Alongside the Dewar's Drum Major we've seen recently and included for sizing, we
have a rather nice Hong Kong piper, based on the Britains Herald pose (as most copies are) but with the novel change
of headgear to a side-cap, his pipes are also further spread with a thicker
connecting sash (which probably has a special name but I don't know it!) sans
tassels.
Then there are three versions of key-ring, the one
on the right being a heavier sculpt in a softer PVC to the other two, along
with a mini-key-ring version approximately 1:72nd scale.
The three larger key rings with the Herald donor; I converted the first one
years ago, although a full'ish 54mm, with no base he always looked a bit
smaller and hung around even while I was a small scale 'purist', I used to
always cut the key ring away, I now realise this was a kind of sacrilege
(unless you add a base maybe?) so now I leave the key ring - or whatever
remains of it, as it the case of the other two!
Bog-standard tourist items in the 1970's
and 1980's there must be quite a few of them or things like them around the
place and I'm sure that away from our branch of the hobby there will be
key-ring (-fob, -chain...) collectors with lots of
paint/plastic/sculpt-variants and/or different sizes?
As I'm equally sure the eraser/novelty-sharpener collecting people have a few more of these? I don't know where the head came
from but it doesn't seem to have come from the earlier Zang/Herald chap, who
has the long tapes or ribbons at the back. And his legs have veered away from the
donor's design!
No branding clue, just a simple 'HONG
KONG', and again probably sold as a generic tourist trinket from the kiosks of
Central London or the gift shops of lesser or second-tier museums and visitor
attractions.
I also have this in the collection,
although I ask myself "Why?"
every time I see it! I guess I like the clever impression of depth-of-field
attained by the laser-cut laminate glued to its own background - they even
line-up the shadows! A fridge magnet; it's probably still around, or quite
contemporary, although I've had it for ten years or more?
2 comments:
Is the side cap head from the lone star highlanders. Know there was a drummer in a side cap and possibly a piper (or am I just wishing that?) Just a thought.
Pffffff . . . . it's a bloody good thought! I haven't shot them yet, but they are in the queue for next week maybe, I'll 'compare and contrast'!!!
Cheers
H
Post a Comment