Thursday 9 June 2022

More New Stuff, and "Where were You, Three Years Ago...?"

 Without too much preamble, here is the latest output from my painting desk. About ten more Republican command/support figures are completed but awaiting basing



Republican Regular Officer and Standard Bearer


Flag is one of three supplied in the box




RCW Senior Commander from Siberia Miniatures (STP)





And the mounted version





SCW Militiamen (more still to be based)






Oh Dear ,,,,a Pulp addition courtesy of WizzKids...





I believe its supposed to be a baby dragon, but its big enough for me - Reaper Egyptian Priestess for size comparison - although this creature is more likely to feature in Oriental games...



Next, the PzKfw I Ausf A from First To Fight in Poland





And again with the HaT FT17 for comparison


And lucky last on the gaming front...its the SCW militia heavy support weapon





Now I have planned to do this next bit for a couple of months but of course, I missed the actual anniversary of the first images - 6 June 2019. Nevertheless, here they are. The logic behind this is simple - when I originally posted them, my average number of comments was 8-12 - now its 24-30 - from which I deduce, more  people are looking at this blog now than was the case three years ago - and hence, many visitors wont have seen these images before. So, a bit self indulgent perhaps but, hey, its my blog, and its nice to look back to pre Covid times, when we were able to travel - and I hope the images are of interest to those who missed them first time around!


June 6 2019 - the first day of an 11 day trip to China - this is Tiananmen Square


The Forbidden City


Chinese ladies in traditional fashions











Day Two 7 June - The Great Wall at Juyongguan Pass on the outskirts of Beijing






A Gentleman Adventurer!



I made it to the top - it was quite a climb!




The home of the Dowager Empress back in Beijing - possibly a second "Forbidden City" but not the same one that's adjacent to Tiananmen Square....





Bell Tower


Changing the guard at the zoo...dont know why really..!







Day Three 8 June - Beijing railway station for a 5 hours, 1100 km trip - average train speed 340kmph!






If you open this to full size you can see the speed indicator centre left


Next stop for a couple of days was the city of Wuxi




Its known as the Venice of the East due to the canals













My wife Ruth (L) and friend we made on the trip Bridget, another Kiwi (we still catch up with her and her husband Dave every 3 months or so






We experienced some unusual culinary delights, but didn't find anything we could not eat!

Hopefully I got most of the details right - its three years ago and a lot has happened since we were there, plus I have a near 60 years old memory....sigh!

Thats the lot for tonight - another update in a couple of days 
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32 comments:

  1. Jonathan Freitag9 June 2022 at 23:15

    Steady progress on your RCW project, Keith. Some of your China photos look familiar to me so do not discount the memory of the 60+ cohort. To what do you contribute the explosion in commentary from three years ago? More Followers? COVID lockdowns? Fame?

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    1. rross9 June 2022 at 23:32

      Thanks Jon, I know you, fir one, have been commenting for four years in more, and gave seen the China pics before! I think numbers have grown simply because I make an effort to do return visits and leave comments where I can. A few places, I have stopped bothering, because the bloggists never return the compliment ...others I carry on despite their inability to reciprocate....when I look back at the first twelve to eighteen months of my blog and see most posts with no comments at all and generally no more than half a dozen, it's a wonder I persisted!

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    2. Jonathan Freitag9 June 2022 at 23:48

      I suppose we can blog for different reasons. While we probably do not begin blogging for the commentary, commentary is welcome. Comment reciprocity is one thing but not acknowledging a comment left I think is simply bad manners. If I am on the receiving (or non-receiving) end of a repeated one-way dialogue, I often throw in the towel on commenting too.

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    3. Stew10 June 2022 at 14:31

      I agree with the above statements. 😀

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  2. Neil Scott10 June 2022 at 00:34

    Lovely additions to the collection and nice to see the photos

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  3. The Jolly Broom Man10 June 2022 at 01:37

    Great photos…and who’d have thought there was an AFV smaller than the FT17?

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    1. rross10 June 2022 at 05:56

      Of course, there is the whole issue of scale involved JBM. Both models are nominally 1/72 but as tihey are by different manufacturers, there may well be some discrepancy. Also what is not apparent from the photo is that the FT17 is considerably narrower than the Panzer. I have seen an FT17 somewhere and they are pretty small. Maybe next time I will put it next to a model of a later tank...they look like they are a different scale!

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  4. Michal DwarfCrypt10 June 2022 at 02:15

    A lot of great looking models and beautiful photos!
    Best regards

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  5. Aly Morrison10 June 2022 at 07:27

    Another fine mix of lovely toys Keith…
    The FT and the Panzer 1 are indeed rather small AFV’s…I don’t think they are as small as the Italian tankette though.
    I also enjoyed seeing your China pictures again…

    All the best. Aly

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    1. rross10 June 2022 at 18:43

      Thanks Aly...I may consider some Italian "volunteers" and their diminutive armour in future purchases!

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  6. pancerni10 June 2022 at 08:39

    The great series travelogue and some great SCW painted figures, what a treat..
    As to comments in a blog, I can see times I did not get many , times I probably left fewer than I should, unrequited love, and some much appreciated feedback.
    Do the best you can on both sides, maybe?

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    1. rross10 June 2022 at 18:44

      Thanks Joe, I like to try and make comments on blogs I visit, unless I struggle to have anything positive to say!

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  7. Lawrence H10 June 2022 at 08:40

    That is a terrific output for this week Keith, both in terms of quantity and the usual high quality. I remember those pictures when you first posted them and they bring back some happy memories for me, although I have really only just started eating Chinese food again over the past twelve month.

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    1. rross10 June 2022 at 18:46

      Lol...maybe I misremembered how many of my regulars were regulars in 2019! So far, everyone seems to have seen them previously 😀

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  8. Stew10 June 2022 at 14:31

    Nice painting and progress on the SCW project. I do love the baby dragon. Seriously. I want one. ❤️

    I haven’t seen those vacation pics before so I don’t think I’ve been around for 3 years. They are nice and looks like a cool trip. But it’s TOTALLY CHEATING to post pics from 3 years ago. Now I’m very suspicious that those aren’t newly painted miniatures but some painted looong ago….😀😀
    (Kidding of course)

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    1. Jonathan Freitag10 June 2022 at 15:02

      Stew, you may have opened Pandora’s Box here. I have travel photos for a 2019 trip before COVID that I never posted. Fair game for a post or not? The trip is to Egypt. Does that change your answer???

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    2. rross10 June 2022 at 18:47

      Thanks Stew, thank the Lord, someone who is seeing the China pics for the first time! Jon...it's a Yes vote from me re your Egypt trip!

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    3. Stew13 June 2022 at 15:36

      If you haven’t posted them before then it’s not cheating. Posting the same travel pics twice is definitely cheating or at the very least like running a previous episode like reruns….😝

      But seriously I’m not really trying to be an ass. I’m just defending an indefensible position bc I think it’s funny and I’m so bored. Obviously Kieth and anyone can post whatever they like and if this little fake argument is not funny then it should be deleted. 😀

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  9. Ben Cato10 June 2022 at 14:57

    Excellent work on the figures! Photos from China are very interesting. I have had my eye on a cheap Great Wall model and might just push the buy button.

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    1. rross10 June 2022 at 18:48

      Thanks Ben, glad you liked the pics...go on, push the button, you know it makes sense!

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  10. Steve J.10 June 2022 at 18:28

    Great work on the SCW figures Keith and the Pz I looks great, especially with the Nationalist strip across the turret. The trip to China looks fantastic, but after the Tiananmen Square massacre, I swore I would never visit the country.

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    1. rross10 June 2022 at 18:50

      Thanks Steve! I admire your scruples re holiday destinations...I have so far managed to resist pressure to take a trip to Fiji based on the military coup they had there about fifteen years ago!!

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  11. Matt Crump11 June 2022 at 00:23

    Dragons and tanks what’s not to enjoy. Would quite like to go to china but no plans at the moment ?

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    1. rross11 June 2022 at 08:18

      Thanks Matt....I did not ever think I would be painting a dragon, or visiting China for that matter! The trip was great and I would like to go back to another area one day eg there is a river cruise that includes visiting the terracotta warriors site, but we won't be going any time soon! It's obviously a lot easier/cheaper for us to get to China from NZ than it would be from Europe . We picked up some special deal whereby eleven days including flights there and back, internal transfer, all the hotel stays AND the various site visits cost about NZ$1200/£600 per person! I think all up, the two weeks only cost us about NZ$5000!

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  12. Ed M11 June 2022 at 12:00

    Lots to take in here: have to say that the RCW senior commander is "da bomb!" (never heard of Siberia Minis). Three years ago...I can't quite remember where/what I was. But were I visiting China, I certainly would remember it!

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    1. rross11 June 2022 at 18:15

      Thanks Ed - I do manage to find a few eclectic figures ranges/manufacturers via my web searching! STP are available via Caliver in the UK - but at considerably higher price than ex Siberia! The commander figure did come out particularly nicely, I think! Yep, the China trip was certainly very memorable!

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  13. DeanM11 June 2022 at 15:36

    Great looking eclectic group of figures, Keith. Also, nice pics of your trip to China. When I was stationed in Korea (2002-05) there were trips offered to China (mostly for shopping). My wife went on one - toured the Forbidden City, Great Wall and the usual stuff. For whatever reason I didn't take any of the trips. My boss and her husband (both active duty officers at the time) went on one of the trips. The husband came down with SARS right after returning. He was put in an induced coma and medevac'd to Hawaii for treatment. He almost died and lost a lung. Luckily he was super fit, or it would've been worse.

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    1. rross11 June 2022 at 18:18

      Thanks Dean - we really ahd a great time in China - such a different cultural experience - but then I guess Korea would be too - strangely, I would quite like to visit the North - just to see how weird it all is eg the hot looking traffic control girls ! Your boss sounds like he had a lucky escape - I had a bit of a sore throat come on the last day we were there but the fact I tried the local food at that Wuchan wet market is just a coincidence!

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    2. DeanM12 June 2022 at 02:23

      Hmm, N. Korea would be quite adventurous, if not risky. Wuchan wet market - oh my, now that sounds risky.

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  14. Mark Strachan12 June 2022 at 05:53

    Great output Keith. Seeing your pictures of the street food, I remember one of our guides saying “if it walks, crawls, slithers, flies or swims we’ll eat it” as we looked at the deep fried starfish, scorpions and sparrows in the markets. I suspect that some of this ‘variety’ goes back to the great famines that forced people to eat anything.

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