Books and Looks

 Little or no hobby work done. Yesterday l got up very early and half asleep decided to give an armoured car a coat of army painter wash as part of a giving it a grimy look. However l picked up the wrong pot of paint and started to cover it in black ! It was beyond wiping off and I will start again . Looked out my TYW books the other day including the Airfix guide , which l poured over a photocopy of The Imperialist chapter before getting the book . Last night had a wee go en famille looking at the Eclipse as we had done in 1999 when we had just moved into our home. Cloudy last night but fun.

The big hardback is an utter delight full of the most atmospheric illustrations l have ever seen. I recall coming in late from a night out , finding it had arrived when I had been out and pouring over the book for hours, entranced.

The Wilson book l bought when I set up Tradgardland as a guide to how the HRE was organised. Heavy reading but fascinating. Wedge wood, an old friend of a book.

Carefully copied some of these for my circa late 70s Minifigs army of  Tilly, whose ragged soldier bright musket appealed to me as an idea.

Not the best image in the world but l was pleased with what the pin hole viewer had achieved as I was back in 1999 with a similar device surrounded then by three enthusiastic wee girls, time flies.

Festival Fringe

 Currently caught up with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe guiding here

Open Days during Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026:
We are open from 10.30 am – 12.30 pm on Fringe Open Days.
Tuesday, August 11 until Friday, August 14
Sunday, August 16 until Friday, August 21
Sunday, August 23 until Thursday, August 27

More info here-

https://visitmansfieldtraquair.uk/

Hobby stuff is on the back burner currently with mostly planning taking place and a few figures worked on. 

Off the painting table

A splendid review for the range from long ago.

Figures based etc in the last few days…

 

The sea , the sea

 Had a day out to the sea yesterday with my daughters yesterday. We took a train from Edinburgh to North Berwick, somewhere l think l have only been once or twice ( and that over thirty years ago) since childhood. We arrived during their “ Fringe by the Sea” which added to the day.

Charming building on the walk from the station.

There were a number of these about.

An excellent coffee shop .   https://www.steampunkcoffee.co.uk/

The view from the cofffee shop .

I really liked these dotted around the town

The sea, the sea , the beach and some characterful houses.

There were loads of little gardens, plus bigger ones, planted up with themes and signage.

The harbour at low tide.

A most enjoyable lunch. https://lobstershack.co.uk/

Splendid view across the sea 

The coloured doors are a remnant of the Lido which opened in 1900 and closed in 1995.

More views and evocative signage showing something of the history of the place.

A pool for paddling possibly swimming. A couple of boys had boats and we were treated to an excellent display of stone skimming.

A photo, in a shop window, of the Lido in its heyday.

We were in loads of excellent shops, selling very tempting prints plus an Open Studio but all l bought was this magazine from 1960 . I was taken by the cover. I look forward to seeing the contents later today.

Needless to say l am totally bowled over by the town and wondered why on Earth I haven’t been before now. I will remedy that by returning very soon…

Game on

 Finally getting a chance to try these rules out-

The Roman point of view. Four skirmishers, three spear, one archer and one mixed camel/infantry counting as infantry. Officer commanding with spear unit.

The Raiders. One elephant,four spear and five skirmishers.

The view from the side lines.

The rules by J from here. https://pampersandp.blogspot.com/

I will let you know how it goes…

End of the first turn, Romans won initiative.