Two Additional EKO 1/87 Vehicles

This model is just like the other I had previously made a post, but this one without its windows.

I was rummaging through a box of unfinished 1/87 scale vehicles and came upon these two EKO HO scale models. EKO is a Spanish company, the maker of a full line of 1/87 scale vehicles. EKO’s models are not high quality, but they do have a charm all their own.

Not sure what the make of this one is. I can’t seem to find picture of it in the current sales materials. A fellow blogger has indentifiyed this model as a Ford Continental.

EKO models have the EKO logo molded into the floor board on the front end of their models.

Even though these models can cost up towards $10.30 USD it seems that they are very popular for many of those listed, on an online retailer that I occasionally make purchases, are currently out of stock.

---

Additional Resource

Small Scale World EKO Post

Post Script

This will my last post for this year and I wanted to wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year. See you shortly...

Another Redwall Meal

There for a while I had been tracking meals that were mentioned within my readings. I thought how unique and natural a subject to be mentioned within a text. For some reason, this practice fell out of use.

Up to this point, all the meals mentioned in the Redwall series sounded scrumptious. Here is a very simple mention:

Fresh summer salad
Cold cider
Gooesberry crumble with nutmeg cream

(Mattimeo)

Merry Christmas from Et le Pere Noel, the Mice of Redwall, & Google

The 1/72 Et le Pere Noel miniature is from Ykreol and is part of their Nativity set. The miniature was fun to paint, albeit it has become a tad frustrating. On two occasions paint peeled of the miniature and I was stuck having to touch the old gent up with a dab of paint.

The Christmas miniature with the mice and tree are not really the mice of Redwall. I only imagined the mice of the Abbey being so employed decorating their Christmas tree in this fashion. The miniature is actually from my wife collections of ceramic pieces, something she puts out during the Christmas season.

Google is featuring a set of Christmas Doodles. This set offers several holiday themed paper-craft toys. At the time of of this writing Google has published two Holidays 2015 Christmas goodies doodles.

Quote From Chapter 16, Mattimeo

“Seek the Founder in the stones where the little folk go.”
(Mattimeo, 122)

Preiser Miniature with Classic Matchbox Dump-Truck

The miniature is from Preiser’s #10036 their Standing Truck drivers. The figures are in 1/87 scale and I am not sure what scale the Dump Truck is, if it is in scale at all.

My Winter Reading List

I haven’t listed links to these epubs, however I download these titles from either Feed Books or Project Guntenberg.

Stolen Treasure, Howard Pyle

A General History of the Pirates, The Life, Adventures & Piracies of the Famous Captain Singleton, From London to Land's End, & A Journal of the Plague Year, Daniel Defoe

The Door in the Wall and Other Stories, H.G. Wells

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson

The Phantom Ship, Fredrick Marryat

New Collection: Disembodied Spirits

"A mad world, my masters. A crazy world! But the end is not!"

The Land of Mist, Arthur Conan Doyle

The addition to my ever growing list of labels is my Disembodied Spirits collection. The collection will encompass textual descriptions of disembodied spirits, images of ghosts and spirits, and the added characteristics and properties for spirit miniatures. For a starting point I will go back and pick-out occurrences from within the following texts:

• House on the Border Land
• Ghost Pirates
• The Land of Mist
• The Boats of the "Glen Carrig"
• The Phantom Ship

So far I have identified two sources of spirit miniatures:

1. Reaper has a few spirit miniatures to choose from
2. Brigade Games has one, a female spirit

The Ghost of Captain Goldsack

High Resolution Image Can Be found here (Wikipedia Commons)

“There Cap’n Goldsack goes, creeping, creeping, creeping, looking for his treasure down below”.

Howard Pyle’s Book of Pirates, Blue Skin the Pirate

---

I have added two new subjects to my collection of labels. They are clockwork devices and Disembodied Spirits. I am not worried about the later, but let’s hope I can do justice to the former.

10 Novels that Feature Pirates

The listed ten novels take you on voyages around the world with some dashing and notorious pirate captains and characters. Out of the ten, the only title that I know of that has been adapted into a miniatures game is Treasure Island.

Some of the stories in Pyle's Book of Pirates would make great game scenarios. Ghost Pirates, as well as other of William Hope Hodgson’s work would make great game plots. In addition, I believe Captain Blood and the Pirate would make great adaptations for slash-buckling game play.

1. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
2. The Missing Merchantmen, Harry Collingwood
3. Captain Blood, Rafael Sabatini
4. The Sea-Hawk, Rafael Sabatini
5. The Coral Island, R.M. Ballantyne
6. Ghost Pirates, William Hope Hodgson
7. Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates
8. The Pirate, Frederick Marryat
9. The Pirate Island, Harry Collingwood
10. The Red Rover, James Fenimore Cooper

Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates

The image on the front cover of this epub edition is presumably of one Captain Keitt, the father of the lovely damsel, the inherited owner of the legendary and infamous Ruby of Kishmoor.

Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates: Fiction, Fact & Fancy concerning the Buccaneers & Marooners of the Spanish Main

Included Chapters:

Chapter I Buccaneers and Marooners of the Spanish Main
Chapter II The Ghost Of Captain Brand
Chapter III With The Buccaneers
Chapter IV Tom Chist And The Treasure Box
Chapter V Jack Ballister's Fortunes
Chapter VI Blueskin The Pirate
Chapter VII   Captain Scarfield

Although the online HTML version does not include images, if this formats suits your device, I highly recommend that you download the epub version with images. Although the text is written for the young reader I found, with its mix of fact and fiction, the text a quite enjoyable read. In addition there are many illustrations included within the text including, line drawings and full color plates of some of the characters depicted in the book.

A Host of Characters-Quote from Professor Challenger

“Challenger looked in my direction with his coldest and most supercilious stare. It was a most petrifying experience. ‘The flippancy of the half-educated is more obstructive to science than the obtuseness of the ignorant.’”‘

The Poison Belt, Arthur Conan Doyle

A Host of Characters-Professor Challenger

Professor Challenger is a large burly man and although highly educated and gifted he has a tendency to act pompously and quite brutish at times. At the least provocation Professor Challenger is often driven into a rage where he on more than one occasion has physically assaulted people.

I believe Professor Challenger would make an excellent character in a miniatures game; now, just to find the right miniature.

The Professor Challenger character can be found in the following of Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels and short stories:

• The Lost World
• The Poison Belt
• The Disentegration Machine
• When the World Screamed
• The Land of Mist

More of the Pirates of the South China Sea

Some time ago I made a post on the Red Flag Fleet (squadron). There were six large squadrons in all, with the red fleet being larger than all the other fleets combined. The other fleets include the yellow, green, blue, black, and the white.

Each of these fleets was assigned a commander and particular area of operation. Many of the flagged fleets had smaller squadrons acting under their direction. A deputy commander commanded these sub-squadrons.

Here is a list of squadrons, their commanders, and deputy commanders:

Woo Che Tsing, whose nickname was the Scourge of the Eastern Sea, was the commander of the yellow flag squadron and his deputy was Le Tsing Hoo.

Meih Yew Kim and Necioushih, which were otherwise known as the Bird and the Stone were the commanders of the blue flag squadron. Their deputies were Meih’s relatives: Yew Kivel and Yew Kee.

Ping Yung Ta was the commander of the black squadron and Ping Yung Ta and Chang Jih Keaore and Otsew were his deputies.

Leang Paou, otherwise called “The Jewel of the whole crew”, was the commander of the white squadron.

Le Shag Tsing, nicknamed “Frog Meal” was the commander of green and Ching Jih commanded the red.

The History of the Pirates who invested the China Sea from 1807 to 1810

Sheriff Woody

Sheriff Woody Propped Up Against a (Plastic) Wooden Block

The R is for revealing. (Sorry Hugh) Woody was so intoxicated I couldn’t get him to stand-up straight and had to prop him up against a letter block. The block just happened to be the letter R.

Woody is from a small cache of toys I recently found that had been packed away. The few toys, that are left, somehow missed being donated or tossed out. My grandchildren don’t play with these toys any more and I have decided to hold on to them for the sake of nostalgia.

Histroifig Classic Fantasy Figures a Trip Down Memory Lane

Histroifig Classic Fantasy Figures are the same miniatures that were once cast by Jack Scruby back in the seventies. At the time Scruby miniatures were the only alternative to the Minifigs ME range. The Classic Fantasy Figures collection includes seventeen miniatures. The miniatures vary in size from 20mm to 54mm tall.

One Scruby miniature fan made the comment that "Scruby miniatures are so ugly they are cute." I will add that the few that I own look very anemic, but for nostalgic sake I do intend to add a few more of these miniatures to my collection. Scruby miniatures grow on you.

Classic Fantasy Figures

F-1          Troll, Advancing with tree trunk - 54mm tall        

F-2          Living Tree, without stretched branches - 54mm tall       

F-3          Hero, chainmail with long sword - 40mm tall       

F-4          Wizard on rearing horse - 30mm              

F-5          Elve, Firing longbow - 28mm tall               

F-6          Giant Orc, Shield, curved sword - 30mm tall        

F-7          Orc, Charging with Spear - 25mm tall      

F-8          Orc, Charging with Sword - 25mm tall     

F-10       Goblin, in Morion, with pole-axe - 20mm tall      

F-10a     Goblin, in Morion, with spear/short pike - 20mm tall      

F-12       Hobbit, with sword - 20mm tall 

F-13       Wizard, with staff - 40mm tall    

F-14       Dwarf, with axe - 25mm tall        

F-14a     Dwarf, with sword - 25mm tall  

F-14b     Dwarf, with axe - 25mm tall        

F-15       Evil Wizard - 40mm tall  

---

Additional Links

• Painted Jack Scruby fantasy figures
  Includes images of most the collection of unpainted miniatures.
• Jack Scruby Painted Figures Photo Bucket

---

The Choice of a Hobbit

At the start of the Hobbit Gandalf visits Bilbo Baggins and suggests that Bilbo accompany a party on an adventure. Bilbo rejects the offer and goes back into his home leaving Gandalf standing outside. Not having given up on Bilbo, and before leaving, Gandalf marks Bilbo’s door for the Dwarfs that have been instructed to meet here, by Gandalf.

Little did Bilbo know that Gandalf had previously met with Thorin Oakenshield, and a few other Dwarfs, to discuss an upcoming expedition to the Lonely Mountain. Gandalf thought that Bilbo would be a good addition to their troop; however Thorin and the other Dwarfs had to be persuaded. All was left to the meeting at Bilbo’s home. Their goal was to retake the mountain kingdom from Smaug the dragon

The Hobbit & Unfinished Tales, J.R.R. Tolkien

Historifigs 20mm Hobbit

This is not the first Histroifigs miniature I have purchased or have completed. I own of three of Histroifigs, Classic Fantasy Figures. Formally I had completed a Histroifigs Elf firing a long bow.

In my reading I have learned a few things about this line of miniatures and had not realized the complete significance of these miniatures. I will have to make another post or two about this line of miniatures explaining their significance to the gaming community.

In order to complete a scene, I have in mind; I would like to pair the Hobbit up with the Histroifig wizard on a rearing horse.

The Fabulous Clockwork and Steam Contraptions in the Gold Compass

Although I am looking forward to reading the Gold Compass trilogy (His Dark Materials), outside of the Steampunk aesthetic with all of its wonderful contraptions, I was a little let down by the rendition of the text. I also felt that the story had very little plot and the acting was dreadful.

Horseless Hansom Cab

I am not sure what propels this vehicle in this alternative universe, as you see is doesn’t seem to be steam.

Golden Compass (alethiometer)

Move the two hands to an appropriate position and right person can tell the future. Interesting contraption.

Clockwork Spy Wasps

These clockwork devices are kind of like hound dogs. Put them on the trail of someone and they will fly towards the ends of the earth until the person is found.

Dirigibles

There are two dirigibles featured within. The first, a very elegant designed dirigible owned by a very elegant lady (Kidman). The second a more practical design powered by hydrogen. Can’t say whether the other was thus powered, however this one was disassembled, transported by ship and carried to location and reassembled.

Steam Paddled Ship

I have include a couple images of this ship. She has such nice lines. This ship was one of few low-tech items featured in the movie or is she?

Elegant Launch

Histroifigs 18mm Monsters

Why 18mm miniatures?

1). It is about time that I add a few monsters to my collection.

2). Monsters can be played as wild cards, creatures that show up randomly throughout play.

3). 18mm is not too much smaller than 20mm, the size of miniatures that I am planning on playing them against.

Histroifigs, TI-03, Monsters (bag of 3 mixed), contains three different monsters, which I will do my best to describe.

One the miniature is winged, the winged piece will need to be attached, to what looks like a furry body with a tail. This creature is standing on its hind legs and has long sharp claws on its feet. The creatures face is hidden behind one of its two front paws that look like crab or lobster claws.

The second creature resembles a crouching bear. It has its snout sticking straight up in the air. I mentioned that the creature seems to resemble a bear, but its legs seem too long for a bear and also the way it is crouching doesn’t remind me of a position a bear could put itself. 

The last miniature is most troubling out of the three. The creature looks more like a plant than an animal. It has what resembles two legs. Its face, if you want to call it that looks an ill formed flower or perhaps a mouth of an octopus. It has two arms, or are they branches, that are interwoven with vines? At the top of one branch there is a large Venus fly trap and the other with many interwoven creepers. In addition to these features, there are also clumps of growths and has interwoven creepers on its legs and torso. 

Projects for December

Although I might add a project or two I will strive to keep the list short this month.

HistoriFigs, #I-03, 3-18mm Monsters

I have wanted to add a few monsters to my collection of war-gaming miniatures. These types of characters can add some random havoc to some dungeon crawl or other game scenario. I am not quite sure how I am going to proceed with the painting, but I do plan on making a slight modification to one of the miniatures in the set. 

The Prizes of Captain Morgan

Captain Morgan was one of the most notorious pirates for his lust for gold and in as far as his achievements he was one the most successful pirates that plied the Caribbean. Morgan took many Spanish ships and sacked many Spanish settlements.  Morgan would often swindle his crew and took the lion’s share of the following prizes:

Sacking of Panama:                $1500,000

Sacking of Porto Bello:               800,000

Sacking of Puerto Del Principe:  700,000

Maracaibo and Gibraltar:            400,000

Various Piracies:                         250,000

Morgan knighted by King Charles II, retired to Jamaica, and was appointed the Governor of Jamaica. Although Morgan gave up piracy, he wasn’t able to give up his old ways of hard drinking. Drinking, not piracy, would eventually take him.

The Book of Pirates by Howard Pyle, & Under the Black Flag, David Cordingly

Lesser Known Pirates of the Caribbean

Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates

I am sure that you have heard of the pirates Captain Kidd and Morgan, but there were many other notorious and blood thirsty pirates before and after the former who made a name for themselves.

Pirate	Nationality	Claim to Fame
Pierre Francois	French	With 26 men, attacked the vice admiral, a ship armed with 8 guns, off the coast of South America. Although the ship was manned with threescore men, Pierre Francois captured the ship and would have would gotten away if only their main-mast had not went by the board.
Bartholomew Portuguese	Portuguese	With a boat manned with thirty fellow adventures fell upon a Spanish ship off of Cape Corrientes which was manned with threescore and ten men (70) and took the ship only to lose it and recapture the same ship.
Roch Brazliano	Dutch	Upon his very first adventure Roch captured a Spanish ship of fabulous value.
Lewis Scott	English	With a large and powerful detachment of men sacked Campeche.
Mansvelt		Made a decent on Saint Catherine, sacked it and made it his base of operations. He made two unsuccessful attempts at attacking Granada and Cartagena.
John Davis	Jamaican	With four-score of men he swooped down on the city of Nicaragua in the darkness of night and pillaged churches and homes, “without and respect or veneration”. With only a handful of men they carried away money and jewels to the value of fifty thousand pieces of eight, besides the dozen or so notable citizens, whom they held for ransom.
Francois l’Olonoise	French	Sacked the city of Maracaibo and the town of Gibraltar.

Plastic Lizard for Fantasy War Game

Recently, I came upon this very economical priced plastic lizard (Komodo Dragon ?) that looks like it will be just about the right size for an upcoming war game. The plastic toy lizard has a surprising amount of detail. I don’t know whether it will take paint, but if it does it might prove to be a very interesting addition to a game. I will place it in some cave or dungeon. Some poor soul might have a chance encounter with this creature. The outcome is predicable.

Old Brigade 28mm Miniature

This picture is of an old Brigade miniature I completed sometime ago. I believe the old gent is 28mm tall.

A Drinking Dirge Sung by Basil Stag Hare and Ambrose Spike

The following song was sung by Basil Stag Hare with his quavering treble and was accompanied by Ambrose Spike with his gruff bass harmony as they drank their October ale and black current wine.

“O if I feel sick or pale,

What makes my old eyes shine?

Some good October ale

And sweet black-current wine.

I’s kill a dragon for half a flagon,

I’d wrestle a stoat to wet my throat.

I’s strangle a snake, all for the sake

Of lovely nut-brown beer…

Nuhuhuhut broooowwwwnnnn beeeeheeeyer!

(Chapter 6, Mattimeo, 44)

Yog-Sothoth

Yog-Sothoth was a creature conjured up in Lovecrafts’ novel the Dunwich Horror by the novels main antagonist.

“The creature was bigger than a barn and made up of what looked like squirming' ropes and was sort of shaped like a hen's egg,” bigger'n than anything, with dozens o' legs like hogs-heads that haff shut up when they step... nothin' solid abaout it - all like jelly, an' made o' sep'rit wrigglin' ropes pushed clost together... great bulgin' eyes all over it... ten or twenty mouths or trunks a-sticking' out all along the sides, big as stove-pipes an all a-tossin' an openin' an' shuttin'... all grey, with kinder blue or purple rings... In its path the creature left a sticky tar like substance that had a putrid smell to it. Horrifying!

Without warning came those deep, cracked, raucous vocal sounds which will never leave the memory of the stricken group who heard them. Not from any human throat were they born, for the organs of man can yield no such acoustic perversions. Rather would one have said they came from the pit itself, had not their source been so unmistakably the altar-stone on the peak? It is almost erroneous to call them sounds at all, since so much of their ghastly; infra-bass timbre spoke to dim seats of consciousness and terror far subtler than the ear; yet one must do so, since their form was indisputably though vaguely that of half-articulate words.”

A Host of Characters-Sir Harry the Muse

Sir Harry the Muse Offers a Service to the Warriors of Redwall

“The owl bowed gravely and blinked his enormous eyes. Matthias bowed courteously in return. “good morning, Sir Harry. I am Matthias, Warrior of Redwall.” When asked why he was called the Muse, Sir Harry “struck an artistic stance” and quipped the following poem:

‘Why pray, do you suppose?

I’m master of poetry and prose,

No equal have I in field and wood,

No creature in smidgeon, a fraction as good.

And if you need a poet, why, here’s one to choose,

This Owl…Sir Harry the Muse.”

Although the owl was applauded, it was mentioned that the “Warriors” were not looking for a poet at this moment.

“The owl blinked in a dignified manner and exclaimed:”

‘Then tell me what you need.

Someone to perform a deed?

A mummer perhaps, or a singer of songs?

A champion, righter of wrongs?

A companion, maybe, to stand at your side?

For my talents are varied and wide.’

After eating a shrew cake and being promised several more, Sir Harry the Muse flies off the top of the cliff and lets down the rope latter that had been hauled up by the slavers.

Diminutive People

The following miniatures are from Preiser. These miniatures are in 1/87 scale. Preiser is supplier of hundreds of different pre-painted miniatures. These are not your low quality figures. Preiser’s figures are molded crisply and painted “carefully”.



Howard showing his mate Murphy the sights found around the Farris residence.



Howard with his son, Ralph investigating the many strange and wonderful artifacts they have found while out for a hike.

These three miniatures are from Prieser's #10290, the Wanderers. This set like many of Prieser figure sets includes 5 figures.

A Host of Characters

A Host of Characters is a new project that I am working on. It is a project where I collect miniatures for future game play. It is also where I assign names, characteristics and properties to these characters in order to make these characters interesting and more worthwhile during game play. Many of the names for my characters have been found in my readings. Here are some of the names I have recently established from my literary readings.

• Captain Cain, a pirate, The Pirate
• Sir Harry, the Owl, Mattimeo
• Captain Daniel Menard, The Road To Frontenac
• Basil Stag Hare, Redwall
• Yog-Sothoth, creature from the cosmos, The Dunwich Horror
• Doctor Moreau, The Island of Dr. Moreau
• Professor Challenger, found in several of Arthur Connan Doyle's novels and short stories

General Directions for Woodland Scenics Metal Castings

1. Clean-up castings by removing parting lines, flash, and stems. These can be removed by scraping with a hobby knife, filing, or using sand paper. I prefer filing, but in certain cases a hobby knife must be brought in to play.
2. As you are cleaning up the castings, refer to the directions and become thoroughly acquainted with their placement. Dry fit the parts before you start construction.
3. Parts may warp or become bent during shipment and should be straightened before construction. Be careful here, you don’t want to break those fragile parts.
4. Clean the casting with solution water and a little dish liquid and let air dry.
5. After the parts are thoroughly dry, I use a tweezers to transfer the parts to a piece of two-sided tape, and I then give them a good base coat. I usually use grey spray paint, but white will work.
6. Glue castings. I prefer “Super” glue, but a fast acting epoxy will also work. The detail I like about “Super” glue, is that it will adhere to a painted surface and it acts fast. When using a fast acting epoxy, both surfaces must be free from paint. By the way, if the part is going to receive some handing during play, then use epoxy. Epoxy will take a little longer to cure, but will produce a stronger bond.
7. Paint the castings. Pick out details on the castings with contrasting colors. Some parts might be better served if they are painted before construction.

I have worked with many of Woodland Scenics Metal kits. Some like the outhouses have worked out very well, while others like the chicken coop did not go together without some difficulty.

Quote from Chapter 5 of Mattimeo

“Resounding with the noise of busy creatures and laughter, mixing with the smell of wood smoke and cooking aromas, the sunlit afternoon stretched into warm windless eventide, turning the red sandstone Abbey walls a rosy hue with the speckle of golden dust motes drifting lazily on the rays of the setting sun.”

(Mattimeo, 38)

Blasted Planets Order #2

My order from Historifigs arrived a few days earlier than expected. It contained the following items:

TI-03, Monsters (bag of 3 mixed), 18mm

25mm-Special Figures

BP-002  Brain Siphon (aka N'ood)             

BP-003  The Monk                                          

BP-007  Space Vampire w/Needle Gun 

BP-004  The Brotherhood: Assassin         

BP-005  The Brotherhood: Arsonist

               

F-12       20mm, Hobbit w/Sword                               

Overall I am very satisfied with these miniatures. I have made many posts on monsters, but have yet to add one to my collection. The 25mm miniatures will be used in a skirmish game of some sort or with the Blasted Planets game rules. They are all very odd looking and I am looking forward to creating properties and a back story for these characters.

I will be writing more about these miniatures shortly, but in the meantime, I feel compelled to paint my first hobbit. I will get back to you on the progress of these miniatures.

Quote from Chapter 4 of Mattimeo

“The new moon was up. It hung like a fresh-minted coin in a still, cloudless sky of midnight blue. Moths fluttered vainly upward, only to drift spiraling down to the grass-carpeted woodland floor. The trees stood like timeless sentinels. Somewhere a nightjar serenaded the soft darkness.”

(Mattimeo, 24)

Alpine Miniatures Scale Model Directories

I just came across this link and did not want to lose track of it, so I have posted it. Alpine Miniatures site features a small international directory of scale model and figures of various scales.

Quote from Chapter 2, Mattimeo

“The afternoon wore on, peaceful and golden. Now and then a small dust devil swirled on the path with the summer heat.”

(Mattimeo, 18)

Projects for November

1) Woodland Scenic’s Outhouse with Man

This is the more detailed structure of the three, which are supplied, in this Woodland Scenic’s #D212 kit. As they say, a model railroad layout is never really finished and I can always use another outbuilding placed behind some industrial building, a barn or some farm house. Clustering several building close together adds just as much, if not more, interest to ones layout than those large showcase structures.

2) Campbell #431 Assay Office/Clothing Store

I thoroughly enjoy working with structures from this manufacture. The kit parts are stamped out and cut from sugar pine and just the smell of the pine parts gives me so much delight. This kit may take a good month to complete; not that this kit is all that complicated, I just know how I can get side-tracked.

3) A 1/72 Santa miniature from the Ykreol Nativity set. Yes a Santa was included in this set. Not quite sure about the connection, but this miniature sits on my workbench more than half way finished. Why not complete him?

Halloween 2015

Halloween has its beginnings in the ancient Celtic festival of the dead. The Celtics carved Jack O' Lanterns out of turnips or beets and were carved to stave off unwanted visitors.

Here is a set of pumpkins that have set out well beyond their time adding to their dubious aspects.

This concludes my horror and otherwise themed month. Perhaps I will have other months with themed posts.

A Prelude to the Dunwich Horror

The Dunwich Horror is a horror novel written by H.P. Lovecraft. The Dunwich Horror is one of Lovecraft’s more petrifying stories and introduces the reader to the creature Yog-Sothoth a predecessor to Cthulhu. A detailed description of Yog-Sothoth will appear in an upcoming post.

“Gorgons and Hydras, and Chimaeras - dire stories of Celaeno and the Harpies - may reproduce themselves in the brain of superstition - but they were there before. They are transcripts, types - the archtypes are in us, and eternal. How else should the recital of that which we know in a waking sense to be false come to affect us all? Is it that we naturally conceive terror from such objects, considered in their capacity of being able to inflict upon us bodily injury? O, least of all! These terrors are of older standing. They date beyond body - or without the body, they would have been the same... That the kind of fear here treated is purely spiritual - that it is strong in proportion as it is objectless on earth, that it predominates in the period of our sinless infancy - are difficulties the solution of which might afford some probable insight into our ante-mundane condition, and a peep at least into the shadowland of pre-existence”.

Charles Lamb: Witches and Other Night-Fears

A Description of the Genie, Caschcasch

Caschcasch the genie was summoned by Maimoune the fairy to help in a dispute between her and another sprite. Caschcasch was hideous in appearance. He was dark as night, humped backed, had six horns on his head, had hands like claws. Not having seen the light of days for some time, when he was summoned, Caschcasch, came up from the depths of earth squinting.

The Adventures of Prince Camaralzaman and the Princess Badoura, Adventures of Sinbad the Sailor.

Three More Horror Novels by Howard Phillips Lovecraft that Will Make your Skin Crawl

It seems that I will most likely finish reading through my fall and early winters readings well before the start of winter, so I have added the following titles from H. P. Lovecraft to my reading list. The three titles are prefect for this time of the year and fit well into the theme for this month.

1. The Dunwich Horror
After reading a few of Lovecraft’s novels, you see how he plies his trade. Lovecraft is infatuated with words. He crams as many words as he can when describing his creatures, incantations, and his multi-dimensional super-natural spire of things. Lovecraft prose takes you on a literary roller-coaster ride, which on its down side, leaves you with an empty feeling in your stomach. A couple of quotes from this text will follow.

2. At the Mountains of Madness
3. Dreams in the Witch House

More work from H.P. Lovecraft for the taking.

Solo Dungeon Bash

Solo Dungeon Bash uses a 9 (width) by 10 rows deep square grid. Each row represents a new level. Each level gets more difficult as the odds of having to fight a monster of some sort grow with each level. On level one you a 1 out of 6 chance of having to fight and kill a monster. After level 3 you have a 4 out 6 chance of fighting a monster.

You start the game with 17 health, 1 attack die and 1 defense die. If your health reaches 0 you are dead and lose the game.

The turn sequence is as follows:

• Pick the next square and move into it. You can move into any square except for a square you have already moved into and don’t pick a square that will eventually block you in.
• Roll to determine the room contents
• If the room contains treasure add it to your treasure score. Treasure can be used to purchase weapons and amour or potions.
• If the room contains Potion add it to your treasure score. Treasure can be used to purchase weapons and amour or portions. Potions can be used to add health points.
• If the room contains a monster, you must fight to the death
• Take any or all the potions you have collected
• Exchange any treasure items

Monsters only have one health.

The fighting of a monster goes as such:

• Monster rolls an attack die, each roll of a 6 is a hit
• Player rolls defense die. Each 6 reduces the counts of hits. Remaining hits are subtracted from the player health
• Player rolls their attack die. Each 6 is a hit
• Monster rolls their defense die. Each 6 reduce the number of hits by 1. If there are nay remaining hits after deducting, the monster is dead

What will I need to play?

A 9 by 10 grid laid-out on a pad. There are four provided with the instructions; a pencil to keep track of health, potions, treasure, ETC statistics, and up to ten dice.

Malkariss the Ruler of the Pit

“Within the Kingdom of Malkariss the black-robed procession of rats halted before the statue of Malkariss. Nadaz, the purple robe rat, meekly approached the statue. Torch lights from the large wheeled-shaped chandelier illuminated the terrifying stone idol. Nadaz bowed his head and began to chant:

‘Malkariss, Ruler of the pit,

Lord of the deep and dark,

I am Nadaz, the Voice of the Host,

To which your servants hark.

Hear me, O Ruler of eternal night,

Whose eyes see all we do,

King of the void beneath the earth,

We bring our pleas to you.’ “

(Mattimeo, 53)

Captured

“I am Slagar the Cruel. You are my slaves now.” The silk mask sucked against his face as he spoke. “When I say walk, you walk. If I say run, you run. If I decide you may live, then you will live. If I take it in my head that you may not live, then I will see to it that you die.”

Mattimeo, an Introduction

It has been a while since I read anything from the Redwall collection. Mattimeo is the third volume in Brain Jacques’ Redwall series. The Redwall series give me fodder for future fantasy skirmishes and war games.

Novel Prelude:

“Slagar the Cruel, a demented fox, is determined to vanquish peaceable Redwall. Gathering his mercenary bands of rats, stoats, and weasels, he advances upon the abbey with a cunning scheme-rather than making courageous battles plans he will steal the children of Redwall from under their parents very noses. His prize captive will be Mattimeo, the headstrong son of Matthias, the fearless warrior mouse.

An Encounter with a Sea Monster

Sea monster or sea dragon, call it what you will; coming in close proximity with a creature like this on the high seas is enough to unnerve even the most resolute of men. The sea monster and the ship traveled parallel of one another for a good league or two in the pre-dawn hours without the other the wiser.

At dawns first light the ships lookout noticed the object and called for the mate on duty. The mate took out his telescope and took note that it was a sea creature of the sort, which is best to keep your distance from. Not wanting to draw attention to the ship, a more experienced officer would have veered off a few degrees at a time, but the mate ordered” hard to port”. The creature took notice of the abrupt movement and lunged toward the ship.

Whether the creature looked at the ship as challenger or a possible meal, the crew of the ship put all the sail they had to the wind and broke out the oars to gain as much distance from the creature. At this point the creature is very close and the ships only chance is to, after swinging to port, to face the sea dragon and fire its four port side cannon in hopes to decapitate the creature.

A Demented Lullaby Sung by a Duchess

“ And with that the Duchess began nursing her child again, singing a sort of lullaby to it as she did so, and giving it a violent shake at the end of every line”:

"Speak roughly to your little boy,

And beat him when he sneezes:

He only does it to annoy,

Because he knows it teases."

Chorus

(In which the cook and the baby joined):

"Wow! wow! wow!"

While the Duchess sang the second verse of the song, she kept tossing the baby violently up and down, and the poor little thing howled so, that Alice could hardly hear the words:

"I speak severely to my boy,

I beat him when he sneezes;

For he can thoroughly enjoy

The pepper when he pleases!"

Chorus.

"Wow! wow! wow!"

Chapter 6  Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Other Species of Dragons

Although this will not be my last post on dragons, this is will probably be my last post made under The Complete Book of Dragons tag. Other than the dragons that I have already made posts there are three other species of dragons that are mentioned in this wonderful book. The three other species are the Wyvern, Amphithere, and the Marsupial dragons.

Wyvern

Unlike other dragons the wyvern only has two legs. The wyvern is the largest form of dragon and is sufficiently large enough to carry away a large elephant in its claws. Adult wyvern’s can grow up to fifty feet long and up to twenty feet high. There coloration is anywhere from a muddy brown to a lime green. The wyvern will make its lair or nest in a rocky crag or in some occasions in a circular nest in sand dunes or grass lands. The wyverns were once found throughout the African continent and the Middle East.

Amphithere

There are two types of amphithere. The Mexican feathered and a furry North American amphithere. The amphithere is a fire breather and once was found along the west coasts of North and South America. The amphithere dragon can grow up to forty-five feet long and between five and ten feet high. They will nest or build their lairs among the reeds on lakeside of offshore islands.

Marsupial

The marsupial dragon is largely confined to southeastern Australia and can reach sizes up to twenty-five feet long and between fifteen and eighteen feet high. The text mentions that the marsupial dragon breathes blue smoke and does start brush fires to thrush out its prey. Its coloration is anywhere from a green to a greenish blue. The marsupial dragon, like other marsupials, carry their young in their pouch.

The Details of the Spider Trees

I finally completed the other Games Workshop’s spider tree just in time for this gruesome season.

Tree fungus Spider webs Birds head with yellow beak Pile of skulls Spiders Pile of paw bones

Spider webs Spider Tree fungus Pile of skulls

Imagine you are lost and are wandering around aimlessly in the forest. You see light up ahead and you come out to a clearing in the forest to see two dead trees with all their disturbing details. What is worse, you notice that several spiders residing on the trees seem to have taken notice of you. It is getting dark. Would you continue on in the forest or stay in the clearing? Your answers might prove to be revealing.

Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky

The original high definition, public domain image can be found here.

"Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun

The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:

Long time the manxome foe he sought—

So rested he by the Tumtum tree,

And stood awhile in thought.

And as in uffish thought he stood,

The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,

Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,

And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! and through and through

The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!

He left it dead, and with its head

He went galumphing back.

"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?

Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"

He chortled in his joy.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.”

Jabberwocky is nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll and is found in Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. The illustration is by Sir John Tenniel depicts some sort of beast, monster or dragon?

Monster Mentioned in Sinbad the Sailor’s Third Voyage

“The sun was setting when a loud noise aroused us, the door of the hall was violently burst open and a horrible giant entered. He was tall as a palm tree, and perfectly black, and had one eye, which flamed like burning coal in the middle of his forehead. His teeth were long and sharp and it grinned horribly, while his lower lip hung down upon his chest, and he had ears like elephants ears, which covered his shoulders, and nails like claws of some fierce bird. The prisoners were so horrified that stood stupefied as the monster picked up one of the prisoners and proceeded to eat him.”

With all the terror and the gore of it all there are no words to express the pure horror we felt of the event unfolding in front of us.

Posts for the Month of October

To celebrate the run-up to Halloween I have decided to make the month of October a theme month and will feature posts dedicated to all things creepy, horrifying and gruesome. I will be revisiting some of my earlier posts on these topics and will be making some new posts featuring monsters, horror, dragons, dudgeon crawl, and pumpkins.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Screenshot 1

The first time I viewed this video was in a surround sound movie theater where every creek and grown of the wooden ship was heard as if you were there on the ship. And the sound of cannon was deafening.

I have watched this video on two other occasions and now it is part of my collection. I have read the book by Patrick O'Brian-Master and Commander in which the movie was, in part, contrived. The video was adapted from three novels from the O’ Brian’s Aubrey–Maturin series.

Screenshot 2

“The film takes place in the spring of 1805, during the Napoleonic Wars. Captain "Lucky Jack" Aubrey of HMS Surprise has orders to pursue the French privateer Acheron, and "Sink, Burn, or take her as a Prize".

Screenshot 3

Jack Aubrey the captain of the HMS Surprise, played by Russell Crowe, is depicted as an excellent navigator, a great leader, and a compassionate friend. Aubrey outwits his French opponent and takes the Acheron as a prize, only to find out that it is he who has been outwitted. The last scene finds the HMS Surprise beating to quarters and changing course to pursue the Acheron, with the idea of escorting the recently captured ship to port.

Further Reflections of Robinson Crusoe

“I saw the world busy around me: one part laboring for bread, another part squandering in vile excess or empty pleasures, but equally miserable because the end they proposed still fled from them; for the men of pleasure every day surfeited of their vice, and heaped up work for sorrow and repentance; and men of labor spent their strength in daily struggling for bread to maintain the vital strength they labored with: so living in a daily circulation of sorrow, living but to work, and working but to live, as if daily bread were the only end of wearisome life, and a wearisome life the only occasion of daily bread.”

A Host of Characters-Reaper 25mm Leprechaun and Owl

This is not my first Reaper miniature, but it is my first Leprechaun and owl with a rider.The Chronicles of Narnia’s The Silver Chair has a mention or two of talking owl’s carrying humans around on their backs. I will have to go back and pick out these occurrences.

When I was a child me Mum gave my sister and I a good talking about everything Irish and used to talk in her mother tongue often when my sister and I when we vexed her.

Leprechauns are mischievous and not to be trusted, but capturing a Leprechaun would allow you three wishes, the price for his freedom. At the end of the rainbow you might find the Leprechaun’s Pot of Gold.

Although this Leprechaun might have already had two sheets to the wind he has his pipe and his jug and is ready to take off to the great blue yonder.

An English Proverb

“In trouble to be troubled, is to have your trouble doubled.”

 The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe

My Fall and Early Winter Reading List

It seems that I am to continue my reading of sea yarns and of pirates.  Within this list I have three novels by Captain Fredrick Marryat; two of those being sea yarns, and one being upon the War of Roses.  I have listed one title by Samuel Merwin, which tells a tale of the French and Indian War and one title by Brain Jacques, Mattimeo which I am looking forward to reading. It has been a while since I read anything in the Red Wall series.

Captain Marryat:

The Pirate

The Phantom Ship

The Children of the New Forest
It is set in the time of the English Civil War and the Commonwealth (War of the Roses).

Samuel Merwin:

The Road to Frontenac
A novel taking place during the French and Indian war. High adventure and intrigue.

Brian Jacques:

Mattimeo

Howard Pyle:

Book of Pirates (non fiction) (currently reading)

GearWorld the Borderlands Transport Phase

It has been a while since I made a post on this topic and have not got around to playing this game yet. The Transport Phase is the fourth phase a player may choose to perform during his or her turn. During this phase the player may move any number of resources or weapon tokens using one of the following transportation methods:

• Foot
• Horse
• Riverboat
• Ship

These transportation methods have the following movement points:

Method	Maximum Movement Points
Foot	1
Horse	2
Riverboat	8
Ship	10

A Host of Characters- Skaven with Poisoned Wind Mortar

A Host of Characters is a new project I have started. Toward the close of last year, I started to collect miniatures to use as characters in upcoming war game stories. One such miniature, obtained from Hoard O’ Bits, was a Warhammer Island of Blood, Poisoned Wind Mortar and Skaven crew set. The miniature came unassembled, included three parts and a slotted stand.  

Although I haven’t got around to painting this miniature I did assemble the piece. I am still questioning whether it was wise of me to glue one piece into place before painting the miniature. I might have a hard time painting different elements of the miniature, but what is done is done.

Create Rocks from Leftover Bits of Plaster

I created a scenery base for taking pictures and had some left over plaster, so I poured the leftover plaster into a rock mold. The rock mold gave me predictable result; four beautiful rocks.  Still having some leftover plaster I spooned it on a piece of wax paper into small piles. After the plaster had dried I took a chisel ended hobby knife and shaped the bits of plaster until I was happy with their shape. To color my rocks I used the following paint and colors:

• Model Master, Light Grey
• Pactra, Dark Gull Grey
• My Studios, Grey
• Folk Art, Medium Grey

I usually stated with a dark base color, followed by a dry brushing with two or three related lighter colors. I also tried reversing the process and used a light base color followed with a dry brushing of darker color. This technique does work if you apply the secondary colors sparingly. It is like you are trying to paint detail on the rock, like shadows for instance. Lastly, I applied a couple of good coats of black wash on the rock carvings. This flowed into the cracks and crevices and muted and fused the colors together.

What were the results? The results were that no two hand crafted rocks or boulders were the same. Although I did try to create several rocks that were similar in appearance, each rock is unique. I experimented with different techniques and processes on each rock. On one of the grey rocks I added grey chalk and some fine green turf material to represent moss. I added these components while the paint was still wet and gave the carving a good bath of black wash.

The picture does not do the carving too much justice and I feel that the rocks will look pretty good surrounded with landscaping material.  I use these rocks as small islands when I play the Pirates at Ocean’s Edge miniatures game.  Three dimensional islands are more realistic than the flat islands included with the other game pieces. 

The Reflections of Robinson Crusoe

Robinson Crusoe’s first dwelling place was not fit for his settlement and he contrived to find a more suitable place for his abode. Crusoe considered the following when searching for a proper dwelling place: 

1. Health and freshwater
2. Shelter from heat and sun
3. Security from ravenous creatures whether they be man or beast
4. A view to the sea, so that he might observe any passing ships

A Comparison of “Goods and Evils” by Robinson Crusoe

After his being ship wrecked on a deserted island Robinson Crusoe took stock of the Goods and Evils of his circumstances.

For a larger view, click on the image above.

Other Kits Available from Main Street Heritage Models

Mercer’s Dry Goods wasn’t the first Main Street Heritage model that I have built. Formally, I built Main Street Heritage’s The Weekly Record, which I re-purposed and renamed Billy’s Place. 

As you can see from the image Main Street Heritage Models offers other 1/87 structures. In addition other kits are featured at Main Street Heritage’s online catalog. Some of the structures featured here are the: River Road Surplus, Moffat's Bookstore, Strong's Mercantile, and the now retired the Soda Works.

Pirate Ditty Sung Aboard the Arabella

For we put her board and board,

and we put her to the sword,

and we sunk her in the deep blue sea.

So it’s high-ho, and heave-a-hoe!

Who’ll sail for the Main with me?

Chapter 22, Captain Blood

MDC Kit#1512, A Kit-basher’s Dream

This kit comes with a wealth of parts which includes a HO gauge 34’ Overton Coach and brick wall sections for a Power House. Like all of MDC’s 3-in1 kits, detail parts, scratch building supplies and parts from your scrap bin are required.

Like the other kits in this series, there are instructions for the basic assembly, inspirational images, and ideas for kit-bashing a cable car out of the 34’ Overton kit.

Ship Types Used by Pirates

Pirates usually carried out their trade by using ships they had captured on earlier raids. Some pirates might “upgrade” to the better ship after capturing a ship that was better suited for their purposes. Between the years 1710 and 1730 pirate attacks in the Caribbean and along the North American coast were made using the following types of vessels. By percentage: 55%-sloops, 45%-ships, 10%-brigs or brigantines, 5%-schooners, 3%-open boats, and 2%-snows.

Under the Black Flag, David Cordingly

Successful Pirate Captains and their Squadrons

If you are looking for characters for your skirmishes or war games that take place on the high seas, Bartholomew Richards and Black Beard are two characters that raised all kinds of havoc on the high seas during the 1700’s.

Back in 1721, Bartholomew Richards was a pirate captain reported to have taken over four hundred ships during his infamous career. Richards was a natural leader and he was not one to shy away from torture, and murder to achieve his goals.

At the height of his career he commanded a squadron of four vessels. Richards’s flagship was the Royal Fortune, a former French military ship, with forty-two guns. The other ships of his squadron were the Sea King, a thirty gun brigantine, another French ship, the Ranger, and a small sixteen gun ship.

Black Beard was another infamous pirate captain that commanded a squadron of up to four ships. Black Beards flagship was the 36 gun Major Bonnett, also contributing was a sloop with 12 guns and two other ships.

Under the Black Flag, David Cordingly