Painting Update

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

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

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!!

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

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!!

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

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.