Napoleonic Swedes - 25mm - Restoration

Remember the unit with broken standard.

I decided to repair it before selling them.

Here is the 'stump' of the problem.

I carefully cut away the standard from the broken pole.

I superglued a short piece of plastic tube in its place and I drilled out the internal hole to match the diameter of the pole.

I glued the pole into the plastic tube and glued the whole assembly to the 'stump' on the figure.

A touch of paint and varnish matches the whole thing in.

Ready for service again.

Now I just have to work out how to finish the part-painted unit. They seem to be a grenadier unit but I no longer have the notes I initially used so will have to do a little research.

Napoleonic Swedes - 25 mm

A recent blog post by an old friend reminded me that I had some 25mm Napoleonic Swedish infantry stashed away somewhere. In fact they had been left in a cupboard behind the TV in an open topped box  for at least twenty years. Some of the close up images will show the authentic layers of dust that they have acquired on this greatly un-military service.

Kongl. Skaraborgs Regemente, Kingdom of Sweden 1807

Complete (or should I say incomplete) with hand painted standard and broken flagstaff. A repair will be in the offing.

Note the authentic dust around the helmets and the painting style which is a mixture of drybrushing, block painting and black lining. Have a close look at the crest on the helmet, it is tiny yet I seemed to have painted a tiny blue cross approximately 1mm in diameter.

Kongl. Westgotha Regemente, Kingdom of Sweden 1807

The standards were all painted by hand using sketches made by a wargaming chum. Accurate information was very scarce when I painted these figures (80's?).

Note the white brassard on the left arm. A mark of respect I understand after a death in the royal family.

Kongl. Uplands Regemente, Kingdom of Sweden 1807

Love these figures. Probably Minifigs 'S' Range, and I think you can still get them.

Kongl. Wermland Falt-Jagare Regemente, Kingdom of Sweden 1807

I must have used fairly coarse sand for the bases.

1st Battery, Finska Regemente, Kingdom of Sweden 1807

Determined faces on these gunners.

Some spare artillery pieces.

I have 8 pieces altogether, 6 look like 12 pounders and 2 a bit lighter, possibly 6 or 8 pounders.

A couple of unnamed officers. It was our style in those days to have Brigadiers of Infantry to be modelled on foot beside their mount. Since I have no cavalry the mounted officer must be a full General.

The enemy Sir are that-a-way.

I have an unfinished unit, probably a Life Guard or something like that still on painting sticks. Shouldn't take too much effort to finish them off.

I wonder what to do with them?

Warhammer Epic 40K - Imperial Fists Army

OK, I admit it, I used to play Warhammer Epic.

I was younger then and maybe naïve (cough) but everyone was doing it so it happened.

Something shinier came along and I never finished the troops.

They have to go now.

Most of the vehicles and figures are either table ready, almost ready or barely started. Unless I get a serious purchase offer soon I would expect to bring them all up to table ready, then I would have to charge more.

I would prefer to handover at a UK show to avoid any postage problems. Cash, cheque or a PayPal invoice would suffice.

Enquiries encouraged.

I include the various books but would accept any separate offers for them.

Any advice on pricing these items would be useful.

Imperial Fists.

6 plastic Land Raider transports, painted and varnished.

3 metal Predator tanks, painted and varnished.

12 plastic Whirlwind artillery, painted and varnished.

18 plastic Rhino transports, painted and varnished.

3 plastic Land Raider transports, almost painted.

3 plastic Land Raider transports, barely started.

2 metal HQ Land Raider transports, barely started.

3 metal Thunderhawk gunships, need repaired, barely started.

6 plastic Rhino transports, barely started.

6 metal Vindicator Close Support tanks, barely started.

4 metal Land Speeders, barely started.

6 metal Vindicator Close Support tanks, still in blister packs.

4 plastic Space Marine Command stands, painted, not varnished.

4 plastic Librarian stands, painted, not varnished.

4 plastic Terminator stands, painted and varnished.

4 plastic Scout stands, painted and varnished.

8 plastic Assault stands, painted and varnished.

7 plastic Space Marine stands, painted, not varnished.

7 plastic Tactical stands, painted, not varnished.

10 plastic Devastator stands, painted and varnished.

4 metal Dreadnoughts, almost complete, not varnished.

5 plastic Attack Bikes, barely started, not varnished.

6 plastic Bike stands, barely started, not varnished.

The Rule Book. All from a smoke free home.

The Armies Book.

The Battle Book.

A Date to Remember

Have been given 24th November as the day for my CT scan. That's two weeks on Friday.

Better than no scan.

Saw my GP this morning. She's happy with my mental attitude and I explained to her that much of that comes from supportive comments from the blog community. Besides, I never take no for an answer.

My blood pressure is still a bit high 153/90 but I'm otherwise well enough to go under the knife if that is what Plan A turns out to be. No sign of my heart rate problem although I'm not convinced that's been completely cured.

Incredibly tired today through the day although I'm picking up a bit this evening. The plaid and checked trousers are done so its on to sword blades and spear points now.

Have decided not to go to a local show Targe (Kirriemuir) this weekend as that might be stretching my endurance a wee bit. Will aim for Battleground (Stockton-On-Tees) on the 25th, that's the day after my scan so I'll finalise any travelling at the last minute.

Battleground would be the last show of the year so I'll be targeting Vapnartak (York) in February for a flea market day. Some of my stuff has just got to go. I'll try and preview some of my collections on this blog just in case anyone is looking for what I already have.

Surgical Strike

So, there I was, Sunday evening just finishing some fiddly bits on the Gallic Celt cavalry that I am doing for a friend. You know, the little bits of pink and white around the mouth, the eyes and the hooves. This painting session had taken up most the evening but I thought that was good compared my recent miserable health delayed work.

Was quite chuffed so packed off to bed to read a page or two of one of Angus Konstams tomes. As usual I went for a quick jimmy and nothing much came out apart from a spurt of bright red blood. Best see the doctor in the morning I said to my good lady.

Thirty minutes later was in agony, on a scale of 1 to 10 it was a number 8 or 9. A quick phone call to NHS 24 provided an appointment with a doctor at the local Royal Infirmary. Urine Tract Infection she said, take these anti-biotics to sort that out but while you are here go and see Accident & Emergency as your blood pressure and heart rate are both outside the ranges we would like to see.

Another 30 minutes later another medical team established that my blood pressure was a wee bit high and the medication I was already on was the preferred treatment. Unfortunately my heart rate was on another planet. 155 to 165 Beats Per Minute where a more normal person would be 60 to 80. No problem they said, we have an effective treatment for that and right enough it calmed down after taking 4 little triangular blue pills. I think they gave me something for pain relief at that point but since I WAS in pain I can't be sure. I think I had managed to pass some fluid too so they decided I could go home and wait for an out-patient appointment. A CT scan will check out your kidney and bladder plumbing as they may be blocked and that I also have a small tumour on my left kidney.

That was a bummer.

Had another pee before heading home again and it was nothing but blood, bright red blood.

They decided to transfer me to the Western General Hospital as they were better equipped to deal with my situation so off we went in a paid-for taxi leaving our car behind in a pay-through-the-nose car park.

Once at the Western it took about an hour to find a ward which dealt with me. There was a lot of confusion and mis-direction happening as I was following instructions from a probably very tired nurse to a non-standard reception at a different hospital but I got there in the end.

They bedded me in, gave me pain relief, a catheter (very painful) to drain off fluid, numerous ultra-sound scans and several visits by a team of surgeons and consultants and eventually a cosy chat, in the 'bereavement' room with the head consultant. He explained that my tumour could well be cancerous, which I had already guessed, and could be easily operated within a day or two.

Unfortunately the cancer may have spread and we need a CT scan to give us a detailed picture. Hopefully we'll get a scan done later today and operate as soon as possible.

Three days later I am still waiting for a CT scan. They have sent me home as I am out of pain (isn't morphine wonderful), can pee and eat (not simultaneously) so I can now expect an out patient appointment.

I have an appointment with my local GP on Monday morning where I will no doubt have a bit of a rant. Why can't I get a CT scan. It only needs a radiologist and a free scanner and 30 minutes max. there is a team of surgeons, medics and nursing staff just waiting to get started. I would even be happy to travel to another hospital in another city, Glasgow, Dundee or even Newcastle if they had spare capacity elsewhere.

Anyway, back to my starting story. I am now doing the shield decals before moving on to plaid and checked trousers on the riders. I imagine I will use as much of my spare time as possible clearing the decks until a clearer picture emerges.