HG Wells and Holmes meet Ai

 Taking advantage of the pleasant weather Sherlock Holmes has gone to Germany to take the air and relax . He was pleased to meet up with his old friend H.G. Wells and his companion (?) (a woman who is certainly NOT Mrs Wells) , also there was Professor Moriarty who Holmes had met before but was not too keen on if truth be told . They go on an outing to a spectacular waterfall and gorge which is best veiwed from a rather narrow ledge .

Moriarty is facinated by it -  HG and his companion less so ! 

On the return journey HG Wells takes Holmes to one side to voice his opinion on the Professor which is not complementary !. Of course I have been dabbling with AI again ! and not taking my figures abroad ! (Click on the photos to enlarge )(the waterfall photos have added AI waterfall spray and the last one I asked for a Tyrolean backdrop and a rustic sign ) 

If Mathew Brady (Junior) had access to AI

 

He we see Mathew Brady (junior) taking an outdoor photo of two military men near his studio in Toyeland, he has relocated there because of some problems withe the Authorities in France over some photos he had taken of young country girls in a state of undress - he prefers to call the genre ' Females in the state of nature' 

His photograph .

And me playing with AI , I must admit I'm rather pleased with this effect ! 

AI meets Toy Soldiers

Messing about with AI , I took this photo several years and asked AI to reproduce it as a Victorian postcard .

Interesting how AI can get carried away with itself - by putting the stamp on the wrong side of the cards, probably to enhance the Victorian feel of them. I'm still in two minds on AI !?.......

....... I remember HAL in 2001 A Space Odessey !

 

Peter Cushing - a Wargamer with Style !

 

Now that's painting figures with style ! - that's whats wrong with the hobby - a lack of dress sense !

Found these on the Peter Cushing Appreciation Society Facebook page . A different era sadly lost - but I wouldn't want to wear a tie to game !

The very model of a modern Major General - well in 54mm .

 

I've got around to sorting out the six mounted figures I bought and here they are resplendent in the sunshine. 

I didn't repaint them , just touched up any damage - which there wasn't much and gave them another coat of gloss varnish.

I had to think of a way to add bases to them as they fall over very easily on 'the Tabletop of Mars' . I've tried several different methods , none of which were a success - then I hit on this idea , which I call the 'Carousel' method - I drilled a hole in the stomach of the horse and fitted a cocktail stick , then I drilled a hole in a sutable base which the stick is glued into . It seems to be working so far .

This chap has a rather purple face - to many ports maybe ?

Another view of the 'Carousel' method of basing .

This figure is I think a modern recast as he is solid metal - had to use a bigger base to fit the horse . Someone has taken a lot of trouble adding the flowing feathers to his Topee from thin pieces of metal foil !. These figures will be appearing in various guises of command in the future on 'The Tabletop of Mars' 

One of lifes little pleasures .

 

I do like returning from holiday to find a parcel awaiting me ! . I must admit I had forgotten I had placed a bid on some figures on eBay - which I had won !!

Luckily I alerted my ever obliging neighbour who kept an eye open for the postman and kept it safe for me . It contained six old hollow cast mounted Officers - but the interesting thing is each had been converted by their previous owners with head sawps and paint jobs .

I do like second hand figures with a bit of history with them ! . why were they converted - battle damage ? , how many battles have they seen ? . I am going to only repair any slight damage to the paint to keep their individual character and find someway to attach them to bases so they can appear on the 'Tabletop of Mars' . I will report on their progress.

More figures from the 'to do' box finished.

 

Got more of my 'to do box' figures done and even got them outdoors for photo shoot .

The mould I used is one of the older Prince August 54mm and although it usually casts well the arms don't fit well to the body and need quite a bit of glueing and filling to get them to fit .

Here they are with the other 'to do' figures undercoated up . I've given over using spray cans and just use the air brush paint with a large brush to undercat them.

Think the black undercoat helps with the Rifle Green uniform colour . I've rather gone overboard with the rosy cheek look - must be the bracing weather !

A few from my box of possibilities.

 

 

Whilst I was tidying the shed I came across my box of odd figures which might be worth renovating (my father had a draw which he put things which might be of possible use - and by and large never were) , so this is my box of possibilites. I dumped a few into Dettol to remove the paint from them and having cleaned them I'm suprised at the detail on these two , they are an odd scale the standing one being 65mm tall think they are home cast in lead from a Schiercke mould and look like French Chasseures.

This is an odd one , World War One (?) and perhaps large 40mm scale , he's going to need cleaning up with a file to remove the flash .

I do like this figure - so full of energy ! . Probably a WW1  cavalryman and he's 40mm scale, again homecast in pure lead and very bendy , he needs cleaning up to get rid of the flash but will make a great ADC/dispatch rider for my Balkans Imagination collection . I'm pleased to get these done and ready for painting and will post further updates .

World Toy Soldier Day (who knew it ?)

 

World Toy Soldier Day ! - well I'll be d****d ! I didn't know it was a thing till I read it on The Duchy of Tradgardland: What l did for World Toy Soldier Day… as it happened I was in shed doing some casting as the weather has turned pleasantly mild and I'd tidied up the work bench of all the clutter that had accumulated over winter .

Some of the Prince August moulds can be a nightmare to cast from , but this little one for head in 54mm is a gem and works every time ! 

Some of the fruits of the casting pot . I need enough for six figures to round up my 54mm 'Red Army' Rifle Brigade unit to twelve models . The Goddess of Homecasting smiled on me and they are ready for cleaning up and glueing together.

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Toy Soldiers in the sunshine.

 

Got the Schiercke casting varnished and taking advantage of the early morning sun took them into the garden for a photoshoot.(.: Finding an oddity .)

I've always thought that the larger scale figures look at their best outdoors in an natural enviroment .

I'm very pleased how they have turned out and although to larger scale (70mm tall) to grace the wargaming table they will take pride of place on my bookshelves .

A before photo - a great improvement to their martial pride  .

Come listen to the Band !

 

As I mentioned in a previous post I bought some figures from our local Bric-a-Brac shop . I also bought these Bandsmen , they were obviously painted and based by the same person as they both have the rather chunky bases . As you can tell from the missing paint from the ankles they are VERY  bendy being made from pure lead . 

In some ways it was a bit of a shame to take them off the base which someone had spent a lot of effort on , but here they are on their new bases , I will be undercoating them and then repainting as Prussians , more when I get around to painting them.

The Henry C. Schiercke casting catalogue from the 1930s (?)

 

Found this complete catalogue online 

I do like the 'Pressure Cannon' !

Getting paint on lead .

 

I've finally got around to painting the odd lead figures I mentioned in the last post . I've painted them as French Chasseures a Pied of the late 19th century.

I will get them varnished when I've got the other four done .

I did a bit of searching on the internet to try and find more about the figures and this so far is the only photo I have found of them and the mould they came from . It is from over fifteen years ago , they are quite distinctive as their rifles are being carried slung and not shouldered as normally in toy soldiers of this era, are the moulds made by Schnieder ? I will try and investigate further .

PS 

Found this on the internet - figures circled -

From this catalouge , more info later.