Uptown funk

 Went uptown yesterday for a bit of shopping and bought this on a whim

Thought the figures might be fun to have a go at and there were good looking articles. An interesting one on A War Transformed. I seem to be buying glossies more than I did.

I am in a bit of a funk currently but trying to get out of it . To cut a long story short , last week one of my daughters had set off for work in the morning and passed some large bins. As she passed a man with a knife suddenly rose up from one of the bins in a threatening manner. My daughter ran as fast as she could, wasn’t followed and was ok. It shook her up badly and me too if  I am honest . Trying to move on from it but it is hard.

I’m not settling to any hobby projects at the moment. So yesterday assembled a few resin figures and will give them a wee paint-

Undercoated they look fantastic, will see what I can make of them…

Eighteenth century amphibious warfare, of a sort…

 A fascinating blog post this morning on the first German submarine-

http://warsoflouisxiv.blogspot.com/2023/11/steinhude-pike.html

Led me to find this fascinating example of eighteenth century invention-

This crying out to be modelled and used on the Wargames table, even as a vignette. Others may see it as the change to raise a fascinating light infantry unit. 54mm, 28mm or even 10/6 mm it would look great…

Minceheim in 54mm

 Trying out Minceheim in 54mm today.

For the rules follow the link- https://brushandbattle.blogspot.com/2022/11/an-invitation-to-minceheim.html?sc=1669739473035#c5110901850199631417

Trying out ideas such as allowing the elves bonus when shooting and faster movement.

This was thee first time I had used the 2 sided product below. It worked well.

Weekend

 The weekend saw me at two local arts events , a comic one and an open studios one-

Firstly in Abbot’s House. The stair was done up as part of the refurbishment.

But the masterpiece awaited on the top floor. The ceiling murals by Alasdair Gray were everything l had hoped them to be. See here-http://www.sorchadallas.com/works/1830/images

The comic fayre was interesting and daughter number two supported the local artists by buying some of their wares.

I do hope to be back for a proper look at the ceiling one day…

The Open Studios were in a former fire station. https://firestationcreative.co.uk/creators/

We really enjoyed chatting to the artists and seeing their work. The building has preserved much of its Art Deco character which is a delight.

Saturday afternoon saw another meeting of the Virtual Wargames Club via Zoom. A delight of creativity, bad puns, prog rock references and dad jokes. Not to mention people talking about their latest projects offering encouragement and hobby advice. We happy few…

Always looking for new recruits, leave a comment if interested…

John Ruddle Collection and Auction

 Mark Mof T has an interesting post this morning.

Complete with link to the Auction catalogue.

https://manoftinblogtwo.wordpress.com/2023/11/25/the-john-ruddle-collection-of-britains-toy-soldiers-c-t-auction-6th-december-2023/

In Edinburgh

 Yesterday saw me in Edinburgh for a productive and enjoyable Christmas shopping day.

Got off at Haymarket and was moved as ever by the Hearts War Memorial-

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_Midlothian_F.C._and_World_War_I

This building is new on the Edinburgh skyline, it is beginning to grow on me…

Was off to see this film today but real life has intervened. Will go soon.

My bag of swag , a good shop accomplished and an enjoyable dérive too.

Feta and Fennel scone in a new cafe ( to me) I discovered on my travels.

Two ornithological pictures- the cafe above and these charming pigeon sculptures below.

Lurlander armies

 Finished some small forces for my Lurland games using these rules-

Now the armies as they stand-

The West Mark army, vaguely Roman in appearance they are from an Empire that has fallen upon hard times.

The men of Lurland, vaguely Germanic/Scandinavian late Bronze Age. Here you can see the sky disc beloved by Lurlanders - https://www.archaeology.org/issues/337-1905/features/7543-maps-germany-nebra-sky-disc

Warriors of The Tribes with long chopping swords which bend easily in combat and require straightening.

Further progress

 Things in Lurland continue to move forward. Yesterday late afternoon saw me soaking the figures in water ( only up to their ankles ) to remove the cardboard bases. After that I scrapped the remaining static grass and basing material off leaving bare metal bases. Here below you see the figures in the water bath-

Earlier in the day a similar process was completed on the “Romans” but as they had less basing material a quick dip ( rather that immersion for a few minutes) was all that was required prior to scraping.

Later on I was able to stick the “Romans” onto their bases. I glued everything this time with pva which would allow easier removal if that was ever needed. The figures in the top picture are ready for basing and will be based in the coming days…

So far I am pleased with the work undertaken. They figures look good based as multiples rather than on their own. They are easier to handle and will probably be used more as a result. There are lots more to base but l have run out of bases and will have to order some shortly. The “Romans” are partially based on deeper bases which has worked well.

As for further purchases l would like a few chariots ( Celtic) and a couple of elephants and that would probably be sufficient. This is proving to be enjoyable and I am glad I undertook rebasing.

Ace of base etc

 Spent part of Sunday basing my Scandanavian/ Germanic Bronze Age zinnfiguren-

Need another coat or two on the bases upon reflection.

Also found the box I bought April 2020-

I realised part of the reason the project stalled-

I was overwhelmed by the amount of flash on the figures as shown above and below-

What would be the best way to get rid of the flash and with what tool ?I have a horror of tiny bits of metal which probably stems from reading too many posters in scan waiting rooms. 

Model Railway Show

 Yesterday I got the 28 bus from Dunfermline to Falkirk. One and a half hours through all airts and pairts of Fife. After that a swop to a 4 and l arrived-

I lived for a year in Falkirk around the mid eighties and have happy memories of the place.

I was here for the model railway show , held in an indoor athletics track,  traders round the sides and exhibits down the centre.

Barriers keep you back from most of the exhibits . I was spoken to only once and then by a woman in the crowd who gave me advice as to how to get the best angle to photograph a waterfall. I wanted to ask the odd question or two but exhibitors were busy sorting trains and I caught no one’s eye. Nobody actively engaged with me.  Mixed crowd compared with a Wargames Show, more woman and children as well as some women exhibiting. Nice toy train set up on a table for children to play with.All that said and done I really enjoyed the show and found the exhibits and trade stands very engaging-

WW2 German munitions trains carrying troops, tanks and equipment.

I liked this night time scene with lovely lit up buildings.

Goathland Station and a “ Heartbeat themed layout. We were challenged to find the characters from the show. Here is one on the bridge below-

Guardbridge near St Andrews  before the line was closed.

The track crosses the river at Guardbridge. You can still see the stone pillars to this day.

0N30 scene with real water. It looked great and must have been something to make.

Another shot, the one suggested by the visitor…

An aerial shot, I was most taken with this layout.

A 1/24 th scale logging/sawmill place. I really liked the semi flat buildings.

A busy nineteenth century American layout with figures from Knucklebone Miniatures the signage said.

Inverkeithing Station , layout set in present time. Small scale. Station l pass through regularly or change at.

Heartbeat country again. I recall getting off the train with Jan and the girls here on a tremendously hot summer day about twenty years ago.

All in all an interesting visit. Afterwards a vintage bus took me to the lower station in Falkirk and l got the train home to Dunfermline via Waverley. A grand day out.