Razzle Dazzle: camouflage; a bit of history and a river.

Slightly off topic but Ihope interesting none the less.

My cousin came up for a couple of days. Now you tend to take your home city for granted, but yesterday I did a bit of a tourist thing and took the Mersey River Cruise.

Well we got the 'dazzle' ferry Snowdrop.

Dazzle camouflage, also known as razzle dazzle or dazzle painting, was ship and tank camouflage used extensively in World War 1. Designed by Norman Wilkinson it consisted of complex patterns of geometric shapes in contrasting colours, interrupting and intersecting each other.

Unlike some other forms of camouflage, dazzle works not by concealment but by making it difficult to estimate a target's range, speed and heading. Wilkinson explained in 1919 that dazzle was intended more to mislead the enemy as to the correct position to take up than actually to miss his shot when firing.

The ferries themselves are steeped in military history. For instance:  During WW1 the steamers Iris and Daffodil were taken out of service from Wallasey to be used as troop ships in the navel raid on Zeebrugge in Belgium. Because of their work King George V allowed the vessels to use the word "Royal" in their name. They needed extensive refitting before they could resume peacetime activities.

Just a few shots of the famous waterfront.

Port of Liverpool Building

Liver Building

Wallasey Town Hall

Anglican Cathedral

Well a bit unusual, I do hope that you enjoyed our brief tour. Stay safe out there and thanks for popping by.

Rob.

38fest2015: This Sceptred Isle: Anglican League/Socialist Plans

The lazy sods didn't get up 'til nearly lunchtime. So I managed to design the 'Red' Forces plans.

Well here they are for your consideration.

There are a couple of interesting permutations here. Once the field is laid I may have to play more then one game.

With these done and it being International TableTop Day I'm going to try and get in a quick 'Patrol' game. We'll see.

Tally Ho.

Rob

The Cheshire Division Forms Up. The Peoples' Army Gathers and a pack of cards.

There is a bit of a rant to this but that is elsewhere.

I haven't had much time for our hobby recently but I did manage to tidy up a few projects.

Firstly

I finished off  B Company  Royal regiment of Chester (Cheshire Div). These are Airfix latest WW2 British Army. Not too bad a set for that company but a bit spindly.

Secondly

Some Caesar Partisans and WW2 Resistance fighters. 

I do like Causer figures. There moulding is superb and so detailed.

I'm generally pleased with how they turned out. However, I coated them in a mahogany varnish. This darkened the flesh colours a bit too much for my liking, it didn't do the same when I last did it. I suppose they could always campaign in summer with a healthy tan!

Finally, I designed a series of 'event cards'  and got them printed up at www.PrinterStudio.com. Easy, fairly reasonable and quick.

Take care out there and thanks for checking this out.

Lorcan

A Lazy Morning on the Late Shift.

Awaiting to go to work and with not a great deal to do I played around with my painting programme and got these.

How it started.

Well I got bitten by the 'there's something better' bug and have been tempted by 'A Very British Civil War!'

Members of the Cheshire Division

As such my Zombie gaming has slid a bit and the 'Long Rifle' project has stalled completely.

Wirral Volunteers in Training

Now as I have no rules for this period I spent the week writing my own. 'Bolsheviks Do Not Play Cricket!' This was allot more difficult and time consuming then I thought when I embarked on it. Well I completed them today and they're an IGOUGO; HG Wells, Charles Grant, Donald Featherstone style d6 romp. I must admit I found the experience very rewarding and good escapism.

Army of Liverpool Unload a Shipment of AC's

In my defence, I do have a start as my current project is set in that time frame and I have a couple of boxes of unpainted figures, plus my civilians fit.

How long will this sideline last? I've got to, at least, play test my rules. The Six Nations starts this weekend! Will I get a zed  game in?

Tune in next week for more of Lorcan's Fickle World.

Thanks for reading. Try and keep dry.

LRQ.

First Post

 

Well I've finally bitten the bullet and started a second blog. This one devoted to VBCW. I found that blogging really helped drive my previous project and I hope this will do the same.

Inially I will be building up my forces and scenery and then blogging batreps when I get going with this.

This corner of the new civil war takes place on 'The Wirral' peninsula. Hence the odd picture above.

There have been various VCBW posts on my other blog 'Plastic Zombie' (www.lrqan.blogspot.com), which I want to transfer to here, any ideas how this can be done?

Anyway; I hope you enjoy my project and I look forward to hearing and getting to know you all better.

Yours,
Lorcan