Stuart Phillip Frederick McDonald Part 1 of 2

Sadly - I don't have any other photos of "Our Stuart" as his Hartlepool based family used to call him, other than the one in the inset there. That's his dog Doolie.

[Note - I meant to post this on the 15 year anniversery but got it in my head it was closer to today and missed it - ah well - on to the tribute:]

Unless you are really something special, there's usually someone who helped introduce you to this wonderful hobby of ours. Stuart McDonald here was my introduction - not only into gaming but into English history, culture and comedy which I adore to this day. I won't drone on about Flashman, Doctor Who, Monty Python, and Benny Hill but all have been lifelong companions thanks to Stuart. But instead, let's talk about our early experiences with miniatures:

Oh someone brought in some brittle HO scale Airfix 8th Army figs to the elementary school in 1976, 77? and I remember setting them up in the sand box and making all the accompanying machine gun/rifle noises. 

Then someone brought in Airfaix Australians a few years later in fourth grade and those were a new generation of sculpting and looked great. I was never really sure where all these little ones came from as I was content with action figures of the Star Wars/ GI Joe variety. 

Sleep overs in those days were much more common than I remember today but, as one of his classmates, I got invited to Stuart's birthday party sleep over without about six others who had an interest in Dungeons and Dragons. We weren't particularly close - he was just the "kid from England". As the party got on,  I soon discovered the kid had thousands of Airfix figures and tanks, Britains, Atlantic Roman and Greeks, the ships that came with them. Buildings, trees, vehicles of all kinds. Yet more miniatures squirreled away in boxes. Going through it all was heaven. He couldn't have been 10 and had a collection that hoarders today would be envious of.

He told me that when they moved over from Hartlepool over half of his collection got left behind! This wasn't even half of it? We became close friends soon after that.

One of the Anchors of Arden Fair Mall

Stuart had acquired much of his new stuff from the long gone Toy Shop in Arden Fair where I bought my first pack of HO Scale Airfix for $1.25. I believe it was Prussians from the Waterloo range. What the hell was I going to do with those? Set them up in little firing line with more sounds of mouthy musketry, explosions and screaming wounded. 

Our parents were lenient and sleep overs became weekly so we could watch war movies and play mostly WW2 games as I recall it. Stuart's continued friendship brought on March or Die, Zulu, Zulu Dawn, Sand Pebbles and war films of all kinds forever after. The fuse was lit! I talked my grandmother into getting me the Naverone playset with the 54mm Germans, then a Pork Chop Hill set with three plasti-form hills and various guns and equipment. Military gaming was becoming my exclusive choice of leisure pursuits in one form or another. 

Another fateful day: I'm introduced to Viking Hobby!

Stuart and I hung out a lot as kids and Viking Hobby was a regular haunt for both of us. While the Toy Store had a little section of HO scale stuff they had very little lead - lots of Tamiya 1/35 scale kits, maybe some Ral Partha and TSR role playing figures, a handful of Ral Partha Colonials  and some military modeling magazines but nothing like what Viking had. It's a small shop but it was nearly ALL military. No doll houses, collectible horses or train stuff. All military. 

And here I was introduced to Miniature Wargames, then Wargames Illustrated, my dear companions to gaming as we know it today. Weekly, Gilder, Wargames Holiday Centre, In the Grand Manner, that's wargaming, and they all became our inspiration.  Apart from mail order to Emperor's Headquarters in Chicago or Modeler's Mart in Clearwater, Florida, Viking Hobby was it for lead/metal miniatures. We were too old for plastics - we wanted what the big boys were playing with. 

Over the years, a few places popped up and and have gone under over the years but Viking still stands. Ken and Jessica were proprietors from the beginning and still are now though I haven't seen Ken in probably 30 years. Every time I'm back in Sacramento I stop in and buy something and you should to. 

4713 El Camino Ave
Carmichael, CA 95608
 
Stuart loved the place so much he ended up working there up until his death.


But in the early days, Stuart's parents were the more generous with spending money so he spearheaded nearly every endeavor with me trailing behind. We had done a fair amount of home made rules - 4,5,6 hits 1,2,3 misses, - you know the kind, with unpainted plastics. We started painting blood on some here and there then got carried away with that but soon, more and more lead came into play with more and more paint. Black washing straght lead with metal meant only dotting in faces on Minifigs Wars of the Roses knights and bits of horse that showed up under the barding. Basing on old playing cards, railroad scenic decor. I still have much of them rebased and reflocked. I don't recall much priming in these days. A bed sheet over books was a standard practice; lichen and railroad trees rounded it all out.

Complete Brigadier occupied us a bit too, Wars of Malboro, Dixon 15's, Medievals got some play and even more paint, Gallia castle walls and towers, then some Napoleonics. Viking carried Napoleonettes and we started collecting those and Minifigs but we had no grasp of the uniforms or even what it was like to game the period. It was just too complex I think. No internet, no book stores as we knew them recently - the library was it and the books on this period seemed for adults. Loved it all in theory and in the magazines but pre-Sharpe, we just didn't have anything to grab on to. The paucity of simple rules for the period was another blow. At this point, unpainted miniatures were not allowed nor desired, sealing off complex Napoleonics until much later.

During this period, Stuart talked his parents into letting him set up a sand table in the garage - so one night we snuck into the local golf course and secured our sand. The Sword and the Flame and the Minifigs ranges that went with them became the rage. Primarily the Sudan but also French Foreign Legion. These games looked great -walled cities, moats, sand dunes, rivers. Stuart's cats got left in the garage at some point and it was never quite the same.

But the best was yet to come. Essex had just released a great big range of American Civil War figures Super variety of figures, cleanest sculpts ever. The rapid transition away from one sculpt regiments started with these wonderful Essex figures and was finished off forever by the new kids on the block: Old Glory. We both had jobs at this point and got into ACW deep. Johnny Reb 2 was our game of choice. By now we had a handle on making good terrain and had plenty of scenics to spread around. Stuart spent a lot of time making split rail fences and walling and coming up with ideas for fields - felt, various fabrics, courderouy, etc. Plenty of buildings too. There were pictures of these around somewhere but I don't have any of them. I recall though that we finally had some fantastic looking (non-desert) games.

Our tastes began to separate too and we both pursued stuff independently. I remained firmly in Horse & Musket periods and expanded my own FFL collection, also getting both sides of all the newest Essex French & Indian War miniatures too. It was a golden age for 15mm  - neither of us were into 25's really at all. GW opened those doors for me a few years after his death but for now it was the American Civil War. I started with the Confederates and he chose Union and the painting in earnest really took off here.

Next up: Stuart Philip Frederick McDonald Part 2- the Arms Race!

Another Move!

Across town this time - and probably the last for a few years. I had the luxury of time and the ability to convey all the fragile stuff myself so there will be no disastrous consequences this time.

All that said, it's still a lot of work to take down and set up a library. I was able to negotiate an expansion of the Man Cave so long as the majority of my books go in there as well. A price I'm happy to pay.

I've really been in a painting mood too which has been forgone and will continue to be until I get things in order.

Here's the bulk of the Military History books - I have many other sections throughout the house to deal with so this is maybe slightly less than a quarter of just books:

28mm Eureka Miniatures Victorian Gentlemen & Victorian Ladies

These were done in 2005 and posted on CMON, but I wanted to flesh out the Victorian part of this blog. I've grouped them into logical pairs - the first at left is at a ball of some kind, the pair at right out in a wintry night.

Two pairs of menaced couples ...

I loved painting these up - nice solid details, flash free, great character.

For the ladies' dresses I referred to a Dover clip art book on Victorian fashion for inspiration.

 Thanks all for looking - questions, comments and followers are welcomed and encouraged.

25mm Wargames Foundry - Old West Townsfolk - Victorian Gents

I finished these in April of 2005 and posted them on CMON, but now that I have my own blog I thought I may as well host them here - sorry for the blanched pics.

There are so many good Victorian figures out there now - it's truly a Golden Age for Victorian gaming.

Close up of the more well-to-do pair Joe Blessinton (L) and Max Shelby (R).

Cooper Creel (L) and Brent Monroe (R).

All of these are from the Old West range but I've re-purposed them for London. That's Raggedy Jack there on the right who looks most out of place but Major Edwards, at left, looks right at home.

Same body, different heads. I especially like the one on the right who is called Kirby Heartsill, in black at left is Digory Kent.

25mm Old Glory Cossack Wars Dismounted Cossacks Pt. 2

Despite their Renaissance attire these are intended for The 1812 Patriotic War as if they were  independent but well financed bands of partisans - Guard Cossacks assigned to guerilla duty perhaps?

As you know, Old Glory come in packs of 30 foot figures. This is the other 15 painted earlier in reds and yellows. I include an overview shot for comparison. I suppose if I ever did Cossack Wars they could be opposing bands nut for now they are united against that athiest Bonaparte!

I typically hate WIP's unless someone is asking for advice but these are all done but the sealing and the addition of the snow flock to the bases which look slightly plain here.

A singular appeal to OG's are that there are rarely exact duplicates - exact poses here have different heads at different angles - a great and simple way to add variety.

Here are the unique poses to this band. For rules purposes they will be equipped as they were sculpted so their morale may be higher relative to their brethren in the peasantry, but their weapons are antiquated thus, their ranges will be shortened. If they only have melee weapons then they had better get stuck in pretty quick then.

Back detail of the sole officer - one officer for 15 figures makes them relatively brittle which is what I want.

Some of these heads are found on both the Cossack Civilian packs as well as the Dancing Cossacks pack - pictures of all of that are on the blog here.

Bonus for melee but only a pistol for ranged work.

I really like this blue and brown motif. It provides a uniformity but it suggests some amount of wealth while cutting the ostentatiousness of these elaborately decorated coats.There's nothing especially Napoleonic about these uniforms but they'll do.

Antique muskets will be inferior to the Charville IX armed French so they'll be pressure to volley and close if they spot a weakness. But really I needed some Cossacks who can hold ground - there'll be plenty of cavalry coming up later.

Though there are Opelchenie figures out there there are no Russian partisan figures that I am aware of.

So my new thing is to dry brush all the textured ares right off the bat - before skin, before eyes, before anything - then I never have to mask off things or take any particular care in being tidy.

Some real characters in this pack yet here's more discharging of pistols gansta style!

Just under a hundred Russians done so far though 60 of them are unnarmed civilians. I'll do a couple cavalry units next and then a 1:1 full strength French voltigeur company of about 110 figures.

Thanks for looking! Questions, comments and followers are welcome and encouraged ...

15mm Essex (and Minifigs) French and Indian War - The French - Pt 1

The "Montcalm"       Like the British, the bulk of these were painted some 20 odd years ago - soon after they were released. There's a few exceptions that I'll point out along the way.

I don't think I got Osprey's Montcalm's Army until later so for much of these, I used the paint guides in Habitats & Highlanders (H&H).

A beastly big Ligne Regiment - Regiment de Royal Roussillon. With The Sword and the Flame as my rules, these units could hit hard and stick through a relatively long fight. Like all of these, I could easily split the unit in twain having a duplicate set of command.

It may already be evident that I didn't terrain these armies the same way - nor are individual units based the same. I wanted them to appear on the most likely terrain upon which they would find themselves so the line units got grassy open fields. More variants on that theme ahead.

Select figures from the Regiment de Royal Roussillon

Oh yes, I'll do eyes but not the fleurs de lis - even that was beyond my ability then - Now of course, I would make a more valiant attempt to do them.

Another monstrous Ligne Regiment Languedoc - this time in Summer attire - meaning in just the under coat without the heavy pearl outer coat.

Again it is splittable into two smaller units. Basing: grassy. I almost exclusively painted the landscape in these days. I wasn't happy with or skilled enough to use Turf and I dont think I discovered static grass until later.

H&H says brown and burgandy in the cantons though I see references to blue and brown in other sources. Again - no internet when I started this project.

Like the Brits, I added a fair amount of 5 o'clock shadow on various figures. I like the grizzled campaigner look.

This unit was done fairly late in the process so they look pretty solid relative to other units in the force.

One or  Two Compagnie(s) des Franches. I see there are colors for them but the command pack didn't have any standard bearers.

Clear evidence of being gaming miniatures, glossy bits, wear and tear on the bases. Black primed, no pre-washing of the minis.

I like these sculpts a lot.

The French Artillery - an even match against that of the Brits: a single gun, six crew, no limber.

On to the irregular forces: Surprisingly few Indians relative to the French Line - I've since bought many more that remain unpainted. I will probably not base many individually but in various sized washers since they don't ever need to rank up. Officers here are the Coureurs de Bois since there was no Indian "Command" from Essex. In a pinch I can strip out the 8 french from each unit and use the two Firing Indians as leaders for each unit.

Two distinguish one band from the other I attempted to do an Autumn forest litter scheme on one with paint. It's basically right but better when I got to the Mission Indians.

The coonskin and the skunk skin hats are the highest ranking officers for these units. Gotta get creative when they don't have suitable officer figs. Of the French, these are the first I ever painted - at the same time as Roger's Rangers as I recall it.

On the completion scale this unit of Minifigs Canadian Militia were the last unit painted from both armies. Very colorful unit - reminds me of a Summer salad, lovely greens and grays, with bright red caps. Like everything else, neatly divisible by two.

I think I will continue to paint the landscaping on the remainder of these armies rather than flock the bases. It takes a bit longer but I think it looks especially good here.

Yet one more angle because I like the look of them. The Minifigs FIW stuff is pretty good - I have British Lights and a lot more Indians from them to augment all the Essex stuff.

Here's the Essex Canadian Militia in Assorted Dress if I have it right. I liked a more uniform appearance back then - I probaly would mix it up more I guess these days. many more wonderful reference materials around now though.

Minimalist and random landscaping. I glue down railroad ballast of some kind and wherever it piled up after drying and dry-brushing, gets painted as clumpy grass.

Officer and rankers detail

Too dark on the 5 o'clock shadow but still ok.

The Mission Indians - historically the weakest links in this French force.

Still they are interesting figures, European command. Note the Fall foliage bases.

I like to have a shot with perspective - look at how small these guys are relative to the paints!

In sum:
Two huge line units
Two tiny Franches units
One field piece and crew
Two to three Canadian Militia units
Two medium Indian units
Two terrible militia units
That's just under 200 figures and a gun on the French side - plenty from which to draw units from for Muskets & Tomahawks. They definitely need more Indians though for bigger games.

Well, thanks for looking - Questions, comments and new followers are welcome and encouraged! I'm burnt out on actually painting at the moment but blogging is still a hoot. Much more to come both new and old.