ACW STAFF REQUIRED - APPLY BELOW

I'm currently amassing 1/72 ACW figures as well as 1/32 and am seeking the following Strelets sets. If you have them and wish to sell them please let me know....

many thanks

LINCOMBE BARN TABLE TOP SALE

I took myself off to the Lincombe Barn Wargames club yesterday morning as they were having the annual tabletop sale. You can take along unwanted stuff and hire a table to sell it...a great idea and the ideal place to pick up some bargains. Last year there wasn't much I was interested in at the right price (people were expecting e-bay price sales) but this year I came away with a decent haul

Book on American folklore £1 (I like these 'dip into' books)

Cross of Fire dvd 50p (quite a good film  based on the murder of Madge Oberholtzer in 1925 by prominent Ku Klux Klan member D C Stephenson).

Lord of the Rings Painting Guide £1 (bargain of the year. Published by Heritage Models in 1979 I've bid for this on ebay before but the price shot up to £36!!!)

Games Workshop Steam tank £1 (Why did I buy this? Nice model though)

2 boxes of Airfix ACW figures £4 for the oldest boy (he's amassing ACW armies in 1/72, all donations gratefully accepted).

Huge SPIDER model 50p. I have a plan to bild Morgoth's army in 1/72, and this will do well for Ungoliant.

There is always something that I wished I'd bought and didn't, and this year it was a copy of  the book Gods and Generals , which I meant to go back for but forgot. Otherwise a very successful trip. There was a bod selling Osprey ACW books which I would have bought for £1 each (they were pretty dog eared, but he wanted £6 a piece). 

CULVERIN

A hefty artillery piece by Irregular Miniatures, comes with 4 crew. It would be nice if it had some equipment with it as well , such as a powder barrel, spare shot, gunner's lunch etc. I had to change one of the crew members heads for a bit of variety otherwise there would have been 3 identical heads on the crew members, so the guy on the far left has an A Call to Arms noddle.

There seems to be a distinct shortage of lighter guns for 54mm ECW collectors. ACTA do a heavy piece (saker or culverin), as do Alexanders Toy Soldiers, but I could really do with some smaller lighter guns. Possibly some 40mm guns could be pressed into action.

SIR ROBERT COOKE'S REGMENT

At last, a day off with some light and time to snap a few pictures of figures I have finished over the last month or so.

Sir Robert Cooke's regiment of foot, raised in Tewkesbury in early 1643 and then drawn to form part of Waller's army, the regiment was probably destroyed at Roundway Down in July of that year.

The musketeers are sporting monmouth caps, a re-enactment invention as far as I am aware, but I couldn't face making 12 milliput hats.

The A Call to Arms drummer has a Maros Models head. The officer and ensign are ebay finds.

The colours are those of Lord Saye and Sele's regiment (Cooke's are unknown), in case I ever decide to re-fight Edgehill.

DRAGOONS AND DANCERS

Painting has been going on, but lack of daylight in the evening (after family chores are done) means I haven't been able to take any pictures of finished troops. I've just spent this evening getting these guys ready for the brush. They will be Waller's dragoons when finished.

I've plastered them in Milliput, Liquid Greenstuff and Vallejo plastic filler after swapping a few heads round. Bucket top boots were added, muskets shortened and hats made more puritanical. More blurb on the last unit of dragoons I did (3 years ago!!) is here.

Other news at Atticus Towers is that I have been forking out on 1/32 ACW figures with a vengeance and have found quite a few good deals. Initial plan is to do the battle at Little Round Top on a scale of 1/10 or 1/20, but this will be far in the future...I couldn't help buying the figures though especially after watching this

There are some great models of Joshua Chamberlain available, and I believe you can get an Ellis Spear figure, complete with his trademark pipe (not shown in this clip from the film Gettysburg ).

Finally , on the First of May, we went down to watch the Bathampton Morris Men perform their annual dance outside the school where they were formed 81 years ago. 

The Village children welcome in The May.

The Mast Beast is hailed .

The Hobby Horse/ Mast Beast is usually a firm favourite with the kiddiwinks, but this year our youngest took fright at it's clacking mouth and took to his heels. You can put money it the beasts mouth to fund the dancer's post performance pub visit. A good start to the Summer.

FLAT PACK TREES

I've just stumbled across this company Bold Frontiers producing cardboard trees which are excellent. The website is refreshingly frank about playing with toy soldiers too.

There seem to be 3 different packs, available individually or as a bundle for $33 Australian dollars. I think I will invest in some for the boys.