About Me

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No Fixed Abode, Home Counties, United Kingdom
I’m a 60-year-old Aspergic gardening CAD-Monkey. Sardonic, cynical and with the political leanings of a social reformer, I’m also a toy and model figure collector, particularly interested in the history of plastics and plastic toys. Other interests are history, current affairs, modern art, and architecture, gardening and natural history. I love plain chocolate, fireworks and trees, but I don’t hug them, I do hug kittens. I hate ignorance, when it can be avoided, so I hate the 'educational' establishment and pity the millions they’ve failed with teaching-to-test and rote 'learning' and I hate the short-sighted stupidity of the entire ruling/industrial elite, with their planet destroying fascism and added “buy-one-get-one-free”. Likewise, I also have no time for fools and little time for the false crap we're all supposed to pretend we haven't noticed, or the games we're supposed to play. I will 'bite the hand that feeds', to remind it why it feeds.

Thursday, December 21, 2017

M is for Mucking-About!

These are from the old archive of stuff I shot while working for a dealer years ago, ten years ago in fact!

 Captain Nemo's man faces-off against one of the scarlet-crested baddies! I think the helmets were from Airfix 'Eagle' action figures (or something similar), anyway, they fitted; like I say - mucking-about!

The bridge I posed them on (I was sorting stuff) might be Formtech? It's a roughly detailed lump made from the sort of 'aqueous form-filling foam' you buy in cans to fix holes in the side of your house!

Although you can get it from the craft material suppliers as a mix-at-home goo, it's the same gunk those novelty fake drinks you found in shops called 'But is it Art?' or similar back in the 1970/80's were made from, you know the thing, a real glass overflowing with ever-lasteing beer, that sort of thing.

Some of Formtech's stuff is a bit better finished than this, but I'll add it to the tag-list until I know/hear different.

It's neither fish nor fowl, being scaled (vaguely incised stonework, size of buttresses) for 54mm, but too narrow for more than two figures to pass at a pinch, for which job you'd be unlikely to build such a structure, while although you can get 1:76th scale wagons or light vehicle across, the detailing IS out of scale?

Close-up of the rough detailing, poor finish and basic fettling; with eight buttresses and three arches, you'd make it wide-enough for a bloody farm cart - wouldn't you?

{this post has just taken three hours, two downloads of Firefox (new, then old! But not quite the same old!!) and a lot of swearing, to get posted, I have another 18 to load before the 6th of Jan but no idea if it will happen! Sometimes I hate the Internet, geeks, service providers and everything else! Gurrrrrr.}

4 comments:

Spectrum said...

Hi again Hugh,
The helmets on those figures are actually masks! more specifically from Kenner Toys MASK vehicle and action figure line. the captain Nemo style one belongs to a character called Sly Rax who drove a motorcycle/sidecar combo where the side car turned into...a submarine! the idea was that the masks gave special abilities such as a dazzling flash which came from the other characters mask that character is called Matt Trakker. I'll stop there as I've gone on a bit and action figures, as you said, are not your bag.

Hugh Walter said...

It's all interesting stuff Spectrum, all 'grist to the mill', all pieces of the puzzle and I thank you for the correction, were they the same size as the Airfix line? 'bout 4-inch figures, 5" maybe?

H

Spectrum said...

Hi Hugh,
Happy new year and sorry for the late reply (been a bit busy at work)as to size they were shorter than the Airfix Eagles at, if memory serves, three and a quarter inches I don't have access to my collection at this time. Thanks for the kind words, glad to help!

Hugh Walter said...

Thanks again Spectrum and a Happy New Year!

H