Sunday 11 October 2015

(Mis)Adventures in Plastic

                                     

                                                Oh dear, what have I gone and done....

Well here is something I never expected to be doing. SWMBO, my daughter Holly (back for the weekend from Uni) and I went to Basildon this morning for some odd bits of shopping and aside from a disappointing visit to the Works - no luck with the vehicles everyone has been raving about - we also popped into Home Bargains. I like to think of this cahin of shops as being the Waitrose of pound shops  and we never seem to come out of there without having spent upwards of £50 - trust me this takes some doing! 

I should perhaps mention that my plastic storage boxes used for the block armies are from here - the size I use costs £2.49 which is pretty good when you consider that Hobbycraft, a couple of doors along, sells the same thing for nearly £8. It is a good shop for browsing in and with all kinds of odds and ends. 

Whilst in my customary automatic pilot mode wandering down the aisles pushing a rapidly filling trolley I spotted the above kit priced at £3.99. Now this is where the 'Ooh shiny' gene kicked in and so I snapped one up (not literally - that would make a mess of the kit for sure....). The story of the Mary Rose is well known and so I will not repeat it here. I have had a hankering for some months now to tackle a sailing ship kit of a modest size but was not keen on H.M.S. Victory or the Cutty Sark. The Mary Rose would tick the boxes quite nicely and, from the gaming point of point of view, could possibly see some use with a version of any of the appropriate sets of rules by Dave Manley. His Medieval rules would be a good starting point but suspect that any good renaissance set would suffice. It is a delightful kit and the potential for conversion is certainly there. I may attempt rigging it - for which I will need to consult Messrs Fox and Hardman - but at this stage it is merely just to get ma doing something constructive. I MAY cut it down to the waterline but if I am honest am rather nervous about doing this - I was never part of the gang that regularly chopped up the kit of H.M.S. Victory to turn out 74s and all manner of other ships, not to mention the kit of H.M.S. Shannon....

So I have landed myself with a kit to build and some research to be done - possibly a couple of books may need to be acquired as well.

One thing that I was impressed with was the name of the near sister ship - originally, according to the blurb in the box, called the Peter Pomegranate....

That is the stuff that wargames armies and navies are built of!

15 comments:

Paul´s Bods said...

It´s a nice Little kit, I had 4 of them as a nipper...sadly all gone now.

Diplomatist said...

Boring trivia - most of Henry's fleet were named for heraldic symbols. The Pomegranate was one of the badges associated with Katherine of Aragon.

Conrad Kinch said...

Wargamer shiny itis claims another victim!

Ross Mac rmacfa@gmail.com said...

"starter kit", sounds like my speed.1:400 scale, should be close enough for amphibious ops with 6mm figures. Just saying....

Geordie an Exiled FoG said...

You cannot go wrong with the Mary Rose, I have three, two of which were "school projects" for the kids when they did the Tudors, the third being my "master"

I am waiting for the re-release of the Santa Anna ;)

Geordie an Exiled FoG said...

Psst what happened to the dreadnoughts

100th Anniversary of Jutland coming up!

David Crook said...

Hi Paul,

It certainly seems like a kit with some potential so in all probability I can see some further acquisitions on the horizon!

All the best,

DC

David Crook said...

Hi Edwin,

That is certainly not boring trivia! I did not know that so thank you for the heads up - my knowledge of heraldry would struggle to get to the level of non existent....;-)

All the best,

DC

David Crook said...

Hello Mr Kinch,

I seem to recall one of your countrymen 'being able to resist anything except temptation' - so no apologies offered!

It will make a tidy littleproject that I hope to start on over the next few days.

All the best,

DC

David Crook said...

Hi Ross,

Funny you should mention that....

It is a very nice little kit and I sure that even my ham-fisted modelling skills should be able to cope with building it although the prospect of water-lining the hull does fill me with a certain degree of trepidation...;-)

All the best,

DC

David Crook said...

Hi Geordie,

My thoughts exactly - and no home should be without one (or two, or even three in your case....)!

All the best,

DC

David Crook said...

Hi Geordie,

Re Jutland: The dreadnoughts have gone to a new home and plan B is underway....;-)

All the best,

DC

Paul O'G said...

Good Luck! I fondly remember visiting the well preserved remnants of the original at Portsmouth Naval Dockyard

David Crook said...

Hi Paul,

I have not seen the wreck although I did see that very good documentary on why she sank. Is this going anywhere? Well, it has given me a couple of ideas....;-)

All the best

DC

Paul O'G said...

And just in case the shop has a second kit available...
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-berkshire-34503044