e-bay items of interest?

As I've mentioned, one of my other interests is fretwork and I have a standard saved search on my e-bay files. These two popped up today. I already have these in my collection, but someone else may be interested in checking them out.

two forts in the old style.

four military vehicles.

Further details can be found by going to - hobbies plans - newly listed.

A couple of photos

I see Captain Widdrington, our roving Military Observer, has been getting some action, in more than one sense of the word. Perhaps not everything will be going in his official reports? His latest exploits in Svennhasselstein can be viewed over at  the Megablitz and others blog, and on the Funny Little Wars forum, courtesy of Tim. Gow. Thank you. Who knows where he'll turn up next? he certainly hasn't told his office.

                                         photo 'borrowed' from Tim, if that's ok?

Next, a request. Over the past few months I've been trawling through my late mother's cache of family photos. Most are fairly recent (i.e. post war) but among some of the older ones is this.

 

Taken, according to the back, by G.W.Lawrie & Co, of Lucknow, Naini Tal, Bareilly and Ranikhet.

 

Obviously a family member, but no-one seems to know him. Can anyone help identify the uniform? I don't know if it shows up, but the trousers seem to have 'tartan' style lines on them. I have a swagger stick with a Staffordshires crest on it, which could be the one in the photo, but I can't place the badge.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

(ps, family scuttlebutt has a vaguely remembered 'Uncle Arthur', who, on his demise, had three women claim a widows pension!! I like to think this is him, using his various postings - "I have to go out to Inja for a couple of years, me dear. See you then"

More Rifle Volunteers

It has been a while since I put anything up here. I blame the gorgeous weather we've been having, as not being conducive to painting indoors. However, MrsJ and I have just spent 7 days up in the Lake District in the caravan, just by the shores of Lake Coniston, and in the odd bits of spare time I've managed to paint a couple of prototypes for a new Rifle Volunteer unit.

As some of you may know, I continue my search for an ideal figure to fulfil the role of the early style uniform, utilising the long frock and low shako (though some of the units had variations on coat and headgear which makes the search interesting). Recently while trawling e-bay I came across a box of Armies In Plastic ACW Confederate Marines which seemed to fit the bill, so ordered one. 20 figures including two officers - the makings of two units if they worked.

Digging out my references I found this

from www.uniformsotw.com CD 17 - Britain's Volunteers of the 1860s.

Some work with a small model railway track pin and some miliput produced plumes, and I was able to paint up one officer and a rifleman. I took a few liberties with the equipment colouring, but the essentials are there. Now I have to do the rest of the unit, then the second one will have pom-poms rather than plumes, and a different base colour (I'm thinking the green of the Robin Hood Rifles).

I shall have to do something about the officers double breasted jacket though.

I've made myself a promise that I won't start any more paint jobs till I've finished the seven already on the go are completed! This is on top of all the other things going on in the shed concerning model railways and model boats. I thought retirement was supposed to be a life of ease and reflection?

FLW Artillery Park

Going off to the Norfolk Broads in the caravan for the weekend after lunch, but while MrJ is busy packing it full of far too much food and a few bottles of wine (don't drink it myself, but we are expecting visitors) I managed to get the spray paint out and cover the illustrated guns and limbers in a uniform grey. These will form my basic FLW artillery units. I know the guns are non-firing so I'll have to use the dice system.

The models are from the Langley range and needed quite a bit of tidying up before painting. I've noticed this with their figures as well, so perhaps they are not so interested in the range any more, but concentrating on their model railway stuff. More about this when I get round to my next cavalry unit.  The artillery crews are half painted on the desk and I'll finish them off when I get back.

So, until Tuesday,

HMS Thunderation.

It has been a very hot couple of weeks, and not a lot has been done, though I have picked up the reins of a project I started a couple of years ago, and it has been neglected since. I've promised myself a working model of a pre-dreadnought battleship for years, and a recent trip to Woodbridge regatta meant seeing the Model Boat Club out on the pond. This rekindled my interest and in a burst of 'do it now before losing momentum' I signed up to join. This means I need a boat!
In the shed, on a back shelf, I had a started hull for HMS DEVASTATION, started some time ago from NMM official plans, which, as they were a combination of two ships 'Devastation' and 'Thumderer', I'd called HMS Thunderation. The following photo shows progress to present, and I expect (hope) to have a water going model by spring.

 

 

 



The model is some 22 inches long and I'm not sure of the scale offhand. Progress is not going to be swift, but I shall keep you informed now and then.

 

For those interested in such things, I recommend a website   www.victorianshipmodels.com/colossus  especially the little video where the ship is put together piece by piece, with all the internals falling into place.                                            

A hot weekend

MrsJ  recently expressed a desire to get away for a weekend in the caravan, so I obliged by booking a couple of nights at a site in Bearsted, just of the M20 near Maidstone. I did tell her that I had an ulterior motive, and that was a visit to Chatham Historic Dockyard, some 20 minutes away. She thought it would be a short visit leaving time to go somewhere else!

We arrived about 10.15 to a nearly empty carpark, paid our fees (one and a cheap oldie) and spent the next 5 hours there. As we left the entrance building we saw the three historic ships that can be roamed around. HMS Gannett, the epitomy of Victorian gun-boat diplomacy currently being restored (I hope they fit replica engines, the boiler room looks so empty) and I took a few photos of the interior.

 

 

photo taken from bridge of HMS Cavalier

 

 

booked a timeslot for a tour of HMS Ocelot, the Cold War submarine (I know submariners were volunteers, I didn't realise they had to slightly barmy too). Various little snippets from the guide - crew only allowed one change of clothing, often wore same clothes all week then turned underwear inside out for a second week, 21 crew members living/sleeping/eating in a room not much larger than my garage, - I realise that those old films don't exaggerate the crowded conditions at all.

 

An audio tour of the 1940s/50s destroyer HMS Cavalier. we covered the whole ship from deck to bridge. Again, surprising how cramped everything was.

 



Mrs J to give a sense of scale. According to my memory of the information plaque (nothing to write with) this is a scale model of a Kilo class submarine, and was one of those used in the Bond film "Thunderball". We also saw a model of HMS Victory used in the film "That Hamilton Woman", again larger than expected.

A tour of the Ropery, still producing rope commercially but under private enterprise, was a joy. Our lady guide became a Victorian ropewalk worker and went through the whole process, ending up with assorted group members helping make a rope. It must have been extremely noisy when going flat out, and no Health and Safety either.

The various "show sheds" of models and paintings didn't allow photography, and though there were only a few of the models on display from the NMMs collection, it was possible to look through a window into an environmentally controlled  storeroom and see others. I believe that if you want to view a particular model this can be arranged In advance.

All in all, an enjoyable day, and MrsJ says that she wasn't too bored by it. I'll have to go somewhere feminine now, to repay her.

Book of the Month (really a DVD)

Things are quiet chez Joppy at the moment, holidays and outdoor projects taking precedence. However, I have just taken delivery of a recent DVD issue which may be of interest to those of you with FLW interests.

                                                     Virgin of the Secret Service
Some of you of a certain age and with long memories may remember this series from the 1960s, but here is a reminder. The box holds 4 discs containing the complete series of 13 episodes. I have only watched the first so far so the comments are based on that.

The series is set in the early 1900s (pictures of Edward V11 on barrack walls) in the early days of the Secret Service under the guidance of Colonel Shaw-Camberley, and Captain Robert Virgin (Clinton Greyn) is the pseudonymous hero, aided by his batman Doublett (John Cater) and an attractive lady 'journalist/spy' Mrs Cortez (Veronica Strong). Their antagonist throughout the series is the wily free-lance villain Karl Von Brauner (Alexander Dore).Their adventures take them from the North West Frontier to Russia, Brazil, India, Egypt and other places, safeguarding frontiers, protecting secrets and thwarting assasinations.

The episodes are in black and white, though there are colour photos on the jacket, so perhaps the later episodes are colour. Don't expect modern 'Spooks' style programming. The photography is decidedly dodgy and the acting is very OTT and 'hammy', Carry on up the Khyber is a masterpiece in comparison. The dialogue is long-winded and static appearing to be very much tongue-in-cheek with fighting sequences being very staged. I think the writers saw this as a comic show rather than drama.

Having said all that, I think all aficiondos of FLW would enjoy the series, and it could produce some scenarios (exploding sweetmeats delivered to the British commanding officer) or character possibilities (the colonel who thought a game of polo more important than the safety of the frontier).

My copy came from Simply Home Entertainment - www.simplyhe.co.uk - at £34.99