Hugh's Handy Helpful Home Hobby Hints - Curtainsider!

H6-5! Best said in a West Country accent; Curr'un Cider! We're returning to the previous post with a simple fix for that rather leery truck we saw.

As it comes from PMS, stickered-up to within an inch of its life, and hardly the low-visibility or 'subdued' scheme you'd want on a military vehicle; with the sun on it, I fancy you could spot it from the International Space Station!

But they are all simple paper stickers and were mostly destined for the bin!

The removal revealed weirdness, moulded into one side as full cavities in a stencil style, the letters ABCOK, which is then fully mirror-reversed on the other side so you can see right through them both like the two ends of a tunnel?

Now does this mean ABC  OK, which might mean the vintage ABC is still extant as part of the modern Chinese toy industry (very unlikely)? Or is it poorly selected random letters because someone detailed someone else to select and cut some letters into the tools for some inexplicable reason? Or is it a more insidious hidden-behind-a-sticker thing, like the abbreviation for 'American Bastard Customer' or 'All Brit's Cocks'?

I doubt we'll ever know, if it was an Early Learning thing on un-stickered civilian versions of the toy it would be ABCDE or ABCXYZ or something wouldn't it? I suspect sample text on the CAD drawing which was accidentally transferred to the CAM tooling and reversed 100% for the other cavity! But there you are - spurious letters cut into the sides of the truck for no [apparent] reason!

I then cut new plain paper stickers from heavy parcel labels and coloured them in with a Sharpie! Simple, but effective, although the sides needed about four coats of Sharpie to lose all the pen-lines and hide the letters underneath. I used an old agate nail-buffer to smooth the sticker down especially round the edges and the four corners

Neatly converts a leery truck into a logistics curtainsider, although pretty fictional and we have to ignore the wheels for now! It's a sort of 5½-7½-ton rigid-bodied puddle-jumper (with a 'big-rig' cab!), around 1:48th/40mm compatible. And as you can see I left the 'sensible' stickers front and back for a bit of interest! And thanks again to Peter Evans of PW for the PMS Truck.

News, Views Etc . . . more Giant and 6H-4!

I've posted a quickie over on the 'But is it Giant' Blog, not quite as complete as I'd like, as I've mislaid one of the samples! However, with a few links to previous posts here at Small Scale World, I've cobbled-together a post on  . . .

. . . the defence works of Giant, with the closer copies - there's tons else in other scales!

As there is an additional (to the above screencap) mention of Dragons' Teeth at the end of the post, I've used it as a thin excuse for a barley credible segue to another of Hugh's Handy Helpful Home Hobby Hints - No.4 no less!

Dragons' Teeth

Needed:

• ·         1x diamond-corrugated meat (or fish) pack from your local supermarket, corner shop, convenience store or Eastern import emporium!
• ·         1x washing-up liquid
• ·         1x washing-up brush
• ·         1x burst of elbow-grease
• ·         A pair of scissors or a craft-knife 

Instructions:

• ·         Eat, or otherwise dispose of the meat . . . or fish!
• ·         Clean the packaging
• ·         Dry the packaging
• ·         Cut the diamond-corrugated section away from the rest of the packaging
• ·         Et viola!

Obviously you can then cut them into blocks or strips, or to fit round the corners of bunkers or ends of bridges &etc. I weight mine with blobs of Plasticine in the hollow underside before painting, but two-part epoxy might work, or basing will keep them firmer, you might also use the sheet to mass-produce plaster versions?

The example above produces slightly short, flat Dragons' Teeth (but big enough to 'ground' AFV's in 20mm, 1:76^th, 1:72^nd and 28mm war-gaming scales/sizes), but different food packers use different designs so there are others out there, these were found in a Polish/Turkish deli' (yes - of course Brwreakshit was a nonsense, but we're stuck with its bigotry for a while now!) a month or so ago, but I first made some in around 1980, which look almost the same!

F is for Fish'er Eagle!

Following my comment on Moonbase about another item from Eagle (I miss-remembered the page count!) Brian B kindly sent the relevant section from New York of/from whichever Eagle Annual it was, and here it is for everyone else to enjoy as it's literally stuffed with low-cost, old-school, good ideas, some of which I've employed in the past.

I have made wire trees, I haven't made an eight-foot length of railway-cutting! I suspect (well, let's be honest, due to some clues in the text I 'assume') the 'piece' is a collecting-together of twelve weekly or monthly parts, and I have a tatty set of the pages somewhere in the archive, but Brian's are very clean.

'Strip wood' . . . from a time before the invention of Plastruct or styrene-rod or '20-thou' sheets! I've had a stab at wire fences, matchstick corrals and paneling from old weathered ply as mentioned the other week in a News, Views . . .

This was the page I remembered the most, as I was never convinced the colour 'target' would be anything more than a rather psychedelic target! Compare the roof drawings with those of Terry Wise in his Introduction to Battle Gaming if you're lucky enough to have the latter.

Part two of the lake and you start to see how it could work if you airbrushed the 'target' and used a dark blue textured glass, or some glass-paint (which I have some bottles of somewhere, probably contemporary with these drawings, but the lids have been stuck-on for the 40-odd years they have been in my possession, so not much use except for purposes of nostalgia!

While the cabins would look good in a Wild West scenario?

If you do four instead of two and butt them to the edges of the cover-plates in pairs you'd have an equally convincing box-girder bridge? The 'American' design is equally good for post-war Europe where so much infrastructure was lost during the hostilities these simple, utilitarian, 'post-modern' types (often pre-formed concrete 'kits') were common.

I tried the barrels . . . made a complete pigs-ear of it, although I think the 'best one' survives somewhere in the stash! I had more success with the coal-load, and you can also do tarpaulin covers by putting the paper over the outside, and folding the ends across (after cutting to an oblong) like a parcel. Once you've folded and before you glue, attach button-thread to 'tie-down' the corners.

In fact these days you could print-out GC-overprinted 'private owner' branded tarp's?

I also have (from some dodgy auction lot) a whole load of crafted telegraph poles like those illustrated, in spot-soldered steel rod and wire and I think many of the early model-railway shops would have a half-a-stab at commercialising this kind of thing, once they'd got a jig set up (holding/placing pins in a piece of balsa or boxwood), they could produce identical units quite quickly?

Notice also; to the left of the telegraph poles . . .

. . . the clever moniker of the artist; Walkden Fisher. . . and the driver of this post's title!

Many thanks to Mr Berke for this blast from the past, it always brings back memories to flick-through these, the annual from which they are taken was all I had to read during a period of childhood illness/bed-rest . . . flu or something?

H is for Hugh's Handy Helpful Home Hobby Hints

I think I started this particular trope ages ago and it might have run to a 'part one' post, so this is probably only the second of Hugh's Handy Helpful Home Hobby Hints on Small Scale World!

You can go to a decent model shop (if you still have one near you) or you can go to a modelling supplies website and buy a pack of veneer sheets for whatever it costs, probably not a lot, but something, use them to create some scenic masterpiece and spend ages staining, dry-brushing and weathering it, or . . .

. . . you can check a wood-pile for old, weathered, de-laminated plywood sheeting, which can make excellent clap-board buildings, feather-edges fence-panels, split-rail fencing or various defence-works, or indeed anything wooden you may need in a diorama or as part of war-games scenery - mine workings, packing cases etc.

And (if it's not too rotted) it can be cut with scissors as well as a craft-knife, although the older stuff can be a bit crumbly! Non-crumbly stuff can be washed to get the worst of the lichen or algae off and once patted-dry can be re-flattened/straightened in a flower-press.

And it makes excellent fire-lighting material!

News Views Etc . . . Forthcoming Events

Well, no dates in the end last week, just couldn't be arsed! When you lose 'connectivity' - as our slavery to digital nowhere (now-here!) is dubbed these days - it can be a tad depressing, not that I allow such negativity to rule for more than a moment, but the thought of researching all the shows on-line without the stuff I have here on the laptop was a downer, so I ignored it!

On the bright side with no laptop to distract me, I spent the last week taking 500+ photographs of all kinds of things as I did lots of sorting and consolidating of what is actually three entities; the 'storage' stuff; the 'here' stuff and the unsorted stuff.

Didn't miss much anyway, Bulldog's 'Malvern' and the Kempton Park truffle-hunt were probably the highlights last week, and only three minor auctions. This week is looking-up a bit with the NEC on Sunday (entry-price rises) and a Wallis & Wallis auction, while Gerry at SRP has a new venue which is always worth a punt as a new venue can equate to one or two new table-takers - often local with new-to-market stuff?

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Toy Fairs

Saturday 9th February 2019

Chester - Tony Oaks Toy Fairs

The Cheshire Country Club Sports Club, Plas Newton Lane, Upton, Cheshire, CH2 1PR

Internet presence unknown

Tel. - 01270 652 773

Mob. - 07825 631 323

10:30 - 14:30hrs

Admission £2.00

Free Parking

Faversham - SRP - New event

Bysingwood Road, Faversham, Kent, ME13 7PA

Web. - www.srptoyfairs1.co.uk

eMail: srptoys1@hotmail.co.uk

Tel. - 07739 998 012 (Paula or Gerry)

10:00 - 14:00hrs

Admission charge unknown

Nottingham - Townsend Toy & Train Fairs (Malcolm Townsend) - Nottingham Toy Fair

Bluecoat Academy, Nottingham, NG8 5GY

Web. - www.tttf.co.uk

Mob. - 07951 072 790

10:00 - 14:00hrs

Admission unknown, accompanied under-16's free

Light refreshments

Free Parking

Oxford - Richard Atkins Fairs - Toy and Train Collectors Fair

Exeter Hall, Oxford Road, Kidlington, Oxford, OX5 1AB

Web - www.toytraincollectorsfairs.com

Tel. - 01869 347 489

10:30 - 15:00hrs

Admission unknown

Refreshments

Free Parking

Windsor - Maidenhead Static Model Club - International Toy & Train Fair

Windsor Leisure Centre, Clewer mead, Stovell Road, Windsor, berkshire, SL4 5JB

Web. - wwwwindsortoyfair.co.uk

Mob. - 07825 564 960

10:30 - 15:00hrs

Admission £3, concessions £2.50p, early bird (from 09:00hrs) £7, last hour free.

Refreshments

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Sunday 10th February 2019

Birmingham - Barry Potter / BP Fairs - 'NEC'

Hall 18, National Exhibition Centre, Birminham, B40 1NT

Web. - www.bpfairs.com

Tel. - 01604 846 688

Mob. - 07966 527 177

Admission £8, early-bird (from 08:00hrs) £13, OAP's £7.50, Children £2*

Free parking

*Note - price rises for all bar children

Colchester - SRP Toy Fairs

Langham Community Centre, School Road, Colchester, Essex, CO4 5PA

Web. - http://srptoyfairs1.co.uk/

eMail - srptoys1@hotmail.co.uk

Mob. - 07739 998 012 (Paula or Gerry)

10:00 - 14:00hrs

Admission unknown

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Tuesday 12th February 2019

Elsecar - Newcomen Fairs Ltd. - 36th Elsecar Toy & Train Fair (evening fair)

Elsecar Heritage Centre, Elsecar, Nr. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S74 8HJ

Web. - www.newcomenfairs.co.uk

eMail - sales@newcomenfairs.co.uk

Tel. - 01226 744 425

19:00 - 21:00hrs

Admission £1.50p, children 50p

Hook - Steven Clements Fairs - Hook Evening Fair

Hook Community Centre, Hook, Hampshire, RG27 9NN

eMail: clementfairs@aol.com

Tel. - 01380 725 322

Mob. - 07958 101 891

18:30 - 21:30hrs

Admission £1

Free parking

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Friday 15th February 2019

Alfreton - Toy and Train Fairs (Malcolm Townsend) - Evening fair

The Leisure Centre, Church Street, Alfreton, DE55 7BD

Web. - www.tttf.co.uk

Mob. - 07951 072 790

19:00 - 21:00hrs

Admission charge unknown

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Auctions

Saturday 9th Febrary 2019

Bury St. Edmonds - Lacy Scott & Knight

Web. - www.lsk.co.uk

eMail - oleggett@lsk.co.uk

Tel. - 01284 748 600 (general enquires)

Tel. - 01284 748 623 (Oliver Leggett - auction)

Toy and Collector's Models

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Monday 11th February 2019

Lewis - Wallis and Wallis

West Street Galleries, Lewis, Sussex, BN7 2NJ

Web. - wallisandwallis.co.uk

eMail - toys@wallisandwallis.co.uk

Tel. - 01273 480 208

Fax. - 01273 476 562

General Toy Sale

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Wednesday 13/Thursday 14th February 2019

Stockton-on-Tees - Vectis Auctions (2-day sale)

Fleck Way, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 9JZ

Web. - www.vectis.co.uk

eMail - admin@vectis.co.uk

01642 750 616

Specialist die-cast auction

[Further info and imagery may be added here closer to the date]

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Overseas Events

Sunday 10th February 2019

Dublin (ROI) - Chris Dyer Fairs - Dublin Toy & Train Fair

The Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan Road, Dublin, Eire

Web. - www.chrisdyerfairs.co.uk

Tel. - 01643 702 757

Mob. - 07966 694 579

10:30 - 15:00hrs

Admission £4

Just off N11 trunk road

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If you are an event promoter/show curator/auctioneer and you want your toy, model, collectable or popular-/youth-culture type sale/exhibition/event listed here - .FOR FREE. - or linked to; please eMail me -

maverickatlarge[at]hotmail[dot]com

- stating the date/s of the event, address of event, contact details, opening/viewing times, admission pricing and any other relevant facts/details or features - parking, travel notes, disability access, availability of refreshments, event subject matter &etc.

And please mention any flyer-art or poster-/leaflet-scans but send by separate eMail, in case they go to the 'junk' folder, from where they can be recovered and marked safe, but only if I know they're there!

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We've been sorting stuff! She looks so pleased with herself, not at all bothered she just went over the falls, blind in a barrel!

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Hugh's Handy Helpful Home Hobby Hints

The first part of a new, exciting, informative, series of . . . errr . . . one!

Part One - 1:300th scale micro-armour poplar trees!

What you will need;

• A green felt-tipped pen or selection of same
• A brown felt-tipped pen or selection of same
• A pack or tub of Q-tips, cotton-buds, proprietary 'make-up removers' or generic "Warning-don't-ever-stick-them-in-your-ears" ear-cleaners; new paper-stem type, not planet-destroying plastic tube type.

Instructions;

• Do the pen-thing with the pens.
•  Cut at base of 'trunk', two per stick! Bargain! Oh yeah! You also need something to cut with . . . no! Not an axe, why would you even have an axe in your modelling tools; psycho!
• Apply to layout/scenery. Oh yeah! You also need some glue.
• Hide a battery of 'eighty-eight's behind them and wait for the Ronson Shermans to arrive!

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Other News

Barney's Latest Updates

Dear Collector, this week we are delighted to offer for sale a superb one-owner collection of very early Herald/Zang Ceremonial and Wild West figures dating from 1953 and '54, in bright, fresh original condition, including mounted Life and Horse Guards (early Royal blue plastic) on two-part cellulose-acetate horses and a couple of Guardsmen with "British Made" MZ base markings.

Dear Collector, this week we have for sale a good selection of Trojan Australians and 14th Army jungle soldiers, from a one owner collection, including the rare flame thrower complete with the separate tanks.

Interesting Piece

Thoughts on eschewing war-games for board-gaming

Obit

Only 69, the reaper gets to all of us.

FAO Schwarz is coming to London for November

It's unclear it it will be bringing its 'Dark Helmet' with it!

While this - taken  from The Pioneer of India

Hamleys opens 2nd store in BBSR
Bhubaneswar: The London toy shop Hamleys launched its second store in Bhubaneswar at Esplanade One Mall recently, two months after the launch of its first store. With over three thousand products on display, the store offers an amazing selection of toys from much loved home-grown brands and a range of in-house branded toys that include its signature teddy bears, toy soldiers, wooden toys, bath toys and much more. Prominent animated characters such as Tom and Jerry, Peppa Pig, Minions, My Little Pony and others are all friends of the brand.

https://www.dailypioneer.com/2019/state-editions/in-briefs-in-briefs-2019-02-03.html

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Top marks to Donald Tusk for saying it . . . how it is!

Funny that the same people who think it's OK for the right-wing press to call our judiciary 'Traitors' for following the Rule of Law are now blubbing with faux-outrage at being called out for what they are! All of them squatting on our collective doorstep with their trousers round their knees and their minds in 'effing neutral while they Brwreakshit all over our future!

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A is for Archive Material

I had a fancy a while ago (26-years ago according to the drawing) to send some stuff to the readers hints page of a modelling magazine, and knocked this up as a first attempt! Needless to say I never sent it - application is not an aspergics' strong point, we're good at ideas, not so good at applying them!

I drew it on blue graph paper as blue used to be lost in the reproduction process for plans and drawings, although; why I thought a modelling magazine would have thermal blue-print equipment is anyone's guess, but as technology has - in any event - moved-on somewhat, it's now stuck with the hundreds of blue lines being read digitally, although I'm pleased to see most of the Tippex (another near-dead tech'!) seems to have faded-out in the scanning, so you win some - you lose some!

Also it's not so much a conversion or modelling-tip, as a graphic explanation of a bodge! It used to wind me up, just putting the tracks on a new kit was often enough to snap the drive-sprocket or idler-wheel (or both!) cleeean-orrff! So I got to the point where I was doing this with new kits as I constructed them from the box. I don't know if it was my imagination, but I seem to recall Airfix was the worst offender, with Esci a close second!

For the replacement axle in part 4 I used sections of plastic tooth-pick, it was stronger than Evergreen or similar polystyrene strips/'polyrods' Also; see, I used to use the term 'sprue' for runners!

This Russian KV 'Heavy' from Esci (a nice, neat, clean little kit) needed the rod-trick on the rear sprockets (and I should have done the front at the same time!) but because it was done before the deck went on for the last time, you'd never know it.

I notice it's lost an MG in the move, there is quite a bit of damage in the kit cabinet, one of the guys helping me tipped it on its back (because he'd seen the danger of the drawers falling out) and all the whitemetal and resin kits rather crushed the plastic ones as they shot back! I have a few nights gluing in my immediate future!

I also did this to explain the way I made the spare magazines for my quadruple flak, another project which hasn't progressed beyond the state it was in when I shoved it on the Blog! But I do now have two of those Frozen sleighs to add to the final diorama - if I ever go back to it?

Just use a set of dividers to score-out a circular strip, but before you cut through the two outer rings do some shallower ones inside them, which will pick-up paint and look like the reinforcing stampings on the originals. To fit them into the kits magazine-slots you have to remove the two shaded areas.

If they are going in the racks at the base of the gun, paint the top ends brass (for ready ammo'), if they are being littered about on the ground paint one end black (for an 'empty' shadow).

On the left are seen the commercial magazines on an Esci Flakpanzer kit, on the right homemade ones on an AHM (Hasegawa) half-track, they are not brilliant, I wasn't doing any measuring, it was all rather 'by eye', but you get the idea!