Steve Cooney, who has supplied me with figures in the past and occasionally sends me some splendid pictures of his collection, has very kindly mailed me some photos of his ECW troops, which are Hinton Hunt and Les Higgins 20mm castings, many of them cleverly converted.
Been busy last couple of weeks - keeping my head down to avoid seeing the news. Five new battalions ready for duty. I'm pleased with them. As ever, figures are mostly Les Higgins (small) 20mm from long ago - flags are by David at the excellent Not By Appointment blog, laser-printed to scale by Malcolm at Lothian Printers.
At the front are two battalions of Régiment de Poitou (thank you very much, Lee), in the 2nd row are two battalions of Régiment du Dauphin, and at the rear the single battalion of Régiment de Saintonge.
Something I found when I was clearing my mother's house. I had no idea what it was, but it looked sort of interesting, so I hung on to it. I still have no idea what it is, so would welcome some suggestions.
The size is given by the librarian's glove (which is just present to stop the thing rolling about). It is obviously a glass measuring device of some sort - the narrowness of the internal tube suggests that the units may be smaller than millilitres, but it could be ml, I guess. There is a small glass funnel at the top, with a pouring lip, and the tip is tapered; looks to me as though it is intended to add small amounts of something to a mixture - that sort of thing.
(1) it was never very valuable
(2) it was purchased after decimalisation (1971)...
(3) ...but soon enough after decimalisation for the UK still to be working in accurate conversions from Old Money.
There was no obvious context given by where it was stored - it wasn't in the bathroom cabinet, it was in a cupboard in the boxroom, with odd drawing tools and spare lightbulbs. As far as I know, my father wasn't into drugs or tricky medication, and he wasn't a chemist. He was a photographer, however (of a sort), and for some years he was an enthusiastic (though disastrous) amateur wine-maker (Sprout Port, anyone?). The clues run out at this point, though of course I'm happy to answer any questions you may have!
Another unit of 20mm French infantry ready for duty. This time very nicely (and generously) painted by Count Goya - thank you, sir - the army salutes you!
As usual, figures are Les Higgins/PMD apart from the mounted officers, who are by Irregular on Higgins horses. The laser-printed flags are used by permission of David at Not by Appointment, for which thanks. I'm still working on a successful way of colouring the paper edges - my traditional use of felt-tips and whiteboard markers has been abandoned, because with modern pens and laser-print paper the ink will wick from the cut edges into the images and mess them up (as I have learned). The labs are on it as I write.
Next up for my WSS project is another refurb job - probably the Régiment du Dauphin; however, I think I'll put the painting desk to rights for a week or two and catch up on that Real Life stuff, though at present it doesn't look too attractive.
This weekend I've finished the French artillery for my WSS Project.
Once again, the flash on my camera gives the pictures a bluish tinge, but you get the idea. These are Irregular gunners, and the guns themselves are by Lancer Miniatures.
This is probably going to seem a little weird. Though he has been dead for nearly 14 years now, today I plan to spend a little time commemorating the 100th anniversary of my father's birth.
No particular agenda - for years now, I've occasionally been reminded that my father, if he had lived, would be x years old on that day. Each time, I laughed a little and shrugged it off - not a significant event. What I am tracking, I guess, is personal landmarks in the history of my immediate family - in other words, my own mortality.
Anyway, whatever the underlying sentiment, old Ben would have been 100 today. I intend to visit his grave, and I have purchased a very small birthday cake. After tea, I also plan to drink the last of the last bottle (of two) of De Montal 1965 which he bought me for my 50th birthday; I had previously bought him two bottles for his 70th, so it was not unlike a very slow and ponderous game of ping-pong. I can't think what else I might save it for.
My thoughts today will be mostly of unsentimental stuff: how peaceful my life has been since he passed away, how angry and bewildered he would have been if he had survived to see 2022, and some measure of gratitude that he spent his last days very comfortably in a low-stress environment, though (like the swan's legs beneath the surface) I was one of the privileged few who had to race around fixing things for him, making sure he didn't get upset and didn't upset anyone else.
All the best, then, Ben - happy birthday - thanks for everything. I guess I won't have to think about this any more.
These are (mostly) very old figures from Eric Knowles' collection, so this has been a return to my Refurb Factory desk. Eric used larger units than I do, so there are some extra command figures added to make up the numbers. I am pleased to say that I am happy with my new technique for painting musicians in the Kings Livery, which has removed an amount of stress from my current push to progress my French contingent.
As always, these are Les Higgins figures - smallish 20mm - though the mounted officers are by Irregular, on Higgins horses.
There will be some more French units arriving over the next few weeks, so the barracks are getting swept out, ready.
