One for the Pot!

Purely as a piece of frippery, and of course as an excuse to get the Dodo birds onto the table, we have here a somewhat slightly alternative reality where a small detachment of British infantry stop off on the Island of Mauritius en route to Australia.  Whilst taking the opportunity to stretch their legs, and test the new fangled daguerreotype camera the shore patrol also looked to subsidise their meagre rations of hardtack, or ship's biscuits, by hunting for some fresh meat.

And so we have it, the last known photographic evidence of the now extinct Dodo, (Raphus Cuculatus) may he rest in peace.

Book Review#4. - Explorers of the New Century

This short story or novella by Magnus Mills should have been so much more; a wonderful title and a premise that saw two teams of explorers attempting to reach the "agreed furthest point" from civilisation before the other.

At one level it reads as a good old fashioned adventure yarn with the make up of the two teams, apparently intrinsic to the plot, forming part of its charm.  On one side we have Johns' volunteers, an eclectic and eccentric band armed with little more than old fashioned derring do pitted against Tostig's professional, well equipped, dare one say automated, team.  Both exist in a fictional world where religion has been replaced by scientific  rhetoric and where strength of will and power determine policy.  So many intriguing plot lines, but that is part of the problem, there just isn't time to explore them fully resulting in a curtailed development of the plot and formation of the characters.  There are genuinely exciting and humorous moments but all too often we are left wanting more particular when the final twist, that you will probably have already guessed, is revealed.

At the core of this book are the themes of ethnic cleansing and racism, I can't go into further detail without spoiling the plot, but again we almost stumble upon them in the closing stages of the piece without giving them the depth of understanding they require.  I desperately want to give this more from the point of view of a rating but ultimately I was a little disappointed by it; a frustrating two crowns.

Empress New Zealand Wars, British

Having finally got the bygone world that was Timpo Toys out of my system it is well and truly time to get back on track, this time Empresses new range for the New Zealand War of 1845.  I had actually picked up a couple of packs of Maori warriors at 'Salute 2011' but have bottled starting them just at the moment; all those full facial tattoos proving to be far too daunting.  Instead I ordered up some of the British counterparts and have been very pleased with them.  Good, dynamic poses and faces full of character have become the trademark of the talented Mr. Hicks, the sculptor responsible for this series.  

These gentlemen have been painted to represent the 58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment who arrived in the country from Australia on the 22nd April 1845.

This set also marked a 'coming of age' with regards to the basing of my miniatures.  As you will see from previous posts I had been seduced by the large lipped bases and managed to find different variants for all occasions (cavalry, command etc.)  that said I was becoming only too aware that I was ultimately restricting myself when it came to games so I have finally bought some 25mm washers from 'Products for Wargamers' as depicted above.

Timpo Time#12 'The Crusades'

So this is it; finally we come to the end of this terribly self indulgent trip down memory lane.  I thank you for all for your patience and the comments along the way, it is clear to me that these brightly coloured pieces of plastic still have a place in all our hearts, even today.  Something about the range still strikes me as being wonderfully politically incorrect; the company seemed intrinsically understand exactly what its we   wanted and delivered accordingly.  

The final post of the collection has to be the Timpo Crusader Knights, refreshingly simple but sadly with no obvious rival combatants.  That said, with a little imagination, the Timpo 'Desert Fighters' could represent Saladin's Saracens; just remove their muskets and replace with scimitars.  This range also contains one of the most unusual model toys; look at the chap in green, he is actually holding a large boulder - genius!

And there we have it, all destined for another spell in the loft but I'm sure they will resurface from time to time.  There were so many other models that I missed out on; I would love to have had some of the 'Great Helm' knights and I have vague memories of a two man submarine from the WWII range, sadly they will have to remain memories as the chances of getting any more Timpo past the good lady wife are slim to no existent.  Now I must find out where I left my paintbrush and get back to work!

Timpo Time#11 'The Frozen North'

A slightly unusual departure for Timpo, the Frozen North Series sees us travelling through snow and ice to witness the everyday life of the Eskimos or Inuits.  The sets would include more bright coloured heroes this time wearing fur lined jackets and snow shoes.  The Igloo comes complete with a nifty ice window and is the perfect respite from the howling winds.  A kayak was included but care would be needed to navigate around the ice flows in search of seals and walruses. 

Nothing, however, was more dangerous or terrifying than a polar bear attack!

Timpo Time#10 'Messing about on the water'

What on earth could these two heavily moustachioed gentlemen be up to? Well clearly anything is possible in the Timpo universe, but in this case they are travelling down stream in a hastily created raft of planks and barrels.

Perhaps they were trying to evade capture from these chaps or even ...

the mighty Timpo four man war canoe.  Of course not everyone was in fear of the Indian, some managed to coexist peacefully, even trade with them provided of course you wore the obligatory racoon headwear.

Mind you not everyone was lucky enough to have a canoe and these gentlemen have had to resort to an alternative mode of transport - the log!  Nearly all the Timpo waterborne transport came with a metal keel that enabled the craft to sit well in the water without rolling over.

Timpo Time#9 'The Long Arm of the Law'

It was a tough place the 'Old West' where disagreements would often spill over into the lives of the good honest folk.  Towns sprang up and to enforce the law sheriffs had to be fast on the draw.  The Timpo world of Clay County was no exception with our illustrious marshall and his plug in star breaking up this disturbance.  The 'bad guy's' bag actually says, "US Bank".  The chap with the knife is a Timpo third series cowboys released in 1972. 

Fortunately for the sheriff he could pack off his nefarious outlaws in the Timpo jail Wagon and rest easy for the evening; or could he ...

Trouble was never far away, the outlaws becoming more and more adept at evading the 'Long Arm of the Law'.