learning to be sinister WARNING!! Graphic content!

I think the warning is overstated, but you can never tell what will upset people.  It's my hand, and the photos don't upset me, so there!

It's been a challenging few weeks for me.  On Tuesday, 26 May, I had a bit of an accident while giving Erik his bath.  I had the water running, at a nice lukewarm temperature, when Erik decided to pull on the faucet handle to turn the water up to scorching hot.  Acting before thinking, I leaned over to turn the water off before Erik did himself any harm.  However, I ended up resting my weight on the soap dish, which collapsed under my weight.  

The soapdish turned out to be ceramic, so when it broke, it basically turned into a very sharp blade,  sliced through my fingers and only stopped when it hit bone.  It cut a tendon on my pinkie and nerves on both pinkie and ring finger.

I immediately shouted "bugger!" loud enough to get Ellis' attention (and she confirms that was the word which used and not anything stronger) then I wrapped my hand in a towel and applied pressure. There was minimal blood splatter, just a few drops, not enough to upset the boys.  I got Ellis to pull Erik from the bath and then call me a cab. I left Ellis in charge and went to Lion's Gate Emergency.

Turns out that if you show up to emergency bleeding, they send you straight in!  Either that or it was a slow evening for them.  Of course, once I got through the doors, I had to wait while the nurses got through a shift change.  The doctor on duty saw me in the hallway then I was moved to a room for treatment, which turned out to be having my hand cleaned and frozen, followed by an uncomfortable number of stitches on two fingers.

And they sent me home.  I had cut my fingers at 7:15, and was home around 10:00.  The morning after, I called the surgeon's office, and my appointment was set for the following Monday morning.

I made it through the following week glorying in my stitches and with my floppy pinkie and two numb fingers.  The first three fingers were still functional, however, so I was still able to function with my right hand, including writing and driving.  And then on Monday, the surgeon examined me and let me know about the damage:  of two tendons in the pinkie, one had been severed so that I cannot bend the lower joint of the finger, and of two nerves in each finger, one had been cut in each of the ring finger and the pinkie.  These could all be reattached with surgery, and he booked me in for surgery with Dr Saunders the next day.  I think I surprised him when I asked what would happen if I skipped the operation but he convinced me that a couple months of recovery time would be worth it in order to regain full use of my fingers.

So on Tuesday afternoon I reported to Lion's Gate Hospital for day surgery.  Ellis and the boys came to the hospital with me and saw me safely checked in.  (Arthur had a tumble out of the stroller just as we arrived at the hospital and got a nasty bump on his noggin - which made for a bit of a distraction!)  We booked our babysitter for the afternoon, but she was only available until 6:00, so had arranged with family friend Annemarie to pick me up after the operation if it went later than that.  

This was my first time under a general anaesthetic.  The operation was delayed in starting, and then took a while to complete.  I regained consciousness around 9:00 (I think).  I was pretty woozy and took a while to regain my senses.  In the end I think they just kicked me out so that they wouldn't have to transfer me to an in-patient ward!  But I was definitely happy to sleep in my own bed.

 

This is how my hand looked after the operation.

A week later, I had my first session with the physiotherapist.  For now, no movement with the hand, and that's the way it will stay until early July.  They want to give the tendon and nerves time to regenerate a bit before working them.  That means the hand is out of commission as any gripping with the index or middle fingers will affect the other two.

Here's my first view of my hand after it was unwrapped:

And here's the contraption I get to wear for the next several weeks;

Arthur is very interested in it, so I need to keep him from grabbing it.

I am now learning to do almost everything with my left hand.  This has slowed my productivity down considerably.  I can type, slowly and with more than the usual number of errors.  Handwriting is atrocious but unavoidable in some cases (like signing medical consent forms!).  Doc says I can drive but Ellis and mum are vetoing that for the present, so I'm rediscovering public transit.  This means more time for reading, and I'm almost finished 'And Quiet Flows the Don'!  Recommendations for my reading list accepted in the comments below.

All for now, best wishes for all.

Will

Trees! (or now for something a bit different)

I took a break from painting miniatures this past week to make some terrain - not for wargaming, but for my sons' wooden railway.  We recently picked up two sets of the wooden railway from IKEA, and it's been a great hit with both kids.  I like particularly most wooden railways are mutually compatible, including IKEA, Thomas the Tank Engine, BRIO and Melissa and Doug.  This means that I can load up on track from IKEA or M&D, and save up for specialized items like bridges or buildings from BRIO or Thomas.  

However, it is very difficult to find terrain other than buildings for any wooden railway.  I searched through many different catalogues, and could only find a handful of trees available, and only as part of a much larger set (I think one set was over $100, and included two trees along with a full set of tracks, trains, bridges and whatnot).  So I eventually figured out that if I wanted trees, I'd have to build them myself.

So I stopped by Michaels and picked up some cones (wooden doll bodies) and balls (dolls heads) plus a length of dowel and some wooden wheels.

I then got to work cutting the dowel to the necessary length, and glued it in place.  The dowel I selected was a perfect fit for the cones and balls, but the holes in the wheels were just a little too big, so I needed to pack them with a bit of modelling putty to get a good fit.

Once the glue dried and the putty set, I slapped on some paint (gloss green for the upper part and a flat brown for the trunk and base).

And here are the trees along with the IKEA train and tracks.  

Nice and quick little terrain project.  Parts cost me around $25, and I still have lots of paint left over (and I could probably find a cheaper source for parts than Michaels, to boot).

Gunga Din and the Sergeants Three

Carrying on with my Pulp Figures booty from Trumpeter Salute, here are Gunga Din and the Sergeants Three.  I choose this set (rather than the 1930s one) as I can drop the three sergeants into my British army for the Second Anglo-Afghan War.  The Bob Murch figures are joined by a British Officer of the Great War era from Copplestone Castings.

Photos aren't great, and the painting is mediocre.  I guess they look ok at arm's length!  

Mad guru and friends

Continuing with the latest batch of Pulp Figures I mentioned in my last post, here is the Mad Guru plus some of his nearest and dearest friends.  They've been joined by an Old Glory Pathan Warrior, one of 30-odd that have been sitting in the lead pile for the past several years.

The Scarlet Patrol

The move is done, and we are, for the most part, settled into our new home in North Vancouver.  I can now find a moment here and there to swing a paintbrush again!  Whoo-hoo!

Last week, I even managed a brief visit to Trumpeter Salute in Burnaby.  Erik and I were there for about an hour - no gaming, but I saw a couple of familiar faces from Victoria (hi, Brian and Bruce!), and got to meet the famous Bob Murch.

I also, of course, bought new toys.

First up is a settler's cabin from 4Ground.  This is my first piece of laser cut MDF terrain, but it won't be my last.  The kit went together like a charm, no painting needed, just a bit of white glue and the building is table ready!

Amongst the several packs of Murchly Pulp goodness I picked up 'The Scarlet Patrol'.  I'd only intended to get 4 packs, then Bob mentioned the 6 for 5 deal, and then there was the breadfruit goddess, and then, well, you know...

Anyway, back to the Scarlet Riders.  I decided that I didn't want to have bolt-action rifles in my Wild West games, so I only painted the chap with the revolver and the one with the Winchester as mounties.  The others, for fun, I've done as Canadian cavalry, representing Strathcona's Horse in South Africa, the 19th Alberta Dragoons ca. 1912 and Canadian cavalry in the CEF prior to heading to the trenches in 1915.  For this period, the main distinguishing feature of the Canadian cavalry was the Stetson hat that we now associate with the RCMP.  These guys aren't quite right for the role I've assigned - none of them have bandoliers, for example - but are close enough for my purposes.

Hopefully I'll be able to update this blog on a slightly more frequent basis now, but you can never tell when you've got two toddlers as a permanent distraction!

Cheers

Will

1870 or 1885?

The Russian Army is not complete - it probably never will be.  However, it is about as big as it is likely to get.  I can still look at it and think, "I need another unit of dragoons, and some more cossacks, and it would be nice to add a second regiment of hussars, and more opolchenie."  However, for now enough is enough.

I'd like my next project to be for a campaign in 19th century western Canada.  I've narrowed the options down to three ideas.  Two are based in my alternative history 1870 (see here:  http://willstoysoldiers.blogspot.ca/2014/02/campaign-idea-alternate-north-america.html ) while the third would be based on actual history.  The campaigns would be as follows:

Pig War gone hot.  The actual Pig War was a twelve year standoff between the Royal Navy and the US Army on San Juan Island, and was notable in that the only casualty was the pig that actually started the whole affair.  In my version, there would be some event that would move the participants to an actual armed conflict.  Figures:  Royal Marines and the Victoria Pioneer Rifles would be represented by Perry BIF, and I'm certain I could find Royal Navy landing parties and gunners somewhere.  ACW Union troops would represent the US Army.  

The next idea is even more fantastical:  the 1870 Wolseley Expedition to Manitoba would find not a deserted Fort Garry, but armed resistance from the Metis National Council, supported by friends such as the Fenian Brotherhood (like this bloke http://willstoysoldiers.blogspot.ca/2014/11/fenian.html ) and les zouaves pontificaux ( like this one:  

Wolseley's troops would again be Perry BIF.  The Fenians would be converted from Perry ACW Confederates and the Pontifical Zouaves from ACW Zouaves.  I'm not certain where I'd go for the Métis.  Maybe Foundry's Mountain Men (http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/our-ranges/old-west/old-west-men-wilderness-collection-bcow008/) and Artizan's Texians http://www.artizandesigns.com/images/img1054.jpg

My last idea is to go with a straight, historical 1885 Northwest Rebellion (or Resistance, if you prefer).  This one has several great battles, which were small enough that they could almost be gamed with every original participant on the table!  Battles such as Cut Knife and Fish Creek would be interesting to try on the table, especially with something like the Too Fat Lardies rules which allow for lots of fog of war.  Reading accounts, the biggest challenge for the government troops was the lack of intelligence that they had about their opponents, which allowed relatively small numbers of Cree and/or Metis to embarrass the army troops.

I really don't know what models I'd use for this conflict, though.  Rafm has a dedicated line, but the models are older and much smaller than anything else I have right now.  I'd rather collect newer models.  Zulu War models would appear to be ok, but I'd be frustrated that they'd be equipped with Martini Henrys instead of Snider Enfields.  No one else would even notice, but it would still bug me.  Maybe Castaway Arts Ashanti War British?  Hmm.  Also not certain about suitable Métis or Cree.  The figures I recommended for 1870 would not be suitable as by 1885 most Métis would have had repeating rifles such as Winchesters, not the muskets still in use in 1870.  I've seen others recommend Boers, which could serve to a certain extent (in this case watch for those bolt action rifles!), and maybe by trawling various wild west lines I could come up with suitable numbers of Métis.  As for the Cree, I could look at wild west plains indians, but I'd prefer warriors with more clothing - most of the wild west injuns seem to favour loincloths (and nought else), but the photos and drawings I've seen show most of the warriors better protected against the elements, with shirts or coats.

I've only really considered 28mm figs.  I suppose 15mm could work.

For me this is really an exercise in thinking out loud.  I can see that for the next 5 years or so I'll only have a couple of hours for painting here and there, and nearly none for gaming.  This project (should it get that far) will take me years to complete!  Please let me know if you have any suggestions or recommendations.

Thanks

Will

Fenian

As I mentioned in my last post, I have started painting Royal Marine Light Infantry to participate in the Pig War.  Naturally, they'll need some opponents.  Logically, these opponents should represent the United States Army from the period of 1860-1870.  So, following this logic, I've completed the first member of the opposing force.

This figure represents a member of the IRA, the Irish Republican Army, as the armed wing of the Fenian Brotherhood was known in the 1860s.  These Fenians are known for their invasions of the Province of Canada (now called Ontario and Quebec).  This model represents my best effort at the IRA uniform, as illustrated here by René Chartrand:

Although I believe the coat is supposed to be green, not blue, based on this surviving example:

So here's my attempt at a Fenian raider:

The model is from Perry Miniatures' Confederate Infantry boxed set.  I'm not about to model that truncated shako shown in the illustration above, so he's wearing a standard ACW cap (kepi or forage cap or whatever the blamed thing is called).  

I'm aware that only a small number of the Fenians would have had this uniform or anything like it, and most would have been in civilian clothing.  When I paint this fellow's comrades, more than half will have some form of civvie dress, but I wanted to start with one at least showing the green!