I confess, I was getting lazy. It didn't taking much looking and poking to come to the conclusion that early cogs usually had 1 mast........in the middle of the ship. I thought, well ok so just 1 sail not 2 but I could keep the front mast and add it for 18thC ships. ....mhmmm... well..... oh damn it! Get out the Dremel and various other tools and lets fix it, I'll sleep better. (OK not really, I wasn't that bothered.)
So, here we are:
NOW Can I finish painting them? I think so.
Born and raised in the suburbs of Montreal 7 decades ago. Began playing with toy soldiers at 5 years. Started painting & converting at about 12 yrs and wargaming about 15 yrs. Never really stopped.
5 years in the Black Watch of Canada Cadets, 5 years at the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean followed by 4 in the navy. 25 years with CPC in IT simultaneous with 23 years running a boarding kennel. Inherited my love of toy soldiers from my mother's father. Married with a pack of litle Italian Greyhounds and a cat. Prematurely retired and enjoying leisure to game, maintaining our 170 yr old farmhouse and just living.
Life begins to return to normal and work has resumed.
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When I started out, I was thinking of Viking ships but it was soon clear that turning 17/18thC pirate ships into long ships was not going to happen. It also didn't take long to figure out that my Elastolins on washers, and the ships as cast, were an awkward mix. There just wasn't enough room for the Elastolins to take up fighting positions.
A bit of digging around on the Web, and in my Prince Valiant reprint illustrated tales, soon decided me to work towards early medieval sailing ships or Cogs. 1st hurtle crossed.
I decided to remove the foremast of the new, not yet painted, ships to make room for a few more warriors. Then I turned to the stern and decided that I needed a poop deck since the raised stern had a very narrow walk way around it that just too narrow for the washer based Elastolins. After a bit more searching for pictures, drawings, and some pondering, I decided to add a poop deck.
Then I thought, maybe I should have at least one ship with the capacity to mount a catapult. Since the Britons have more ships, I reluctantly decided to give the Saxons the catapult capacity.......for now......
Now, back to painting!
Born and raised in the suburbs of Montreal 7 decades ago. Began playing with toy soldiers at 5 years. Started painting & converting at about 12 yrs and wargaming about 15 yrs. Never really stopped.
5 years in the Black Watch of Canada Cadets, 5 years at the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean followed by 4 in the navy. 25 years with CPC in IT simultaneous with 23 years running a boarding kennel. Inherited my love of toy soldiers from my mother's father. Married with a pack of litle Italian Greyhounds and a cat. Prematurely retired and enjoying leisure to game, maintaining our 170 yr old farmhouse and just living.
**Now with more pictures!
Yesterday was most enjoyable day with 5 old...long time... friends. Four of us played with our host's 25mm Minifig ECW figures painted in the 70's by himself, along with some of my old Highlanders added to his a few years ago. After a good close game, (ok maybe not that close), our host provided an excellent feast with plenty of conversation and perhaps a few reminisces.
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| Not my best shot but I couldn't back up any farther or avoid the lamp, our host was preparing lunch, and I was behind the cellphone. (Not quite sure why the photos make it look like all of us have white hair..........😉.) |
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| It doesn't happen often but Rob caught a picture of me as well. |
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| The last stand of the Irish mercenaries under my command. (The little dice are marking hits.) |
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| All over now as the Royalist infantry chase the last Covenanters out of the town. |
The memories will remain. One of my favorites was in my early days in Halifax (1979) when I had been recently posted from the West Coast. Phil & Sue Barker were over to a US Convention, probably Historicon, and the club had invited them to Halifax. They were a bit surprised to get off the plane to be greeted by a uniformed Police Officer. (Fresh off duty without time to change!) But he wasn't arresting them, just driving them to my apartment where I hosted them.
Here's good fortune to my friends and their children and grandchildren.
Born and raised in the suburbs of Montreal 7 decades ago. Began playing with toy soldiers at 5 years. Started painting & converting at about 12 yrs and wargaming about 15 yrs. Never really stopped.
5 years in the Black Watch of Canada Cadets, 5 years at the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean followed by 4 in the navy. 25 years with CPC in IT simultaneous with 23 years running a boarding kennel. Inherited my love of toy soldiers from my mother's father. Married with a pack of litle Italian Greyhounds and a cat. Prematurely retired and enjoying leisure to game, maintaining our 170 yr old farmhouse and just living.
