COMRADE WINTERS LONDON JOURNEY - AMBASSADOR MAISKY

Comrade Colonel Professor Winters finally took the plunge and entered the Soviet Embassy at 13, Kensington Gardens. He was met in the entrance hall by none other than the Soviet Ambassador himself, Ivan Maisky:

Mr Ambassador Maisky, making clear his one allegiance.

Always a resourceful diplomat, Maisky kept this bust of Lenin to hand,
perhaps as an insurance policy in the case of political change in Moscow.

Stalin's purge of the Red Army and Navy, launched in the Summer of 1937, resulted in the liquidation of three out of five marshals of the Red Army, 13 out of 15 army commanders, eight out of nine admirals, 50 out of 57 army corps commanders, 154 out of 186 division commanders, all of the Red Army's senior commissars (16 in total) and 25 out of 28 commissars of army corps. With such a terrible record, Comrade Colonel Professor Winters knew that his chances of survival were slim indeed.

But Maisky was smiling....

Ambassador Maisky at his desk - and smiling.

He could absolutely assure Comrade Winters that Comrade Stalin had no intention of recalling him from his vital command in Herefordshire; the thought of Winters' so-called "liquidation" had never even entered Stalin's mind. To the contrary, Comrade Stalin was his greatest admirer, and looked forward to the day when Winters finally established the mighty Herefordshire Soviet.

A message between Comrades, Stalin to Winters.
Liquidation had never entered his mind, honestly.

As a token of Stalin's esteem, arrangements had been made for certain very heavy weapons to be released from the Red Army's armoury and transported to Presteigne, and Stalin would be happy to hear of Winters' future military intentions...

VBCW Historical Notes

(1). There is still considerable debate in VBCW historical circles as to the reasons why, following the Disaster at Dinmore, Stalin changed his mind about the repatriation and liquidation of Winters. It may have been simply a matter of timing, for there were already strong rumours of an imminent Government counter-offensive in Herefordshire. It may therefore have been thought inadvisable to change Communist leadership at this precise point. There may also have been an intervention from the Liverpool Free State (LFS), with whom it is known that Winters had strong contacts - Stalin would have been wary of losing access to the port of Liverpool and "control" of the aircraft carrier, Red Invergordon. The best analysis seems to be that Winters' promised Stalin increased productivity from the Presteigne Motor Works (PMW), and also provided detailed plans for a Communist Victory even in the face of battlefield defeat - the so called "Special Revolutionary Operation". 

(2). Maisky kept a diary throughout his time as Ambassador to London. Aware that the diary could be subsequently be used against him, Maisky clearly "self edited" his true thoughts during its compilation. When the transcript then fell into the hands of the KGB, it was again edited; and then again for publication. It must be for these reasons that the published Maisky Diaries contain no mention of the VBCW, nor of Comrade Colonel Professor Winters and his visit to the Soviet Embassy.

(3). Maisky was himself "recalled to Moscow" in 1943. A decade later, during the post-war Stalinist purge centred around the so-called "Doctor's Plot", he was arrested and threatened with torture, subsequently "confessing" to have been a foreign spy for both the Japanese and, following his recruitment by Winston Churchill personally, the British. Maisky was only saved from execution by the death of Stalin in March 1953. Upon being told the news, Maisky refused to be believe it, thinking it a trap: he continued to insist upon his "confession" to having been a spy. It was only when Maisky was reunited with his wife and shown film of Stalin's funeral that he felt safe enough to retract the whole invented story. For Maisky's bio see his WIKI entry HERE.

JOHN RUDDLE'S SUBMARINE

As previously noted in THIS POST, John Ruddle, the great garden wargamer and toy soldier collector, sadly passed away earlier this year at the age of 91. C & T AUCTIONS are now (Wednesday 2nd December from 10.30am) conducting an auction sale of his toy soldier collection (although it may be that it is only a part of the collection), and the Auction Catalogue is available ONLINE TO VIEW.

Here is Lot 178, "Souvenir of the Garden Fleet : Submarine with Diving Team" -

Notwithstanding previous blogposts on John Ruddle's inspirational garden fleets (see Naval blog label to the right), this is the first time that his submarine has floated to the surface - all previous published photos featured battleships, destroyers or gunboats. Undoubtedly scratchbuilt, one suspects all that detailed panel and rivetwork of the submarine was painted on, or perhaps penned on with india ink - a proper old school model ! 

Nevertheless, given that this is the only naval vessel included in the auction sale, one fears for the fate of the rest of the fleet....surely it has not been sunk ?

Note

The information about the Auction Sale originally came from Mark, Man of Tin's blog HERE. Always a blog worth keeping an eye on, it has the best information and uniform references on Scouts, lots on H.G.Wells and Floor Games, and shares (but in a different way) Hereford1938's obsession with bodging "cheep Chinese plastic". See the Blog Archive to the right for the Man of Tin's permanent reference place.

FARMERS' BIG GUN

The Marlbrook Agricultural Militia, notwithstanding having lots of infantry types (plastic, courtesy of EM-4 Miniatures), lack all forms of support equipment. Attention has therefore turned to the provision of a suitable "Big Gun" for future games, and this interesting conversion recently popped up on the VBCW Facebook page:

Farmers' "Big Gun" - Perry ACW Cannon with scratchbuilt gun shield
and Wargames Atlantic French Resistance "Partisans" Gun Crew.

A useful reminder that all sorts of plastic multi part figures, stripped of their weapons, are jolly useful for gun crews and other support types - and that a gun shield converts pretty much anything into the 1930s:

Gun shield - corrugated cardboard covered in varnish for hardness and durability.
This cardboard modelling thing seems to be gaining in VBCW popularity...

Note : unfortunately, we didn't keep the name of the modeller when nicking the above photos from the VBCW Facebook page, sorry. Anybody wishing to claim the credit please leave a comment below!

HM GOVERNMENT SPIES (LONDON)

Absolutely nobody has asked how it can be that Comrade Colonel Professor Winters, leader of the Presteigne Soviet and hard line Herefordshire Communist generalissimo, can somehow have wandered about Central London, at the height of the VBCW, without being apprehended by His Majesty's Government.

Long term readers of this blog will recall that, having followed him from Paddington Station to the CPGB Headquarters at Covent Garden, and then from Covent Garden to the Temple, we last heard of Winters trembling at the gate of the Soviet Embassy at 13, Kensington Gardens, desperate to avoid repatriation and liquidation by Stalin following Winters' defeat at the "Disaster at Dinmore". [note 1]

Embankment by Temple, 1930s. An intelligence agent keeps watch ?

One explanation might be that HMG knew exactly where Winters was at all times, simply trailing him around London to discover more information. These contemporary photographs suggest this was the case.

Temple Cloisters. This intelligence agent waits for Winters
exit from the Chambers of D.N.Pritt KC. A London smog predominates.

Notes:

(1). Commissar Moody, of the Presteigne Bureau Disinformitzya, has vigorously denied any "trembling" on the part of Comrade Colonel Professor Winters. Instead, it is said that Winters "maintained a manly Soviet bearing at all times".

(2).  For the "Disaster at Dinmore", see HERE. To track Winters' peregrinations about London, check out the "Communist" blog label to the right; for more on Spies and Intelligence Men in the VBCW, check out the "Spies" blog label to the right, or simply head to THIS POST

COBI WELLINGTON BOMBER - AND HEREFORD MODEL CENTRE

Hereford is blessed with an old fashioned model shop, helpfully situated at 4 Commercial Road, on the direct walk from the Railway Station to the Town Centre:

Dolls houses, trains, toys, kits, soldiers, paints, books....the Hereford Model Centre

The big picture windows allow for display of built models, and right at the moment one of the windows displays something rather interesting and very VBCW :

The Cobi WW2 Historical Collection Vickers Wellington Mk.2

The Cobi Wellington "as built" - and as displayed in a window of the Hereford Model Centre

Read all about the Vickers Wellington HERE, or see it in context HERE. Undoubtedly one of the most powerful bombers of the VBCW, the Kobi model measures about 2 foot x 2 foot, and contains 2 40mm aircrew, so it doesn't look ridiculously out of scale next to nicely based (heroic) 28mm figures:

Wellington and air crew out of the cockpit.

All parts are pre-coloured, and there is no need for something as traditional as glue; a lego like system is used to fit the parts together. Producing this Wellington is therefore less about modelling and more about shopping (price c. £60), but if you need a big bomber to dominate a VBCW table, and need it in a hurry, this is undoubtedly the "kit" for you.

Note: for a different scale look, check out the the Meng Lancaster HERE

THE SECRET OF OFFA STREET, HEREFORD

Offa Street is a short side road in the very centre of Hereford, leading from East Street to St. Peter's Square, the site of Hereford's War Memorial. A sharp right where Offa Street meets St. Peter's Square, along St. Owen Street, and the eager VBCW tourist quickly arrives at Hereford Town Hall. But Offa Street itself has always remained somewhat anonymous:

Offa Street in late Victorian times. St Peter's Church prominent
at the top of this anonymous side road.

The same view some 100 years later, and Offa Street is little changed.
The buildings on the near left have disappeared, replaced by a car park.
This loss has been variously attributed to  municipal vandalism,
 road widening, subsidence and neglect, or (most persuasively)
 bomb damage during the VBCW.
St. Peter's Church still dominates the view.

The top of Offa Street, 1909. St Peter's Church is behind us.
T. Lindsey Price, a purveyor of "furniture, carpets and linoleums",
occupies the commercial premises where Offa Street meets St. Peters Square.
The first floor appears to be vacant. Note column in entranceway.

The same view sixteen years later, in 1925. T. Lindsey Price has now given way
to Frank Hodges, an "Up to Date Tailor" and maker of breeches.
The first floor has been taken by the Pearl Insurance Office.
Within 13 years, by 1938, both businesses will be deeply affected by the VBCW.
(Frank Hodges order book for breeches had never been so full, while the
 Pearl Insurance Office rapidly entered insolvency in the face of
 of a huge number of damage to property claims). The column remains.

A contemporary photograph, nearly 100 years later. Frank Hodges is long gone, as is the
Pearl Insurance Office. The building has been renamed "Offa House" and smartened up,
but is externally unchanged. Sunderlands & Thompsons, local estate agents, occupy the
whole of the refurbished building. The column appears to have escaped remodelling.

But this is not our usual blogpost of "before and after the VBCW" photographs of Herefordshire. Oh no. What could be "The Secret of Offa Street", and what does it have to do with the Very British Civil War ? In order to answer these very pressing questions, we need to take another short walk, back down Offa Street itself...

The modern view down Offa Street, Sunderlands & Thompsons on the left.
Two eager VBCW researchers, one carrying a heavy bag of VBCW guide books,
 cross from right to left and head downwards. Their destination is only too obvious....

At No. 3 Offa Street lies the Victorian red brick Headquarters of the Hereford Cattle Society, formerly known as - big spoiler coming up - the Hereford Herd Book Society.

A contemporary photograph of the Hereford Cattle Society, a fine Victorian
red brick on the corner of Offa Street and East Street. The building is unchanged
from Victorian times (see photographs 1 and 2 above, on the right) and hence
from 1938.

A contemporary close up of the entrance to the Cattle Society, demonstrating in stone
the importance of the Hereford breed to the globe - or, as some say, the world economy.
 The ever present St. Peter's Church to the left.

The Hereford Herd Book Society was founded in 1878 by Mr John Hungerford Arkwright of Hampton Court (Castle). This followed the publication of the first "herd book" of Hereford cattle in 1846 by Thomas Eyton of Wellington, Shropshire. As the modern day Cattle Society have recently noted : "Since 1886, the herd book has been closed to any animal with a sire or dam not previously recorded, so for over 130 years there has been continuous breeding."

By 1938, of course, the Herd Book (in fact, by that time, quite a number of books) had some 50 years of records, not just of breeding, but of planned improvement via breeding. While the Cattle Society and Herefordshire's farmers were entirely innocent of any greater (or malign) purpose than increasing the heft and value of Hereford cattle, the presence of such a rare archive of biological information was an irresistible lure to a wide variety of less well disposed VBCW factions - principally the sinister eugenicists of the BUF "Scientific Research Section" and, for very different reasons, the Lysenkoists of the Presteigne Soviet.

On the hunt for the "Hereford Herd Book" - Storm Leader Starborgling
and members of the sinister BUF Scientific Research Section. Could they use
 the historical and biological information within the  Hereford Herd Book as a
 valuable tool in their continuing eugenic quest to create "a BUF Superman" ?

Nor was that all. By 1938, the Hereford Herd Book Society had exported the Hereford breed to many different countries, principally the United States of America and Ireland. Acquisition of original historical breeding records, represented by the "Hereford Herd Book", could therefore be considered a "top national priority" in these countries, and the rumoured despatch (with full deniability, of course) of "Snatch Squads" from Washington and Dublin to the chaos of VBCW Herefordshire is still a matter of heavily contested debate within specialist historical circles.

Eamonn O'Toole (etc.) and his Squad of "Mad Bomberz". Sometimes portrayed
as no more than a Fenian Anarchist, was the O'Toole in fact "a deniable agent" of
 De Valera, tasked with ensuring the destruction of the Hereford Herd Book
 before it fell into "the wrong hands"?  

Not our Hereford.......the entrance road to Hereford, Texas, USA. Some say that this prominent
sign is no more than the usual "Madison Avenue chicanery"; others suggest that
 "Hereford Texas" originated as a secretive US Govt. scientific research station, set up to
exploit the knowledge of the "snatched Hereford Herd Book".

One day, perhaps, the full and accurate story of the valiant defence of the original "Herd Book" by members of the Hereford Society will be told - the smuggling of the records, the checkpoints, the betrayals and gun-battles. However and for some time yet, we suspect, it will still remain "The Secret of Offa Street"....

Notes :

(1). for an interesting and detailed view of the Arkwright family and of Hampton Court, see HERE.

(2). for our "List of Hereford Country Houses", including Hampton Court, see HERE

(3). for the modern day Hereford Cattle Society, including valuable particulars of forthcoming stock auctions and semen sales, see HERE. For obvious and entirely understandable reasons, the Cattle Society's historical commentary entirely omits any mention of "the difficult years" of the VBCW.

(4). Equally unsurprising, at least to dedicated VBCW researchers, the relevant national records of the United States and the Republic of Ireland are either still under permanent security embargo, or simply listed as "missing, presumed lost".

(5). For a speculative and highly colourised American account of relevant VBCW events, published shortly after "The Pentagon Papers" in 1968 and therefore shorn of the public attention it otherwise deserved, see "The Hereford Herd Book Heist" by Runyon (Area 51 Publishers, Nevada). It is now difficult to get hold of a copy, perhaps on the basis that the US Govt. are alleged to have instituted a "mass purchase initiative", but the occasional PDF can still be found on the dark web. 

VBCW BOMBERS

 A lovely late 1930s illustration of the "Bombers of the VBCW":

A bewildering array of different types (15 in total) - and many of them obsolescent or nearing obsolescence by the late 1930s, viz. the Hawker Hart and Hawker Hind biplane light bombers, designed by Sidney Camm in the 1920s, the Handley Page Heyford heavy bomber, a 1927 design being phased out of front line service by 1937, and (most notoriously) the Vickers Vildebeest torpedo bomber, a 1925 design simply blown away by Japanese Zeros (when not destroyed on the ground by their accompanying bombers) at Singapore in 1941. The similar fate of the Fairey Battle at the hands of the Luftwaffe in 1940 has already briefly been referred to....

Still, back in 1938 and the Hereford VBCW, possession of even one functioning bomber, obsolescent or not, might prove of decisive advantage....

MODELLING CHALLENGE 2023 - THE RESULTS !

The Modelling Challenge 2023 ("Technicals") proved to be the most competitive modelling challenge in Hereford1938 history, with fully thirteen entries in total ! Unlucky for some? The competitors, in no particular, but nevertheless blog, order:

(1). No less than FIVE heavily armed entries from Mr Frank Richardson of the Wye Valley Reclamation Depot (Alan);

(2). A diminutive "Combat Car" in service with the Irish Lilliputian Leprechaun Legion (LAF Moriarty);

(3). A "Little Hereford Farmers' Co-Operative Big Gun Technical" (Umpire Clive);

(4). TWO Multi Machine Gun Technicals in service with the Independent Labour Party (prop. Mr Benn, aka Jon);

(5). a "King's Own Colonials 47mm Gun Recon Technical" (Umpire Roo);

(6). TWO MG Technicals of Doc Daktari's Shangani Patrol (Umpire Clive again); and

(7). "The Mosley Mobile" (LAF Bearwoodman).

The International Judging Panel, for reasons explained at the end of this previous post, had already decided to create a new category of "Disabled Technicals", in order to cope with the "entirely off-piste" (according to the French, Italian and Swiss judges) entries from LAF Bearwoodman and - here there was much controversy, not so much "off-piste" as "piste-off" - LAF Moriarty and the Irish Lilliputian Leprechaun Legion.

Against all the physical evidence, LAF Moriarty insisted that his Irish Combat Car "was 1/72 scale, which as we all know isn't 20mm at all, but the same as 25mm, and that's perfectly acceptable with 28mm, begorrah, all this scale growth in recent years...."

Declining to become involved in yet another interminable discussion on the subject of scales, heights, the history and interaction between wargaming and model railway gauges, whether "scale height" should be measured to the line of the eyes or the top of the head, etc. etc., the International Judging Panel simply ruled LAF Moriarty's entry as "too damned small" and assigned him to the "Disabled Technicals" category. Still protesting loudly, it was only when Mr Frank Richardson of the Wye Valley Reclamation Company lit up his blowtorch in a meaningful manner that LAF Moriarty allowed himself to be led away by the Italian judge........

Tall and short, big and small, 1/72 and 28mm. The Italian Judge provides
some practical rules guidance - and consolation - to the
newly "disabled" LAF Moriarty.

Having dealt with the much discussed "Moriarty controversy", the Judging Panel made another swift executive decision. Given the number and quality of the entries to the Modelling Challenge 2023, there was only one way to find out who should win:

The distinguished Chairman of the International Judging Panel announces their "executive decision".

The rules : one lap around Hereford Race Course (facilities kindly donated for the day by HMG and Major-General Everard), first past the post, "modest firing" allowed (subject to judicial penalty) and "quality control by red flag". The competitors lined up, with the "Disabled Technicals" placed in a separate lane, the starter fired his revolver, and THEY'RE OFF !!

OR NOT !

To horrified shrieks and groans from the watching stands, none of the Wye Valley Reclamation Company's five Technicals crossed the starting line, nor even started up at all ! What was the matter ?

But one example of the Wye Valley Reclamation Company's Technicals - "the Stinger"

It subsequently appeared that, in an impossible to ignore breach of the Challenge rules, none of the Wye Valley Technicals had been supplied with a crew - or drivers. This posed obvious difficulties in racing anywhere, let alone a competitive lap around Hereford Racecourse. 

Mr Frank Richardson therefore "retired hurt" from the Challenge, little consoled by the Judges' award of both the Stakhanov Award for Productivity (in Gold) and (given the amount of heavy weaponry fixed to the Technicals), a one half share in the Muammar Gadaffi Megalomanic Prize Fund. He was last seen screaming over the recumbent body of the Chief Designer of the Wye Valley Reclamation Company, while removing the said designer's molar teeth with large pliers - but without anesthetic. At least, we think it was Mr Richardson's screams.... 

And the King's Colonials leapt forward into the lead, chased around the first corner by Doc Daktari's Shangani Patrol, the Little Hereford Farmers, and two badly smoking Independent Labour Party Technicals:

The unfeasible ILP Technicals immediately before the Race.

Heavily overladen with multiple machine guns of all sorts (Soviet Quadruple AA MGs to the rear, twin Vickers K guns for the front seat passenger, with but a single measly Lewis Gun for the deprived driver), the ILP Technicals were simply unable to keep up with their lighter competitors, and the very many heavy boxes of ammunition required for this insane amount of ILP armament soon resulted in gear and engine trouble of a terminal sort.

Pulling up in clouds of steam and smoke, Degsy Hatton of the ILP leapt from the cab of his PMW 1.5 tonner to receive his richly deserved half share in the Muammar Gadaffi Megalomaniac Prize Fund and the "Thanks of the Soviet Military Attache" for so effectively showcasing his country's armaments industry.

Which left but three in the race going down the back straight, and - what's this ? It can't be ?! A Judges' "red flag" for the Shangani Patrol !

Umpire Clive's Shangani Patrol

Yes, as even Umpire Clive subsequently admitted, the Shangani Patrol had been "a bit of a rush job just before the Big Day" and "had too much Khaki Serge and not enough Khaki Drill". There was no VAR appeal (or rather, "cinematic projector appeal") against the Judges' "Red Flag for Quality", with Doc Daktari left to pick up "The Most Innovative Camouflage Scheme" Papyrus Scroll and a stern warning from the Judges to "get himself touched up smartened up for next time".

Which left the Hereford Farmers' Co-Operative neck in neck with the King's Colonials as the race rounded the last corner. The crowds in the stands rose to their feet, breathless and cheering. Who would win the Modelling Challenge 2023 ?

Umpire Clive's Hereford Farmers' Technical

Terrain Tsar Roo's King's Colonials Technical

It had been thought that their "snazzy 1930s three colour camouflage scheme" might give the Farmers' some speed advantage, but this was obviously countered by the huge amount of cut foliage with which the Farmers had sought to disguise the outlines of their Technical, and the sheer weight of their "Really Big Gun". The more nimble King's Colonials therefore drew ahead, just as the Farmers made their ultimate tactical mistake:

"FIRE !"

Some subsequently blamed the Farmer's "home made ammunition". Others argued that "farmers can't be expected to understand physics, after all". What was certain was that, in a vain attempt to blow up the King's Colonials Technical (the shot missed, and badly), the Farmers had put themselves into a catastrophic Big Gun recoil, resulting in their explosive reverse up the straight, through the guard rails, past the tea stand, and then (unhappily, due to the incline of the ground) into a giant airborne backward  leap that appeared to end, so far as anyone in the stands could see, somewhere around Aymestry. That seemed to be the general area from where the smoke of impact was rising, anyway.

The Farmers had, quite literally, triggered themselves, leaving the Kings Colonials to pass the finishing line and perform a victory lap of honour. Winners of the Modelling Challenge 2023 !

To the cheers of the crowd, the King's Colonials Technical drives up
 to the Winner's Enclosure at Hereford Racecourse.

Terrain Tsar Roo, having received only "Fell at the First" Certificates in recent Modelling Challenges, now raised, in triumph and acknowledgment of the crowds, his "From Zero to Hero Trophy" (a gilt edged exclamation mark on an ivory stand) alongside the much coveted "Winner's Cup", and was soon led away for an exclusive interview with the sports correspondent of the "Hereford Times"....

BUT WAIT....

What happened in the quite separate "Disabled Technicals" race?

We should like to draw a discreet veil over such proceedings, or perhaps more appropriately, a large number of shrouds.

Placing the largest ever known Modelling Challenge entry (the 1/43 scale Mosley Mobile) in a lane next to the smallest ever known Modelling Challenge entry (the 1/72 scale Irish Combat Car) was no fair match-up, particularly when many observers argued that the Combat Car was actually 1/76, or possibly 1/87, with a few "outliers" arguing for 1/100....

And it was too much to expect a merciful approach from Oswald Mosley.

The diminutive (and doomed) Irish Combat Car

The gigantic (and unmerciful) "Mosley Mobile"

And so it was that, right at the starting line, the Mosley Mobile performed a dastardly manoeuvre, simply turning and driving straight over the Combat Car with a horrible metal-on-metal KERRUNCH ! This same manoeuvre (known colloquially as "The Mosley Rightward Swerve") is still popular with certain VBCW re-enactors, particularly in the United States:

It was therefore a somewhat dazed and battered LAF Moriarty that received his special prize - the "Jonathan Swift Special Engraving for the Representative Use of Lilliputians in Modern Warfare" (together with solicitous enquiries as to his health):

The Jonathan Swift Special Engraving.

leaving Oswald Mosley (and LAF Bearwoodman) to "savour their triumph" in the "Disabled Technical Section" and parade their "Most Brutal Dictator" award (deepest black withal, with rare and specially pleasing "Ungentlemanly Conduct" ribbons) around the the Winner's Enclosure of Hereford Race Course....

And so on to the Modelling Challenge 2024 !

The people of Hereford congratulate all the participants in the Modelling Challenge 2023.
What will happen next year ?

FOOTNOTE OF UTMOST IRONY

It was suggested in THIS POST that LAF Bearwoodman had entered a state of "suspended animation" after his production of the 40K Shoddy Tank(s) back in 2019. We now recognise that this is NOT TRUE, and that contrary to such ill-informed reports, LAF Bearwoodman was in fact still beavering away on "Shoddy Tank" conversions as recently as March 2022, producing Hereford1938 VBCW's VERY FIRST CULTIST VEHICLE for use in the Spring Big Game of that year.

And here's the rub. The subsequent owner of the Cultist Vehicle ? LAF Moriarty. The return gesture for LAF Bearwoodman's generosity ? A 28mm Oswald Mosley figure, obtained by LAF Moriarty as one of the 10th Anniversary Free Figures, as then painted up by LAF Bearwoodman for use with his "Mosley Mobile".

In short and for those who appreciate the concept of karma, for the purposes of the Modelling Challenge 2023, LAF Moriarty found himself being driven over by the very same Oswald Mosley figure that he had previously given away.....

It's a small world, Hereford 1938. In more ways than one......

TECHNICALS INTERLUDE (2) - THE MOSLEY MOBILE and BEARWOODMAN !

The final entrant to the Modelling Challenge 2023 (Technicals) reveals a twisted tale of travel in time and space, child sweated labour, 1930s British social attitudes, odd bits of cardboard and the welcome return of LAF Bearwoodman!

Regular readers of this blog (and who is not?) will recall LAF Bearwoodman's intergalactic intervention in the Modelling Challenge 2019, when he translated the concept of the (haphazardly) armoured tank products of the Shezuan Ordnance Depot and Delivery Yards ("Shoddy") into the 40K universe (complete with wonderful "White Dwarf" parodies), produced the "Super Shoddy" tank with little more than cardboard, a flourish and an old metal washer, and was the first to introduce - to an astonished universe - the now famous "GW - Shezuan Exchange Index", noting that:

"...buyers can acquire 52.42 Shoddy 40K tanks for the cost of one Leman Russ (at current UK prices) making it attractive to Adeptus Mechanicus bean-counters and frugal xenos invaders alike....."

And then.............silence. Aeons passed. Empires rose and fell. Somewhere beyond the stars, out past the Gates of Antares, LAF Bearwoodman curled up his multitude of converting limbs (biological and bionic) and entered a state of suspended animation, knowing that only one thing could ever re-awaken him...

The irresistible lure of cheap Chinese 1960s plastic !

Not having taken part in the Spring Big Game 2023, and therefore not having received a FREE GIFT of a suitably sized vintage plastic jeep, the Modelling Challenge 2023 presented a particular problem for LAF Bearwoodman : he lacked the necessary "donor vehicle":

Cheap plastic - jeeps here, jeeps there...and nary a one for LAF Bearwoodman !
The Spring Big Game 2023 donor vehicles - the smell of vintage plastic
had clearly wafted from Earth to LAF Bearwoodman's intergalactic lair..

Not one to be put off by such an insignificant initial hurdle to ultimate modelling success, we shall let LAF Bearwoodman himself take up the tale:

"...Fortunately, I am blessed with a teenage daughter who (as a result of being cursed with a miserly father) has become adept at scouting charity shops for bargains. She has found that her meagre pocket money allowance goes further if the clothes she buys are 'pre-loved' and I thought I might put this skill to good use. I asked her to keep a look out for a second hand cheap plastic model jeep while she trawled and promised to re-imburse her if she found one and brought it back to me.

Weeks went by, and every time she returned from an expedition I would ask her if she had secured a cheap plastic jeep. Inevitably the answer was 'no' and it became a sort of running joke. She started pre-empting my question with a roll of her eyes and a 'Hi Dad, no I didn't buy you a plastic toy jeep thing, but look at these hardly worn Converse High Tops/distressed denim shorts/etc...

That is, until one day she returned with a triumphant look in her eye: 'I got one Dad ! You owe me £1.50'. And she presented me with this: "

A 1/43 diecast 1980s Land Rover - wrong scale, wrong material, very wrong decade.....and
no flatbed on which to mount a heavy weapon, thereby producing a "Technical".
 As the curmudgeons say in Hereford1938 - "the result of sending a woman to do a man's job".

However, constrained by paternal duty, and not one to be put off by such a multiple of hurdles to ultimate modelling success, LAF Bearwoodman consoled himself with the fact that his daughter's find was "at least green, and that was a start...." and set to work with an iron will and pile of cardboard:

Back to the 1930s ! New cardboard wings...

New radiator shape, VBCW protection for the windscreen, 1930s running boards and
further work on the wings ...a strangely familiar 28mm VBCW figure
 looks in on LAF Bearwoodman's workshop..

Rivets, turrets, machine guns, milliput and cardboard lights...

"The Leader" inspects the latest work.

Conversion finished...milliput loudspeakers, cardboard bonnet, door reinforcements, more rivets..

And painted ! Not quite a Technical, but a heavily armed converted 
civilian vehicle nonetheless, fit for none other than...

"The Leader" himself, Oswald Mosley !

beautifully painted 28mm example by LAF Bearwoodman.
For uniform references, see HERE

"The Leader" in front of his "Mosley Mobile".
A clear breakthrough in "Personal Messaging"....

...with multiple machine guns if the populace don't appreciate the message...

A side view. You will love my message, and spontaneously so...or else !

Microphone atop the "Mosley Mobile".

An ideal position for a political rant..."the Leader" in full flow.
Wonderful modelling !

So what did the international judging panel of the Modelling Challenge 2023 make of LAF Bearwoodman's entry of the "Mosley Mobile" ?? It has to be confessed that the "Mosley Mobile" breaks pretty much every rule of the Challenge, as solemnly laid down HERE, save for the most fundamental: LAF Bearwoodman's back story made all of the judges quietly giggle. And there was one more factor - another Modelling Challenge 2023 entry that, due to its non regulation beginnings and diminutive size, could not enter the main Challenge concourse.

Hence, in their wisdom, the judges created an entirely new category for the Challenge - the "Disabled Technical" lane. While attitudes to disability were very different back in 1938, the BUF Leader and his Lorried Loudspeaker Machine were back in the hunt for modelling prizes.....could he yet triumph ?

Attitudes to disability were very different in the 1930s.
Read on to the next thrilling blog instalment to discover
the fate of LAF Bearwoodman !