River sailing barge ... (construction)

A pen tray, (surplus Xmas present) - could there be a use for it ?

 I thought it would make a nice hold for a river barge, so sketched out some ideas

I worked out a basic hull shape, made a half piece template and marked out two hull shapes (one for the base and one for the deck)

 a section was removed from the deck to provide access to the hold; base and deck fixed to the pen tray

I added sides from thin cardboard...

 and made up a removable mast with spars (mast - paintbrush handle, spars - hibachi skewer and cocktail stick)

 sail added using paper, a small cabin for the crew and a removable cover for the hold - ready to ply its trade up and down the river

 to show it when docked the hold cover is removed and a stowed sail/mast assembly is used

 now have to work out a suitable paint scheme ....

Merry Xmas....

A liitle snow has fallen and the younger children, including Prinz Albrecht, have built a small snowman...

 after the business of the day the King and his courtiers relax. The King plays at the harpsichord while the Queen and Count Munster sing a duet.....

A Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to All

In the Sackwald - a seasonal encounter ...

After the balloon landed the King, Prinz Albrecht and Lady Karolin made their way to Eisen and staid overnight there at the inn. The next day, after a hearty breakfast the Kings party headed into the forest, with woodsman as their guide, for a last look around ....

they stopped for a while to have lunch with the bears...

 they headed deeper into the forest to look for the lamp; when they arrived in the clearing there was strange patch of snow and a jolly gentleman waiting for them ..it was Santa Klaus ....with a special delivery - presents for the prince ....

Santa handed over the presents and had a nice little chat with the prince and jumped back on his sleigh - 'Yo Ho Ho and a Merry Christmas to all' he shouted as the sleigh lifted off into the sky.  After Santa had gone they made their way back to the hunting lodge, the young prince wanted to open his presents but the King put them to one side and told his son he must wait till christmas day. They had a late supper and turned into bed early; as the next day they would be returning to the Palace at Wittenberg.

In the Sackwald - floating in the air ...

The King, Prinz Albrecht and Lady Karolin went for a walk the next day late in the morning in the outer edges of the Sackwald forest,  When they got back to the hunting lodge they had lunch. The King had arranged a special treat for his son for the afternoon ... a hot air balloon ride; Professor Cantor got the balloon ready and up they went, bumping on the ground a couple of times as they got going...

soon they were floating low over the edge of the village of Eisen ...

 

the balloon rose slowly till they were up high - they enjoyed the views of the Sackwald forest below them..

At the Hunting Lodge ....

King Leopold, his son Prinz Albrecht and niece Lady Karolin have travelled to the royal hunting lodge on the edge of the Sackwald forest. They will stay there for a few days before returning to the capital for the christmas festivities.

The morning after their arrival they have gone out to the stables to see the horses ....

Begovian provincial cavalry ...

I'll be re-using my 17C croats as Begovian provincial cavalry - I have done another suitable command standard for them  ....

cast away ....

casting soldiers that is ...

over the last week the new moulds have been used heavily, running each mould about 35+ times each; now I have more units in the lead pile for the Begovian army

3 x 28 figure units of infantry

4 x 8 figure units of cavalry

lots to paint - hooray ! currently getting standard bearers, officer and musicians done - mostly converted basic figures.

40mm: Begovian Artillery ...

The new opposition for the 40mm Wittenberg army in the border province of Zinzendorf will be the ottoman style army of Begovia.

The initial 'ottoman' style artillery crew...

To get the project going, these TYW figure conversions have been painted up; they'll do for the initial gun crew.

Mould kits have arrived and the ottoman style masters have been 'bedded in' - 3 new moulds to make over the few days and then do some trial castings.

40mm: Something a little different ....

For opposition for the Wittenberg 40mm army I decided on something different - something in an Ottoman style

Already cast are two units of my janissary figures (with conversions for officers)

in progress are some artillery crew converted from my TYW man standing/walking castings

Also I've been sculpting some figure masters to provide cavalry and infantry

A horse variant and a generic style spahi

 infantry - two marching and one advancing

I will be making moulds next, the first three will have these new sculpts in.

40mm Sculpt & Cast - Uhlan

The last of the planned 18C 40mm sculpts done, the Uhlan. A basic figure but will do for me

40mm Sculpt & Cast - cavalry

three more masters now complete ...

the dragoon

generic mounted officer/standard bearer (shown with a sword temporarily fitted)

and a Kurassier (shown with a sword temporarily fitted)

one more master to do for the 18C, which will be a Uhlan; after that I have some additional 17C masters to finish. With all the masters done I will be making moulds and casting as I work on replacing the Wittenberg cavalry regiments and then units for new armies.

Fenwick troops on the river ....

Duke Maurice of Fenwick has instigated a training program for his troops for river transport and landings. Today he is watching the jagers and river rangers in a river landing exercise ...

The river rangers land from their sailboat ...

A small rowboat has a Fenwick officer, with Wittenberg observers (from their river marines), who are watching the main landing ...

 Fenwick jagers landing from row boats and transport barge .....

[new items: 10 or my seated 28mm home-casts painted as Fenwick Jagers, plus an additional landing barge ]

Monrovia river marines ....

Monrovian spies have provided details of the use of the new row boats by Wittenberg and Fenwick. The Monrovian river marines have been provided with similar boats, they to are about to go on manoeuvres...

some are going in the old sail boats

others in a large row boat ....

 a smaller rowboat gets under way ....

Fenwick troops take to the water ....

Duchy of Fenwick troops take to the water...

to take part in joint manoeuvres with some Wittenberg river marines...

[new items: home cast set of 10 seated figs painted up to represent Fenwick line troops..]

Sculpt and Cast - 28mm seated figures

I wanted some extra figures to put in my row boats to represent other armies troops; decided to have a go at sculpting some, which came out reasonably well. The masters...

I  made up a mould and cast up about 15 of each figure, enough for my immediate needs. Some sample castings

the mould works fine each time but the castings are beset by 'bubbles' and take a while to clean up.  All-in-all some useful basic sitting figures. Have used up my supply of metal so I will have to accumulate some more before the next major phase in mould making and casting.

Market Stalls

newly finished market stalls....

Stalls made of cardboard, hibachi skewers, cocktail sticks and some curtain lining fabric. 

A mix of items on the stalls, some home made

The market square cobbles are done using a home made paper sheet stuck to a cork tile

the stalls are designed for use with 40mm and 28mm, a little small for 40mm and a little bit big for 28mm.

40mm - Trial casts from new mould..

Finally got the next 18C mould done,  the contents were
-weapons (sabre, straight sword, pistol, 17C musket and 18C musket)
-march attack musketeer
-alternate grenadier & fusilier heads.

Initial casts weren't too good, but the addition of some air vents solved the problems, some trial casts

the heads don't come out with full detail every time; will do some more and see how it goes - overall I'm pleased with the results.