The Duchy of Tradgardland

Thursday, 30 July 2026

Old school’s not out for summer etc

The figures from the previous post are now just about ready for the table top.

Opps noticed the shield boss on the elephant rider needs painting, easily fixed.

Here they are ready and waiting to raid the far flung corners of the Empire.

Popped these old school delights on a single base as a unit of Dromedarii on patrol.

Here’s a link to an article on them-

https://www.historiascripta.org/classical-antiquity/dromedarii-camel-riders-in-the-roman-army/

In other news l managed to do this yesterday

Really wasn’t digging too enthusiastically at all, was most surprised when this breakage occurred.

Finally really enjoyed the Prog at the Proms on bbc iPlayer. Well worth a listen, some great interpretations of some classics.

Monday, 27 July 2026

An old school sort of day

It began by reading this splendid blog post over coffee-

https://pampersandp.blogspot.com/2026/07/a-further-tarriance-in-hyboria.html

And continued thus-

Looked out these Airfix Ancient Britons from the shed. This is the colour l recall from my youth. Sadly these have plastic rot and will need to be disposed of.

Looked out these from the shed also and took them off their tired thin card bases. Wondered if this broken hollow cast elephant might be deployed with them…

I ordered the Airfix’s magazine below from eBay recently, it arrived pm.

Interesting series of articles from Bob O’Brien on converting Airfix figures.

Some examples of conversions, even mentioning Banana Oil!

An interesting review from the same magazine re WRG rules. The magazine cover below.

Currently getting the Minifigs ready for the tabletop and their newly acquired elephant too. I envisage them to be some sort of desert raiders , a thorn in the flesh of many.

Sunday, 26 July 2026

And now for something completely different or the horror, the horror!

Branching out in my modelling, a wee estate loco for the garden railway. Even with instructions and an article in a garden railway glossy this is daunting!

Making a start.

Other stuff on the painting desk, plastic and resin.

Saturday, 25 July 2026

Trains etc

Wee videos, just for fun.

The locomotives are working, thanks to Brian and got their first wee run out yesterday and earlier this week.

I made the mistake of using the above glue to stick some track to concrete. I had never used it before and what a mess it made. Will need to try to get the excess glue off the slab,with a pick axe ?

The mess in all its glory. Nasty glue imho.

Outdoor cucumber coming along very nicely indeed.

To South Queensferry yesterday to accompany my daughter’s swim and then coffee and pastries at Dune.

Earlier in the summer we dragged this large potted plant out from the shadows where it had been since getting to a far more prominent place. Delighted with the look but it was to be the site of some garden railway developments, time for a rethink re railway.