I Name This Ship.....

.......His Serene Highness's Ship Promiscuous. Bless and keep all those who sail in her!

Many thanks to all the chumrades who exercised their franchise in the recent poll. HSH The Grand Tarboosh smiles upon thee.

Some pictures of tonight's naming ceremony in the Tarbooshian port of Evapmylk:

The people of Tarbooshia know that Anahuaco will soon meet defeat and despair now that Promiscuous prowls their coasts looking for conquests.

Naval Might

HSH The Grand Tarboosh

The fragrant Senior Nursing Sister Tweedy

Le Capitaine Petit-Filou

Drums & Colours

The stern prow of Promiscuous's with its big weapon

HSH boards HSHS Promiscuous for the first time; erect with pride.

HSH The Grand Tarboosh turns to acknowledge the cheers of his loyal subjects.

More stuff later!

Boaty Dazzler

Today's awful pun title brought to you by my own lack of inspiration.

In other news the poll for the name of this fine vessel is closing soon. There is a leader at the moment but only YOU can decide the final name!

So, the boat. Apart from a name it's finished. I decided a dazzle scheme was the way ahead and then I was dazzled by the large number of schemes available. Some were too outlandish even for HSH The Grand Tarboosh; this may come as a shock to those of you who witnessed the eccentric horror that was The Watchtower. A fairly subdued scheme was finally chosen. I marked the angles and straight lines with a ruler and pencil. I then tried my very best to maintain those straight lines with a paint brush. Maybe something smaller than a 4" brush might be more helpful next time*.

*There will not be a next time.

Enough waffling you want pictures! Well, I can help you there:

Updates as they happen!

Even More Boat

Work on HSH Ship (Name To Be Decided) is progressing. I have added a funnel cut from a piece of flexible pipe and also scratch-built a deck gun from odds and ends. I then sprayed the whole thing with Plastikote matt black.

Some pictures and descriptions:

The funnel was mounted on a piece of balsa wood which had previously been glued to the aft end of the boat. There was a spider living in the pipe who objected vigourously to being evicted. It's ok, I got the blighter out and it ran off in a huff.

Close-up of the deck gun. It's made from plastic tube both round and square. The recoil mechanism is a cut down kitchen skewer. The gun mounting is the top of a Vallejo paint bottle. The rotation handle is a road wheel off a 1/72 PzIII. On the other side the breech opening mechanism is steering wheel from a 1/72 Opel Blitz truck. Other breech parts from plastic card. The gun has a pin fitted to its underside and this slots into a hole in the gun mounting to allow rotation of the weapon. I might still glue it fast though.

Plastikote conceals a multitude of sins.

More when it happens!

More Boat

Much activity to report from the Navy Construction Yard. The holes in the deck have been covered. A door and viewing ports fitted to the wheelhouse.

Starboard side view. New deck planking fitted forward and aft of the wheelhouse. New hatch fitted to side of wheelhouse. The planking is plastic card which was scored to match the lines on the original deck. The door is also plastic card including hinges and door handle. The port hole is a steel washer. If you look closely you can see one of the port hole closures on the deck.

Close up of wheelhouse hatch. All closures present and correct. 

I used lots of glue too!

Reminds me of a washing machine.

Port side view. Showing forward decking repair and viewing port on the front of the wheelhouse.

Port aft view of repaired decking.

I have decided that the funnel will go at the stern of the vessel where the white dot is. That arrangement will free up quite a bit of space on the deck for figures and possibly a second gun.  

All the best!

Away All Boats!

Tarbooshia rules the waves! Well, around the coast of Anahuaco it does. As is well known HSH The Grand Tarboosh is a Modern Man and believes in Modern Equipment. This far-sightedness means that Tarbooshia leads the way in naval power in its Anahuacan sphere of influence.

Now the truth. Picked up this plastic toy from, yes, you guessed it, a local charity shop for the princely sum of £1. The boat had a propeller, it being a bath toy this is understandable. The prop meant it didn't sit flat so was hacked off with a craft knife. Carefully. The deck was littered with stuff that would get in the way - a coil of rope, a bucket and 2 posts. They too were cut away. The deck has 3 large recesses which I assume are to accommodate some kind of crew figures. I intend to cover these with plastic card possibly as hatch covers or as a base plate for a gun on the forward position.

Work progress being checked by Naval types

Updates as they happen!

PS Hello to new follower Dan, thanks for following. Why not his visit his blog too!

Funny Little Watchtower Part 2

Finally got around to finishing the paint job on this lovely bit of FLW's kit. I undercoated with matt black Plasitkote followed by a Four-Colour Theorem scheme. Slightly different in colours to the Steam Gun Tractors here. I removed the searchlight but left the fitting in place. I plan to make/acquire some telephones from something/somewhere to link the tower with GHQ, the artillery batteries and, of course, The Hospital.

Tarbooshian Press Release About The Tower
Tarbooshia's good friends from Army Horizon Blue have sent a Military Mission to us to assist in our on-going war against the Anahuacan trash. Seen in one of the pictures is Capitaine Petit Filou with his driver Rizz-Razz. The very fact WE have cars makes us better than the swamp donkeys of Anahuaco.

Funny Little Watchtower Part 1

I did my usual rounds of the local charity shops yesterday and once again the children's toy bins come up aces. For a mere 70p I scored the rather imposing watch-tower you can see below. It is all plastic but has a 'corrugated iron' roof; simulated planking sides and sits atop a 'steel' girder frame. I will also need to add a ladder, the mountings are there but the ladder ain't. Probably eaten by a toddler. There is also a rather modern looking search-light but I think the addition of a crank-handle and some wiring will take care of that. I need to research colour schemes. The tower needs to be obvious so that whoever is manning it can get shot easily as per every film involving a watch-tower being attacked ever.

Cheap 'n' cheerful

Tower: no ladder

See what I mean?

UATH!

Pack Of Camels Please

The expeditionary forces of Tarbooshia spread the doctrine of HSH The Grand Tarboosh in a friendly and non-colonial way. Vital to this delivery of The Good News is an efficient and capable supply train. Anahuacan saboteurs, being fools, often derail their own trains; the far-sighted and clear-thinking HSH has seen fit to provide His Army with a fool-proof method of supply delivery: the noble camel.

Seen here are three stalwarts of The Tarbooshian Food, Water & Bullets Delivery Camel Corps. Catchy, no? HSH came up with the title himself at a Grand Council of Tarbooshia meeting: corps name passed by unanimous vote.

As you can see the troops sport the very finest uniforms that Tarbooshia's military tailors can provide. So much smarter than those appalling Anahuacan vagrants.The camels can carry a variety of loads with ease over ground that would defeat all ordinary vehicles; apart from Tarbooshian vehicles of course! They are seen here with sundry packs containing the finest preserved produce the glorious farmers of Tarbooshia can provide. An army marches on its feet and Our Superlative Squadrons are no exception. Nothing but the best for the boys in the fez!

Early morning parade in Anahuaco

Saddled and packed the Corps' camels are ready to move

Forming line of march with Tarbooshian precision.

To The Front!

The toys are ex-ACW artillery men. Two are from an unknown maker; the huge guy is a toy from Steve Weston. The camels are from Britains zoo animals range. The packs are from a cheap bag of bits I picked up. I think they were originally meant for an 8th Army tank but have been re-imagined into Tarbooshian supplies. The camel blankets and harness straps are made from brown paper liberally plastered with paint-dyed white glue. I've painted them all up in a toy soldier style but I did do some highlighting on the camels' fur. Several coats of gloss varnish has made them disaster proof. I know that because I dropped them onto stone flags en-route to the photo-shoot. They survived with not a mark on them. Proving, once again, that Tarbooshian toys are NAILS.

UATH!

End of 2012.....

Goodbyeeeeeeeee!

.....And the beginning of 2013 beckons. I've had a relatively good year after losing my wargaming mojo completely. Setting up the blog has been instrumental in this. Photographing and writing up the projects has given me new impetus as well as an insight into the thinking of others' via their own blogs.

I've enjoyed building my two 54mm FLW armies, especially since the Anahuacan one started life as a Villista army for a Mexican Revolution project. My favourite is the Tarbooshian Army with all its contradictions and impossibilities. All made possible by the fantastic nature of FLW.

On other fronts I've re-activated two 28mm projects. One based around the movie Underworld and the other around 1970s Cops & Robbers. I've enjoyed the detailing of these figures after so much, equally enjoyable, toy-soldier style paint jobs.

I want to play more games and visit more wargames events in 2013. I've managed one game only this year: a 1/72 scale Crossfire one and that simply will not do!

This is also the first anniversary of me starting swing-dancing. I wish I'd done it sooner but I didn't. That said it remains the best fun you can have with your kit on. I get to dress smartly in a 1940s style and dance with the most amazingly beautiful and stylish ladies too.

And there was cake.

To conclude. Thank you for your support, advice and guidance since late August 2012 and I wish you all a happy 2013 and a bright future too!

All the best

Is There A Doctor In The House?

No. But there is: Nursing Sister Tweedy!

Following the demise of her chicken business Tweedy was at something of a loose end. Reading a copy of The Daily Bias she chanced upon an advertisement asking for suitably qualified medical personnel to sign on with The Army of Tarbooshia. Thinking that her experience of chicken breeding and the possession of a first aid certificate made her over-qualified she gave it a punt anyway. A day later a party of be-fezzed gentlemen called upon her. They immediately offered her the job of 2 i/c of The Tarbooshian Medical Service plus a salary of 50 Tarbies per month, generous pension plan, free uniforms, including thick grey stockings, food and laundry. Naturally she said yes.

Now well ensconced in a tent of her own design as the Senior Nursing Officer of The Army of Tarbooshia. She enjoys a fearsome reputation among those who have the temerity to report sick or be wounded. Her icy stare has been known to sew up wounds and revive even those already pronounced dead.

Her prescription for all injuries is: 'Pull yourself together, take two aspirin and get back in your trench!' She has a loyal assistant in Kasim the Grubby whose main medical skill is fetching coffee from the kitchen of his brother Filthy Abdul.

Tweedy's Treatment Tent 1

Tweedy's Treatment Tent 2

Tweedy's Treatment Tent 3

Sister Tweedy Welcomes The Sick

The Team

The Surgeon General

The tent and motorised supply carrier, Tarbooshian-Schlepper Mk I, are adorned generously with the symbol of help for the sick and injured. They also make excellent aiming marks for unscrupulous swine such as Etrucians and Anahuacans. Sister Tweedy remains undaunted, certain that her own brutality is more than a match for theirs.

The tent was made from a couple of small boxes. Panelling from strips of paper soaked in tea to get that pleasing effect. The guy-ropes are linen thread and the tent pegs are cut-down cocktail sticks. Kasim is a converted from a 54mm ACW artillery figure. The motorised wagon was originally a horse-drawn job; steering wheel is a button on a cocktail stick. The crates were made from balsa with wooden strips glued on. Red cross symbols copied and printed from images on the web. Sister Tweedy converted from a 54mm Mrs Tweedy figure from the movie Chicken Run. About the last good thing Mr Gibson did before turning into what he turned into.  

PS Hello to new blog follower Moss Trooper. He runs a couple of very interesting blogs. I particularly enjoyed his figure painting process tutorial.

Household Brigade

What would His Serene Highness The Grand Tarboosh be without His Household? An Anahuacan probably.

The Tarbooshian Guard is the élite of the army. Its order of battle is:

• The Guards Armoured 
• The Guard Grand Band
• The Guard Artillery
• The Guard Transport Corps

Its primary function is to the protect and preserve the person of The Grand Tarboosh Himself. But, on the battlefield, it is often used to administer the coup de grace to an already well slotted enemy. Second to none and never defeated!

54mm figures all sourced at the recent Birmingham Toy Soldier Fair. The Tarboosh's driver started life as a cowboy and has gone up in the world since then. His mother is said to be delighted. The gunners are former ACW but a head swap gave them a well deserved promotion. The flag is TVAG but repainted by me.

Post photo shoot HSH The Grand Tarboosh was served mint tea with honey and nut sweetmeats by this fellow:

Raki?

All the best!

And HE! Shall Have Music Wherever HE! Goes

The HE! of the title is of course His Excellency El Presidente or HEEP as he is sometimes, unwisely, called. This name is provided only as an example of what the filthy Tarbooshians call humour at Our Presidente's expense. We urge all loyal citizens not to use it or expect a 4am visit from El Presidente Death Squad.

Music is central to Anahuacan cultural life with villages, towns and cities flooded by strolling players. Why this is so when the Army is crying out for recruits is a matter for concern. Expect these cadging buskers to be rounded up and put into uniform any time soon.

Not so these brave and clear-eyed musicians. All are volunteers for The Army Band of Eternal Anahuaco and El Presidente is a big fan. They have kept up the spirits of our troops in many an encampment, march and battlefield. Their unique sound striking terror into the paper-thin, lily-livered and swivel-eyed Tarbooshians!

Percussion & Brass

Syncopated Beat

The figures are Kellog's bandsmen bodies and Crescent Mexican heads. The bandsmen's heads have found alternative employment in Tarbooshia. All these 54mm figures were sourced from the bargain bins at last month's Birmingham Toy Soldier Fair.

All the best!