UPDATE.

 Following my cataract surgery I am long last free of the restrictions on heavy work and lifting. This means I have just been able to cut the grass for the first time this year and  I plan to do some serious tidying up later. The down side is that I am now eligible to do housework too which is due on Thursday my wife tells me !!!!  In addition I have also been able to have an eye test and new glasses are on order. I hope within the next 7 to 10 days to receive these and finally drive my car again after just over 9 weeks of being a passenger only.... I cant wait !!!!!!!

Despite not being able to see well etc we seem to have been out and about frequently this past few weeks. I think my wife has felt sorry for me not being able to drive so has taken me out perhaps more than usual,  we certainly seem to have eaten lunch out a lot recently. Nevertheless I have managed to get some modelling time and have made good progress on the batch of 30 GS wagons as seen below.

Construction is complete and the wheels have been primed, next step is to paint the bodies  olive drab. The horses for these wagons are also made and have received the initial primer and top coat ready for gluing onto the wagons once they are painted. The rest of each horse will be painted once glued on the wagons.

I have also made progress on the infantry battalion. All the painting is complete and all that's left to do is two coats of varnish.

This shelf shows the infantry privates of the battalion some 216 strong.

The photo above shows 18 infantry lieutenants and the medical, heavy weapons and QM privates.

The final photo shows all the officers and NCO's of the battalion with the staff and signals privates.

Now off to the garden.......

BOOK REVIEW: THE DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT.

THE CLIMACTIC SHAPING OF "THE LAND OF THE FREE" DURING THE HAZARDOUS EVENTS OF 1814 IN WASHINGTON, BALTIMORE AND LONDON.

I bought this book recently in a second hand book store for £4, a real bargain. Strangely however, the book, printed and published in the USA only in 1972 , uses paper that is reminiscence of that used in UK books during the world wars, very cheap, slightly differing page sizes and with an almost card like consistency. 

The War of 1812 was started by the US for various reasons related to trade during the Napoleonic war and was mainly concerned with US efforts to invade and seize parts of Canada. Apart from defending Canada the British response was to send a naval and army expeditionary force to the east coast to "ravage" the enemy and teach them the lesson that the British were not to be trifled with.

The first British landing resulted in the rapid dissolution of the defending US militia by the very professional British troops and the capture and burning of Washington. The next landing was against Baltimore. Here the US militia, better led this time, was able to hold out against the British causing them to retreat after the commanding British officer was killed. This action was supported by a navel bombardment of Fort McHenry by British warships. That event was witnessed by Francis Scott Key who, reflecting on what he had seen, was inspired to write "The Star Spangled Banner" hence the title of the book.

The final British assault was on New Orleans but this resulted in an overwhelming US victory that caused the British to rapidly fall back to their ships. Around this time the British government, dismayed at the cost of making war on the US  and with Canada secure by then, decided to make peace with a US delegation in Europe for that very purpose. This was soon agreed as the US had also had enough.

The theme of the book describes how the humiliation of seeing the capitol city burned almost caused the total collapse of the US yet with just a matter of weeks, the victories at Baltimore and New Orleans caused a complete change by bring the nation together and setting it on the path of internal development and isolation from world affairs that lasted 100 years.

Overall an excellent book about a fascinating time. However I would really commend this book to wargamers of the AWI period. This book contains a large number of scenarios for battles and actions including navel landings and bombardments using the same tactics and weapons of the AWI but in a setting very different to that conflict. Recommended.

BOOK REVIEW: GEORGE AND ROBERT STEPHENSON

 THE RAILWAY REVOLUTION.

I recently found this book in a charity shop for £2. As the author is the famous L.T.C. Rolt  I knew it would be a good buy and it is !!!!

Basically it tells the story of the working lives of the famous father and son duo who were largely responsible for the introduction and development of the railway in Britain and throughout the world. The early years of George are particularly interesting in that he had no formal engineering training and very little actual education. Instead he was blessed with a natural genius for engineering. Recognising this and his own limitations he ensured his son Robert received the very best education which resulted in him eventually  possessing far superior engineering and administrative skills to those of his father.

The stories of the creation of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the Rainhill Trials and the Great Tubular Bridges  among others make for fascinating reading even for the non railway historian while the construction of the London and Birmingham Railway , the largest ever civil engineering project at the time, is a testament to human ingenuity and fortitude.

Although this book will particularly appeal to the railway fan it also provides a superb account of the engineering element of the industrial revolution and some of the extraordinary, gifted and visionary people who created that revolution. Overall a very well written and highly recommended  book by an excellent author.

UPDATE.

 Apart from not being able to drive, another problem with having my cataracts done is that for six weeks I am not allowed to do any lifting or other heavy work. This includes gardening and grass cutting. At this time of year I, with everyone else, expects to start preparing the garden for the coming summer including cutting the grass which, in my case, is already looking a bit shaggy. However I must leave it to grow out of control and no doubt become infested with an abundance of exotic wildlife !!!!

Another "interesting" activity that is banned for me is housework. However, much like the garden, I have no doubt I will be doing a lot of catching up when the time is right !!!! All that said one positive has arisen in that I have got a good amount of spare time right now, and,  with my new close range vision,  therefore the opportunity to do more modelling. In fact I have done more this past week than for several months.

The batch of field kitchens that had been sitting around since last autumn have finally been completed and issued. I have now started on a batch of GS wagons as seen below.

The bodies are done and next step is to add wheels. The full construction process can be seen on a post under the Construction Techniques label.  In addition I have made a start on an infantry battalion. The soldiers have all been painted in uniform green and the addition of rank insignia is now under way.

Apologies for the strange photo. The soldiers are painted on my "work" shelves and had to be squashed up on my "photo studio" window cill to get them all in. As a matter of interest, this is what 407 screws look like during the painting process. Also note the flag bearers in the bottom left corner. 

The shelves are plywood and were light brown in colour as still seen on the edges however years of processing thousands of screws have changed the colour of the boards to a dirty looking green.

Just out of interest, the latest count of my soldiers shows 63,488 are with my armies at present.