Fort George and the Grand Canadian Steampunk Exposition or Canadian Combat Wheelbarrows!?

This past weekend (11-14 September 2014) I was at Fort George Ontario for the first annual Grand Canadian Steampunk Exposition.  Apart from all the steampunk goodness, a real treat for me was being able to explore the fort and even spend several nights in the barracks.

I took a great many photos and some will certainly show up here in future posts. I did find traces of a little known part of Canadian military history: The Combat Wheelbarrow!

Now wheelbarrows are so generally useful it is to be expected that your standard wheelbarrow will see use by the military such as these cargo variants:

And a better shot of the model on the right. the slats seem to suggest this was used for fodder or other bulk material:

Then there is this model with adjustable sides:

Surely the mortar in front is just part of a general display of equipment under repair in the Artificer's Shop.   But no.  In the depot section of the barracks block, the ingenuity of Canadian (Ok early British Imperial) military thinking is revealed. An example of one of the earliest self-propelled (or should that read squaddie propelled) artillery pieces in North America the Combat Wheelbarrow!:

In loaded and deployed configuration:

Based on information in the display and accompanying markings on the equipment, this was not just an interesting way to pose equipment in the museum but a historical method of moving and deploying light mortars. A great vignette for any modeller or gamer. Forward the First Upper Canadian Barrowmen!

Cyclopean delights

A while back I mentioned that RAFM had made a limited run of their 25mm Cyclops tri-wheels . I received mine a while back. Below are a few comments on the build so far.

The parts:

The vehicle body is a soft cast resin with the wheels, boiler top, smokestacks and small cannon in cast metal.  The body has a wonderful rough texture that gives a much nicer effect than flat plate would. The ventilation grid in particular had lots of crisp relief. This is the first resin cast I have worked with and I found it quite soft and easy to clean up. The boiler casting is clean and well detailed with rivets and re-enforcing bands. The smokestacks and gun were very basic and the stacks a bit rough in places. They do the job but I expect to replace them on future builds. The wheels however are works of art. Cleanly cast with no flash minimal mould lines and loaded with detail. I may try seeing if I can commission a run for other projects.

I had to heat the garage up beyond our sub-zero temperatures to undercoat with my usual grey automotive primer.  Drying took a long while and there was some bubbling on one model - entirely my fault.  For the first version, I decided to go stock, pretty much following the colour scheme on the website:

There is more dry brushing to do and more detailing possible but I am quite pleased with the results.  The next version will have a Martian dazzle scheme, tactical signs and perhaps some additional armament. The creative possibilities of this great little kit cannot be understated.

As for the rest of my Martian forces - I am not that great a figure painter so here is an arms length look:

 Yes - Lovecraft has put in an appearance stage centre. 

Just Maybe - Martians in the Snow at the CNSE

The current election in Canada is due to take place on Monday May 2 - right after the Canadian National Steampunk Exhibition. Since I work for Elections Canada, this was going to prevent me from running my Martians in the Snow game. However, my unit's work load is slowing down and I have managed to parlay some of my over time into three days at the CNSE. This week will be filled with doing all the prep work I didn't do because the game wasn't on. Ugern from Junior General has created an impressive series of War of the Worlds paper troops that I will be using for the game.



The game is afoot and pictures will follow after the event (the Countessa is taking the camera with her...).

A weekend of painting

Lots of painting going on this weekend. I have nearly completed 6 bases of Ps slingers, I have based up my chariots and will even be flocking them and I will be working on  28mm1890 colonial brits for weird Victorian later today.