FLAGS.

My army has three types of operational flag. 

The national flag is carried by all battalions and regiments and is oblong, solid blue in colour with a single white star in the first hoist area of the flag. 

Each battalion/regiment also carries a battalion/regimental  flag which is triangular, with a blue field and  the battalion/regiment number in white on the field. The staff is coloured to the arm of service for that particular type of battalion/regiment. In the case of brigade command battalions the main part of the staff is coloured red for command but the top of the staff is coloured to the type of brigade, infantry or cavalry. 

 The third flag is the general's personal flag. These are also triangular with a blue field but the staff is gold and there are small stars across the field, either one, two. three, four or five to represent the general's rank.

This photo shows from right to left, a three star lieutenant general's flag, a two star major general's flag, the battalion flag of 7th army command battalion and lastly the national flag.

The only other flag is the red cross flag which is flown by all ambulance wagons. Other medical vehicles carry a small red cross sign on each side only.

My historic reference for many of the design ideas of my flags is  based to some degree or other on the US army of the Civil war period.

BOOK REVIEW: 'TWEEN DECKS IN THE 'SEVENTIES.

Reminiscences of a sailor of the Royal Navy during the Victorian Era.

 This is another book from my library. It was written in the 1920's as far as I can tell and recounts the service life of a Scottish millworker who joined the Royal Navy in 1875 at the age of sixteen.

The author spent the first two years of his service on training ships at Portsmouth including HMS Victory where he learned all the skills required of a sailor. At this time most warships retained sails as their main source of propulsion. Although the majority were also fitted with steam engines these were very much auxiliary sources of power. 

Following this extended period of training the author was posted to HMS Swallow, an 800 ton gunboat. On this ship he then spent the next four years on a continuous patrol firstly on the west coast of Africa then on the east coast of South America. At the time four year patrols were the norm. It is hard to imagine spending such a lengthy period away from home with just occasional layups  for repairs and resupply in ports along the patrol line which usually provided a few days break on shore.

The author never experienced any combat action during the whole of his service. Therefore the book is filled with accounts of his day to day life firstly on the training ships then on the gunboat. These adventures are interesting and valuable accounts of life in the Royal Navy in this era. There can be no doubt he thoroughly enjoyed his naval career and it seems he only left the navy due to some injury suffered after returning to Portsmouth following the four year cruise. Unfortunately the details are unclear about this matter, I think the intention may have been to write a second book but my research indicates this never happened.

Overall a fascinating story of life in the Victorian Royal Navy and highly recommended to anyone interested in the Senior Service of this era.

MODELLING PAINT.

PAINT.

I have always used Humbrol enamel modelling paints. I admit they are not quite as good as years ago but still I find them best for me. During the over fifteen years from the mid 80's to early 00's when my army resided in the loft, all my paints were also packed away. When recovered and set up in my , then new, modelling unit, I found that of 19 tins of paint only one had dried up. The others were perfectly usable.  Strangely however all the hairs on every single paint brush had fallen out leaving me with a pile of sticks and a birds nest of hairs !!!

 Today my main complaint is that some of the colours display odd characteristics. For example the gloss red number 19, tends to change into a jelly like consistency long before even half used. I have not found any way to stop this process despite remixing with both thinners and even acetone. I complained once to Humbrol who responded that the barcode on the tin could not be identified !!!!  Others like the matt black number 33, when newly opened,  tend to dry to a glossy finish.  I think it is the thinners they use. Despite trying endless mixing the only cure I have found is to leave new tins open, without mixing, for several hours to allow this agent to evaporate. That does tend to solve the problem and also makes the paint a little thicker and thus give better coverage too.

When painting screws I do not use any primer. I have found that the normal base colour together with the top satin varnish coat, number 135,  is fully serviceable. Indeed although virtually all screws have at least a slight rust covering to start with, that seems to aid paint coverage. To date I have never found any rust on my painted soldiers. I do use primer, number 01, on wheels (drawing pins) flags ( paper and pins) any exposed glue and all plastic components on vehicles and equipments. The top coat then covers so much better.

The only mixing I do is for the base colour of my soldiers (screws). The original colour used was HU17 in the Authentic colour range. Since that range has become unavailable the online colour comparison charts indicate 116 is the current equivalent. However I find it to be rather lighter so I add about 20% matt black to each new tin to get the shade I need. I usually make up two or three tins at a time as it is a messy job !!!

BOOK REVIEW: THE CARRIAGE TRADE.

 MAKING HORSE DRAWN VEHICLES IN AMERICA.

Regular readers will be aware that I have a great fascination for horse drawn logistics. Naturally this extends to the actual wagons and this book, from my library, gives a fascinating account of the wagon trade in America in the 19th century.

The book describes how the making of horse drawn vehicles moved from being the product of highly skilled workmen in small local shops to mass production in factories using ready made parts supplied by specialist manufacturers. Although never made on production lines like automobiles, wagon construction certainly paved the way for the production line manufacturing concept. 

Strangely however, only one major wagon maker actually made the transition to automobile construction. This was the famous Studebaker company, the biggest wagon manufacturer ever. With this one exception, all the other wagon builders faded into oblivion during the early years of the 20th century leaving only small local workshops to carry out repairs and build the occasional new wagon, just like the business had been 100 years before.

The book also discusses the actual wagon, and carriage, building process, the decline of traditional craft skills and how American manufacturing generally changed over the century. This is fascinating in its own right if you have any interest in the rise of the production line and mass production, both of which of course originated in America.

Overall a great book on an interesting, well to me anyway, subject.

UPDATE.

 Although it has been almost a month since I gave an update on my activities, it seems only a few days ago to me. Certainly one disadvantage of advancing age is that the days and weeks seem to fly by and I struggle to recall what I have been up to yet I feel I have been so busy !!!!

On the modeling front I have completed the soldiers of a field artillery battalion, the first of 12 for the new army.

In addition I have finished building the first batch of GS wagons. So that is 36 done of a total needed of 390   !!!!!

Finally I am also well advanced with the second of the 24 infantry battalions needed. I still have some rank and arm of service details to add and then they all need two coats of varnish.

So I feel I have been quite productive over the past few weeks especially as I have also been engaged in the process of buying a new car. Always a fun thing to do but a shame I am having to wait till the beginning of May for delivery because of the microchip shortage. However, given what I said at the start of this update, by the time I get there it will no doubt seem I have been waiting only a couple of weeks at most. !!!!!!