uss frolick

These weren't the LEGOs I had back in the 1960s. Oh the poor French!

The Providence appears to have full sized, presumably fully-functional quarter-galleries, while the smaller vessels do not. There are pathways through the pots to the gallery doors. Perhaps the poop-deck-privies are for the esteemed passengers - botanists, gardeners, and the like, who were too important to use the common head - because the officers did not wish to share their facilities, or they did not want potentially damaging traffic clomping through the pots to the toilets in rough seas? Or did they put breadfruit in the galleries too?

I've been informed by mail that there will be a delay in shipment, due to printing issues. It will hopefully ship at the end of August. Some things are worth waiting for, and I'm sure this monographs will prove to be one of them ...

Apple-wood bends easily and holds a sharp edge. It is readily available, and the sap-wood is much lighter than it's heart-wood.

It looks like a special port that opens astern the port, sideways like a door. On the Marlborough, it looks the clearest. Note that there are no upper and lower ports like on all the others. There is a hole in the door's center, and a side channel to the hole in the door so that it might be shut forward around a cable of some kind running through the bridle port. One might wish to secure the port in heavy seas while still passing ropes out to the jib, or anchor or something important outside and forward. Or it could be the external portion of a modern, Victorian Pissdale.

Here's a little something "Paris sera Toujours Paris", with English subtitles, from the amazing French singer "Zaz", I am told the most listened-to French artist in the world today. Quincy Jones called her "The New Edith Piaf". L'Enjoy!

Here's a starting point: a basic, finished, out of the box British WWII figure, "Melvin", currently on eBay. I would rework and repaint almost everything, especially his gear, getting rid of plastic belts and elastic slings, and of course making up appropriate insignia for him. Uniforms often are re-dyed and re-tailored for a better fit. His weapons are little gems, and would need little, if any alterations. I love changing everything ... https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dragon-1-6-WW2-British-Commonwealth-Troop-Melvin/293145849775?hash=item4440daafaf:g:T68AAOSwogNdI2Vf

The weapons and equipment you can buy, or could buy, as the market tightened considerably starting at the crash of 2009. But there are basic 1/6th scale weapons kits, and a small community of mom-and pop customizers. German gear is still out there, but British Commonwealth figures, sets and gear is now sadly rare. This hobby was an expensive addiction, so don't get started. The Vickers K Gun and the extra drums were scavenged from a 1/6th scale SAS desert raider jeep kit. I am converting it into a Recce airborne jeep, of the type that attacked the Arnhem bridge. For example, I just bought a 1/6th scale, Type 19 British vehicle wireless set for it from a master craftsman in Holland. Assembled and painted, it is a work of art. Here are his photos

Most of my head-sculpt paintings are minor repaints and touch-ups. Often the commercial heads are factory painted, but the skin is glossy, and, for example, blonde hair is school-bus yellow. My most elaborate repaint was the Brad Pitt character, shown here in the sixth pic, first post, as a sergeant with the French Canadian Regiment du Chaudiere. But even he wasn't a total repaint. But he came out rather well, for an amateur non-artist-type. 0 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr The main focus of my work is equipment and customizing uniform pieces. Here's Major Freddy Gough, the relatively unknown commander of the First Airborne Recce Squadron, at Arnhem, Holland, September, 1944. His sculpt was is factory painted, and untouched by me, for now, as the real fellow had grey hair. He was one of the few Recce men who made it to the Arnhem Bridge. When the German armored column initially attacked, Major Freddy pulled his Vickers machine gun off his jeeps mount, and used it to help shoot up the enemy vehicles: 0-17 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-21 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-6 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-9 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-4 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-11 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr He doesn't look a lot like Gough, but with additional work, he might get closer, but this was the closest I could find. Here's an illustration from Osprey Books' volume on the Recce Corps: 0-9 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr

I purchased most of the components and placed them together. I made the insignia, re-dyed the uniforms more to my liking, and painted all the equipment. Much of the field gear I scratch built. You may recognize celebrity head sculpts - Sean Connery, Matt Damon, Lee Marvin, Vic Morrow. I touched up the paint on a couple of these, namely the Brad Pitt sergeant. Here's an airborne medic that I recently made. All his gear is hand made and painted. 0-4 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr This guy's equipment was painted by hand, using a small brush. I like using different photo backgrounds, mainly still shots from , in this case, A Bridge Too Far, or actual battlefields: 0-13 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-12 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-11 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-6 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-5 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-8 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr Black and white looks really cool: 0-18 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr

British and Canadian, mostly. Christmas, 1965, got me hooked. Some boys never grow up. 0-2 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-1 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-8 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-2 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-3 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-4 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-6 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-2 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-8 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-14 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-5 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-3 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr 0-9 by Stephen Duffy, on Flickr

I just ordered it !!! A French 24-pounder frigate monograph, at last! A dream come true! Merci Beaucoup, Gerard!

Mention was made in the official court of enquiry of HM Brig Reindeer's (few) surviving officers, about the identity of the approaching ship prior to the battle, and Lt. Chambers recalled that he had correctly identified her as an American corvette, because of the white streak along her hull, and from the excess parlor, or whiteness of her sails.

Any update on your L'Egyptienne monograph?

Funny! This lady has talent: