit of Art Deco....now I am fond of Art Deco so here's some pics of the De La Warr Pavillion

View of pavillion facing the Sea

View from cafe (very nice Latte, Capawotsit & hot Choccy!)

Rear Stair well

Lovely art deco light fitting....joined in with 'arty photo types' snapping this feature. All in all an inspiring bit of AD but the 2 gallery's inside contained what could be basically (ok I'm an art philistine) termed as crap. Sorry but a piece of paper with a hole torn in it and then framed isn't art!! lots of other squiggles & conceptional rubbish which held my attention span for 30 seconds!!

So not satisfied with a closed batemans & superb Art Deco seaside architecture...on to Hastings!!

Didn't bother taking many photo's but liked this stained glass door in the old town

Loved this antidote to historical blue plaques!!

Enjoyed seeing again the home of the mother of Admiral Sir Cloudesly Shovell

Close up of Historic Plaque!!

Also next to the above house was this sign must look him up ....all I know was he was governor of Gib & orgnaised the defence of the fortress while under siege by the Spanish 1779-1783

Anyway thats it for a busy Easter Monday time to sit down with some ...er Orange Squash & read my copy of Victor Comic from 27th march 1976 (I have quite a few copies from 1976, a few Victor & Warlord Summer Specials plus a few annuals....aah nostalgia!! ) Thought Steve the Wargamer would enjoy seeing a front cover again after his comment below

Airfix Nostalgia OO/HO Figures

2010-04-04T13:43:00.001+01:00

Matt's post at Waterloo to Mons one of my favourite blogs for inspiration on the world wide web has hit the nostalgia subject right on the mark! What were our inspirations to enter the hobby? He lists films & books which encouraged us and provided the 'food' for our active young imaginations and of course Airfix HO/OO figures!!!

Films provided much of the inspiration and brought the history books we avidly read (if there were battles involved! domestic life in medieval England was not so interesting!!) alive. The films which inspired me included Waterloo ( I can quote lots of phrases from this film very geeky!), Zulu Dawn, this came out at the same time as reading MM articles on Zulu wars with some fantastic Islandwhana dioramas, Battle of the Bulge, Bridge at Remagen, Battle of Britain (even worse can quote the whole script!) The Alamo, & Cross of Iron.

Books inspired me immensly especially the Funcken Uniform Series, Blandfords & of course the 'Warfare in' series especially Waterloo to Mons & Age of Bonaparte. Also a paperback book on Waterloo which my dad had, it was full of wonderful colour plates (I have these still they fell out of the binding) I think the book came out at the same time as the film. This book inspired the painting of my Airfix Waterloo Fingures.

But it was these glorious Airfix boxes of little plastic soldiers that my world revolved around before the late teens when girls/music/sport also featured

We were 'captured' as kids in the toy shops, 'Hankards' in Walton on Thames for example where fantastic revolving diplay stands with the round Airfix logo on top displayed colour paintings of the possibilities within. Birthdays, Christmas, Summer holiday pressies if done well at school, bribes to go to the dentist (well you had to play every card possible to get your hands on these treasures!) and pocket money (which seemed to take ages to save for the Airfix goodies we wanted) Also the Airfix catalogue provided hours and hours of enjoyment flicking through the pages, putting crosses next to our desires, dreaming of the next battles to take place against our friends or solo on the carpet at home.

I loved the catalogues which showed the contents of the boxes as well as the box art. the box art of course was fantastic and lead me to collect the boxes of HO/OO figures from my childhood in later years, although I have not gone as mad as some who must have all the 'blue ended' boxes etc. All boxes here come from my treasured collection housed in a large blanket chest at home where occasionally I lift the lid to reminisce.

The Russians with that great box art showing the maxim firing

Waterloo french cavalry ....surely the horses were far to big for those riders!

Always liked the rushing marines landing on a Japanese held island in this superb artwork

But this was always my favourite box art and set the WW1 Britsh Artillery, once rare now re released by hat & in the current Airfix range. The original boxed sets were hard to come by even at toy 'swap meets' in the 1980's

Now I'm taking part in the Britmodeller Airfix Starter set challenge as mentioned on an earlier post ( I am very pleased that LH is also taking part building a Westland Whirlwind) & I can report the AW Seahawk is nearly built! The painting to start soon. BUT what about everyone who reads this post digging out or acquiring some orginal or re released Airfix originals and painting and basing a unit again just like the good old days!

I am now off to read my sunday copy of 'Victor Comic' with a glass of orange squash and munching on a wagon wheel!!!!

The Sutlej Gun - Captured Trophy of the Sikh Wars 1846

2010-03-29T18:42:00.000+01:00

The 50th became 'The 50th (The Queen's Own) Regiment' in 1831. Becoming a Royal Regiment it's facings turned from Black to Royal Blue. They saw much action in India facing the Sikhs in 1845, and fought several battles culminating in Sobraon in 1846. Here the 50th played a decisive part in defeating the enemy, charging their guns to the cry of 'Make way for Her Majesty's 50th!' They captured a Sikh colour, but they came out of the engagement with a subaltern in command and half the regiment casualties.

This Sutlej Gun which is the centre piece of the West Kents Museum (The 50th being a parent regiment) was manufactured in Lahore, India in 1838 and is one of a pair presented by the Directors of the East India Company to Field Marshal Sir Henry Hardinge who was Commander in Chief and Governor General of India. He had been commissioned in the 50th in 1798.

Six of these guns are known to survive 2 were presented to Queen Victoria and 2 to Lord Gough. The other gun presented to Lord Hardinge is now on loan to the National Armouries

The workmanship on these pieces is incredible with beautiful detail not something you can usually say about a weapon of war.

Some more information on captured artillery from the war including the Sikh Heritage Trail

Vintage Favourite Kits No 2 Airfix Matilda Tank

2010-03-16T16:53:00.000Z

Keeping to the WW2 desert theme the Airfix Matilda Tank is this weeks 'classic kit'. Released in 1973 this was always one of my favourite Airfix tank models probably due to the slightly wacky desert camouflage scheme. I had to get this example off e bay for my collection as I wanted a 'period' blister pack example. It was released later on in 2 different boxed examples, although of all the packaging Airfix has used over the years surely this was the best for 'series 1' you could see what you were 'in for'! Also the clear plastic was very useful for glazing vehicle & house windows!!

Currently this kit is available in the Airfix range as a Matilda 'Hedgehog' an adaptation of the standard tank with a 7 spigot 'hedgehog' naval mortar as was developed by the Australian Army. Not having a copy of this version not sure if you just leave the mortar off to create a standard Matilda no transfers are supplied for this though. See Henk of Hollands excellent website for more info and cybermodeller online for a useful review

Queen's own Royal West Kent Regiment Museum & Help for Heroes Fundraising

2010-03-16T13:04:00.000Z

One of Kent's Military Museums is celebrating its 50th year of being open to the public this year. A few years ago the last CO & curator died and the collection being based in Maidstone Museum was handed over to the Museum & Borough Council to run & administer. In the current day and age of Budget cuts & credit crunch threats to the public sector this could be a worry. However Maidstone Museum won a bid from the Heritage Lottery fund to expand its display area which was desperatly needed, as although it is the Museum of Maidstone it also in all reality the 'Kent County Museum' with collections from all over Kent also given display space ' from Dinosaurs to the best Japanese collection outside of London'!

While the redevelopment of the museum will take place over the next couple of years and affect availability and display of some material, the West Kent's room in the museum will remain open and indeed much is planned to celebrate the regiments history & the military history of Maidstone.

Now as my scanner isn't coping with the leaflet very well I will post & advertise each of the events on this blog and will look into redesigning this blog to enable anyone to access information on Kent Military Museums & military sites of interest. I wil probably start a seperate Kent Military History blog and link from Victory V & use it to provide information for visitors to the County.

Also on the museum 'breaking news' page is the following article :
Somme to Staplehurst Walk

A group of five local men will be undertaking the challenge of walking approximately 150 miles from the Somme in France back to Staplehurst in Kent to raise money for the Help the Heroes Charity. This event is registered with the Help for Heroes charity and will take place between 10th April to 17th April 2010. One of the men taking part is a descendant of Thomas Harris whose Victoria Cross medal is on display in the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regimental Museum. The men taking part themselves have 29 years service with The 2nd Battalion, the Queens Regiment.

The event is listed on the Help for Heroes website in the national events/Kent section. Reading this link made me aware what everyone is doing for the charity perhaps us Bloggers should think about some kind of blogging event .....perhaps a sponsored blog day where people who read our articles donate via Just Giving towards the Charity? Thoughts??

If you would like to make a contribution by sponsoring the Somme to Staplehurst event, then this can be done by the Just Giving website.

English Civil War Armour Westgate Towers Canterbury - 'For God, King Charles & Kent'

2010-03-14T11:27:00.000Z

Westgate Tower Canterbury famous in its own right for being the first defensive structure built (1380)specifically for defence with guns has an interesting collection of ECW armour on the walls of the main chamber. now as the museum is threatened with closure next year due to Canterbury City Council Budget cuts I thought I should post some pictures....just in case!

Canterbury was occupied by Parliamentary forces soon after the outbreak of the Civil War in August 1642. The town muskets were repaired, the city defences strengthened and new supplies of gunpowder bought.

Colonel Sandy's troops were deployed in the Cathedral, despoiling images, monuments and service books. Then encouraged by Richard Culmer - a local churchman known as Blue Dick - they fetched poles to attack the stained glass.

'Rattling down Becket's glassy bones'

Real fighting broke out on Christmas Day 1647 when the mayor tried to enforce Parliament's ban on the celebration of Christmas - along with other superstitous festivals. A thousand citizens rioted on the streets in the Royalist cause.

Parliament sent General Fairfax with 3000 troops to canterbury, where they broke down the gates and breached the city walls in a show of strength to restore order.

On the King's execution in 1649, the City duly replaced the Royal arms with those of the Commonwealth in the Guild Hall and dined with Oliver Cromwell on his visit in 1651. (text from museum display, Westgate Towers)

Three-quarter suit of armour c.1640

'Lobster-tail' helmet

Gorget (neck guard)

Cuirass (back & breast plates)

Spaulders (armpieces)

Tassetts (upper leg guards)

Civil War armour

Steel helmet, breastplate, and back plate worn in the 1640's by a light cavalry trooper.

The helmet is of high quality workmanship with a fully articulated neck guard - a 'lobster tail'. The breastplate is the heavy type known as 'siege-weight' , which gave extra protection to the wearer.

Flintlock Musket

Used in Canterbury in the Civil War Period

Wooden stock renewed in the 1680's, as was quite common

The letter 'C' stamped on the stock stands for canterbury City armoury

Save Canterbury Museums Campaign

The Britmodeller Airfix Starter Set Fun Challenge kick off 2nd April

2010-03-12T16:23:00.000Z

See Britmodeller forum & web site for kit bashers they are doing a group build (kit bashers like working on a designated Theme & posting the results on the site within certain guidelines) I picked this one the 'Airfix Starter Set' group build from the Airfix facebook page. What a great idea !!return to our roots and build a basic model 'basically!' with what comes in the starter set which means no airbrush but you have to use the 'hairs on the end of a stick' (us dablers in wargames figures are used to this) supplied in the starter set, no aftermarket decals or fancy fillers, glues, Halfords plastic primer (my personal worry!) etc. So lets return to enjoying building kits without the 'angst' of adulthood perfection anyone else willing to give it a try????? The challenge is down!! They start the build on 2nd April finishing 1st May join up for free and declare here or just do it and post on youre blog ...or both. Even if you havn't sniffed tube cement for years give it a go!

I suppose to be authentic build it in a rush on a saturday afternoon after lunch, dont let the glue or paint dry and decals on by tea! with nothing more intoxicating than a glass of squash & a club biscuit at 4pm!

I've gone for an AW Seahawk its only got 4 paints! & you can't supplement, but any plane,ship, tank car etc model produced as a starter set qualifies.

Humber MK.II Armoured Car - Matchbox Kit Completed!!

2010-03-10T18:33:00.000Z

The excellent Matchbox Humber Mk II armoured car kit from the 1970's Pk -75 in Matchbox's 'purple range', this one is a Revell recent re-release, Great little model a joy to build & my favourite finish is the desert scheme fun to weather with highlights via the good old drybrush. Review of kit at miniatures forum and statistical info on the vehicle at wwiivehicles

This kit was great fun to build taking only a couple of days, the time delay only to let the glue dry. Anyone could 'go to town' on covering the kit in 'stowage' as was common practice especially in the western desert but I just kept it simple making a nice addition to my western desert forces.

A Humber Mk II armoured car of the 12th Royal Lancers on patrol in the Western Desert, 10 August 1942

Vintage Favourite Kits No 1 Airfix FW189 Uhu 'Eagle Owl'

2010-03-07T19:48:00.000Z

Ok memory lane article here and the first in a weekly series on vintage kits. I am not a huge fan of Luftwaffe aircraft except for the FW190 and the more bizare designs. The Fw189 always captured my imagination probably due to the fantastic box art as seen here from my collection of vintage kits. The FW189 was released by Airfix in 1969 and the kit comprised of 67 pieces from pilot to pitot tube!The Fw189 was a reconnaisance and army cooperation aircraft mostly used on the Russian front, 800 were built and it also performed light bombing duties. As was usual German practice the crew were grouped together and in a cockpit with considerable glazing which while useful for reconnaisance I wouldn't have fancied sitting there while being attacked by a Yak fighter. With a maxspeed of 217mph you wern't going to outrun much!! My copy of the kit is in grey plastic, very nicely moulded with 1 decal option I presume an eastern front machine and the kit is prestine and in my favourite box (serious Airfix collectors go mad on what version of the box the kit is in!) with pictorial 'adverts' around each side for other kits in series 2. These included the Swordfish, Hunter (in black arrows scheme),Bronco and Harrier.

Good copies can be obtained at e bay or wait for this years re release (That will be in a modern red box though!) if you want to glue it together. I think the model will stand the test of time and reasonably comparable to the Italeri version.

50th Post & Well Done the Road Warriors

2010-02-25T23:59:00.000Z

Just finished watching the Road Warriors on the good old Loggie Corps & its work in Afghanistan on ITV. Sand ...Sand ....and more SAND... goodness knows how those trucks kept going. Tonights was the best episode for the personal reason that my best mate at University & Hazels bro featured being welcomed back by his girlfriend at RAF Brize Norton.....well done Major Rob....'great bit of cheese'.............the welcome home apparently was a bit false as the film company had to have '2 takes' to get it in the can.

Well thats a good way to 'reach the half century' of blog entries!!

Trucks 'N' Tracks Folkestone 27th & 28th February 2010

2010-02-24T23:55:00.001Z

A rather good local show, not too crowded but usually some nice armour parked outside the Lees Cliffe Hall like last years German heavies. Inside the Hall is usually packed with traders with a wargame on the main stage & competition models in the basement. In fact this year it would make a good weekend to visit Kent as this event is on the same weekend as the cavalier wargames show at Tonbridge leisure centre, pictures on the blog from last year and a superb local wargames show with good games and ample traders to supply most of your wargaming needs! So Saturday Tank model show sunday wargames show...bargain! Last years Trucks n Tracks photos below

I'm back

2010-02-24T15:31:00.002Z

Well due to a huge demand (cheers Geordie!) I'm posting again. After October very busy work schedule, Starting a Youth Cafe Trust for which I had succesfully bid for £335,000 from the Big Lotto, Dodgy eyes....yes that 40's something effect 15mm was getting a bit tricky, reading glasses plus macular degeneration scare, (upshot after Moorfields eye hosp ...some inflamtion episode cocking up eyesight a trifle,should be ok for a decade or 2...but just in case we'll take photos!) and getting mixed up with a campaign in canterbury to prevent the demolition of the only community hall in the centre of the city.....particularly interested as its the 'old drill hall of the 4th & 5th Buffs', plus the East Kent Mounted Rifles and Duke of Connaughts Own TA RA WW2 unit. I will post on this subject soon & enlist all my blogging friends to support us in our endevours to save it and perhaps take it off the City Councils hands. Particularly interesting photo's from the Blitz.

I was going to post sooner but my Bleeping computer had over christmas gone kaput....a nasty attack by bugs etc which freeware had not prevented led me to 'Norton' the system...this got most things working apart from Internet Explorer ...however 'Motzrela Filofax'seemed to work ok......apart from posting and adding photo's on Blogger. At whits end but finally have it sorted.

Modelling and painting little soldiers....not featured much due to watering eyes....but plastic kits seem a possibilty again will post pics of Humber Armoured Car....and various 'things with wings' on the go. HMS Belfast visit photo's will add here and some flying stuff on my Aviation blog.

Finally for now RIP Bob Doe the 3rd highest scoring ace in the B of B with 14 victories who died at the weekend a superb gentleman who was very proud but humble about their achievements in that summer of 1940. At a book signing I attended 5 years ago he signed a copy of his autobiography 'Bob Doe Fighter Pilot' ' David, Happy Flying, B Doe' a treasured possession on my library shelf.

Desert Rats - Thetford Forest Park Memorial

2009-10-06T14:04:00.005+01:00

Absent on the blogging front as I got a 4 day 'pass' from life in Kent & had an aviation filled trip to see my friends in Suffolk/Norfolk. This included flying in a DH Chipmunck, 2 Aviation Museums and a trip to a certain modest model retailer called Hannants!! More on this in a future update.

Where Chris & Nessie live is Thetford Forest with a rather fine 'gate guardian' in front of their house!! a Cromwell tank!! This commemorates the 7th Armoured Division the 'Desert Rats from El Alamain to Berlin'

The Division was stationed in Thetford Forest between January & May 1944 while they prepared for the D Day invasion of Normandy. This was the only time in it's entire existence that it was in the UK! They sailed from Felixstowe on the 5th June 1944 with the first tanks landing on Gold Beach on the evening of 6th June 1944.

A self guided trails takes you around where the camp site was

Nothing exists now apart from a few foundation of the nissen huts which would have looked like as below

The notice board at the car park is quite informative with copies of documents relating to the Divisons stay and commemorations since

The information boards are very informative and well done & bring the history to life in context to the landscape. It's an enjoyable walk good for bird spotting Siskins & Goldcrests in evidence when I was there.

More info at the Forestry Commission web site which also updates you on what countryside events are going on in the area.

Airfix Update

2009-09-20T22:19:00.005+01:00

Just a short post relating to the Medway Model Show where I met for the first time 'Mr Airfix' Trevor Snowden. He looks a bit fed up in the above picture (how many times has he had to pose with the new 1/24 Mossie!)but he was an absolute gentleman, willing to spend loads of time answering 'kit bashers' questions. He's definitly enjoyed the move to Hornby which has not only saved this famous name but invested significantly in its future....and there is a lot of exciting stuff to come next year!!

The Mossie looked fantastic, not sure if I can afford one when released next year but the detail was impressive, engineand gun bays packed with detail and a fully fitted out cockpit. 1/24th is a great scale for aging eyes...not sure where one could be displayed afterwards tho!

Releases of old favourites and new toolings are gradually coming out, recently the new spitfires, 109's and Hawks hit the shelves and a reworking of the Matilda Tank to carry mortars an Aussie invention I believe called the Hedgehog. Soon to be released will be brand new toolings of the Sea Harrier in 1/72nd and the pre production test shots looked very nice indeed as did the new Mig 15.

Finally a couple of really interesting books have been published recently ...the Boys Book Of Airfix and the Vintage Yearsof Airfix Box Art. I highly recommend both for that nostalgia trip and the serious student of plastic kits....amazing it's not become a degree course yet as you seem to be able to take degrees in most subjects these days!!

The Wolfe 250 battle Of Quebec Commemoration Westerham, Kent 12/13th September

2009-09-15T09:28:00.018+01:00

For once as a family we were organised to make the most of the free entry to historical sites weekend and this included the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Quebec being commemorated at General James Wolfe’s boyhood home Quebec House and Squerryes Court the home of his friends the Wardes (still in the family ownership/Nat Trust) Quebec House was open and ‘populated’ with reenactors including a guard from the New France & Old England re-enactment group. I had a chat with them and learnt about the shortening of Brown Bess muskets for use in wooded terrain guerrilla fighting in the forests, how you source uniforms and more about the politics involved with celebrating the event in Quebec, Canada. Amazingly the group had been contacted as late as Friday night 11th September by a powerful French Canadian group requesting that the event in Westerham should not be put on! It is amazing how long memories last or is it protecting national identity under attack from globalisation, which I can understand with my environmental hat on or yet again is history being politically corrected ! In the Coach House There is an excellent exhibition on the Battle of Quebec, the men involved which included a young Captain Cook, the details of the ordinary soldiers and militias involved, the lead up to the battle then the actual short lived engagement that resulted.

Wolfe by Gainsborough

Map of the battle

re-enactor checking up on the facts! These chaps had trouble getting around the exhibition what with carrying muskets and wearing tricornes in a narrow exhibition space!

Display cabinet of Figures ....very nice but due to lighting & display cabinet impossible to photograph close up.

British Troops Landing

the French General Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm-Gozon

After taking in the harpsichord playing, the exhibition on the James Wolfe hero industry of the 18th century and a quick look around the house itself it was of to the reenactors camp and re fight of the famous engagement on the Plains of Abraham at Squerryes Court in front of the Duck lake. Total saving £14 a head on admissions at both properties…hurrah!! SO a good contribution went into the ‘help for heroes’ collection bucket and the Scouts tea stall!

Above living history in the drawing room Quebec House, below Squerryes Court house

The Camp was superb and I will let the photo’s do the talking, the reenactors were brilliant interacting with the visitors/spectators & children. The Model boat clubs remote controlled ‘men o war’ were superb and beautifully constructed, the trailer they brought them in was also yellow and black like a ‘ship o the lines sides’!

The actual shooting bit of the re-enactment was impressive in respects of the sound of a musket discharging and watching the loading procedure…the children shouting around us ‘go on general Wolfe die’! (they were only 6 or 7 years old!) It must be said the chap playing the general did slightly resemble James Wolfe and the re-enactment of the death of wolf painting scene a nice touch if done before I believe. The re-enactment probably lasted longer than the actual engagement in 1759!

After the hardfought battle we retired in good order to the Generals very own pub for a pint of Greene King Abbott, sadly it wasn't Westerhams own Brewery which brews a good pint.

Absolutely Recommended reading is Ralph's other superb blog Flintlock & Tomahawk where video clips and more info on the battle can be read.

I am resisting launching myself into yet another period here but what figures are available depicting Wolf? Front Rank do a pistol toting general Wolfe, RAFM who’s figures I have always liked for this conflict do a better representation of him….can you get RAFM French/Indian Wars figures in the UK or is it silly postal charge time???, Redoubt do the units involved but no general Wolfe, are there any other makes???????

Medway Model Show - the Photo's of Some Superb Models

2009-09-06T13:00:00.012+01:00

A small superb model show is held annually at the Royal Engineers Museum every year on the first weekend in September. It is organised by Medway Modelling Society and Kevin Nunn who used to own Beaney's Model Shop of Sittingbourne (sadly no more,next owner couldn't 'make a go of it') Kevin is a huge modelling enthusiast and has close connections with Airfix, runs his own model business Brigade Models (yup another one with that name! which specialises in 1/48th Spitfire Conversions)and Product Development & Advertising manager for Aviation Workshop Publications.Kevin always knows the latest 'new model release news' and above all he encourages young people into the hobby, at the Medway show children were being assisited in building free Airfix kits and I think this is a very important part of the Scale Modelling/Wargaming hobby that all of us should encourage.

I prefer shows situated at a Museum as you can also look at the exhibits and the Engineers Museum is a little known gem. This father and son team display their models in the shadow of a 1:1 scale GR3 harrier it doesn't get much better than that! I can also recommend anyone to visit the Model Shows at the Fleet Air Arm Museum the next is the Autumn Model show.

The display area in the museum where various model clubs and traders had their stands all the club members were friendly and willing to talk about their models and give tips. The pictures tell their own story so enjoy looking at the following models. Which diorama is a full scale 1:1 exhibit at the museum!!

I will blog more on the museum when I have revisited and can spend time looking at the exhibits properly, your admission enables you to visit again as many times as you want to for a year! Also a picture of the new Airfix 1:24 scale Mossie to follow shortly as I met Trevor Snowdon 'Mr Airfix' at the show.

Medway Model Show - Royal Engineers Museum 5/6th Sept 2009

2009-09-03T21:35:00.004+01:00

An annual favourite'Medway Modellers Showcase' For more information:Phone 01634 822839.The Medway Modellers Club hosts their annual show at the Royal Engineers Museum with trade stands, wargames and family activities plus as a bonus it is at The Royal Engineers Museum which is Kent's only designated museum of national and international importance. It provides a fascinating insight into the debt owed by Britain to its soldier engineers from the earliest times to the present day.

'Discover the bravery and heroism of our soldier engineers With 26 galleries and 6,000 exhibits, the museum tells a fascinating story. The First and Second World War galleries give visitors a feel for life during the more gruelling parts of the 20th century. They depict the grim reality of life in the First World War trenches, the glaring beams of Second World War searchlights and offer a glimpse of a Medway family home under the threat of invasion in 1940.Displays include 55-ton tanks, a Harrier ground attack aircraft, torpedoes, bridges, models, railway locomotives, weapons, uniforms, a variety of medals (including 25 Victoria Crosses) and the very map used by the Duke of Wellington during the battle of Waterloo.The museum also has an extensive library of military history'.

The advert is a bit poor taken from the local newspaper 'whats on' and frankly the museum web site is a bit 'pants' but it is a great collection and a museum which has lots of events throughout the year with re enactors in attendance , the Zulu War being a favourite. Highly recommended to visit I intend to soon!!

Battle of Dorking - 1871

2009-09-02T16:29:00.006+01:00

I first came across this book in Dorking library in the early 1990's when I was researching local history/natural history on Ranmore Common in Surrey for a university project. The common is above Dorking and great for reptiles especially Adders....naturally I got sidetracked immediatly I came across this book and an old copy it was too, in the 'not to be lent section.'

Looking at my Blog list I see that Historical Wargaming blog 'hub'mentions a game 1871: The Battle of Dorking, which can be downloaded, all the details are on the blog site. Basically it follows the book which was about the fictional invasion of Britain by Germany in 1871.

The book was Written by Sir George Tomkyns Chesney (1830-1895) 'who was a British Army general and brother of Colonel Charles Cornwallis Chesney. Educated at Blundell's School, Tiverton, and at Addiscombe, he entered the Bengal Engineers as second lieutenant in 1848. He was employed for some years in the public works department and, on the outbreak of the Indian rebellion of 1857, joined the Ambala column, was field engineer at the battle of Badli-ke-serai, brigade-major of engineers throughout the siege of Delhi, and was severely wounded in the assault (he received a medal and clasp and a brevet majority). In 1860, he was appointed head of a new department in connection with the public works accounts. His book Indian Polity (1868), dealing with the administration of the several departments of the Indian government, attracted wide attention and remains a permanent textbook. In 1871, he contributed to Blackwoods Magazine a highly influential short story called The Battle of Dorking: Reminiscences of a Volunteer, a vivid account of a supposed invasion of England by the Germans after their victory over France' (Amazon Biog description)

Another tangent using all those early Perry Franco Prussian war figs in a box in the loft? Helion figures?? What British figures to use in home garb not the usual colonial figs? Any suggestions ????....don't think with all my current projects I could take on another one but interesting all the same and something to think about at work! Also look at Matt's Blog Waterloo to Mons which this subject fits well and truly into and his links give a good list of potential figure suppliers!

Figures in the above pictures include some of my fathers original toy soldiers, an 'Astra' fort gun and some Unfinished (what a surprise!)Wargames Foundry Perry Prussians which had escaped the loft.

I have just ordered a copy of the battle of Dorking on Amazon plus the superb book on the Artwork by Roy Cross the artist behind the best of the original Airfix box tops for the nostalgia trip!!

If you ever visit Dorking it has a gem of a traditional model shop called logically 'Dorking Models'

Invasion of Poland 1939 - 70 years ago today

2009-09-01T11:48:00.007+01:00

Sorry for another aircraft post but today being the 70th anniversary of the start of WW2 with the invasion of Poland, see BBC coverage including interview with Ignacy Skowron who literally saw WW2 start. I thought I would contribute with a clasic kit of the past and WW2 Polish tanks etc are a specialist area I have not ventured into...amazingly!!

The PZL P-11c was obsolete by 1939 but heroically flown by their well trained pilots, many of whom were to prove themselves with the RAF flying Spitfire and Hurricanes very succesfully in the Battle of Britain and throughout the war.

Amazingly one survives in the aviation museum in Krackow The link will also give you the history of this iconic aircraft...well its the one I think of to do with the Invasion of Poland.

Back in the early 70's we used to stay as a family on our summer holidays with friends in Somerset and Dad and I used to spend some of his hard earnt 'Green Shield Stamps' (awarded from petrol stations etc put them in a book and exchange for goods at the green shield stamp shop)on kits. Revell did a set of four planes etc and one of these was the PZL P-11c, dad made this on one wet summers day as I was in my formative years as a modeller/wargamer & it still exists somewhere!This is an unmade kit from my 'nostalgia collection' comprising of 23 pieces!!

Note also Ospreys new battles of World War II series of books obtainable in Smiths etc the cheap welcome to the series offer is Poland 1939 Germany's 'lightning strike' a hardback book on the invasion of Poland for £1.99. I usually get the first few offers with this kind of deal and never join! bargain!!

Wind in the Wires

2009-08-28T19:34:00.007+01:00

No wargames figures at all during the past 3 months after a good start this year production and enthusiasm waned with back and neck problems due probably to sitting at a computer to much, after all we seem to be chained to them at work. however a few WW1 biplanes were produced and these are the results. Above is a Spad XIII in RFC colours an old ESCI kit.

The Spad with the Airfix Bristol Fighter and Revell SE5a (bought cheaply in Modelworld sale earier this year)

The SE5a was built on holiday in a rented cottage in the Forest of Dean so I didn't have my usual modelling box with me the decals on the top wing 'silvered' even with Humbrol decalfix and this is slightly more noticable as they have no white circle being of 143 sqd Home Defence based at Detling in May 1918. Also the 'fun' job of rigging still has to be done as the pet spider was left at home!

Now usually Hazel plans a holiday destination devoid of aircraft museums/military museums I'm sure not deliberatly, only to find our host was based at RAF Brize Norton so I got myself invited to the officers mess while the family went llama trecking!

Military Odyssey 2009 or Wings & Wheels Dunsfold ???

2009-08-28T10:17:00.016+01:00

Military Odyssey Kent Showground Detling Kent

August Bank Holiday Weekend
Saturday 29th, Sunday 30th & Monday 31st August 2009
Gates open at 9.30am with Arena Events commencing at 10.00am

Not only the Country's Largest Multi-Period Living History Event, but now the Worlds largest event of its type with a huge collectors market with hundreds of traders (To quote directly the web site!)

We seem to have a proliferation of military themed events in Kent this year with the new Military Mayhem show at Faversham and the first Headcorn Vintage Aircraft Fly In & Military Vehicle show which included lots of WWII re enactors. Two of the stalwart shows have been the annual War & Peace show at the Hop Farm, Paddock Wood and Military Odyssey at the kent Showground on Detling Hill above Maidstone, the site of an old aerodrome where 500 County of Kent Squadron were based with their Avro Ansons in 1939 (could woffle on about the aerodrome for ages so must stop immediatly!)

I attended Military Odyssey last year and it was excellent in parts. Hazel even ventured along with me and enjoyed the showmanship of the medieval jousting 'knights'.

We missed most of the morning and the Napoleonic re enactment but witnessed the afternoons entertainment!

Unfortunatly they clutter the display ring with less than convincing 'cardboard' houses etc mostly I think for the benefit of the WW2 re enactors and so diminishes the 'authentic' uniforms of the other groups and looked downright out of place with the American Civil War re enactment. The uniforms and drill of the ACW groups was excellent as was the cloud of gunssmoke emitted when their muskets were discharged in a volley...really does emphasise what the 'fog of war' looks like and on a battlefield of 50,000 + must have added to the confusion big time!

The WW1 societies were very impressive especialy in their camp setting, I didn't watch their arena display as if they had gone about it with an element of reality the Maxim the germans had would have mown down the British contingent in 15 seconds!! perhaps if they had re enacted that then more people may be more aware of the realities and horrors of conflict than what these cosy sanitised re enactments depict....you know the thing...volley of muskets 2 chaps collapse....2 mins later they re join the affray or raise their heads to watch whats going on!I must own up to being interested in the uniforms, equipment and the soldiers life element of these displays and not the bang bang your dead element of displays.....controversial or what!

That nasty 'Hun Gun'my grandfather had a small collection of german machine Gun Bullets in his chest 'till the day he died at 92

The WW2 2 display we did watch,the element which interests me is seeing equipment manned withTanks crewed up and guns served,this brings life to 'hardware' and helps when modelling vehicles for the wargames table.

So what will be my chosed day of entertainment this bank Holiday Weekend.......... Dunsfold Wings & Wheels in Leafy Surrey. Many moons ago when I was a teenager I was invited to the BAC families open day there and it was an excellent show the highlight being the Mosquito and Sunderland Flying Boat (Sandringham version I think). Dunsfold was the test aerodrome for Harriers once they had been assembled in the days when we had an aircraft industry at Brooklands and Kingston. The main reason for attendance the VULCAN I still havn't seen it fly since its return to the sky's last year and I always enjoyed it's displays when I was a regular airshow attende in the 80's...please weather be fine....please XH558 be servicable theres a good beastie!

Above is a picture taken from the Vulcan to the Sky website of a recent appearance in Devon in formation with the Red Arrows and below a picture I took at a Fairford Air display at a Fairford IAT day in classic bomb doors open attitude in 1989.

Sheerness Centre Bastion Battery

2009-08-25T12:04:00.009+01:00

The above photo was taken last weekend when we visited Sheppey for the annual 'World Walking the Plank' contest!! at Queenborough.

The centre Bastion Battery was developed as part of the fortifications at Sheerness to protect the naval Port and entrance to the Medway from 1825 and was updated until WW2 finally being abandoned in 1956.

Have a look at the superb and fascinating website 'Underground Kent' for better photo's and other areas of Sheerness Fort which is sadly not open to the public. Also Wars of Louis Quatorze for more details on Sheerness and Queenborough and the fortifications at the time of the Dutch raid in 1667.

Painting Update

2009-05-25T11:12:00.010+01:00

A little off my main interest but I do occassionally still play D&D (I started with friends back in Walton On Thames in about 1982)My current Dungeon Companions have now advanced to the latest set of rules and a new forgotten Realms campaign. My character is the new Warlord Class and I am playing a Dark Elf! As usual the best bit for me is painting the miniatures and the Dwarf posted here is I think an old Denizen figure which one of the players Adam wanted me to paint and base.

The figure was sprayed with Halfords black undercoat and then carefully immediatly wiped off using a soft cloth leaving the residue black to 'antique' the metal of the casting.

Above & Below is one of the ranger figures from Games Workshop for Lord of The Rings painted as a half elf ranger for our previous D&D campaign. Note 'stretched sprue' bow string ! see aircaft modelling skills are useful for figures to!

Now at long last the other week my small Minifigs order arrived, delayed as the owner was running the whole operation singlehanded! Also some lovely Empress Miniatures Zulu Wars figures...fantastic!! Some aircraft modelling will have to take place since Hannants released a model in their xtrakit range of the Scimitar!! not modelled before in injection plastic format & I love Fleet Air Arm jets so another project!!

Why when you have a reasonably sized painting workstation/room do you end up working right on the edge of the painting area...and filling up the rest of the desk with paint pots, brushes, half finished projects, beer glasses, radio's etc etc!! nearly finished in shot are the two Grenadiers representing the grenadier comany of the Buffs and a plastic Pz.Kpfw.III Ausf.J 'fast assembly kit' from Italeri which will be spayed and finished in no time at all...this I have found gives relief from painting small 15mm detail and improves morale in getting something finished quickly!!

I have also updated my other two blogs including photo's of a trip to Manston Airport and the Zero carbon home at Staplehurst Crossways as featured on the programme Grand Designs

Famous 1914 - 1918

2009-05-12T11:45:00.006+01:00

Just finished another Richard Van Emden WW1 book 'Famous 1914-1918' co authored with Victor Piuk. This was another one of my Oxfam bookshop buys and is a very interesting read. In summary the book deals with well known people of the 20th century and their part in world war one. JRR Tolkiens service was reasonably well known to me and I must read Garths book 'Tolkien and the Great War' which is in the pending pile. The other famous people included were; AA Milne, George Mallory, Arnold Ridley, Ralph Vaughan Williams, John Reith, Dennis Wheatley, CS Lewis, Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Alexander Fleming, RC Sheriff, Montgomery, Tom Denning, Winston Churchill, Henry Moore, JB Priestly, Harold Macmillan, Peter Llewelyn Davies. All these names are extreemly well known like Churchill and Montgomery or at least familiar to most people even if their part in WW1 is not so well known.

The two unusal inclusions are the infamous John Christie of Rillington Place murders fame and Ned Parfett....who you ask? Well Neds face is well known as a boy to most historians of the 20th century as the face of the newspaper boy selling the evening news with the headline 'Titanic Disaster Great Loss of Life'

Ned joined up in 1915 and served in France with 126 Battery RFA part of 29th Brigade RFA and he worked as a signaller maintaining the telephone wire from the forward observation officer back to the battery. The battery was heavily involved with the German spring offensive of march 1918 and the battery caused significant casualties to the advancing German forces only loosing one gun in the process. Ned was mentioned in Field Marshal Douglas Haigs Despatches and remained with the battery through the summer of 1918. Three weeks before the armistice his battery was supporting the 1st BN the Somerset Light Infantry and 2nd BN Duke of Wellingtons Regiment in an action to take the village of Verchain in Belgium, by the 29th October 1918 Ned was waiting to go on leave in the quartermasters stores with 2 other men from 126 battery when a german shell made a direct hit. All were killed and were buried in Verchain British Military Cemetry, Ned was only 22 had been recommended for a Military Medal for supporting his officer 2nd lieutenant Percy Hunt in the dangerous activity of forward observation for the guns and would not have returned to his unit before the armistice was signed...what a cruel twist of fate.

This was a very interesting book as it encompassed people I had not read about before like the Sculptor Henry Moore the author Dennis Wheatley and writer, Playwrite,Broadcaster and founder of CND JB Priestly and would recommend it as a good alternative 'easy to read' book on what was a horrific conflict.

To lighten the mood a work colleague forwarded an amusing item from 'Newbiscuit' the spoof web based news channel with private eye like articles this one 'Screaming fans Mob Wargames Championship' was most amusing!!

Blenheim 1704 Article in Wargames Soldiers & Strategy

2009-05-08T17:43:00.005+01:00

This magazine was not well produced to say the least in the last issue the translation/editing hopeless, but it appears to be back on track and featuring an article for all those currently afflicted with 'Tricornitus' on the Battle of Blenheim.

It features a game which has been 5 years in development and will be unveiled at the Warfare Show at Reading on the 21st/22nd November 2009. Matt Slade & Martin Holmes have been painting hundreds of figures guns etc to put this demonstration on in 28mm using a detailed order of Battle for Blenheim by Stuart Asquith and using a table size of 24X6ft.Figures used from Foundry, Front Rank and Old Glory. It looks excellent & I may have to make a trip to Reading in the autumn.

As usual the article continues with a page 'More about Blenheim' with further reading and a small review on miniatures ranges. The latter is missing a few 15mm ranges unfortunatly with no mention of Black Hat or Minifigs etc etc. Three rule sets are also reviewed.

Now painting has been non existant due largely to having hit a mental block of wanting to finish a unit!! Amazing actually wanting to finish something!!! & this is the way I want to continue!! however having put in an order to Minifigs over 21 days ago for just a few grenadiers (which I forgot I needed to complete the grenadier company of the Buffs) some Danes and a few pieces of artillery ...a small order in 15mm terms still nothing has arrived!! At the same time I ordered the New Copplestone Glory of the Sun Figures...wow within 3 working days they had arrived!! fantastic service Mark...and what fantastic 'sculps' highly recommended although most other bloggers already seem to be in possession. Mine may well be painted up for the Monmouth Rebellion.

Last weekend was the traditional 'sweeps festival' at Rochester where all the 'hanky wavers' congregate. Now I quite enjoy the Border Morris excentricities of hitting sticks & bizare garb where many a pheasant has lost its tail feathers...but Cotswold Morris in White with hankies makes me worried about old English Traditions!! But hey this is what I went in!! so who am I to judge!!!

This is the old 'Hooden Horse' from Hoath now resident in the Gate Inn Marshside,Chislet (A great local village pub & highly recommended for its ales!)We borrowed it to display at the festival and is over 110 years old having been made by Hazels Great Grandfather. The hooden horse was the main character in plays/performances that local waggoners used to put on moving from house to house before christmas time to raise some extra cash for the festivities like modern carol singing. There has been a revival in Mummers plays & Hoodening in recent years in Kent and a great tradition they are too.

While looking at Deadhorse Morris's web page I came across this song so back to the main title of this Blog entry!

Rochester Recruiting Sergeant

A recruiting sergeant came through the streets of Rochester
Bound for the wars in the low country
And he sang as he marched through the crowded streets of Rochester
Who'll be a soldier for Marlboro and me?
Who'll be a soldier? Who'll be a soldier?
Who'll be a soldier for Marlboro and me?
And he sang as he marched through the crowded streets of Rochester
Who'll be a soldier for Marlboro and me?
The Queen, she has ordered fresh troops for the continent
To strike one more blow at the enemy
And ig you would be a soldier, all in a scarlet uniform
Come be a solider for Marlboro and me
Come be a soldier for Marlboro and me?
Come be a soldier? Who'll be a soldier?
Come be a soldier for Marlboro and me?
And he sang as he marched through the crowded streets of Rochester
Come be a soldier for Marlboro and me?
"Not I," said the butcher, "nor I," said the baker
Most of the people with them did agree
To be paid with the powder and the rattle of the cannonball
Wages for soldiers for Marlboro and me
Wages for soldiers, Wages for soldiers
Wages for soldiers for Marlboro and me
And he sang as he marched through the crowded streets of Rochester
Wages for soldiers for Marlboro and me
"Now I," said the young man, "have oft endured the parish queue
There is no employment for the likes of me
Salvation or danger, they shall be my destiny
I'll take the Queen's shilling for Marlboro and me"
Take the Queen's shilling, take the Queen's shilling
I'll take the Queen's shilling for Marlboro and me
And he sang as he marched through the crowded streets of Rochester
Take the Queen's shilling for Marlboro and me
Now forty recruits came through the streets of Rochester
Bound for the wars in the low country
And they sang as they marched through the crowded streets of Rochester
Who'll be a soldier for Marlboro and me?
Who'll be a soldier, who'll be a soldier?
Who'll be a soldier for Marlboro and me?
And their ghosts may be heard through the crowded streets of Rochester,
Who'll be a soldier for Marlboro and me?

Ultravox at Bristol!!

2009-05-01T09:56:00.005+01:00

Now I have to confess to not being a fan but hazel is and although we had seen Midge on tour playing at the Marlow theatre in Canterbury and the Mick Jagger centre in Dartford, it seemed like a good idea to see Ultravox on their special tour this year. Cunningly I suggested Bristol so I could see the SS Great Britain!!

They were very good (as far as any band can be playing predominantly 3 keyboards!) and I even recognised most of the songs/tunes. Of Course 'Vienna' took me back in time & with Ashes to Ashes back on TV I'm feeling quite 80's at the moment ...there was something about the Audi Quatro! Now before I start thinking about Keeley-Hawes back to Bristol and the concert. One of the bonuses was we were among the younger members of the audience! which always makes you feel better and by the end of the show I could even remember 3 band member names ! In addition to Midge there's Billy Curry and Chris Cross (easy names to remember ...but sorry mr Drummer you alude my memory) My musical taste is predominantly 60's,70's and 90's music from Jethro Tull (who I saw last year in Folkestone at the Lees) Pink Floyd, 70's onwards British metal & ACDC, The Levellers, Punk (Sham 69! from 'ersham hurrah), Blues etc etc. I do love my classics as well especially Vaughan Williams (Theme on Thomas Tallis, English Folk Songs & Lark Ascending of course)

Afterwards we returned to our Hotel at Filton via the Clifton suspension Bridge which looks great at night!

SS Great Britain

2009-04-29T09:57:00.031+01:00

Last week was a busy 'fun week' out and about with sadly no painting achieved at all. However our trip to Bristol was superb.

I do love old ships and have visited all the usual suspects in Portsmouth Harbour, Victory, Warrior & the Mary Rose, frequently visit Chatham Dockyard and any visiting tall ships in Ramsgate harbour (The tall ships races when they stop there are quite a spectacular sight) One of my aims recently has been to re visit Brunels SS Great Britain which was in 1843 a great breakthrough in shipping technology with its super-size iron hull making her the biggest strongest ship ever built at the time coupled with a steam driven (1,000 hp engines)powered propeller.

I last saw the ship in about 1972/73 (just after her return on a barge all the way from the Falklands) when I was 7 and have a vague recollection of a stern painted in gold and lots of scaffolding!! She has come on somewhat!!!

Hazel even met Mr Brunel!!

And so did I tho' he wasn't as communicative!

The SS Great Britain sailed around the world 32 times which amounted to more than1,000,000 miles. it was launched in 1843 by Prince Albert and made her first Atlantic crossing to New York in 1845 in 14 days and 21 hours. Soon after in 1846 the ship was run aground in Dundrum Bay off the coast of Northern Ireland and wasn't re floated until a year later. In 1852 The SS Great Britain made its first voyage from Liverpool to Melbourne carrying hundreds of emigrants. In 1856 she acted as a troop ship carrying troops to fight in the sepoy or Crimea War. Of great note being a cricket fan was the fact that the first England Touring Team to Australia travelled on board in 1861. there was no practice nets/facilities but deck quoits could be played!! Notably England won nearly every game of cricket played on that tour!!!!!....and very sadly not repeated since!!!

In 1875 the SS Great Britain made her final voyage as a passenger ship from Liverpool to Melbourne and was converted into a Windjammer with the removal of the engine and funnel so that more cargo could be stowed her power being provided by 3 tall masts and square sails.

Detail of the steam engine

On deck view looking towards the stern from the bows

The ship is fitted out with mannequins depicting passengers on different sailings and all the equipment and victuals needed on such a trip. The picture above shows soldiers grooming the officers horses when SS Great Britain did troopship duty.

First Class Dining!!!

1st Class cabin

2nd Class Cabin

Steerage

Captain Mathews & First Officer in his state room

Ships galley which would have been staffed by 10 cooks, 2 bakers, 2 butchers and a storekeeper. Travelling to Australia took 60 days with no opportunity to pick up supplies.

The dry dock that SS Great Britain is in has been roofed with glass around the ships hull and special de humidifying equipment removes 80% of the humidity preventing further corrosion to the hull below the 'waterline'

The SS Great Britain had a long working life remaining economic to run from 1843 - 1933. The last owners were the Falklands Islands Company who bought the ship in 1886 when she limped into Port Stanley badly storm damaged.For 43 years the ship was used as a floating storage hulk. In 1937 she was scuttled in Sparrow Cove. A naval architect Ewan Corlett refused to let such an important ship rust away and the plan to rescue her led to the return of the ship to Bristol in 1970 on a massive floating pontoon which was towed the 8,000 miles across the Atlantic!!

THis was an excellent visit and good value for money,see Brunels SS Great Britain for more details and visit if you havn't already!

Next to the SS Great Britain is the replica ship 'The Matthew'

Over 500 years ago John Cabot and his crew set sail for Asia aboard the original Matthew hoping to trade goods and commodities with the people who lived there.

However, he finally arrived on the coast of Newfoundland and therefore was the original discoverer of North America, not Christopher Columbus as most people believe.

Today the replica of the Matthew sits proudly in Bristol harbour for all to see. The general public are able to board the Matthew as well as embark on trips around the harbour.

In 1997 the replica Matthew followed the same course as John Cabot in 1497 and sailed across to Newfoundland. It carried the same number of crew members as the original and took the same and used the same amount of time to complete the crossing.

Its not the SS Great Britain but Airfix did a model of his 'Great Western'and its in the loft somewhere!!!!!

Built at Bristol and launched on 19 July 1837, the Great Western was a timber vessel, driven by paddles, with a 2,340 tonnes displacement. It started out across the Atlantic ocean, with a handful of passengers, on the 8 April 1838, arriving in New York 15 days later.

In 1847, the Great Western was purchased by the West India Mail Steam Packet Company and remained in survice for a further twenty years. In 1857 she was broken up in London.

Well shipmates thats it for this long nautical blog entry...coming soon the 80's band we saw in Bristol!!

Minifigs 'The Buffs' in progress!!

2009-04-16T22:41:00.006+01:00

At last I return to the abandoned WSS 15mm project. Not being 100% over easter with dodgy tum, I havn't spent much time crouched over the painting table! But when I did have a foray with the paintbrush it was to endanger my eyesight further with these 15mm fellows.Living in East Kent my first regiment has to be the legendary 'Buffs' 3rd Regiment of Foot.

The photo shows 2 complete bases (following Wills rules via Steve the Wargamers invaluable WSS pages, 6 figs per base 30mmX30mm)The standard has just been glued in place...although as can be seen from the photo I removed the top half of the Minifigs Ensigns flagpole drilling out the hand (in 15mm mad eh!) and replacing it with a bit of wire long enough to take the flag. I super glued the 'spike' on top & will touch up the paint & add a couple of red tassles from fine cotton.

The remaining 10 tricornes are currently 'under the paintbrush' and then I must confess to being a 'right muppet'!! when I ordered the figures last year I forgot the Grenadiers as 2 will be needed to represent the Grenadier company!!! So have just ordered these plus a few other bits from Minifigs as it's best to keep the different ranges seperate in their own regiments so the height disparity etc doesn't look obvious (Black hat Grenadiers I have are bigger overal & different style). The Black Hat cavalry are superb but much larger than any other range....just look at Steve the Wargamers pages to see for yourself.

Just before Good Friday my Warlord Games ECW's arrived together with Boltaction miniatures WW2 Tommy's on bikes I just had to have....as you do...plus an easter egg from those kind folk at Warlord games!!! ...wow now thats the way to keep customers the human touch. Unfortunatly its still in its box due to aformentioned bug!

We had a quiet easter visited the Edwin Lutyens 'Salutation' House & Gardens at Sandwich on easter sunday with Hazels family and entertained my folks later in the week.

I did complete watching 'Piece of cake' the ireverant depiction of a Fall of France/Battle of Britain Squadron adapted by LWT and first shown in 1988, from a book by Derek Robinson. The story is absolute trash but the flying sequences (in the wrong marks of spitfire of course!) are awesome....and they would be with Ray Hannah at the controls. Ray 'Shooting the bridge' in a spitfire was a memorable bit of footage.

I caught up with a bit of reading also including a fun fictional novel by Guy Walters 'The Occupation' set on the Channel Islands in WW2 and picked up a few second hand books including a useful reference on Artillery 'Artillery Through the Ages' by Colonel HCB Rogers published by the Military Book Society in 1971. It does what is says on the cover! Describing the development of Artillery in sieges, in the field and at sea from the first certain record of ordnance in the city of Ghemt in 1313 to WW2 with an interesting further chapter on Rocketry.

I just hope that the SH book turns up soon and the Brigade Models Belgian Cavalry although it's not as if I havn't got any other projects on the go!......... must undercoat my Perry Riflemen, stick together a few Perry French & British Infantry get a few aircraft kits on the go.....it is 'mad' at the moment in the past couple of years so much new stuff has been released in wargaming and aircraft modelling terms it is absolutely impossible to keep up, a point one of my favourite blogs by good old Legatus has made well complete with picture of his 'lead mountain' (& Howards Way DVD...less said about that the better!)

Current Projects

2009-04-03T19:15:00.007+01:00

Well a week has passed without posting. This was due to huge amounts of work as is common with many at this time of year with the end of the financial year...but it hasn't just been financial stuff but parish liaison, bid writting, Service Level Agreement Monitoring, funding panels etc etc etc this has meant weekends have been absorbed into the working week and so the hobby has suffered & the garden, allotment etc although Hazel has got me away from the PC to go on relaxing bike rides. Easter is on the horizon and some days off 'hurrah' and perhaps the occasional bit of time to put paintbrush to a model figure or two.

I am pleased with my dedication so far in keeping to the main project of painting Great War Belgians and this will continue with more of a production line approach in future months although I have ordered some of the new cavalry from Brigade Models...which will take me ages to paint!!

.....also on the work bench are some Peter Pig 15mm WW1 Belgians (see a theme!)

also some Emahar plastic Vikings,Warhammer Dark Elf Cavalry (Aim to complete a 1,000 point army to fight work colleague) Great War Brits including the 'Charleys War' figure from Musketeer and the 'Combat Stress' charity figure sculptered by Soapy via 'Figures in Comfort' and ....nervously looking unwanted on the outer reaches of the painting table are the 'Buffs' partially completed 15mm Minifig Marlborough types...I must get back on track with these.

The picture at the head of this article is of Rodens recently released 1:35th scale British Armoured Car one of my favourite vehicles of all time & one I will have to make time to build although have not built any armour in this larger scale for some years. Will's Wargames Blog is displaying some nicely built aircraft at the moment & with my flying friend visiting in a couple of weeks to 'commit aviation' in the skies of Kent no doubt I will be distracted into sticking plastic aircraft together again.

Quiet day in Blogland wonder If a Big Show is on Today!

2009-03-28T10:48:00.004Z

Yes there is silly me!!! it's that show again Salute & again I cannot make it as it's conflicting with my busiest time at work & 'poorest' time of the year....o well....violins etc. Hope everyone enjoys it and buys loads of goodies except don't exhaust Brigade Models Belgian cavalry stocks too much!!!

Free Warlord Games Figure painted as Fairfax's Regiment New Model Army

2009-03-25T22:41:00.009Z

Free with April's Wargames Illustrated, is this 'taster' of the new Warlord games plastic Figures being launched at salute this weekend and for non attendees like me on their web site next week! With the Copplestone range emerging for post ECW this is a bumper time for 17th Century enthusiasts.

Run Away!

Forward view on super micro Digital camera setting Musket a little blurred!

I went for Fairfax's Regiment of the New Model Army after referring to my favourite ECW book 'The English Civil war 1642 - 1651 An Illustrated Military History' by Philip Haythornthwaite. Plate 24 on page 119 shows Musketeers wearing the new model uniform armed with firelock muskets with a cartridge box suspended from a waistbelt instead of a bandolier.Wearing red coats with blue facings fairfax's Regiment were 'firelocks all'.

Belgian Great War Cavalry By Brigade Models Launched at Salute

2009-03-24T23:03:00.007Z

There I was thinking it was dog carts next from Brigade Models for the 28mm 1914 Belgians & here are the cavalry!! Released at Salute and from the web site straight after...the lot please!!!

From their web site Salute Page:

Belgian Great War Cavalry
'Absolutely hot off the presses, so much so that we only have a limited number of photographs, we present three types of Belgian cavalry including officers and buglers. All cavalry troopers are supplied with seperate arms allowing them to be equipped with sabres or lances.'

GW-1117 Senior Officer £1.50
GW-1118 Lancers in Czapka (x2) £5.00
GW-1119 Lancer Officer £3.00
GW-1120 Lancer Bugler £3.00
GW-1121 Guides in Colback (x2) £5.00
GW-1122 Guide Officer £3.00
GW-1123 Guide Bugler £3.00
GW-1124 Chasseurs in Shako (x2) £5.00
GW-1125 Chasseurs Officer £3.00
GW-1126 Chasseurs Bugler £3.00
GW-1127 Mounted officer in Field Cap £3.00

Above 'pony' may be a 'nosebag enthusiast'! but definitly a time to raise a glass of

.........to the fellows at Brigade Models!!

Belgian Carabiniers & Maxim Gun Team 1914

2009-03-22T14:13:00.003Z

The latest figures to be painted for my Belgian 1914 army are some carabiniers with their madly inapropriate for modern warfare Tyrolean headgear! Included in my batch of 5 figures to go under the brush was a Maxim Team all Brigade Models figures.

There are some great Photographs/Postcards of the Carabinier maxim teams in action or posed as if so and these make for excellent references. These images were found as before on my earlier Belgian 1914 blog posts from some excellent web sites.

The back view of the 2 man team supplied showing spare Ammo box & Mauser rifle placed on the base.

I presume the ropes the gunners have about them were used to help carry the gun?? The Germans had Maxims on ‘sledge’ type stands and wore towing belt arrangements to help pull/manoeuvre the gun.

I referred to various sources to paint the Carabiniers, like the postcards on the web as below

Also two volumes of the Funcken series 'Arms and Uniforms the First World War part 1' and Arms and Uniforms 18th century to the Present day. I decided to go with the basic dark green coats , grey trousers etc and left off yellow trouser stripes etc.

Above is my reference chart for painting these chaps again which helps my memory...now what colours did I use/mix? and hopefully a starting point for others afflicted with researching what colours to paint WW1 Belgian Carabiniers of 1914!!

Behind You!!

About face!

Basing the Figures

The figures was based on a Renedra Plastic Stand (bought with an order from Gripping Beast) covered with B&Q ready mixed filler to the depth of the figures metal stand. Builders sand was washed and left to dry and then the base with wet filler dipped in it. When dry a well pigmented wash of GW Graveyard Earth was applied then a darker well thinned down black brown wash was added & just started using the new Citadel washes ‘Devlan Mud’ useful for bases. When dry highlighted with graveyard earth lightened with white. Finally Hornby Light Green Grass R8863 was cut to length and glued in place using B&Q wood glue (dries clear) and a few tufts of GW static grass.

To seal the paint onto the figure & protect it Humbrol Matt Varnish was carefully sprayed on.

I didn’t really get on with the Citadel/GW Inks but the Washes are very useful especially as it saves time watering down paint to the right consistency to run into creases/along belts etc. The Ogryn Flesh is particularly handy for faces.

Phew thats it for now

Waterloo to Mons Miniatures Excellent New Miniatures Producer

2009-03-21T10:42:00.010Z

Just a heads up on a new enterprise which is worth supporting even though first choice of figures is a little esoteric but thats what appeals to the majority of us unfocused Wargaming/ Military historian/ modelling/painting types! surely!!I am commited to WW1 with an interest in 1914 Belgians (a post of latest paint jobs by tea time tomorrow), a huge interest which has been growing since this time last year with the period 1660- 1720 all thanks mostly to Steve the Wargamer and Ralphs excellent daily reading material on Wars of Louis Quartoz and then I start reading matts blog with the title inspired by one of the Cassell's History of warfare books and I'm learning about something else. Not starting with the usual suspects like Franco prussian War etc his new enterprise Waterloo to Mons Miniatures has kicked off with figures for the first Schleswig-Holstein War of 1845-1850 in footballing terms Denmark V Prussia! Thats as Much as I know but I'm sure I've got some uniform details in a Blandford somewhere!!

Having sent Matt some rules from an old Airfix guide via his blog I thought what the heck I'm not going to salute (I'm not going to salute...I'm not going to salute repeat 100X)lets get a few sample figures and see how they paint up (yeah I know just as I am getting into the swing of a small production line of belgians etc I get sidetracked...hell I enjoy my hobby! I am by training a Countryside Manager & diversity is important!!)

Now I know he's just started so won't have a massive order book but I ordered them at midnight wednesday, got despatch e mail yesterday friday and they are on my doormat this morning saturday excellent service!!

What they like well not massive lumps of metal like most of us are seeing these days and my Belgians are such beings being tall chunky figures, these and its the Danes I invested in first (uniform more appealing & sympathies lay with Denmark as a country more than Prussians in Historical terms)are slim, more accuratly proportioned like the mainstream Plastic figures and best quality Hinchcliffe like...If I knew where my Hinchcliffe's were I would compare directly. Not hugely chunky belts and exagerated creases in clothing which make painting a doddle but good engraving which will take paint and detail well. Two things stand out....The heads are not exagerated Hurrah & twice more hurrah and a very nice Flag chappie comes with a very well cast flag which slots into position perfectly (glue needed of course)The Danish Infantry Advancing in Shako and Cap 1842 uniform are at the top of the page and have not been cleaned up just straight in front of the camera lens.

The Command Group straight out the packet

Some painted Danes from the web site

The web site and ordering system could not be easier...Highly recommended....Now finish my Warlord Minis free plastic ECW freebie given away on Wargames Illustrated (note 'wallet warning' lots of tempting adverts in this pre Salute issue!)and get my sons Birthday card & pressie which sadly won't be wargames figures being of the XBox Wii generation!!

Richard Scollins Military Artist

2009-03-20T11:51:00.008Z

Richard Scollins Artist 1946 – 1992

The book ‘The Soldier’ Richard Humble and Richard Scollins, Crescent was recently obtained via an Amazon seller (not the speediest in delivery but a good clean book!) Is a ‘unique pictorial history of the fighting man, from the dawn of history in the 3rd millenium BC to the wars of the 1980’s’. The book presents the finest works of Richard Scollins, a military artist hitherto best known to specialist uniform and military modelling enthusiasts with text by his friend and colleague, military historian Richard Humble’.

It is a great compilation of his work and a huge thanks to Scott for pointing me in the direction of this fine ‘tome’. As the jacket states and anyone who has admired the work of Richard Scollins knows the illustrations are not ‘parade ground’ but captures the real face of soldiering, the fatigue despair courage dust and grime with depictions showing stained and torn uniforms sore feet and brocken boots! The book depicts the defiant Spartans at Thermopylae to Napoleons old guard at Waterloo, ECW, Roman Legionary and the Para in the Falklands. The illustrations are in Colour and black and white (just like the old MM articles) with 40 group works and 150 single figures.

Richard Scollins was born in 1946, was educated at Ilkston Grammar School, Derby and Newport Colleges of Art, and the Faculty of Education, Cardiff University. He was a part- time lecturer in Art, and as a free-lance artist been involved in a wide range of work from book and magazine illustration, comic strips, and LP covers to package design, pub signs and television graphics. Richard was a co-author on a number of books and produced an LP record on the Derbyshire dialect!. He was also a member of an English country dance and folk song band. His main interest was in in all aspects of the arts, social and military history and English Customs and folklore. (it is noted on several publications that he was a pacifist but had a feel for the grimness of the reality of war I sympathise totally with this viewpoint!)

I have some of the Cassell History of warfare series in my library including the often quoted ‘Warfare from Waterloo to Mons’ by Michael Glover, and check out the great blog by matt inspired by that book and his brand new website with his brand new Danish figures of 1846 Waterloo to Mons Miniatures…I have succombed in a minor way! (See I cant go to Salute the bank of Scotland group would need re financing again!! Plus all the sherpas I would need at £12 a ticket each to enter afformentioned wargaming extravaganza to carry the bounty away!!) also Warfare in the Age of Bonaparte by Michael Glover and Warfare in the Ancient World by Richard Humble these all have some of Richards illustrations in, amongst others but sadly I cannot see accreditation to his artistic skill in the books anywhere.

Of course he was a regular illustrator for Military Modelling and where I enjoyed seeing his work…please bring back more of this artistic depiction wargaming/ modelling magazines!!

Finally he illustarted Osprey books as well and below is their thubnail sketch of Richard on their web site

Osprey publishing
Rick Scollins was one of the most popular artists ever to work for Osprey. He was born in 1946 and pursued a career as an artist after four years at art college and a postgraduate teaching course at Cardiff. Rick quickly developed a distinct style and, despite being a pacifist, he gained a feel for military subjects. His artwork was always realistic and is highly sought after by collectors. Rick Scollins died in December 1992.

Summing up I believe Richard Scollins was one of the best military artists and I for one miss his work in books and magazines. I am just pleased that he was as prolific illustrator as he was but what more would he have produced?

Battlefields Trust Conference this Weekend

2009-03-14T08:11:00.004Z

The Battlefields Trust is hosting a conference at the National Army Museum, Chelsea, London, this weekend (14/15th March) on the subject of Battlefields at Risk. Speakers include Robert Hardy and Richard Holmes.

All welcome (you do not have to be a member of the Trust to attend), no need to book ahead, just turn up on either day.

The full programme is at The National Army Museum website

Unfortunatly working today & doubt family commitments will allow a trip tomorrow looks a good programme and might join the Battlefields Trust as have always been interested in our native battlefields with Seymour, Smurthwaite and Kinross books within easy reach of this keyboard.

1st Regiment of Foot Guards 1685

2009-03-13T10:31:00.002Z

After a nasty brush with the thoughts of buying plastic ECW's below (which I know will happen!) but if I avoid 'Salute' with all its goodies it should be a 'managable' acquisition!! I am returning to the late 17th Century with the Foot Guards. In the 1980's I used to attend toy fair swapmeet extravaganzas often at Sandown or Kempton Park racecourses. This was due to having for the first time a full wage packet in my pocket and to try and obtain Airfix, Frog etc kits and plastic figures. Now as ever I went off on a tangent and collected diecast/metal artillery pieces (I have stil 2 or 3 Astra pre war models, Britains etc) and cigarette/tea cards (I love the tea cards a real reminder of childhood why o why dont they do it now instead of silly knitted monkeys!)

I have a couple of sets of Cigarette cards depicting military uniforms including a set from 1976 by Carreras ltd called simply Military Uniforms. They are a series of 50 and are basicaly the uniforms of the guards regiments as they evolved over time from Card 1 depicting a musketeer of the King's Royal Regiment of Guards of 1660 to card 50 of a regimental sergeant major of the Grenadier Guards in 1960. They are very nice illustrations if a bit 1970's!!

Above is card No5 depicting an officer of the First Regiment of Foot Guards in 1685. On the reverse it states 'At the coronation of JamesII, officers of this regiment were magnificently dressed, some in coats of cloth of gold, others in crimson velvet and some of fine scarlet cloth. the second regiment was also splendidly dressed but the officers had buttons of gold thread wheras the First had silver plate. The men of the first had blue breeches and stockings while those of the Second Regiment had red.'

Anyway I've got a few Belgians Carabiniers from 1914 to finish this weekend and must order a few Parkfield Mini's for Sedgemoor!

Plastic 54mm Model Soldier Figures & Two Good 'recruiting sources'

2009-03-10T12:16:00.005Z

Above is my attempt at painting a 'Call To Arms' 1/32nd scale ECW musketeer, they are great fun to paint, this one was completed a few years ago now when they were first released, but a joy to paint! the figures are very nice and a relief to paint especially after smaller scales like 15mm and being glued to the PC for work or on this blog!

Steve Westons Toy Soldiers in their words 'We offer some of the finest Plastic Toy oldiers from around the Globe'

Specializing in 1/32 - 54mm scale, but also offering 1/35th - 50mm and 1/24th - 60mm scales.We have the 2009 edition, 40 page Catalogue showing 400 items. Now I like the look of the Replicants ECW superb ...

and the cavalry.......

I will order some of these in the near future for some summer relaxation painting. Another good source of plastic figures is Harfields Military Figures who also do 1/72nd scale and having looked at 'Table Wars' blog with some well painted Viking and Saxon Revell & Emahar 1/72nd plastics they can look as good as metal in many instances.

Of course in America there is the Michigan Toy Soldier Company but there are many sources out there worldwide and in 1/72nd plastic figures reading The Plastic Soldier Review is well worth it if you are interested in that scale and want to mail order some figures after knowing whats in the box!!

Plastic ECW Warlord Games .....I Surrender!!

2009-03-10T01:02:00.012Z

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Ok I have only succumbed to 1 box of Warlord games plastics so far, and I am most definitly not a metal/plastics snob, as I'm happy to work in both mediums and having been fundamentaly an aircraft modeller for years I like plastic. I have got a box off Victrix and some Perry plastic ACW cavalry and french very nice....but these new ECW are probably going to tilt the balence they may be convertable for post ECW as well without to much trouble but I have a feeling as long as they price them right and don't start taking the mickey price wise like games Workshop then I might as well inform my employers to divert my wages direct and cut out the middle man ...me (If your reading this 'Hazy' only joking on that point!)

A jolly drummer

An OK Officer and I know valuminous clothing & sashes were all the rage with kevin keegan hairdoos in the ECW but he looks like he needs to attend a few weightwatchers meetings!

Nicely painted pike

Shooty types

Sprues etc on Warlord games web site......all in all very nice and if compatable with existing Perry/Foundry ECW I will try some packs especially the cavalry.

This is a late entry on the Blog as I spent the evening actually wargaming for the first time in ages!!!! Now D & D roleplaying started with friends from work 18 months ago (after 20+ year gap)and this evening wasn't the historical stuff which I'm predominantly interested in but the dark side 'warhammer'!! now I have got a partly painted dark elf army, cos I like to paint models but have only just played my first game & it was fun thanks to Ryan from work who hosted the game and knows the rules back to front etc etc. it was a fun game my 'Wood Elves' got thrashed by the Green Orc types 948 points to 631 with only my cavalry surviving having taken out the Goblin rider chaps on wolves and his artillery but it was fun....and that is what it should be all about. Anyhow Ryan and his uncle who works for a military history publishing company game other stuff including WW1 Belgians!! how mad is that!! so that will be a future game.

1st Captain's Troop, the Royal Regiment of Dragoons

2009-03-09T08:57:00.008Z

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In December 1983 Military Modelling is an interesting article by S Ede-Borrett on the Cornets, Colours and Guidons of the Army of JamesII, 1685-88. Above is the guidon of the 1st captains Troop, the Royal Regiment of Dragoons. The Colonel's troop bore a guidon with CharlesII's cypher (two interlaced'c's) on it; The other seven troops used various royal badges, each under a gold crown.

Although Dragoons were mounted infantry their guidons had closer similarity to horse's cornets than to the foot's colours. Dragoons guidons were fringed and tasselled & often made of damask. Following the lead of the Horse, Colonels of dragoons usually added a personal device to their own guidon but left the others of their regiment plain. Guidons were about two feet by three and a half feet and carried on a pole.

Dragoons first made their appearance in the English Civil War, and were raised again in the early 1670's.

Little pictoral evidence of what Dragoons looked like remains but some documentary evidence from clothing lists etc have given some idea. When the Tangier Horse was converted into the Royal Dragoons in 1684 the regiment was 'coated and cloaked red lined blue with the holster caps and housings 'embroidered with blue and yellow upon red with the royal cypher. Dragoons had caps as well as hats, the former probably being a bag cap with fur surround.

Dragoon boots were cheaper than the cavalry variety being probably shorter with the need to fight on foot. In addition to carrying pistols a dragoon was armed with snaphance musket fitted with a sling a waistbelt with frogs for a sword and bayonet, a cartouch box slung from a shoulder belt, and a hammer hatchet. All belts were buff leather. Amazingly sergeants still carried halberds and in the Royal Dragoons corporals had partizans. Officers coats were paid for privatly and were prbably ostentatious with gold braid and laced waistcoats they did wear the same gorgets as the foot with captains being gilt, lieutenants black with gilt studs and cornets silver. the other main mark of an officer was the scarf or sash of crimson silkand gold orsilver fringe worn around the waist.

Note: A snaphance musket (not knowing my muskets this is all a voyage of discovery!) is a musket with a snaphance lock. This lock consisted of a flint and steel but the pan cover was separate to the steel unlike the flintlock'

A detail from a painting by Harry payne of the Kings Dragoon Guards being reviewd by James II on Hounslow Heath.

To Depict Dragoons of the period one of the sources could be Parkfield Miniatures who list:

THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION 1688-1690 - 25mm WARGAME FIGURES
GRC 70 General officer
GRC 71 Dragoon
GRC 72 Cavalry officer, wearing cuirass
GRC 73 Ensign
GRC 74 Trumpeter
GRE17 Dismounted Dragoon

I aim sometime to provide a summary page for figure sources for this period in the different scales shouldn't be to long!!

Great War Belgian Armoured Car Models

2009-03-06T14:48:00.019Z

One of the features of the Belgian Army in 1914 was its antiquated uniforms and structure. However thanks largely to having a ‘modern’ car manufacturing industry the Belgian Army soon realised the value of armoured cars and they played their part in the early war period before the bogged down attrition of the trenches. An excellent article was written in Wargames Illustrated in September 2008 on these early Belgian armoured car engagements so I don’t want to cover that ground again but advise anyone interested to look at various web sites especially Minerva Armoured Motor car which has many great pictures and detailed history of the Minerva and Sava companies. The other reliable source of info for WW1 model makers is as always Landships on there are a couple of useful pages on Belgian armoured cars including a review of Convoys Minerva armoured car in 1/76 scale. On the web site ‘A Great War in a Different Light’ can be found some excellent photos of mostly Minerva armoured cars.

Now recently I have got hold of 3 Belgian armoured car models. The first is purely a 15mm War Gaming piece representing a Minerva armoured car and is produced by my favourite 15mm wargames figure producer ‘Peter Pig’. In their WW1 range they produce Belgians….’hurrah’ and a very simple metal Minerva armoured car in 8 pieces!! Now admittedly its only 15mm scale so you wouldn’t expect too may pieces especially if you want to retain your sanity! It is basically a one piece casting for the body work and chassis, 4 metal wheels, and 3 crew members as can be seen from the photo below.

I have cleaned and primed this model as I thought I would start with the simplest kit of the three…..good for morale!!

The next two kits I obtained at ‘Trucks and Tracks’ at Folkestone last weekend. It was my main reason for attending and its always nice to visit a show to see other modellers/wargamers work as well as look at the goodies on the stalls.

The Convoy models kit of a Minerva Armoured Car is a proper resin and metal model kit and is a more complex build. The chassis and bodywork come in two resin pieces with interior, exhaust and lights on 3 more resin sprues which have a lot of resin ‘flash’ about each part, the driver crewman is a nice little figure. The wheels and gun are in white metal and are very well cast indeed with good spoke detail not easy to cast I would imagine!

The main problem with the kit on looking at it without detailed knowledge of interiors and dimensions is that the axles are cast in resin and I will replace these with suitable dimension brass rod/thick gage wire for strength. The landships review includes pictures and is definitely worth a look.

Finally a new release is the offering from Retrokit. This is a very professional production with very finely cast pieces for a Automitrailleuse SAVA. The Chassis and main bodywork not including the turret is cast in 1 piece of resin.

with a considerable number of separate components too complete it.

The wheels are a masterpiece being cast in resin with an etched brass fret for the spokes, which if completed correctly will look stunning and advice is given on the instruction sheet for this. I would probably have preferred white metal cast wheels and spokes like in the Convoy kit as I prefer easier lazy builds! But I will give it a go!!

The biggest letdown on all three kits is the instructions!! From none with Peter Pig …but with 8 pieces you don’t need any! to 1 rough exploded diagram for the Convoy and Retrokit kits. This is often the way with these small production run resin/metal kits and it’s a shame more care is not taken with the drawings.

What is great that someone has produced these models in the first place and having seen what other armoured cars took part in WW1 a collection would be fun and Convoy also produce other kits and carry the Tommy Atkins range including a nice Lancaster AC. Really only the Peter Pig model would last being handled in a wargames environment and where ther is a gap in the market is a model of the type produced by Brittania Miniatures in 28mm well cast with enough detail and not too expensive (Retrokit was not cheap!)sadly they just do WW2 & Modern vehicles.

Ralph known for his Blog site concentrating on the Monmouth rebellion and late 16th century period in general has also another blog Ralphadeus on which there is further info on the Belgian army of 1914

Sedgemoor 1685

2009-03-02T12:18:00.007Z

Reading through some of the old Military Modellings I picked up at Cavalier the other weekend I have come across loads more Richard Scollins artwork especially ECW but also he illustrated with pencil drawings Stewart Asquiths article in December 1981 in the series 'Battles for Wargamers'The Battle of Sedgemoor. this of course is the speciality of Ralphs blog which specialises in this period and is a great read especially for a Somerset exile like me.

The 3 page article gives a good overview and starts with a short preamble from the Duke's landing at Lyme Regis to the assault on Bristol and the action at Philips Norton. The battle itself takes up 2 pages and includes a 'set up ' map with suggested numbers of wargames figs (1:25) representing the units involved, these are notated on the units shown on the set up below.

In 1981 Stuart suggested Warrior Metal figures as an ideal range to use but gives no scale 15mm or 25mm I cannot see any suitable figs on the current Warrior miniatures site or was it a different company?? Ralph suggests Irregular as a good source of figures with their League of Augsburg 1685 - 1700 15mm figures. Does anyone else know of a good range in 15/25 or 28mm??

Finally having my grand clear up of books references etc I came across some old postcards from holidays or that I had picked up from museums, and in amongst them was this one of the Sedgemoor Diorama displayed in the Admiral Blake Museum!! I havn't been there for years so will go hopefully this summer, visit friends, walk Sedgemoor,visit the Admiral Blake Museum and return via the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton probably one of the best aviation museums in the country or perhaps enjoy some Cricket at Taunton...perhaps Somerset CC will win the County Championship for the first time ever this year!!!!.

Great War British Infantryman

2009-02-27T09:57:00.012Z

It’s not just Belgians!! At the same time as sorting out the colours for the Belgians I painted up this figure which had been lying around in the tin of undercoated yet to be painted figures. I think it’s a Wargames Foundry late WW1 from some years ago and I have mostly followed the Warhammer Historical Great War painting guide for painting a British Infantryman of 1918.

I do prime all the figures I paint with Halfords White car spray primer, spraying as many as possible in one go. If I’m painting armoured/chainmail figures I then do a basecoat of black on top of the white covering the armour/chainmail areas.

For the British Infantryman I applied a basecoat of Charadon Granite on all uniform areas and the helmet.

Basing the Figure

The figure was based on a Renedra Plastic Stand (bought with an order from Gripping Beast) covered with B&Q ready mixed filler to the depth of the figures metal stand. A lumpy ‘churned’ up effect was applied by ‘lifting’ the filler with Starbucks coffee stirrer (101 applications cut it down to make any tool!) When dry a well pigmented wash of GW Graveyard Earth/Chaos Black was applied followed when dry with diluted chaos black to make the mud look horrific & putrid! The edge of the base was painted GW Bestial Brown. No grass no nothing! Was added to show the bleakness of the ground the troops were fighting over.

To seal the paint onto the figure & protect it Humbrol Matt Varnish was carefully sprayed on.

Below are a few pictures from the 'Military Odyssey' re enactment show 2008 held at the Kent County Showground over August bankholiday. Hazel and I went last year and amazingly I think she enjoyed it or preferred it to an airshow! The best turned out in my opinion were the WW1 re enactment groups and here are some pictures of them;

In the grey corner superbly turned out 'Hun'

In the Khaki corner the 'Tommies' in the background it is a little known fact that white 'Gazebos' were taken to the front line!

Being able to wonder through the encampment was the best bit somehow watching WW1 reenactments simulating being mown down by machine guns is a bit close to semi recent family history!

Sorting out the Books & Modelling Space

The main job on the modelling, painting front hasn't involved modelling or painting!! For some years since moving to 'pooh corner' (the unoficial family name for the house!) none of my library of books has been in order and modelling is vying with work laptop and files on the one desk. This has now changed with two desks in the house! the library lives in the 'study' with pc and display cabinets the modelling desk is in the corner of the spare bedroom...what an improvement! I can now find references & should be able to paint and model quicker without spending a whole evening digging around for references and clearing away after a painting session.

Haselrig's Lobsters an Illustration by Richard Scollins

2009-02-25T21:57:00.005Z

This was the first article and picture of a new series on the ECW in Miltary Modelling back in May 1977!! it was about one of the more unusual cavalry units especially fighting for parliament in 1643.

Sir Arthur Haselrig was in charge of Wallers cavalry and to quote Trevor Hopkins ' Sir Arthur Haselrig M.P., a truley fascinating personality; bellicose, rich and staunchly republican, when Sir Arthur made his military reports to the House of Commons it was usually with a carbine slung to his back and pistols at the hips!' what a great picture those words paint! Scollins of course does the regiment justice with a superb impression of what an officer and trooper of the regiment would have looked like in 1643, being notably the first and only full regiment of true cuirassiers to see action in the civil war. The fully enclosed helmet and metal gauntlets were probably replaced by a 'lobster pot' helmet and leather gloves which would have been much more practical.

The lobsters fought at Lansdown, Roundway Down, Cheriton and finally were badly mauled at Cropedy Bridge. They probably had a limited role in the second battle of Newbury before being absorbed into the New Model Army in 1645.

Cavalier Wargames Show, Tonbridge, Kent, 22nd Feb 2009

2009-02-22T21:42:00.028Z

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This is the major Wargames event in Kent, annually held at the Angel Centre, Tonbridge and organised superbly by Tunbridge Wells Wargames Society. Its small but well attended by traders (39 listed in the programme)12 demonstration games and has an excellent bring and buy sale. Years ago I attended Salute and Colours and this show is a lot less stressful!! in fact its a very friendly show where traders and attendees are willing to talk and swap info etc I could not recommend this show highly enough. Most traders it seemed were happy with trade and there was a lot of temptation on view! Below are some Vikings on display on the Tunbridge Wells Societies stand which demonstrated one of the periods they wargamed regularly at the club.

It was great to be able to talk to traders who I buy from on the web and find out future plans. With one of my current interests being WW1 and Belgians in particular it was good to find out 'Brigade Models' future plans. The Belgian machine gun dog carts should make it for Salute and the first of the horse 'greens' has been completed for the cavalry there was further talk about bicycles and Belgian armoured cars!! If anyone has a cunning idea about how to replicate bicycle wheels realisticaly in 28mm answers on a postcard please! Also does anyone have plans of WW1 Belgian armoured cars?!

'Black Hat'had some superb and varied figures on display and I had to buy the Dwarf with gatling gun! (its called something else!)and the Panda eating lunch (again called something else!) but they had on release their new 15mm War of the Spanish Succession Cavalry and very nice they are too........ see the British cavalry below.

These will be followed soon by Dragoons, Artillery and 'Generals' nice to know a range you start buying continues.

'Tumbling Dice' are a new company to me and I liked their American Civil War 1/72nd figures which seem to blend well with 1/72nd plastics...hurrah from my point of view as I have collected plastics for the ACW for a long time, due mostly to companies producing decent figures at a very reasonable price, well moulded and in proportion which cannot always be said of metal figure company styles. I had a long chat with the owner about the Battle of the River Medway when the Dutch 'did over' the British Fleet upstream of Chatham in 1667. A new venture could well be the naval actions of the Anglo Dutch Wars (another Richard Scollins illustration in MM somewhere!)

'Caliver books' had loads of tempting titles including a new book on the Armies and Uniforms of the Monmouth Rebellion by Christopher Scott a very nice publication indeed full of colour and information about one of my 'favourite' battles.

Finally there were many stands with the excellent Osprey books on offer including one with new/secondhand at £5 each or 6 for £25 a bargain and they were being rapidly snapped up. The bring and buy had lots on offer including a few years old copies of MM at its zenith!

The game on display were excellent and 'flying' games very popular including Southend and Rayleigh Wargames 'Sakishima Gunto' WW2 far east carrier battles with ingenious 'radio aerial' stands imported from USA blue hex playing surface metal planes & Tamiya etc ships superb

and Mid Anglia Wargamers 'Dawn Patrol'was a masterpiece of patience with all that rigging in evidence on the Gothas and Handley Pages!!

....They were using Air war 1918 rules by Wessex Games.

Back to terra firma with Crawley Wargames Club and the Battle of the Alma 1854

......and the superb terrain was up for sale!!!

The 'Maidstone Wargames Society' which has an open day on the 13th june 2009 at Linton Village Hall had a fantasy demonstration game 'The Second Battle of Magd Tuiredh' underway using Celtos figures

Other 'cold' looking wintergames were put on by both South East London Wargames Group (SELWG) with napoleons Retreat From Russia

....and Loughton Strike Force with 'Winter War' WW2 eastern front tank battle

Well it was a very enjoyable show and probably the only one I will get to with family commitments usually taking precedence at weekends and I must admit to buying 'Munchkin' a fun game for all the family and work colleagues too!

Cromwell's Ironsides at Marston Moor - Richard Scollins Illustration

2009-02-20T21:48:00.003Z

'Marston Moor was the most important and bloodiest battle of the Civil war and it was due to the decisive charges of the Ironsides that the fate of that day was at last determined'Alan Buttery MM January 1985.

The second article on Cromwell's Ironsides gave an account of Marston Moor and details for wargaming and modelling using Minifigs, Laing's and Jacobite Miniatures. Langley Models produced a fine Mounted Trooper at the time in 54mm

Richard scollins picture is very evocative showing the action when Cromwell's Ironsides hacked their way through Ruperts men while a summer thunderstorm added to the noise and cacophony of battle.

First Belgian Line Infantryman of 1914 Painted and Based - Paint References Included

2009-02-18T22:42:00.015Z

At last the ‘prototype Model’ Brigade Models Belgian Line Infantryman is finished. Delay caused by ‘rushing’ the basing which looked dreadful too much flock and too dark a brown used meant I had to remove the filler etc from the base and start again!!

‘The Belgian infantryman of 1914 had something of a comic opera appearance. The shiny hats of the Carabiniers and the stiff shakos of the line, the dark green or dark blue uniforms and the glinting brass all helped to make the Belgian soldier an easy target’ (Funcken)

So this is what I used to paint the Belgian Line Infantryman of 1914 all paints are acrylics click on table and enlarge to read!

Basing the Figure

The figure was based on a Renedra Plastic Stand (bought with an order from Gripping Beast) covered with B&Q ready mixed filler to the depth of the figures metal stand. Builders sand was washed and left to dry and then the base with wet filler dipped in it. When dry a well pigmented wash of GW Graveyard Earth was applied then a darker well thinned down black brown wash was added. When dry highlighted with graveyard earth lightened with white. Finally Hornby Light Green Grass R8863 was cut to length and glued in place using B&Q wood glue (dries clear) and a few tufts of GW static grass.

To seal the paint onto the figure & protect it Humbrol Matt Varnish was carefully sprayed on.

Now I’ve got this first figure painted I will follow the ‘recipe’ to paint the rest of my Line Infantry 5 at a time. Note the only omission is not having the confidence to paint a white number in the middle of the oilskin shako cover plate denoting the regiment!! so left it off!!!

Cromwell's Ironsides - Richard Scollins Picture

2009-02-18T11:38:00.005Z

As mentioned recently on Ralph's excellent blog 'Wars of Louis Quatorze'Richard Scollins superb illustrations used to liven up articles in Military Modelling. I think that this is what I miss the most from the modern slick magazines and MM sadly now does not feature on my magazine buying radar as its predominatly full of tanks (I model tanks myself but I like variety) and usually very expensive ones and covered in resin and etched brass!! Marriot, Fosten, Younghusband etc all used to provide great illustrations and I miss this element in the current journals. Also I liked one magazine which featured modelling, wargaming and military history. Perhaps its my age (I am now in the grumpy old man age bracket)however on the wargaming and modelling front we've never had it so good every army produced in metal and plastic, tanks and aircraft of every nation and mark.....but I just miss the journal that was Military modelling and the old Airfix magazine from the 70's & 80's!!!

This picture was from MM December 1984 in an article by Alan Buttery on Cromwell's Ironsides (Part1)

Shell Shock & Combat Stress

2009-02-12T17:22:00.008Z

I got the above book 'Shell Shock The Psychological Impact of War' by Wendy Holden published by Channel 4 Books in 1998 two weeks ago from the excellent Oxfam bookshop near where I work. I have only just started it but 'it charts society's attempts to distinguish between madness and cowardice, in conflicts from the First World War to Bosnia'to quote the dustcover. It plots the changing labels for an eternal condition - shell shock, battle fatigue, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)in a changing moral landscape, it details the revolution in military attitudes to the fragility of men & the birth of modern psychiatry.

The best quote is on page 159 by Simon Weston who suffered terrible burns on the Sir Galahad in the Falklands War and lost close friends in that burning ship;

'We did not take part in a holocaust. It was not a war that will be remembered for ever. It was just another conflict, and now is just another already half-forgotten story, a more and more distant memory of Union Jacks and cheers of glory. But for many the price is still being paid; their war is still going on.'

Now the wargaming/modelling fraternity are doing their bit as I found out on Steve the Wargamers Brilliant Blog which links to Soapy's Blog. Soapy is the sculptor benind the Woodbine 'branch' of the Gripping Beast empire & doing a lot of work on WW1 figures (I have some of the Naval Division cap head varient chaps to paint up soon)and has been asked to produce a figure to raise money for the ex services mental welfare charity 'Combat Stress' which you can link too on the Button Bar. Other figures apparently will be produced by other sculptors and I will get them all but I like this one it reminds me of the Great War monuments you see in towns up and down the country.

Direct donations to the charity can be made via the battlegames appeal .

Belgian Army WW1 References Part 2

2009-02-12T10:32:00.006Z

I thought its worth adding at this point all the Belgian Army of WW1 and principaly the 1914 army references that I've been able to gather so far and the best way was to supply a few web site links and also a list under Belgian Army websites in the left hand margin.

One of the best is Patrick De Wolf's 'Het Belgische Leger 1830-1914'

For Photo's and Belgian Martial Music! try 'Ermeton sur Biert et les combats de 1914'

For Belgian Army Organisation and photo's the superb 'Belgian Fronts'

A great article by James Reeve on the 'Uniforms and Equipment of the Belgian Army in WW1'on the very useful 'Welcome to Landships! - a site for WW1 Military Hardware & WW1 Military Modelling

The place to visit to see the uniforms and weapons of Belgium is the Royal Museum of the Army and of Military History, Brussels - Belgium. I must go there this year if possible no excuse easy Eurostar ride from Ebbsfleet for me here in sunny Kent.

Useful and interesting postcard references can be found on the 'Brave Little Belgium' page of the 'Around the War in 80 Postcards' site.

For those who prefer to do their fighting above terra firma have a look at 'The Belgian Air Force during WW1' This is on 'An Illustrated Hitory of World War One Aviation' a very good source of info indeed with lots of pic's!!

Books are a little far and few between apart from those listed on the earlier post I have found a page in my copy of 'Arms and Uniforms 18th Century to the Present Day' by Liliane & Fred Funcken published by Ward Lock. I have ordered second hand (they are mostly ex library copies)their World War One part 1 volume via an Amazon seller.I think these books are great references and fun to flick through requiring very little reading!! The Carabinier above is a funcken depiction of a Belgian 1914 Carabinier.

Another useful book on the Belgian Army in 1914 is the 'Handbook of the Belgian Army 1914'
The Amazon review by Robert Newman of the USA says 'A reprint of two British War Office manuals that detail the Belgian Army on the Western Front in WW I. It provides details on the organization of the army, and equipment of the Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, Engineers & others. Uniform details, personal equipment, drill & tactical doctrine and an order of battle as of 1914' can be ordered from Caliver books who lists it as 'latest imprint of original source'. Other specialist shops may have it too (very BBC!)

But whats that on the horizon not an Osprey !!!!!!!

From their Men at Arms series this is due to be published on 10th June 2009

Product Description
While small in numbers, the Belgian Army played a vital role in World War 2 that is often overlooked. Germany's invasion of neutral Belgium, which led Britain to declare war in August 1914, should have been swift and fierce yet the unexpected heroic defence, against great odds, of Belgian fortresses, frustrated the German Schlieffen Plan for a thrust to Paris and a lightning victory. The plucky Belgian resistance proved successful in buying time for French and British troops to mobilize and report to the front, where the Belgians would then go on to fight, stubbornly defending the northern end of the Allied trench line for the rest of the war. In this work, discover the story of this determined Army, from their organization and commanders, to their uniforms and equipment. The only main combatant army of World War I not previously covered by Osprey, this volume will be an important addition to any enthusiast's collection, accompanied by detailed artwork and archive photographs.

I think I might want a copy!! Trouble is I want it Now!!!

Phew I am all Belgiand out if I carry on like this I will have to change my name to Tintin Poirot!!!

Great War Tank Diorama

2009-02-09T22:12:00.007Z

This was made about 20 years ago and I think is an Emhar kit of a 'male' mark IV I think the slightly out of focus infantryman is a Revell 8th army infantryman in greatcoat as Emhar hadn't come out with WW1 1/72nd British infantry at the time. The kit is based on a wooden base with melted polystyrene tile covered in 'filler' and painted.

The weekend was productive, half of the wallpaper in the bathroom was removed and wall prepared for painting,also ten 15mm Minifig WSS British infantry and 8 WWI 28mm Belgians cleaned up and undercoated with white Halfords primer! The first Belgian line infantryman is almost painted as an experiment to 'work the colours out'. I have not come across any references for which paint numbers etc to use for Great war Belgian infantry plus I am weaning myself off enamels as Humbrol paints are made it seems for airbrushing these days hence why old tins go for so much on e bay!!. I am using Games Workshop & Vallejo Model Color acrylics. Below is the first Line Infantry test figure underway.

The good news for Great war Belgian army fans (I think I have definitly found a minority interest on this one!!!!)is that Brigade Models are working on the Machine Gun Dog cart teams!!! Greens below.

Well thats it for this evening back to Simon Scarrows 'The Generals' the second instalment of the Napoleon and Wellington story. Scarrow is an excellent writer and while much of the story is fictional embelishment of historical fact it is a good read although for relaxation I usually keep his latest instalment of his Roman heroes Cato and Macro for holiday reading. I noticed today that the next instalment after 'The Generals' is now being offered in Sussex/British Stationers at under £7.00 for a hardback!! damn I thought £8 in Asda was cheap!!

Belgian Army WW1 References

2009-02-06T15:11:00.004Z

Not too much in my library of books on the Belgian Army in the Great War so will have to do research on the web. I have had a couple of good links suggested on the Great War Forum which as usual is absolutely brilliant.The help I got on researching a silver wounds badge was incredible (Brodsky of the 18th Husssars)and will relate the story here on a future update.One of the references I have got at home is a colour plate by Simkin of 'Types of the Belgian Army'from my grandfathers set of 'The History of The Great European War' published by Caxton.

Secondly from 'World War 1 Infantry in Colour Photographs' europa militaria No3 a superb study of a Belgian Infantryman 1914. This book is extreemly useful & worth getting for your reference library.

Well as I'm off today from work due to working all of last weekend I must get back to re decorating the bathroom but hopefully will also manage an hour priming and painting before tea.

World War One 28mm Figures

2009-02-03T23:50:00.006Z

Some Figures from the workbench today starting with Great War Miniatures BEF British and Brigade Models Plucky little Belgians. These are about to be cleaned up but first a size comparison.

As can be seen the Brigade Models are slightly taller/bigger figures even allowing for fancy headwear! and do not have as much finese as GW Minis but have a certain charm about them.

The Carabinier at the top looks superb in his Tyrolean hat, and the Line Infantryman below in the typical Belgian Shako. Belgians army was dressed in even more of an archaic fashion than the French army of 1914 and thats part of the appeal.

Now thats what I call cavalry the recent addition to the Great War Miniatures 'stable' (pun intended...groan)a BEF lancer 2 packs of which were purchased the other day plus command pack from the Snipers Nest.

Finally as its getting late a picture prooving the existence of my first regiment of 15mm figures for my British army from the Wars of the Spanish Succession. These are 2'Buffs' on the painting table and I hope to finish the regiment by the end of Feb thanks for the gentle reminder Steve!! This was my new interest last year & I will continue!!!

ZULU - 1975 Military Modelling & Norman Abbey??

2009-02-02T18:15:00.004Z

Ok 4 months no post second month of the year...o well aim to post more often.Whats been happening well very bad neck and back problems due to being stuck at computer & driving too much!! not modelling honest!!

Well after another fascinating 5 days including the whole of the weekend putting a 44page funding bid together to the Big Lotto (fat chance of success odds not good as usual, hard work if not in a labour heartlands area!)I suddenly started wondering what inspired the military modelling while viewing e bay! well mostly father and grandfather and their war stories but also an issue of Military Modelling in around 1975 with a diorama about Islandwana/Rorkes Drift...was it Norman Abbey who built it using 54mm Hinchcliffe Figs?? has anyone got a copy????? would really like to get issue/article.

This diorama was a huge inspiration and various attempts followed for school and cubs!! The Battle of Masada Jews v Romans hilltop bash using Airfix Arabs (scarce then) and Romans, Crashed Airfix Triplane on the western front with surrendering pilot and a zulu wars diorama using Esci Figures.

Anway new year and inspiration is taking hold due to the very useful presence of a wargames shop 'The Snipers Nest' in Ramsgate. Ramsgate is a very underated seaside town with loads of history (great harbour & Augustus P's house the prototype suburban dwelling) and also Ramsgate Models (2 1/48th Airfix TSR2's purchased from there recently for those with an aviation interest!)

Back to snipers nest!! here I buy monthly a Wings of War model for the game and Great War Miniatures Figures which are superb! The cavalry have just been released and lancers have been duly purchased. Also I can get Victrix, Perry and Warlord games plastics !!! hurrah!! no hope for concentration on 1 period there then!!

No but number one interest will be 1914 & WW1. I have also Brigade Models Belgians to paint as well and have just worked out the uniform details. Nearly forgot also in stock inspired at christmas to purchase from that graet company Gripping Beast some WW1 british figs with naval Division haeds (change putties and could be RMLI at Ostend)

So there we go pictures to follow including the only remaining diorama a WW1 tank mounted on melted ceiling tile pockmarked with shell holes, plastered, painted and twig tree stump!!

Time to dine and another drop of merlot!

General Jose de San Martin

2008-09-23T17:35:00.004+01:00

Last weekend we had a family day trip to Boulogne, easy now that Speedferries are taking foot passengers. Superb crossing and we headed for the old walled town & 'did' the town ramparts and chateau-Musee, its art galleries and underground tunnels full of roman artefacts. A leisurely late lunch was taken in the old town square opposite the HQ of Napoleons Grande Armee. On the coast road just past Nausicaa the French National Sea Centre, is the above statue commemorating the 'liberator of the South Americas' Jose de San Martin...a cracking great statue. Born in South America he fought with the Spanish in the Peninsular in 1808 & on returning to South America was one of the liberators of Argentina (1816), Chile (1817) and Peru (1821) he died in exile in Boulogne in 1850. See Wikepedia for a full Biography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JosÃ©_de_San_MartÃn#Military_career_in_Europe

Another memorial although not military in nature is worth showing and commemorates Auguste Mariette (1821-1881) scholar and one of the foremost Egyptologists of his generation and the founder of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Memory Lane - Old Kit's

2008-09-09T18:11:00.003+01:00

Although being of the Airfix generation this is one kit I remember buying from the local newsagent in the 1970's in Walton on Thames Surrey, Mr Porter stocked a few kits on his shelves and he dressed like Ronnie Barker in 'Open All Hours' in a brown shop coat and he also rather scaringly had a hook in place of a missing right hand! Once built the Brits at least had a tank to take on the Germans Panther in the school wargames club. Hmmm ...might have a regular old kit feature on the blog an excuse to explore the attic!!

2008-09-09T17:13:00.001+01:00

'The Creative Space'

2008-09-09T16:56:00.003+01:00

Well just to demonstrate how bad I am at concentrating on one subject area this is whats currently occupying my modelling table :

12, 15mm Minifigs - British Infantry War of the Spanish succession 'the Buffs'
12, Zvesda 20mm - Russian Infantry of Peter the Great
1 Perry Miniatures ACW 'plastic cavalryman'
1 Perry Miniatures ACW 'plastic infantryman'
1 Warlord games 'Plastic Imperial Roman Legionairre'
1 Pegasus 1/48t scale 'snap together' mk 1 Spitfire - awaiting varnish
1 Airfix 1/72 Hawker Sea Fury (ex PM) - decalling in progress
1 Airfix 1/72 Gladiator (ancient kit but great looking decals) - decalling in progress

Various Games workshop stuff LOTR, Dark Elves old & new

Yes unfoccused as usual but I like variety. One of the debates I notice on forums and blogs is the continous old chestut of plastic wargames figures v metal some of the debate is almost snobbish, now I am used to plastic aircraft kits & have just about kept my modelling activities going since I started at the age of 7! and personally I like both materials and I think it makes sense for the bulk of any army to be made up from the cheaper (but well crafted) injection moulded figures with characters & specialist units in metal. These are very interesting times with the Perry's, Victrix and Warlord Games in the process of developing or producing excellent injection moulded figures.

I do have some project aims in mind for the coming winter and these are :

28mm Confederate ACW Army using Perry Miniatures (3 box Inf & 1 Cavalry in stock)
15mm War of the Spanish Succession Army (new interest & the fault of certain Blog sites!)
15mm ECW Royalist Army (Peter Pig Figs)
28mm Early WWI (Greta War Miniatures) to recreate skirmish actions
28mm Imperial Roman Army (Warlord Games/CrusaderMinis etc)
Also on the wargaming front to continue various ww2 projects and Dark Elves (only main diversion towards the GW empire)

As an aviation modeller I do concentrate on mostly RAF 1914-1960 aircraft however Zvesda'a Russian PE8 is rather nice!!

The only problem being with the above is Time!! a full time job and family life push the hobby into 3rd place .....but that's nothing new for any of us except those lucky few who earn a living from their hobby!!

'Joining Up'

2008-09-09T13:13:00.000+01:00

Okay my first post on this new Blog. Why..... well I started my first blog and lost interest after 1 posting!! a record perhaps but now I feel guilty having enjoyed other peoples blogs on wargaming, history and the environment for the past 18 months and feel I should join in instead of just being an avid reader!! so welcome one and all to my corner of the wargaming military history & aviation modelling world. I am probably the ultimate 'butterfly' in hobbiest terms. Most people on similar blogs have intersts in military history perhaps wars of the Spanish Succession, Napoleonic or the World Wars. Others prefer aircraft modelling or tanks or naval subjects BUT I am afraid I am fascinated by the lot so initially this site will have an eclectic mix until i get more organised!!

Enough rabbit and banter. Why the name Victory V ? Well this is a reference to one of my all time military heroes ....no not Wellington, Marlborough, Monty or Bader but My Grandpa!! He was in the RMLI (Royal Marine Light Infantry) componant of the Naval Division Joining up at Chatham in November 1915 and de mobed February 1919. He went over the top was wounded and had many tales to tell about France but when convalescing or under training he was based at 'Victory V' Portsmouth with the 1st Reserve (RMLI) battalion......and I thought that will do as the blog title!! its short & I cannot forget it!!.... a bonus as I push on through the 40's!