I never thought of building forts until the Indian Soldiers came – E. Nesbit, Wings and the Child 1913

An interesting and colourful chapter with Indian Army toy soldiers in E. Nesbit’s Wings and The Child 1913

Crossposted from my Man of TIN blog, 30 January 2021:

https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2021/01/30/i-never-thought-of-building-magic-cities-till-the-indian-soldiers-came/

Colonial Troops and Indian Cavalry Page from James Opie, Britain’s Toy Soldiers 1893 – 1932

Who could resist the colour and style of these vintage or modern recast figures ?

Bravo Teachers! The Poor Child’s Magic City by E Nesbit in her Wings and The Child 1913

Cocoanut Cottage, Box and Tin Towers from Wings and the Child 1913

Topical thoughts during Lockdown, a useful section on scrap modelling and the making of Magic Cities for all, rich and poor, from E. Nesbit / Edith Nesbit’s Wings and The Child, her version of H.G. Wells’ Little Wars and Floor Games of the same period:

Crossposted from my Man of TIN blog https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2021/01/24/the-poor-childs-city-e-nesbit-on-teachers-schools-and-making-magic-cities-in-wings-and-the-child-1913/

E. Nesbit’s Magic City at the Child Welfare Exhibition, Olympia, late 1912/1913

Menhirs on the Cheap at Much Flocking on the Henge

Deconstructing a roll on deodorant – some useful shapes …

Looking at household scraps ready for discard or recycling, like many gamers, i often wonder what they can be turned into.

I deconstructed this used-up underarm deodorant into its parts and after a good soak to degrease them and remove any fragrance, started to prepare the shapely plastic body into a standing stone for larger figures.

Tip: I thought I might have to use a saw to separate the proposed Menhir section but the weak point is the roller ball, attack this with sharp points of sprue cutters and soon it will all be in pieces. Some of these pieces have gone in the spares box such as the cog or propellor looking thing.

Essential Menhir research on Pinterest – thanks to an image from Chris Z.

I checked the Maya / Aztec / Inca standing stones but their Stele pillars were more four square. However looking online and on Pinterest at Menhirs across Europe, I spotted many examples that matched this shape.

Using a 54mm figure of one of my passing Armada Spaniards in the absence to hand of any Romans or Gauls, I checked the size / scale. Not too outlandish …

To make the Plastic more accepting of Acrylic paint, I used sandpaper to rough up its surface and that of a plastic lid base. I then applied black Acrylic as undercoat.

Stone Grey, Gunship Grey and Panzer Grey Revell Aquacolor Acrylic was then applied thickly or drybrushed to give the weathered look.

I considered briefly how to cut into the Menhir edges with some runes or ogham letters to make it an inscribed stone but didn’t do this in the end.

The final touch was “Much Flocking on the Henge” (can one menhir make a Henge, much as one swallow doesn’t make a summer?)

I found my Timpo Romans and a passing Viking doing his best Celtic / Gaulish impression – fine multiple plastic casting Timpo figures from my childhood. A handful of seasoned veteran warrior remain on either side.

And to celebrate the greatest Menhir delivery service of all time … some required reading other than Rosemary Sutcliff’s historical fiction Roman books.

One of Annie’s Bad Squiddo freebie peegs snuck in at the back … essential childhood reading.

So another very cheap part of my Full Metal Hic Jacet ongoing Romans and Celts / Britons project …

Blog posted by Mark Man of TIN 22/23 November 2020.