RESTORING OLD LEAD FIGURES

The recent arrival of a box of broken lead figures has provided a major campaign of repair and restoration.  First job was to remove the old paint. Second job was to clean up the castings. The third move was a light prime (to provide a better view of required repairs, and nicer than handling bare metal). The fourth move was drilling, removing casting lines, fixing metal rods, and milliput work.

Here is the original delivery, I seem to have mislaid the farm lady milking cattle, might crop up later. Luckily, I do have one already in the collection. 

Here are some paint stripped, cleaned, and initial priming.

Will have to construct wire feet for the two roosters, tricky.

Lots of legwork for the sheep.

That foal can be saved.

Horns and hooves.

Rifle barrels.

MILLIPUT WORK COMPLETED

PAINTED, AND READY FOR BASING

Rather pleased with these, some Friesian cattle.

A pair of draught horses.

Some legs of mutton.

The W.Britains shire horse was a gift from Graham Apperley.

The Ardennes breed looked appropriate.....they come in a variety of colours.

Typical donkeys.

Rather pleased with this, a miliput and wire leg and tail. Basil now has a friend.

The repaired W.Britains greyhound might win a race. I chose Fawn (light distortion).

Might as well fix some lead pigs to the Johillco pigsties.

A spare Gurkha head, who would have thought that!

My British WW1 army has gained three recruits.

Well, not quite a complete W.Britains farm rake, but close enough to be a fun addition. Wire and milliput was used to make the replacement shafts. Just as well I had kept a broken metal Lone Star vehicle seat.... perfect!

Finally, the eight lead chickens have been repaired and painted to represent Welsummers (brown) and Leghorns (white). Suitable nineteenth century breeds, I'm wearing an anorak while typing this, lol.

A follow-on post should complete this project, when time allows.

MGB

LATEST ARRIVALS

                                                   WHO IS THE MANUFACTURER?

This is a question for the readers. I popped into a local charity shop (May 8) and spotted this casting. It appears to be made of metal, but not lead, and fixed to a tin base. The scale is large 54mm, but the style would not look out of place with W.Britains and others.. My plan is to fabricate a camera, and attach him to my earlier 19th century collections. But I'm at a total loss as to who produced it. I feel the thin tin base may provide a clue to the manufacturer. Any help would be appreciated.

At £2.50, I think this is a splendid find.

And here is the casting with a restored paint job, a fabricated plasticard camera, and a coat of varnish.

Typical camera c.1850.

WW2 GI ADDITION

A fleeting visit to the collectables shop furnished an interesting addition to my collection of US WW2 lead toy soldiers. This is a Crescent-made standard bearer. Now the steel wire flagpole is someone's replacement, the original is thicker, and topped with a ball ferrule. But this can be duplicated. Cost £2.

FOOD PRODUCTION

As a collection expands a wise administration makes provision to ensure food production also keeps pace. Spotted this job lot going for £24.96 delivered. Now this clears up a long standing issue in my rural landscape, the absence of haystacks and pigsties. The latter two are 1930s Johillco castings). I am going to assume the tall metal pole with a box is for owls? Those sacks look pretty old and original to me. The two long haystacks are officially Taylor & Barratt.  The single one is Johillco. However, one of the round, and one of the long haystacks, are old plastic or resin, and very slightly smaller. I haven't a clue who made the metal dustbin, but it's a fun piece.

Now repainted..... will probably base all the haystacks, and the two 'yellow' plastic will join my plastic rural collection. Not quite a bargain, but they are fun items.

W. BRITAINS EARL OF OXFORD raises an issue

Have been looking at this splendid figure for a couple of months. It was in the collectables shop for £9 but the trader kindly allowed me to purchase it for £2 less. While my Medievals were raised as Guelph and Ghibelline some of the former are actually French, and I do have a small collection painted up as English and Scots.

Incorrect heraldry is often painted on toy Medievals. The problem often occurs with horses barding. To put it simply, the horses head serves in the same manner as a flag pole. For example, Oxford's canton with the white star should be foremost on both sides of the horses head, like a mirror. When there is no reflexion, for example on a shield, it is assumed the pole is represented on the left edge as we look at it, or the bearer's right (although the illegitimate might hint their claims by 'sinister' variations in their adopted heraldry).

CHRIS PICKS UP A BATCH OF FIGURES (click photo for a closer inspection)

Thanks to Chris's efforts, have picked up this box of figures for £14.39 delivered. I must say, if all goes well with the restorations there are a lot of interesting additions to my rural collection. I have a spare pair of wheels so hope to reconstitute the Britains farm rake, and perhaps even construct a complete plough. My first job will be to paint strip and clean up the lot of them, and then it's repair and fabrication.

MGB

GARDEN NAVAL ACTION

                     DOMINION WARGAME.... AMERICAN and SPANISH FLEETS ENGAGE

On the First of May an American fleet comprising warships, gunboats, and transporters clashed with a similar sized fleet belonging to the Spanish Empire. The outcome of this action would decide the fate of Savannah, Georgia. Note, all firing in this game was alternate, rather than simultaneous. 

The Spanish fleet at anchor, but ready for action.

                                                                 THE ACTION BEGINS 

  

Residents in the city were awoken in the early morning to booms far out at sea. Some claim to have also seen flashes of light, although this is doubtful. 

To the surprise of the Americans, the Spanish had received word of the Chesapeake departure from their spy network (D5), and their fleet was fully prepared. Indeed, the Spanish lookouts were first to sight their enemies (Dice). and their guns opened up at full range. 

On the first exchange, the Spanish scored a hit on the American flagship Congress,  knocking out its engine! An impressive start.

In the second round, the Spanish hit the American riverboat and a gunboat, but neither hits on their hulls were effective.  The Americans did the same to the Black Monitor. There was a lot of this going on.

In the third round, the Spanish hit the Congress again, but the shell bounced off! But another on a gunboat was designated an infrastructure hit, which is deducted from the Weight, or Lives.

But in the fourth round the Americans took out one of the guns on the Black Monitor. I should mention, both sides were largely aiming at their opponents flag ships. In the fifth round, despite being reduced to five shots, the Spanish knocked out the riverboat gun. Nothing in round six, and the hits in round seven failed to cause damage, they should have gone for infrastructure! In round eight, an infrastructure hit on the riverboat, but more importantly they hit the Congress, and took out one of her guns. The Americans were now down to four working guns.

On round nine the riverboat infrastructure was hit again. Rounds ten to twelve were ineffective. So the Spanish fleet was more than holding its own.

                                                                            PART TWO

Nighttime obliged both sides to cease firing. The American fleet remained stationary, not least because their flagship's engine was knocked out, and would require towing. The Spanish, however, used the cover of dark to approach a short distance closer.

No sooner had the morning rays of the sun exposed the ships than the second day of action commenced. The Americans being first to open fire this time (Dice).

Nothing of importance occurred during the first three exchanges. But in the fourth round, the Americans silenced the second gun of the Black Monitor. Both sides were now down to four working guns. 

In round six, the Americans scored a hit on a gunboat. Choosing the Hull, they threw a D6, and the magazine exploded!

In the seventh round, the Spanish commander sent messages to his transport ships to steam south at full speed. But the Spanish had some satisfaction is seeing the American riverboat obliged to retire. With three infrastructure hits and no working gun, it was unwise to remain. The final five rounds were largely misses or ineffective.

With this second day of action concluded, the Americans discovered on the third day that the Spanish fleet had gone. The Americans had won.

                                                                              Result

One American ship was badly damaged, one ship slightly damaged. The flagship engine would need replacing. Unable to pursue, they docked in Savannah for repairs. The Spanish flagship is unable to fire, and a gunboat was sunk with all hands lost, they returned to St.Augustine. 

                                                                           Conclusion

While the game played perfectly well, I missed having an amphibious dimension to the game. Some land batteries, some smaller craft attempting to land troops, and a town to capture would have been more exciting to me. I also feel, with hindsight, too many hits were wasted hoping for major Gun or Hull impacts, so only one ship was seriously threatened by the accumulated hits on the infrastructure. But, that was my choice, another player would have played differently. As mentioned, it was fun to play but visually not worth a gallery of photos, in my opinion. Still, it was a treat to use the matchstick firing cannon on some toy boats on a sunny day in the garden.

                                                                              Footnote

This game was a success, and it has stimulated me to expand the number of figures I can utilise to man each ship. This mainly involves reducing the size and repainting bases, but requires about twenty-four figures for each nationality, although officer uniforms are fairly generic for all nations. 

                                                                     DOMINION NEWS

Two American armies are now approaching St.Augustine. It is very likely that their navy will follow. A siege of that city is very likely. A truce has been confirmed in Canada between the British Empire and the United States, the conflict will now be fought between politicians. The Royal Navy has informed the United States that the Chesapeake, New York, Rhode Island, and Boston blockades are suspended. No one knows what the French are doing.                                                       

                                                            STATE OF THE NAVIES IN 1914

HISTORICAL NOTE. I came across this chart giving a return of ships operating with the principal navies in 1914. It really does show just how powerful the Royal Navy was. 

                                                                       PLEASE NOTE

I'm in the process of putting my property on the market in a few days, I just can't handle the large garden, have finished updating the property, and a family member works in a neighbouring town. It would be nice for him to be situated there. This will considerably reduce future posts until all, hopefully, has been sorted. (Thanks Brad, MJT, Donnie, Roger, Graham, and others, for your blog interest.... will try to post occasionally.)

                                                                                MGB

DOMINION WAR and ELECTION SPECIAL

                                  DOMINION WAR CAMPAIGN NEWS

Throwing dice can provide quick political outcomes to a war wary campaign. While future wargames were still viable, and previous games had proved very successful, the Dominion War had somewhat  stagnated. The general stalemate in Ontario is obvious, with the Americans unable to capture Toronto. While the Empire is unable or fearful to enact any major campaigns elsewhere in North America. And then we have the lacklustre performance of the French, which is shocking. Only political solutions could provide a possible break to this general deadlock. 

ENTRY ONE, Diplomacy and Threats

The American campaign against Spanish occupied Florida has taken a peculiarly traumatic turn. As American troops approached St.Augustine, the Spanish colonial governor has informed the American government that a naval force will shortly arrive off the coast of Savannah, Georgia. That if the Americans persist in their unjustifiable actions against this Spanish colony, they must take full responsibility for any retaliatory actions undertaken by the Spanish Empire.

The United States Government has informed Madrid that any action against the state of Georgia is totally unacceptable. That their invasion of Florida is the root cause for the present situation. That the Spanish government must immediately vacate Florida, and indicate a willingness to depart Cuba in the very near future.

The Spanish Government has declared its full support for whatever actions the Royal Governor of Florida believes is necessary for the defence of the colony. They advised the United States government that they must immediately vacate Florida. Spanish claims to Florida being historic, and non negotiable. 

The American commander for Georgia and Florida has been instructed to continue his advance on St. Augustine (D4), but to remain out of artillery range, and to permit provisions to enter the city.

ENTRY TWO, the French

In a surprise move, the French have withdrawn their two garrisons on the coast of Texas (D2). It is unclear whether this is indicative of a further withdrawal from this conflict, or whether the French Government is planning another campaign to be carried out elsewhere. Their fleet has been sighted by fishing boats near Galveston Island. While Texas militia have reoccupied the former French positions.

ENTRY THREE, while in Florida

Reports have arrived that five (D5) of the six volunteer militia battalions in the Florida Army have indicated their desire to be granted permission to return to their homes in Georgia. The commander is making arrangements to accept this (D5). Fortunately, he has recently gained three regular military units, and another is likely to be formed from broken/understrength units. The Florida Army commander has informed the US Government that he believes they are now strong enough to take St.Augustine. A government official has informed him not to act (D1), and to continue as before. Spanish HQ in St.Augustine have indicated they are willing to allow matters to cool down (D1). The Spanish do not believe there will be an American attack on the city, and provisions are still arriving.

ENTRY FOUR, the French again

The new French Government has declared (D1) that the Second Expeditionary Force (comprising nine military units) will immediately return to France. It has also been confirmed (D2) that the French Pacific fleet off the coast of California (comprising four military units) is to return to Indo-China. These actions were ordered in the hope of stimulating more cordial relations with the United States. The French Government has sent word to the United States Government that they are willing to moderate their claim on Louisiana (D5) by accepting the transfer of the City of New Orleans and some fifty miles around as a free trading city under French protection. The American Government has rejected this offer (D2).

ENTRY FIVE

The French Government has ordered its 1st Expeditionary Force (comprising twelve military units) to withdraw to French controlled islands in the Caribbean (D3) for purposes of recuperation. The President of the United States has declared a day of celebration in seeing the removal of French troops from American soil. However, he declared (D5) the need to redouble efforts to secure our northern border, which would require the annexation of Ontario, the liberation of lower Alaska and parts of Maine. And then we must work towards the restoration of Florida, and the eventual liberation of Cuba.

The British Government, representing the Empire, has declared it has no alliances with either France or Spain. We seek only peace with the United States, and the restoration of the previously agreed borders which this American president has sought to undermine.

ENTRY SIX, Election Results

The United States has just held a postponed wartime election for president. The incumbent was trounced (D1), and the new president stood on a platform calling for an honourable peace treaty (D1) between the United States and the British Empire. The former president has voiced his disbelief (D3) but has respected the decision and immediately resigned.

The newly elected president on route to the White House.....

With the able assistance of the Swiss government, and for a very small fee (what do you expect, they're all bankers), another meeting has been arranged in Berne between the United States and the British Empire. This is to discuss the speeding up of arrangements for future meetings. These follow-on meetings will take place somewhere in Canada, to finalise the cessation of fighting. In turn, it is hoped they will ultimately lead to a formal and lasting peace treaty. 

FOOTNOTE

I am rather surprised just how quickly the French withdrew, and the American government changed its foreign policy. I sort of expected the dice would ignite the conflict...... but it didn't happen. Well, it isn't totally over. Spain still holds Florida, France is still technically at war with the United States, and the peace discussions concerning the Canadian border might break down. I can't see Spain holding on long if the entire South now sends contingents to Florida. 

About thirty-five wargames have so far been played during this campaign.

                                              Dominion War Victory Points awarded, so far.

This gives the Empire 48 victory points against 28 for the Americans. While the French and Spanish only scored 14 versus 24 for the Americans. I think it is fair to mention defenders often win in my wargames, unless outnumbered two to one.

Some thoughts on Hawaii

If we assume the Dominion dispute is eventually settled, there will be one interesting distinction. Hawaii will be a semi-independent kingdom under the protection of the Empire. This was not unusual as Tonga, Malaysia, Brunei, Lesotho, Swaziland, and 565 Maharaja states on the Indian sub-continent were largely self-governing with their own monarchs. The only conditions the British imposed were that they would prefer them to buy Empire-made goods, limit or abolish peculiarly cruel laws, and no foreign alliances. Other than that, they governed themselves. Many of these states had their own armies with British or British-trained officers commanding, or the British would station a small garrison at the expense of the local ruler.

ENTRY SEVEN, Naval Manoeuvres 

The new President of the United States has informed Her Britannic Majesty's Prime Ministers of Great Britain, and the Dominion of Canada (by Telegraph) that it is the intension of the United States Navy to depart the Chesapeake. Their mission is to visit Georgia, and to then return to the Chesapeake. It is hoped the Royal Navy will appreciate this forewarning, and fully understand its purpose. This message has also been forwarded to the commander of the Royal Navy fleet operating near the Chesapeake. Her Majesty's Government replied. We thank the newly elected President for his forewarning. Her Majesty's Government requests that the embassies of Switzerland and Denmark should also be given notice of this excursion, and invited to forward evidence of receiving such to Admiral Paul Watson, commanding Her Majesty's fleet operating near the Chesapeake. We further request that the following message should also be forwarded directly to Her Majesty's Admiral..... 'Please remove the chair from the door',  this message concluded with a long series of numbers.

ENTRY EIGHT

The United States Navy fleet has departed the Chesapeake estuary and is moving south. They are expecting to arrive at Savannah, Georgia, on or about the First of May, depending on weather conditions.

We can confirm the Royal Navy fleet chose not to engage, although one ship was previously sighted heading south.

ENTRY NINE

On April 26 a second Royal Navy vessel arrived off the coast of Savannah, Georgia.  Very shortly afterwards both ships steamed away, their destination is unknown. 

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                                        NEW TRANSPORT ARRIVES

I could not resist this multi-purchase. A trader was selling a fair number of National Motor Museum vehicles. These diecast are lovely models, about half and half metal and plastic. What makes them special is they are sturdy and listed as 1/32 in scale. The range is very extensive and covers much of the 20th century. This trader had three vehicles that immediately caught my attention, and the prices were very fair. The total cost including delivery was £19.

This diecast was described as a Ford 1909 Tourabout, code SS-T5560. The only problem is this code always shows up as a very different model, in white. I have been unable to find another for sale which matches mine. I think this is a lovely model and my intention is to use it as a command vehicle for my c.1900 British Empire Army. The paintwork is mainly black and brown, with a red rear panel, which looks rather old-style military. Superb!

Some good news. Using the model number plate I can confirm it is actually the NMM Mint diecast Ford 1912 Depot Hack...... in the wrong box. Now I don't keep empty boxes. I like to display and use my toys, and storing packaging is a burden I can do without.

The next diecast must be among the most bygone reproductions the National Motor Museum have commissioned. It is a 1903 Ford Model A, with the code 00300/FDAA03. I immediately thought this would look great as a staff vehicle for Crown Prince Rudolph of Ruritania. On arrival, however, it is very large, more like 1/30 in scale? Too nice to convert, I will use it as it is, but will need to construct a larger driver.

Finally, I bought this diecast because trucks can be useful and I liked the barrels at the back, lol. But it will now be commandeered by my United States Army c.1900.  It is listed as a Ford model T 1925 Heinz pickup truck, so rather appropriate for carrying army rations. It is a very attractive model.

But I think the engine is giving trouble?

                                                  🚚🚚🚚🚚🚚🚚🚚🚚🚚🚚🚚🚚🚚🚚🚚🚚🚚

                                                                      ANOTHER LANTERN

Since I love traditional Christmas decorations, I decided to buy another M&S Christmas lantern, with a working battery light. Found it in a charity shop for only £2, it looks great on the table.

MGB

🎅🏻🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠🏠

                                                 Hong Kong and The Spanish-American War of 1898

HISTORICAL NOTE Prior to the Spanish-American War of 1898, the American Asiatic fleet, under George Dewey, was effectively based in Hong Kong, with the full acceptance of the British. When war broke out, Britain declared its official neutrality and ordered the American war ships to depart. The American fleet, however, was fully kitted out and supplied, and had even repainted their white ships to a shade of grey. On their departure, the Royal Navy ships also in Hong Kong fired salutes, and the crews were formed up and gave them three cheers! Apparently, we were totally neutral. 

Commodore George Dewey decisively defeated the Spanish Pacific fleet at the Battle of Manila Bay on May 1, 1898.

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