It will not have escaped the attention of those who pass by these inane ramblings, masquerading as a wargaming blog, that there has been somewhat of a major twist in direction! The year had started well with both the Crimea and Anglo-Zulu Wars revisited with some success, but an apparent fixation with 'Pulp' style adventures and prehistoric beasties has seen the author go beyond the pale! Well this post is devised with the sole purpose of putting these concerns into perspective. One of my targets for the year was to actually 'play a game' and to that end various rule sets have been purchased including the sumptuous 'Black Powder' and the skirmish driven, 'Triumph & Tragedy'. The problem is that been such a novice, even these most playable of rule sets sees me scratching my head and wondering, 'what on earth is going on?' I am not a member of a club and so the initial 'jumpmg off' point needs to be some form of solo or role playing game. Scrabbling around for an idea I chanced upon 'Tooth and Claw', but again found that I needed something even simpler and as luck would have it came across '2HourWARGAMES'; this has my name written all over it; simple, quick and very light hearted.
'Schleich' Saichania
'CollectA' Styracosaurus
With the distraction that has become known as '28mm Tales of Adventure' (it even got its own 'ident' link on the sidebar! The image gleaned from the wonderfully 'pulp' artwork of the 'Spicy-Advnture Stories from the 1930s.) the idea of playing a game entitled 'Adventures in the Lost Lands' seemed like too good an opportunity to miss! The discovery of 'Copplestone Castings' has been a Godsend with regards to miniatures that I would need, but I was somewhat apprehensive about the dinosaurs. This is really only meant to be the briefest of distractions, to build self confidence and gain a basic understanding of gaming dynamics. Investing huge amounts of time and money into prehistoric beastliness is not part of the master plan - yes there is a plan... somewhere! A couple of well spent hours trawling around the infoweb brought the answer; and it was plastic!
'Oh my Goodness!' Things have certainly moved on in the toy dinosaur market from when I was a lad, just look at what you can now get with your pocket money! There is no end of well sculpted, often well painted plastic 'Dino fun' to be had and I've taken this opportunity to share a few with you here. Perhaps a little out of scale, but given that this is only meant to be a minor distraction and all about having fun, who cares? (With regards to scale, some of the 'Schleich' models have a plastic figure around their neck to indicate the scale between humans and dinosaur; not too far away from a 28mm miniature!)
‘Safari Toys’ Iguanodon
I'm afraid that this most recent of distractions is presenting itself as an itch that needs to be scratched! Nonetheless it should allow me to return to my beloved Victorian era with the confidence required to move all my projects forward with a clearer understanding of what is required. Well that is the plan anyway!
'Schleich' & 'CollectA' Allosaurus
The same, but now rebased
Just as a very brief aside, the 'Provost Marshal' on a recent inspection of the troops here at 'Awdry Towers' , dropped into the conversation, "and you know what the spikes at the end of a Stegosaurus' tail are called don't you?" He said it in such a way that I was instantly convinced that I should know the answer to this, after all the loft space of my parents' house still groans under the weight of long forgotten tomes on dinosaur lore! For the life of me I couldn't recall the name... "Thagomizer". Yes 'Thagomizer', a great name and if you believe the story it was coined by the great Gary Larson in a 'Far Side' comic from 1982. The name was appropriated by the scientific community and is now a recognised 'informal' anatomical term! You just can't make this stuff up!
“It’s behind you!” I just don't seem to be able to get enough of these wonderful 'Copplestone Castings' sculpts; they are just so much fun to do. The latest off the painting queue are these 'Dinosaur Hunters'.
I love the fact that they have such a 'human' quality to them; there are no over devloped biceps or futuristic weopany. In fact three more unlikely Dinousaur Hunters it is hard to imagine! In the photographs below, fans of 'It ain't half hot, Mum' will find it hard not to draw comapsions between the chap on the left and Gunner 'Lofty' Sugden, played by Don Estelle. The slightly more 'rugged' fellow in the middle could have stepped out of the pages of an H. Rider Haggard adventure. As for the Cuban, wielding gentleman on the right, let us just say,
“Hooray for Captain Spaulding!”
Just for those who might be unfamiliar with the references alluded to, have a look at these short clips and see what you think. Just as a brief aside, T-Rex was by Schleich toys, but more of them a little later!
The desire to venture deeper into the depths of uncharted territory continues unabated with yet more goodness from the very talented Mark Copplestone.
These 'little chaps' are from the Botocudo Indian Archers pack and were a delight to do once I had settled on a palette for the skin. In this case I ended up using a combination of Foundry and Vallejo Model Colour. So from shadow to highlight the skin was represented thus;
Foundry Musket Stock Brown (Light), Vallejo Red Leather and finally Foundry Conker Brown (Light)
Several Amazonian tribes are mentioned in 'The Lost City of Z' some feared to have cannibalistic tendencies, others proved to be helpful to Colonel Fawcett on his exhibitions, but all have a mysterious quality that I wanted to achieve with these miniatures. To that end they were given black, face paint blindfolds based on photographs that I had seen of actual Amazonian tribes.
It seemed only right and proper to have a go at stringing the bows. Paul, of 'Paul's Bods', manages to do this with 1/72 miniatures to great effect (A fabulous blog, that I would recommend to anyone), so surely I must be able to achieve the same with a 28mm figure... Oh my goodness! There was cotton thread and superglue everywhere, but in the end we managed to get a passable result.
Well there's shameless, attention grabbing title that I couldn't have envisaged writing a couple of weeks ago! The '28mm Tales of Adventure' distraction continues apace with this contribution from 'Otherworld Miniatures'. I am laying the blame for this purchase squarely at the feet of my good friend the 'Provost Marshal' who seems to take far too much delight in finding these distractions for me. That said I knew that as soon as I saw it it that I just had to have one. It certainly was a rather splendid sculpt and the intention was to paint him as a fairly generic constrictor, ideally representing the great Amazonian Anaconda, but I'm not sure I should have spent quite as much money on him as I did!
In 1907, whilst on one of his many South American expeditions, Colonel Percy Fawcett (for more information see the post on 'The Lost City of Z') reported seeing, and shooting, a sixty two foot Anaconda. He is said to have 'fired at the object until smoke filled the air'. As the canoe, the party were in, pulled alongside the body, Colonel Fawcett pulled out his knife, apparently with the intent of selecting a sample of skin. As he cut into the creature it jolted towards him resulting in the party fleeing in fear!
The following advice is actually an urban myth, purporting to be from the US Government Peace Corps Manual for its volunteers who work in the Amazon Jungle. This, then, is what to do in case you are attacked by an anaconda:
1. If you are attacked by an anaconda, do not run. The snake is faster than you are.
2. Lie flat on the ground. Put your arms tight against your sides, your legs tight against one another.
3. Tuck your chin in.
4. The snake will come and begin to nudge and climb over your body.
5. Do not panic.
6. After the snake has examined you, it will begin to swallow you from the feet and - always from the end. Permit the snake to swallow your feet and ankles. Do not panic.
7. The snake will now begin to suck your legs into its body. You must lie perfectly still. This will take a long time.
8. When the snake has reached your knees slowly and with as little movement as possible, reach down, take your knife and very gently slide it into the side of the snake's mouth between the edge of its mouth and your leg, then suddenly rip upwards, severing the snake's head.
9. Be sure you have your knife.
10. Be sure your knife is sharp.
‘28mm Victorian Warfare’ and by association ‘28mm Tales of Adventure’cannot be held responsible in any way if this doesn’t work!
"Did you bring your knife?"
WARNING! Those of a delicate disposition should think twice about viewing the following video entitled, 'Huge Dead Snake'; you have been warned!
Well the wheels have well and truly come off my good intentions for the year as I find myself wonderfully distracted by these gentlemen from 'Copplestone Castings'. I could square this away by saying that they are the latest folly to be influenced by my reading habits but the truth of the matter is that there is all manner of curiosities taking their their place in the painting queue; I think we just need to see where this takes one!
I think the first thing to say is how taken I am with 'Copplestone' whose service and quality of work are tremendous. There two are from the 'Jolly Good Chaps' and 'Armed Archeologists' sets and picked out because of their 'Britishness' and resolute stiff upper lip; Colonel Fawcett would be proud I'm sure.
So it's off to the last remaining undiscovered area of the map for these gentlemen and who knows what they will they find? Stay tuned for more instalments from
Ignorance, they say, is bliss until of course you have that cold dawning that you're the one that is being ignorant, at which point it's just plain embarrassing! This is how I felt a couple of chapters into David Grann's 'The Lost City of Z'. I had picked the book up in the summer and, if I'm honest, solely due to the cover art and dust-jacket blurb foretelling a great Amazonian trek by an eccentric British explorer. On the surface this was nothing more than a rip roaring adventure yarn set amidst the verdant backdrop of the Amazonian rain forest at the turn of the Twentieth Century. Our hero, a seemingly indestructible Englishmen, with the constitution of an ox and the mindset of a monk, apparently redefined jungle exploration at the time. There appeared to be several other side threads running alongside the main narrative, the most predominant been that of a reporter, seemingly absorbed by the legend. It was shortly after this that I realised my naivety. The Lost City of Z, was actually based on a true account of the life and mysterious disappearance of Percy Fawcett.
Fawcett in 1911
Narrated by David Grann, who has taken up the cause, the book charts the life and early career of Colonel Fawcett and is an absolutely fascinating read. We are drawn into the mindset of a sigualrly polarised explorer who was determined to locate evidence of a once considerable civilisation deep in the jungle. His paranoia growing to such an extreme that he trusted no one with the jumping off coordinates for what was ultimately to be his last expedition.
For someone with little knowledge of this period of exploration to one of the world's most inhospitable places, this was a great start. Fawcett is most definitely a man that legends are made of with bushy moustache bristling on a stiff upper lip. Stylistically I was left feeling that the author was stuck between two devices that of narrator and travel writer and subsequently it felt a little cumbersome in places. What I can say is that I am absolutely hooked by the idea of Victorian exploration and adventure, the book highligteng the fate of many who went in search of fame and riches or simply, because it was there.
I know only too well that I will become wonderfully sidetracked in my hobby as a direct result of this book! A well deserved three crowns.
Enjoying a little holiday period at present and managing to clear the painting table of half started projects before what promises to be a somewhat diverse couple of months - at least hobby wise anyway. This curious group of wounded Zulus by 'Empress Miniatures' struck me as a little odd as I was painting them up; I understand the need for casualty markers to indicate the loss of units but these of course are in the throws of shuffling off this mortal coil and seem a strange addition to any front rank of troops! I'm sure someone will have a better handle on their possible use than I, but back to the actual figures themselves. The usual high quality ones expects from 'Empress', although I take exception at the chap second from the left, who looks far too healthy to be included in a casualties pack! In essence you have two married and two unmarried Zulus to bolster your numbers.
The Zulu, a hardy warrior at the best of times, was suddenly exposed to an all too devastating array of weaponry during the British invasion of 1879. Whereas prior medical care would have consisted of washing, packing and perhaps stitching a wound they were now faced with having to deal with blast injuries from artillery pieces, rocket burns and of cause the horrific damage caused by a high velocity Martini-Henry round shattering the bone. Not surprising then, that any serious trauma sustained on the field of battle often proved fatal to the Zulu.
