NEW UNITS

I've  finally managed to finish of my initial unit of Rifle Volunteers. Some photos included. These figures are castings from GBE of Conningsby, and I started them some years ago. I'm not sure where the blue facings came from, but I seem to recall some idea of using them as 1815 Brunswickers! The paintings not brilliant, I need to practice my fine lines and colour seperation, but they are adequate. They are a 'Big Wars' unit of ten plus officer and mounted on a movement tray. One of the photos shows how they can be removed for open order or as casualties.

And here is A Battery RHA. Hopefully to be followed by B Battery complete with team of horses, (I.m trying to pluck up courage to start on it as I have a set of Langlay castings waiting). Also sitting on a movement tray for ease of shunting about, this unit has been hiding away, complete, in the loft, which is why it is not a volunteer unit.

p.s. I see that the photos are dated 01/01/2007, this is because
a) I'm using a small hand held cheap digital this time, rather than my SLR
b) I didn't realise there was a date setting until the photos appeared on the laptop.

I'm now working on a couple of light cavalry regiments, which will appear eventually. I do envy these people who can knock out a brilliantly painted unit in a metter of hours.  

New Year Resolutions

I hadn't got round to doing anything about New Year  Resolutions yet, apart from trying to decide what to do about retirement, so thought I'd better get something down (and they'll be in black 'n white, so I can check the lack of progress).
First, complete the build up two seperate forces for my 54mm Heptarchy. I've got most of one small force nearly complete (in castings, anyway, painting is going slowly - it's too cold in the shed and there's not much room on the table in the loungs corner, and the light's terrible) so I need to plan a second force and build some form of infrastructure (buildings and scenery) for games. I allready have the flat area outside the shed, about 8ft x 10ft, earmarked.
Second, I have had a part-built baseboard for a small model railway in the shed for a couple of years. It's time I completed it and built the layout.
Third, I'd like to try making a few of the 40's/50's era 50ft=1inch waterline warship plans (anyone remember Modelcraft Ltd) built and see if I can use them on the lawn. I think I've the ships for 'Sink the Bismark' if I use the Vanguard as Bismark.
On top of that I have quite a few 28mm figures to deal with, various general woodworking projects to see to, a 3ft pond yacht from the 50's to restore - as well as another project, still under planning-Will I have time to keep the blog updated.

Sorry, no pictures this time.

Insight into the Heptarchy

Some weeks ago I promised background into my British Heptarchy of small nations. This has been a harder job than I envisaged, and I have had a bit of a job finding the highlights. I've not even attempted a history, apart from little snippets that will fall into place over the years (I don't know them yet).

My Imagi-Nation is based on the premise that the various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of the 10th and 11th centuries never managed to combine into the single entity that became the British Isles. So we have variously sized kingdoms of the 'English' area and the neighbouring countries of the Kingdom of Strathclyde (Scotland) and the Republic of Wales. The following notes are a brief background to the current (19th century) situation, and covers the era known in an alternative reality as the 'Victorian' Era (1837 - 1901 + or - a few years)

The various smallkingdoms, principalities and duchies have struggled along in a state of amiably distrustful alliance and occasional enmity for centuries. Borders have changed now and then, first to one side then another (think Alsace-Lorraine) and though they all have seperateidentities, rulers, politics and relationships with each other they have been known to co-operate for the greater good. This happened most recently in the mid 1700's when the armies of Strathclyde crossed the northern borders to redress alleged abuse of drovers taking cattle to southern markets. This army, under the late king Charles and the Duke of Cumberland, got as close to the Mercian capital of Nottingham as Derby, was persuaded to retire by their army council, were followed back by a combined force from the Heptarchy and defeated at the battle of Culloden. Currently there are rumblings from the new Republic of France, Russia, and the recently unified Germany, over various trading and foreign interests.

A number of poloiticians in the kingdoms have recently been discussing the possibility of making a 'United Kingdom' similar to the German model, in order to smooth out border controls, unify taxes and centralise government. Talks have been extensive, have considerable opposition and cause much controversy between the 'fors' and 'againsts'. The main problem occupying the various state governments is the question of an overall monarch. Mercia feels that as the largest economy the eventual capital should be with them, in the centre of the country, while Wessex think they have tradition on their side with an unbroken line of succession from the time of Alfred.

The Welsh President, Mr. Llafanihangel Penbedw, has offered his services as mediator, and Cardigan castle as neutral grounds for a conference, though insisting that Wales will remain independent. The residents of Strathclyde have also expressed theor own desire to stat outside any Union.

So, some insight into the framework, which I think gives a number of options to follow. I shall give short specifics of each seperate entity at a later date. Any suggestions or comments gratefully receieved (though not neccessarily taken notice of). As the great German philosopher Heinz Zeit* said "it's a clever man who thinks of everything in time".

* Thanks to the membership of the Gnatterbox model railway forum for the name of this distinguished gentleman.

Big Wars

When I first came back to the Wargaming fraternity late last year a lot of my old reference books were in storage in the loft. I 'knew' that somewhere among them was a copy of Stuart Asquith and Jack Alexander's rule book for 54mm battles; BIG WARS. An initial search was ineffective but it transpired I was looking for a bookcover of the wrong colour, I was searching for what I remembered as a red book, while in effect once I found it (looking for something else) I discovered it was blue.

This A4 stapled booklet was privately published in 1993 and contains 15 pages of rules with as many of adverts for figure manufacturers (GBE, Ensign, Dorset, etc.) and  photocopied colonial period pictures. I think the appeal to me was that Line Infantry battalions are of 10 men plus an officer, Light Infantry battalions are 5 men (with or without officer) and Cavalry regiments are 4 men. Armies are therefore a lot smaller than current thinking. This must be where my 10 man regiment comes from, though I make my cavalry units 8 troopers as the smaller unit doesn't look large enough.

My project units are slowly evolving, there should be group photos soon, and then I can try some small scenarios with these rules, just to get the feel back.

In the meantime, Mr William Freese-Greene, of the 'Daily Messenger', has come up with a scoop, a photo taken at great risk, of the spies Altamont and Ashenden.

These are actually castings from my stockpile, of Holmes and Watson, made by 'Music in Miniature'.The car is from an old Highway Pioneers plastic kit and I've forgotten its make.

Building a Volunteer

Attached is a photo of my first conversion for many years. Done mainly to see if I still could, and to see what such a figure would look like. The main parts are a body from Prince August British Guard casting, arms from same, head from Langley castings, pack from spares box (Fort Henry Guard casting) and the rest, (straps, haversack, and much packing of joints) from assorted strips and lumps of miliput. Unfortunately, I know where all the mistakes are, so this chap will be relegated to guard duty somewhere away from the public eye.

Information for the uniform came from a CD purchased from Sean Ryan, runner of the Uniforms Of The World website, who sell CDs covering many varieties of uniform, all at a reasonable price and very easy to use. This is the illustration I used for my figure. (Used with Sean's permission) His website also has an extensive forum section, well worth a visit.

 http://www.uniformsotw.com/

I shall be having another go soon. I understand that Prince August have a mould making service if you provide a suitable master, so if I get a decent figure I might avail myself of that to produce the regiment.

Xmas presents

I received these three books over the Xmas period. Fully illistrated with at least one picture on each page, covering the works of all the well known artists. A lot of inspirational information covering most of the 19th century.

I hope you all got something that you wanted for Xmas.

Ah well, that's it all over for another year. Back to work at 7.30 tomorrow (wednesday).

Compliments of the Season

I didn't realise that I'd been so dilatory this month. Due to the seasonal takeover of my workroom/photo studio/library for present packing and storage, plus its proper use as spare bedroom, I have not got a great deal done. Also, I'm having trouble with my camera at the moment, so no photos anyway. I have bought quite a few 'picture' books over the past few weeks so have been studying those.

My resolution for next year is to do better on all fronts.

In the meantime, best wishes to all, and a card by one of my favourite cartoonists.