Victorian SF Figures Near Completion.

 Here is my Victorian SF impulse project.

They are not all Victorian SF and even the early gas masks existed. The hare is a bit on the big side though - maybe it consumed The Food Of The Gods. 

This soldier is intended as an engineer. I'll be making some more of these.

The flag bearer still needs his flag to be finished. (It is made from a soft drink can). The googles were imprinted on putty with the end of a biro tube.

                         

   Journalist in tweed for the London Times. The paper pad is made from aluminium.

                      The bag strap is made from Super Glue tube and the  bag from putty..

   
The putty scarf was added to strengthen the join between metal head and plastic body.

The Red Weed is the ultimate clue for the figures. I was inspired after reading the October/November edition of Toy Soldier Collector. The weed  is made from some odd bits of plastic fern. The weed was supposed to take over from the Earth plants but I added some green to the base.

The Last Stand Of the Essex Regiment' refers to an incident in War of the Worlds. A set of metal approximately 70 mm figures are previewed. They are by London Gothic Collectables. Those figures feature Victorian infantry with green facings (not worn by the Essex Regiment - I altered these to purple which could also, according to year, be white). Those figures also have tropical pith helmets but one would expect dark blue home service helmets in Britain. The officer has a magazine pistol and fringed shoulder straps. The musician has a trombone! The weapons are not contemporary but very steam punk.

Those figures look fantastic but I am not going to buy 70 mm metal painted figures for wargames; they are for display. But they did inspire me to make my own, time consuming though it was to get the copper wire into a fitting shape. (I even drilled small holes onto the metal heads to take the wire.

Of my own figures the journalist is a straight copy of the 70 mm figure and its paint scheme but he is made from a copy of the Airfix cowboy with coat and Winchester. He has new arms, one a spare metal one and the left hand from another copy of an Airfix cowboy. The pen he is holding is oversized because the original hand held either a swagger stick or a drumstick!

War of the Worlds was an orange and white Penguin edition I found on the ground when I was about eleven and it has been one of my favourite SF books. Although I liked the film versions I wish for one set in the actual Victorian or Edwardian era would be nice. I have assumed a year 1900 for the invasion so I could still include red coats. (The change to khaki for home service, as well as colonial, officially occurred in 1902). However, a reading of information on the novel actually sets the invasion around 1907. In the latter case one could still expect a range of uniforms being used as supplies and communication are cut off and yeoman units, especially fall back on old uniforms. 

As a wargame scenario it gives opportunity for use of late 19th century red coats or WW1 figures in soft caps. Of course one can be 'unhistorical' and set the invasion earlier or later than Wells intended. To give the humans a chance they would need concealment and surprise to get some shots in with the big guns. Or, if you set it a bit later, they can have more modern weapons like tanks and planes. There is a set of rules made for this scenario. You can also go full steam punk with steam tanks and other inventions of varying reliability.

I am racing ahead because I have not made any tripods yet. All I have is a Martian from Eureka Miniatures and an unassembled resin tripod (from the same company). Figures will be given a satin varnis. I'll be making more figures on this theme.