Monday 13 August 2012

Return to the Age of Sail

I waited patiently…

Waited until the day when the toy in my daughter’s Kinder Surprise egg was consigned to the bin…

Then I pounced!


The possibilities offered by this blow-along trike were immediately apparent to me when my little ‘un opened the egg; and so when she was done with it, I rescued it from the bin.  A bit of modification and a quick paintjob later, the first land yacht to sail the highways and byways of VBCW Britain was born!


After cutting off some of the extraneous bits, and gluing on some others (including some wire, a backpack, blanket roll and Lewis Gun), I added a ‘sailor’ in the shape of a spare Renegade Miniatures WW1 French machine gunner – kepi replaced with a backwards Milliput flat cap.


I’m not really happy with the sail, which looks more like a dirty tarpaulin than a billowing mainsail. When the paint dried I was sorely tempted to replace it with a new Union Jack sail (à la James Bond and in tribute to our Olympic heroes), but that would mean ungluing the sail, so in the end laziness beat patriotic fervour!


So in terms of scratchbuilding a qualified success; and in battlefield terms a woefully impractical vehicle which is largely useless unless the wind gets up and the roads are good. But all in all a fun conversion – and fun is what VBCW is all about!


The mast is also removable for ease of storage!

8 comments:

  1. Very cool converions. The current sail to me looks fine. Could do something steampunky with one of those.

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  2. Excellent idea !!
    It looks great..leave the sail..it fits perfectly to the model.
    Cheers
    paul

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  3. That is fooking brilliant mate, well done

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  4. That looks great, I'm sure we had one of those somewhere and I didn't think of making it into something as good looking as you have!

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  5. Absolutely wonderful and great restraint in waiting until it was discarded!

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  6. Ha, waited patiently !

    Reminds me of the scene in the Time Bandits when the "Merry men" are interrogating Kevin and the dwarves:
    Randall: [Kevin and the Time Bandits, booby-trapped and hanging upside down from a tree, are confronted by outlaws] Just leave it to me, Wally. You've just gotta treat them right, that's all. Waddaya want, you tatty-faced old scumbag?
    Marion: What's your business, codfish?
    Randall: Robbers!
    Marion: Villainous robbers?
    Randall: The worst!
    Marion: Stop at nothing?
    Randall: Nothing at all!
    Marion: Steal the cup out' a beggar's hands?
    Randall: Rather!
    Marion: Teeth from blind old ladies?
    Randall: Of course!
    Marion: Toys from children?
    Randall: Whenever we can!

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    Replies
    1. :D It's the gawd's honest truth I tells ya!

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