The 24th Run Fowl of Hazards Of Outdoor Wargaming.
Tonight, I began putting back on their shelves the troops from the last outdoor wargame. But then I noticed a dark brown pile of something on the base of one of my A Call to Arms 24th foot (or the 24th Redian Foot and Mouth). It had also edged on to his mate's base.
It was bird excrement. Either one of my chickens had left her calling card or a flying bird had bombed the unfortunate troops. I, long ago, told my cat, Chloe, to prune down those miscreant, feathered trespassers, but she just continually lolls around munching on processed kangaroo and beef, and occasionally catching the odd mouse. Meanwhile the feathered terrors of the sky defecate on my washing, eat figs and nectarines from my trees AND now, bomb my troops with that most heinous substance. I keep telling the Greenies to do something about trespassing birds, but they give me an uncomprehending, and sometimes an angry look. 'We need more cats roaming around, I tell them, to protect my washing, my fruit and my toy soldiers!' and then they really do look, in my general direction, quite threatening.
I showed my daughter the tragically marred soldiers and she announced that if they were hers. she would bin them! Whay a horrible thought! Well, I said, 'You did not spend hours painting them and besides I never leave troops behind' (even if they are victims of rogue feathered behinds.
Anyhow, on further inspection, I noticed that the private who had got the most attention had a black drip running down one side of his face and arm. It was also well crusted, yet still odiferous. So, I carefully ran the figures under the tap and got to work with a stiff paintbrush. The substance gradually disappeared and, oh joy, the paint did not remove itself from the soldiers but the bird crap did. It goes to show that the coating of PVA, followed by artist spray fixative, Crystal Coat had done their jobs. Just the same, if I had fully submerged the figures the PVA might have disintegrated into a white goop.
I also think the card bases survived the water. I am going to coat the affected areas with a coat of Modge Podge just to make sure they are still sealed, as well as sanitizing them.
Hi Q. Here in the UK, everything left outside overnight, regardless of the season, must be resistant to being drenched in what is colloquially called morning dew. Black mould and fungi will cover everything after two days, including people and pets foolish enough to go camping. But don't worry, you only have to lay on the bare ground for more than two hours on a Summer's day and all body heat will be transferred to the earth, leading to the lose of feeling, and occasionally life....... why do you think Australia is full of Anglo-Celts, lol. Michael G. Butterfield.
ReplyDeleteGenerally, I might leave some terrain out and much of it is natural rocks and sand roads, anyway. I don't leave figures out unless they get overlooked and some I found months later, sometimes with paint intact and sometimes not. The biological horror left on my two figures must have happened during the course of the four or five hours they were out in the daytime.
DeleteYes, as far as climate goes. I would not swap here for up there in Europe. However, I still find it too cool as I am in the Southern part of Australia (the other side, warm enough in Summer but cools down by the end of Autumn. My house is naturally insulated from heat as it is brick and surrounded by large trees. I like the heat of Summer as I am a daily swimmer and camp by rivers and creeks.