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painting

turk lancers have stolen show of this batch of conversion i do.painting up well.
i think it take me until sunday night todo bashi,s .look like i paint all weekend it rains all days.

have fun

Re: painting

curse i eye red so i can not paint.(other is always red)maybe tomorrow better ti wait.

Re: painting

pack mules and pack kamels aare ready.next it is the bashi bazouk drivers i use from zvezda cossack very nice set.

Re: painting

Dear Hank,

Have you considered the following for Bashi-Bazouks may need some milliput or head swaps but, should work well.
http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Review.aspx?id=1104

http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Review.aspx?id=1219

Looking forward to your next epic diorama

Last preparations for Kalafat-Finale.

Hi Brian , thank for head up they look good wild people and a few head swap make good ontrgration also.Sometime is hard to stop buy things hahah

yes I preparing for last Kalafat show. Basically evrything you see in K1-K6.With many sideshow diodramas. i make big effort enlargement of Turkish logistics/supply train l'equipage you saw in early Kalafat with water carts cattle and 16 hat wagons etc.
welll it is much bigger now.

to that I add 50 pack mules(ral partha) and 50 pack kamels(hat egyptian ) ,ambulance mule and ambulance kamels plus many assorted wheel vehicle contraptions and a bigger irregular turkish escort cavalry.Also teh bashi bazouks(zvezda cossack swap nicely i will get one each of orion thanks) will provide as driver/riders.i try and emulate teh great efort of supplies that came from schumen,viddin for support the battles.

Although i am finishing project i keep finding more thing to do and things i mention in this forum.

Oh Zvezda Turkish cavaalry xvii give them S=R Fez Head make fine CW Lancer(look alot liek vanson @vms drawing, a little milliput/green stuff for hood).

From ACW sets there will be turkish artillery much improved with more turk figure replacing acw,i warn you.chuckle.
---
hat kamel very nice but a little small and teh fine illustrated saddle furniture has been trimmed off teh box cover unfortunately. I stick on ammo box and meal bags.I hope hat bring out kamel bagage as it will augment their coming release for triball kamels on top of egyptian/brittish same ones pity.I made a conversion "dirty fix" of a kamel hobbled which is a classical pose that i do not see observed much.

June After kalafat ,i take a big hobby break has been long 18 month on hobby since 2009 janyuary. when i come back with "Silistra 1853".

By Then i think i will have enough RTW figure to commence "Pleven 1877-78".So collecting Rouskie rtw for army.At least i have already teh Turk army made.
Deployed balloon is something i am doing now.(see turkish gambit movie)looks fun.

Kalafat-Finale, 12 week countdown.

Happy ..at last there is little conversions left to do for supply train l'equipage or ambulance kamel or mule now. But I will save a collective photograph for teh Kalafat-Finale showdown.Wow...its big and plenty little pictures inside the big pictures.I hope it represents the "logistics"system reasonably well of supplies and casualties.

So now i return to the Turkish artillery and see what can be done to try equal my improved grand looking Rouskie Artillerie regiment for a face off.I hopeful to look forward to replace these s-r/zvezda conversions with S-R 's own set of artillerie sculpting).

I think it will take me a day to prepare teh terrain.A day to set up everything and then photograph.Then 3 hours to pack up figures and ships etc.

Is always nice to hold something back for finale so i just say ...watch this space.i am not sure what but i will have something different to show.
Have fun {FEZ}

Turkish artillery practice this w/e ; Ali Abubeker Kaled

Fresh from meeting Ali Abubeker Kaled and his accomplis ..i am on scgedule for second version of turkish artillerie attempt using acw figs and a few metals 20mm.Sunday i hope to have a better szathmari on it.

This unit has much improved from Kalafat 1-3.


http://books.google.com/books?ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html_text&id=df4vAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22citale%22+map&jtp=8

Turkish Guns salute "KaLaFaT-Finale" completion ahead of schedule

Heavily converted and assembled Turkish Artillery practice went well and paraded this morning with a celebrationary salute to "Kalafat-Finale" completion of models phase.

I am now able to focus on my biggest worry and phase of teh entire project...teh terrain.

I have a sector plan to overlap fit all "Kalafat 1-6" plus "finale specials " not yet seen. So i have 3 month to conjure up a diodrama on approx 25' x 25' start line exclusing river water.

turkish baggage train and mule and kamel ambulances were good fun i enjoyed asssembling.
Okay i think i take teh rest of day off.

Sandpit syndrome

yes i think i like teh possibility of using a frame of wood sides sprayed pale blu and then a flat surface covered with garden centre type green matting to block sun from soil.Below this damp soil and then a carpet material on top to help set in memory teh surface contours.After that i can place scenics and figures. I will need a stream at least .Just missed a nice set of romanian model houses by an bucaresti art company on ebay.Ah well 6 of those would have been nice all different.Close to ho-1/72 scale.
I think now i can only etch evergreen sheets with sodler iron and camo paint them for missing detail.
Is all fun but will take me 3 months.
Okay have fun (it is sometimes the other yes )

Staging KaLaFaT-FiNaLe

okay ,i have an idea others it may help also.
Ready made stage is grocery "wooden palates" that you fnd at back of shops near dumpster.i think i need 16-24.ubend Nail together or just use single segment wooden palates as tiles.I hope to do this out door as i will do it quicker than indoor and less accident etc.

Get garden centre cheap grass roll plastic sheet.Paint with cheap hardware store matt green color to stop glossy appear in photograph. get staple gun and there is a good strong base.On top o fplastic a light soil with small rocks.Place wargame mats on top in middle green next to "water" areas.Towels make good crop field cheap from market dyed of colors .

This should all be easy to dispose of after photoshoot etc.i also use casino game cloth felt as carpet on top of crate
good luck

FiNaL appoach 75 days

Run down project with ho scenics purchases and using contemporary artistic evidence for represent in to diodrama. no further pictures emitted to help impact of finale.75 days to Kslafat .

balkan scenics

Vollmer ho railway farm buildings most useful.$27 approx also vollmer ho sheet tiless of roof help convert other buildings with making porchs. gothic influence, some overornates will be converted to lose high roofs.hot solder iron to cut.

italeri berlin house will take a little work on.
i have easy conversion for this in mind.
Pola ho do nice small wood bridges sets cheap windmill.,many iln illustratins show these alomg danube.

kibri similar houses
housit wagons for heavy hay cart.

realistic stone bridge

save time search with "ho house built up" term.

model trees expensive .outer ring of hill use good models fill inside with dry moss.

evergreen plastic sheeting for basing figures
linoleum glooed over brown is good for water color.gloo boards on side for vefetation.

Re:essential balkan scenics hayrick

Oh today i am flocking figures and basing .also win a few on ebay buildings and materials to help conversions etc.

But biggest score today on research,i see how to make a hayrick as per citate (you know teh famous ILN chromograph you see partial hayricks now i see it in completion,

http://www.hooiberg.info/?page=haystacks/landene2

http://www.hooiberg.info/images/haystacks/alan_ritch_romania/aboramuseum3.jpg?PHPSESSID=71f77061729e564bf7d83f232e011171

hay rick romania per citate go up to main site and it is all there .much detail and photograph help me time warp my diodrama. So i think terracota clay with cocktail sticks and model knife to etch teh roof and hay pile under.Then bell shape haystacks with pole 12'
and tripod. Oh why i go so deep with kalafat.?> but is fun

turk art

okay 16 turk guns and limbers email to you.how big relief i am to see you make unique artillery sets for rtw.that will help your collectors save $o much.

Now is the hardest part i contend with sorting all the model house i get and find 50% i cannot use.Okay 32 sets a guess if there is 2 guns per box.Np roblem to me.

Okay hayricks tomorrow and still a friday and bad mail delivery from ebay dealers.slow me down . lose 2 days if no mail tonorrow.So i guess i do more floxking
of turkish talles 200 tomorrow,

Berlin italieri (2 i have)set too big for mixing with others so i keep back for pleven /silistra.The country house and porch watch this space.

Kalafat Setbacks

I am modelling chetate(citate-moreni)main battle location for the Kalafat campaign and setting for my diodrama. It is looking good to me as i can get to resemble the main battle site.agricultural(wheat) village since roman times gave me a few clues and ideas.

not a good month since above... setbacks with village with some purchases things not working so rethinks were required. Sometimes best to keep it basic.Also using natural material always seem to be better effect.

after few trials of terrain/scenics i am getting there. prebuilt 14' River arrived and buys me some time i have lost but need to enhance to bring the dimension up. I work on this next 2 days.

I added another scenic to the 4 village sectors and what a massive difference it make.So now i have problem to find more OF that type and add for consistency.

i also worked out what was best way to go with terrain is a mix of polystyrene-foam tile, rvcarpet towel cloth and extending my battlemats(4 6'x4'),flocking and aquarium rocks which gives best effect for least expenditure.

figures... some still to arrive like sr bashi bazouks and other turc based ones, but time it is looking past 6/21 my target date.

Re: Kalafat Setbacks

at last scene of finale "Cetate village" scenics are coming together to look reasonable replicants of pre and 1850s time in schematic form,is encouraging.I have pretty much all the skelton in place now to elaborate and make final preparations and complete.
Is terrible to think that many quiet country villages were to be the focal points of some terrible wars and destructions.

However ,this is just a hobby so "The finale" will have a fun start,as often battles did thru history.

i base(key word) my diodrama on 3 source contemporary paintings ,and backing of illustrations of iLN.

Cetate battle village is up !

At last all supplies and neccessary paints wood , mats and model building arrived(takes 2 hour to gloo some together) to create village.wednesday i spend 4 days on matching colors on teh 2" x 1" sectors ,The village stream is aced and i will beable to add a bank and track alongside the 14" of it.

some figures still to arrive sr bashi etc
So teh village is up in sepoarate sectors, just some quick pasting glooing painting road and track sticking readygrass and trees.Alsoorchards.so exciting.A couple of test shots look okay but modified better since then.

i raided ebay for some extraordinary things to enhance
the village envoironment.what fun.I never took this much time on urban before.I expect village complete by next sunday.

when i look for things i usually stumble across something else and this is exciting to me.(you have to wait)Okay i think i a series for finale.

Kalafat Finale:
russians prepare Cetate defences
turkish column advance to village
russian engage
turkish counter attack
melee
Ahmed Pashas Cavalry clash with Russian cavalry
STORM !

Re: Cetate battle village is up !

pity, seems odd no parcel this week.i think 200+ parcels from ebay for this project since jan 2009.

But good news the cetate village/backdrop for diodrama is now completed.just a few hayricks to do then i am finished up. photoshoot today on 12 x 12 outside.

i await hannants bashi bazouk despatch to arrive 7 box i hope ti start and fit into finale. so im ahead of schedule, others impacted me.ah well its all fun
a few more weeks wont hurt..
c'est la vie

Re: Cetate battle village is up !

waiting i am not good at.I guess i will flock on teh base of my turkish infantry as there is little else to do.

Oh with leftover pieces i try out a romanian farm converted from derelict stronghold .I think "cetate" diodrama is big enough andi can use this to signify nearby Moreni village with perhaps Turkish hq for the battle. Maybe i put a small roma/gypsy camp here also,I also will utilize russian cw artillery guys digging for teh entrenchment scenes.

I am searching for other ideas satelite to teh main diodrama feature.i must remember that i need to make a big picture but full of small ones all related to get teh maximum effect and try and draw attention in to teh diodrama.Nothing worse than lines and lines of repetative figures same pose.

Casualties,Wounded and dead is perhaps my weaksest representation.Altho wounded i have mule and kamel ambulance already to diplay but I think i could expand on this with my other strelets turkish infantry 600 figure i still have.But maybe strelets will make more turkish Figures for us.This will be in futire ,For now this will have to suffice as i have a year away from hobby as i jhave much travel inviattion to oblige.

I am excited and look forward to showing teh end result if anyone is interested.1853/4 teh forgotten part of teh CW war.Is odd as teh latter RTW completely focused in this region.

i have purchase many other building(too big for a wheat village) which will help expand teh cetate into a Silistra in future.But figures are still waiting on specifically african which were based here.(Araba tabia is your big clue)

okay now i am bored waiting to complete this.Whewre are the bashi-bazouks ?( i feel this may have been said often in history.)

Kalafat-Finale( Cetate battle phases)

Kalafat-finale Phase 1
Cetate russian camp/trenches prepared
Turkish Recce/bashi bazouks

Phase 2
Turkish inf advance on village
melee
Russian counter attack

Phase 3
Turk-Egyptian Inf right flank attack
Ahmeds Cavalrie left flank attack

Re: Moreni is near complete

Strelets, i get carried away,as i am waiting for some other things to arrive later than i hoped.So meantime i extend teh fortified barn into old poor village commune i will call "Moreni" which is village very close/EAST to Cetate and was in the fighting. It wil also be schematic representation.I also use time to base and flock my turks.

I have painted the strelets bashi bazouk 4 sets.awesome to have these figures strelets.And
yes I am very close to finishing this with one major to me item remAining neccessary to complete.Then i will commence the display shots.I think modestly at 20x20 feet BUT IS BIGGER THAN THAT. So i hope the extra wait is worth the extra time.

i think teh bashi bazouks entering Morini could be a good opening photograph, looking over to Cetate.

I much prefer teh diodrama outside per test shots .Inside does not habe same appeal of helpful garden landscape for natural look to blend with my artificial scenics.I will use strong duck tape to secure teh mats to the concrete.

i hope when it happens (98% is ready)you will be pleased with this,is my way to say thankyou for great figures.

Re: Moreni is near complete

Okay this week i complete small rouSkie redoubt to place east north east of cetate.

moreni roma colony is awaiting only 2 sets of 10 for popeln/poplar trees by busch.

I buy 5th bashi boxes for Turk general of cavalry Ahmeds screen and 1 MORE sr set arab and turcopoled just for standards for the bashi's.profesori made good call for bashi bazouk foot(hey make a romanian cart for them also).

I am waiting for last things to be made behind others major projects, so i wait patient to let them produce /complete. Okay anticipating 2 more month sorry for delays. As sr say..."COMING SOON"...

time running out

final pirchase of last scenic prop.If teh terrain looks reasonable good enough next week, then i will just shoot teh battle.

i have 3 day this wek for final preparation, then 4 next week to set up as teh "clock" is running down. Kalafat-Finale (Cetate) Battle imminent ...

Re: time running out

Okay at last some one with poplar/Popeln busch tree 6229in stock, for teh Moreni village east of Cetate.

Flocking continues and the turkish cavalry division WITH SR BASHI BAZOUK is looking grand.Figures look so much better with flocking on bases.

I buy another used hill $5 today as it will be needed to help break up teh foreground/background of teh diodrama. A local art supply store keeper wants me to display it there after xmas.So that is fun ,he is mostly sci fi and games workshop.Good job it is portable diodramA.

overtime

Okay all Ottoman cavalrie flocked now.
200 rouskie rifles to flock is not big job.
400 turkish inf, same quick job.

once backorder busch poppeln/poplar trees arrive(for Moreni hamlet) i will be able to rehearse finale set up and then address any anomolies i find before the last photoshoot closes this series.

one major item will not now be turning up, so i habe to make do with what i have. But thats life.
i hope you will like what you see.evrything i have sent in picture all in one diodrama plus a few extras.

Re: overtime

my 2nd appeal for poppeln tree work on ebay i get 3 sets rapido. now i can complete Moreni hamlet.

IT look like many dealers clearing out for xmas stock up, so bargains for old figure are plenty.Think about conversion for helping new figure come out.

Okay is busy weekend i think i can complete this project before i return to Canada for vist 3 and NWMP project next week.

Re: overtime

nope . i back form Toronto mission,did see real buffalo one hour north in field very nice.squirrels are not grey and not red/.

okay 3 sets of pappeln trees arrive.I also completed test of mud house and it did good so i will make another pod. I was very delighted with scenic result of moreni village..

runniing out of excuses to delay setting this finale up.its getting very close/.someything else turn up and is ready painted for show also.standby.....

Re: overtime

Final(3RD) section of Moreni 75% complete. Pappeln/polar trees arrived so i am happy.
It will be finish before morning.

i can now Assemble battlefield next MONDAY.
for final check.

Then set up with ALL figures on maybe wednesday/thursday. I do not know after that.
Is out of my hands as usual.

Hot diodrama perils

several days wind has been preventing outside set up.
forced to do so ,i used time to then make camps permanent on boards. further paint improvements and turkish army band updated reasonably with hytty /sr figures.temp today 97 so not good outdoor.warps
polystyrenen scenic tiles ,then just flip over in this wind .so i need to change scenics to be a more weather tolerant presentation...darn.

Looking at my set up site it is east west like cetate battlefield. so teh lighting of day would be similar. i need to get up earlier prepare teh cloths and mats ande tape to ground. (but i do not like to argue with our ranch skunk.)then i should be able to apply figures.i have a raised concrete slab with 2 sides to help merge natural and unnatural scenics.

what a difference teh romanian local tree pappeln/poplar make and give vilalges definition.i am sad it end of this project.

okay work,sleep 3 days solid then 3 day off. Its getting closer. flexibility of diodrama is not a bad thing. it is still quite portable.

chill factor

weather cooling 30 degree less last 2 days so ,imminent Kalafat-finale coming.iS ONLY few DAYS AWAY.

i WAS WISHING to sTRELETS SHOW US SOME rtw turk cavlry and artillerie but nothing of concrete yet.
what is usable for cw i not know.Ahmeds Kalafat cavary won the major part of teh battle(shock)so maybe later in upgrade we see something more of sr. ?who knows.

due to some peripheral movement a 2nd showing (?update) of finale should occur later in year and into 2011 completion.

thats will add about 1000 more figure,inc 400 more sr ottoman turkish infantry and non sr allies.
enough said this is last update ,standby ....

unfortunatek schedules of others change to impact my best of plan. what could be more important than ottoman figures ...well nothing to me!

ANTI CLIMAX post diodramatics depression

WELL I AM GLAD I GET MY HOME BACK AFTER EVERYTHING was place ready to set up when weather broke good enough to display outside.

today i am only packing up the figures and finding safe places for the terrain villages i made.i guess they will be used and integrated somehow in my next diodrama whjen the egyptians and tunisiens appear.
so now i try and research a little further along the danube but too much real estate adverts website is major pain USING hiostoriacl references is cheating when its not really historical sites..

Hopefully i can use some sr srtillerie and cavalrie figures from rtw range somehow even as conversions. coats yes i need more turks in coats as it take 7 902 sets to get about 100 of them.ihave 100 to a unit as you know.okay