Categories
Mid 19th Century Wargaming

200 years on – tomorrow

The world’s first public railway ran on 27th September 1825. The route from the coalfields around Bishop Auckland ran through Shildon and Darlington to reach Stockton on the river Tees.

Today you can still travel the route.

And at Shildon (north west of Darlington) the Locomotion Museum may not carry the international reputation of the Railway Museum in York but it’s still worth a visit. Its facilities are all modern.

You can arrive via the original railway line or if coming by car there is a large free car park.

Frankly this is a case of less is more – museums wise!

If you just want to get your head round “railways” then Locomotion does it better and quicker.

This is one of the great things about small museums – they often “punch above their weight”: The Wallace collection in the London springs to mind.

Locomotion concentrates on both the beginning of the railways and the modern experiments with speed such as examples of APT and HST.

An HST 125 from the 1980’s peeps out from behind LOCOMOTION dating from 1825

It is the presentation of these modern trains alongside the diminutive Locomotion and other early steam engines that looks so good.

There is a good selection of other engines and coaches showing developments over time as well as technologies.

Memorabilia and the inevitable shop and cafe round off an excellent site.

APT – the gas turbine prototype
Sans Pareil
The prototype HST stop gap for the APT which became a massive success in its own right under the 125 badge.
A working reconstruction of Sans Pareil
Mid twentieth century workplace looks clean – imagine the soot and smoke engulfing this place in every tunnel or from a passing steamer! Never mind the fierce heat when opening that firebox door! It belongs to a “Black Five” steam engine – nicknamed because it was always in black paint and classified as a class five locomotive.
A black 5 – a workhorse of the LMS and later nationalised British Railways.
Shildon was a massive wagon workshop and manufacturing site
Categories
Military History norman conquest

Anyone for tapestry?

September is a busy month for battle anniversaries in Yorkshire not least in 1066.

On the 20th the Vikings of King Harald defeated the Saxons of Earls Edwin and Morcar at Germany Beck in what is now Fulford. There are not many references to this battle – given that two climatic battles followed, its understandable.

The battle was according to records fought near where the beck joins a sharp turn in the river Ouse.

Crucially the defeated Saxons made good their escape as a rising tide flooded the beck. This meant they could fight another day.

There is a tapestry of the Fulford battle displayed at various locations over the years since it was made in 2012 after ten years effort!

On the 25th September the Saxons under King Harold of England defeated Harald and the Viking host at Stamford Bridge.

It was the end of the Scandinavian Viking threat after hundreds of years of invasion.

A tapestry of the Stamford Bridge battle can be seen in the old railway station at Stamford Bridge.

It was another Viking Scion – the Norsemen who took land in the Carolingian Empire and called it Normandy – who a few generations later then defeated the English in turn at Hastings.

It can be argued that without Fulford and Stamford Bridge there would have been no Hastings and maybe a different war between Harold and William might have played out.

So maybe instead of waiting for yet another Norman invasion (the bayeaux tapestry is en route to the UK) you could visit these other tapestries when they are on show instead or as well as.

People remember William for what followed yet Harold had marched 500 miles with his household troops and won a great victory putting together two separate regional armies before arriving at Hastings: William fought an outstanding adversary.

Back in 2020 I put together some shield wall armies and had some fun trying out various rules.

https://thewargamingerratic.home.blog/2020/09/06/prelude-to-wargames-rules-tested/

Categories
Scenery wargaming

Season of Scenery Challenge- part VIII – finale

A long while ago I had the desire to make some adobe buildings for cowboy skirmishes. However despite having the figures (admittedly only primed) and then my “what a tanker” playing partner getting “what a cowboy”, it still did not look good. Fortunately the challenge rolled up and provided the impetus I needed to get this project over the line – along with some more conventional items. Amazing where “cardboard packaging” can take you!

I have an old card table earmarked for skirmish play. The adobe buildings were just how they came out of the product boxes 😆 I then added some extra roofing with card and tissue paper plus pva. The two right hand regular buildings are from warbases basics range
You can’t beat Dixon 28mm cowboys for style
Lots of yellow ochre – the left hand building has received a dry brush. The packaging designer kindly included a base skirt which was decorated with pva and budgie grit.
Dry brush done and doors and windows (cornflake package) painted and dry brushed
Sunrise – the Mexican is at a disadvantage although he aimed first
Pistol high – who will bite the dust?
We may never know 🤠
A real New Mexico example in Santa Fe. For my quick build models I omitted the exposed logs – maybe next time.

So that’s it, 8 weeks of one hot dry summer and I have massively exceeded my expectations. I completed a lot of items and even though I started even more they are at least started and now have real homes rather than their sales boxes (thanks John the Varnish!)

For the analysts….. completions were

First module of my port,

two adobe buildings,

six earthen defences,

one artillery position

one aircraft base

flexible roads recoloured

two hills now also become a green defensible position

repaired damaged cardboard church

new self coloured HO Germanic church

two warbases Wild West buildings

two very old bellona low relief terraced houses

Two straight drainage ditch pieces

Finishing off stuff and even repairs/reworkings proved very satisfying.

The “starters” all happened to be kits and kicked off my challenge.

Blotz models Bronze Age fortress

Italeri French railway station building

Italeri north Italian church

warbases north German church

At least I have the measure of these pieces not least where and how to store them.

I probably have too many churches now……..

Funny that I did not finish the kits that I started the challenge with – given they were my absolute main targets – instead I started raking out cardboard and home building………

wargaming really is hilarious…..

Thanks Dave.

Categories
Scenery wargaming

Season of scenery challenge part VII low relief housing and a ditch

Last year I started painting my Low relief housing. I bought two of these terraces back in the 1970’s and somehow these bellona pieces have not fractured into pieces. They are injection moulded and were the “resin prints” of their time.

One terrace in basic coats sat on my first port module
Low relief was popular railway modelling idea taken up by bellona

So I gave them a go and I must say the sculpture is brilliant. They were fun to paint. You can still buy injection moulded models – amera sell them via eBay in the uk. Alas I haven’t seen any terraced buildings.

Two terraces book ended by my hovels Dutch buildings with EWM latex roadways and then the ditch
Natural morning sunlight catches the detail well

In front of them are some early war miniatures road sections (flexible latex) last year I painted them but didn’t like the finish so they were back in the mix for a dry brush.

Finally there is the ditch. Basically more packaging fell into my eye line and I immediately thought – that’s useful. This is new packaging (not from the mountain!) and made the back end of the challenge displacing some other contenders.

They required no preparation.

Galena students burnt umber is rich and oily giving good coverage on this very dense cardboard
The ochre coating was necessary but not too obvious before the brandy cream which was a semi dry application
Very pleased with the low reliefs and also with the roadway while the ditch was an out of the blue late late entry which has exceeded my expectations

I gave the packaging a coat of burnt umber then one of yellow ochre and then brandy cream! dry brush before an autumn variety of Javis static grass. The ditch water was done with Paynes grey tube acrylic and then a shade of paynes grey with some ivory white added as a top coat.

Final shot which shows the early morning in colour somewhere in Rugia plus Mr Varnishes armour! (you know who you are 😊)

Last entry for the scenery challenge is next up

Categories
Scenery wargaming

Season of scenery challenge part VI bits and bobs

First up is an Aircraft movement base. It was an unfinished piece from last year I think. Anyway it’s now got some scatter and is ready for some land planes – only trouble is I gave away my reconnaissance spitfire I did in AHPC14 https://thewargamingerratic.home.blog/tag/fantasy/and now have just my “scrap heap” rescued spotter float biplane.

Actually the base could pass for a seaweed covered rock……

I need to get some aeroplane production going……

Next up is a complimentary piece for my recent fortifications. It’s an Artillery position fashioned from some corrugated card and unlike my recent port module this one went bananas. But I persevered and it’s finished with some dried tea – the brown granules and greenery.

Javis – shrub mixture added over dried tea leaves.
I richer lighting shows off the simple two coat dry brush of burnt sienna with coffee colour dry brush
A bit bendy
Categories
wargaming

Season of scenery challenge – part V : defensive places

I guess I have a post in mind about how books influence my wargaming. In fact some books have been highly influential. “Charge or how to play wargames” is positively antiquated yet it was the played out scenario of Sittangbad at the end of the book that first gave me thoughts and ideas about temporary fortifications and a pontoon bridge for that matter.

Last year I did the pontoon thing.

https://thewargamingerratic.home.blog/2024/08/23/across-the-weser-in-67/

This year I have finally created some defensive walls. They perfectly fit my need for a modular approach.

They had been part of my truly massive cardboard mountain. I say that because the mountain was actually distributed (lots of small unnoticed storage hills!!) until the other week when I gathered every bit I could find together: queue Mont Blanc before my eyes.

End result was a giant throw away session unless items could promise me some tangible scenery and sooner rather than later. These odd packing shapes of course were designed as fortifications made of earth.

A yuck raw sienna base coat

I am happy to report that these six cardboard packing pieces have now produced six earthen defensive walls suitably crenellated.

I have two of one type shown to the front and another shown as the other three.
A coffee colour dry brush neutralised the raw sienna to give me the look I wanted

I decided they may have been initially temporary at some time in the past but now are showing some age with greenery.

And of course there are always two sides to every wall from a weather point of view. I only grassed one side.

So one side is wet and greenery has grown well while the other side remains barren and dry.

Combined with some old scenery boards the fortifications give me a good representation of a strong defensive site
I had been toying with how to create defensive sites for use in various eras and then in my clear out these boards appeared. Being used simply to pad out a cloth for a hill I gave them a coat of paint and now they will form the base of my fortification. Once they had been triangular shelving and supported a CRT tv – remember them?
With some regular field artillery and some notional gun platforms

That’s it for now.

Categories
Military History

The Ship in the City

Another much delayed posting, this time it’s San Diego – the most south west city in the USA and perhaps not on everyone’s trip list. Actually it was the first US city I ever visited back in 2019.

USS Midway (CV-41) was commissioned in September 1945 and was the lead ship for the “Midway” carrier class. It was the world’s largest aircraft carrier until 1955. It was also the first naval class unable to transit the Panama Canal.

It was decommissioned in 1992.

The midway is a big ship
Close up it begins to tower over you
And it’s long
And it’s a multi storey building into the bargain- topside
Hanger deck
Hanger deck
Scale model in Perspex built by the manufacturer
An early flat top – a classic design reached it’s zenith in the ww2 “escort” carrier – bought in large numbers by the British under lend-lease

In a previous post

https://thewargamingerratic.home.blog/2025/08/19/rocket-armed-biplanes-even-in-1945/

I wrote about the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm museum and mentioned HMS Battler – a US built escort carrier.

The Coronado bridge takes you into what was north island and the Pacific Fleet home
San Diego is a sea side city
An active service carrier
Ships in dock at the north end of north island with the high ground of Point Loma beyond
Flight deck looking towards the city
The island is a big building
The fleet only arrived a few years before the aviation
The start of fleet aviation at San Diego, Glen Curtiss stood on the upper wing of one of his float planes
City side location
The iconic flight deck pose is a popular statue
The aircraft were fantastic while scale and size of the Midway was stunning
Early morning a modern ship slips out to sea
At the same time another unidentified ship returns to north island
Categories
life miniatures painting

Irregular Loss

I have just discovered that Ron Kay of Irregular Miniatures has died at the age of 98. He was full time on the team until 93, casting figures for all us hobbyists. He carried on as a part time member of the team still handling the big and complex castings. “Hats off” as they say.

I did not know Ron personally but seem to remember him at the Irregular stand at wargames shows.

I can do best by sharing some of my Irregular Miniatures collection and sending my condolences to Ian Kay and the Irregular family.

Irregular have provided me with some great 20mm figures that helped me build my 1848 forces.

1848 Danish Infantry repurposed from Irregulars colonial range
1848 Duchy of Parma artillery
Duchy of Modena Dragoons which were Neapolitan Dragoons
1848 Rumanian infantry which were ww1 Austrians
1848 Roman Legion which were ww1 Austrians
Colonial British posing as 1848 Danes
1848 Garibaldeans in red and blue shirts
Neapolitans posing as 1848 French
1864 Dane’s which were ww1 Austrians
1850 Dane’s which were ww1 Austrians
Grand Duchy of Tuscany Infantry repurposed from the colonial range
Categories
Military History

Rocket Armed Biplanes even in 1945

It took me a long time to get to this museum in fact decades. I always meant to go – just my trips south never quite worked for a visit. Then in 2023 it happened. The visit is well worth it.

And then it’s taken 2 years to get round to this post. And that has only happened because Jeff – one inch high guy –

https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com

Posted about an out of print book and mentioned rockets and biplanes. I promised to dig out the info he wanted. Well I did have the photo but not the info boards.

Wikipedia has a site on Le Prieur rockets though

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Prieur_rocket

Sopwith pup? Floatplane
Le Prieuer rockets armed
Artists impression
Over the toilets! Half a Fairy swordfish – mainstay of the fleet air arms force in WW2

The swordfish had such a stable and durable airframe compared to later monoplanes that it was rocket armed in the Indian Ocean battles with the Japanese plus a fighter escort of seafires. The Swordfish was the only biplane to be in action in 1939 and also still in frontline action in 1945!

https://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk/ESCORT/BATTLER.htm

Who needs jets
Seafire
Hellcat
Corsair
Mig in background
The iconic harrier – no photo!
Walrus I think?

Well it seems I did not record many info boards so have fun naming the blanks or correcting my entries.

Next up California dreaming….

Categories
Scenery wargaming

Season of scenery challenge part IV port facilities

This years scenery season has continued to prove fruitful. I have been finally sorting out some key home builds. One is a harbour the other is a 17th century fortress. The common thread was that they must be modular in some way plus their core material is recycled cardboard.

Some colour tests
Stonework from card
Lots of checking for warping and size matches
The modular harbour gets the green light
The cellular construction means strength and lightness
Still to add some extra options like a sea wall
The first trial module

I wanted a distinctly south European style which meant ochre rather than grey would be the key colour.

I used a pva base for some fine sand dressing. It did not adhere everywhere which prompted a “potted roadway” thought. The compacted earth road has been eroded in places. Some judicious shading and job done.

The card stonewall received some dry brush over ochre base over hand drawn stones.

The holes at the bottom – don’t ask 😂

So far this piece and others made of two pieces glue one on top have defied going bananas – I did use weights for the drying step.

And here is the unit with another scenery piece on the go – it was started in the 2024 season but I changed my mind, and it got parked. It too has had a dose of ochre to help it on its way.

Low relief is not so fashionable these days but it has its place at my games table

There are some other irons in the fire. But this will do for now.