What are people buying?

[World2dave]

Result!

[Paul]

Not a purchase as such, but it kind of feels like one!
After six years i've started to go through the final non essential boxes that we left in the garage (there's about 75+ of them). The last time I did 30 or 40 I filled a skip with stuff that really didn;t need to come.
This time I very aware that the rodents may well have moved into some boxes so open them expecting a small furry to leap out at me!
Having done half a dozen boxes yesterday the only wildlife I encountered was of the eight legged variety, including the biggest chap I 'd seen in years, if I could have caught him I reckon he was close to the UK size record!

Anyway in one of the boxes I found a very damp plastic box filled with around 3-400 hundred mainly 28mm figures. Mostly part of my unpainted Dark Ages stash I now have a hundred or so extra Vikings and a Norman army, i'd completely forgotten about, to get painted up. Also in a wonderful act of synchronicity I found a couple of packs of Arthurian/British cavalry just when i'd been looking at buying some to finish of a small Strathclyde Welsh force.

[goat major]

excellent find. If you;d been quicker you could have spray varnished that spider to deploy with a fantasy army

[Paul]

excellent find. If you;d been quicker you could have spray varnished that spider to deploy with a fantasy army

Too big....I don't have enough varnish!

[Spanner]

by Paul » 31 Jul 2023 07:33
Too big....I don't have enough varnish!

While one should encourage an interest in the hobby, one also believes that not all creatures should be encouraged. I submit the following evidence:

[BaronVonWreckedoften]

I take it that the only non-poisonous beasties in those photos are the four-legged ones being ridden by miniature humans?

Unless you attempt to suck the varnish and paint off them, of course.....

.....a small Strathclyde Welsh force.

Why does that sound like a WW1 Territorial unit?

(And I'd like to claim some credit for not risking the wrath of Kerry by asking "Small - is there any other sort of Welsh force?")

[DougM]

Could be worse... funnelwebs and redbacks in your cardboard boxes is no fun, and at least it isn't a brown snake.

[BaronVonWreckedoften]

Some Woodbine Miniatures Western Front British with "slouch hats" and "slouch hats pinned" for that devil-may-care look that a few "Six Bob Tourists" supposedly adopted, according to The Victor and The Hotspur. Or probably didn't as I've yet to see a photo of an Aussie within spitting distance of the front line who did NOT have a tin lid on his bonce. As with French TIrailleurs Senegalais (also seldom photographed without their "Adriens" when in contact with the enemy) insanely brave does not equal stupid.

Officer pack, NCO pack, gun crew pack, casualty pack, and finally a Lewis Gun pack (for those extra weapons that all Australian platoons seemed to acquire without needing any of the necessary paperwork.....superb blagging, good on 'em!).

[Spanner]

by BaronVonWreckedoften » 31 Jul 2023 18:23
I take it that the only non-poisonous beasties in those photos are the four-legged ones being ridden by miniature humans?

Not really, mate. The huntsman looks big and nasty but isn't really venomous. The bite hurts (big fangs) but it's the deep itch, which is too deep to scratch, which is the worst thing. That little red-bellied black would need me to force my finger into it's mouth to get bitten. They're quite shy and will try to escape before biting (like most snakes), but still not a welcome visitor for Kev- who apparently can levitate in some circumstances. This little bloke (only about 18" long- you can judge how small he was below) was unusually curious and watched me getting the horses' tucker the next night.

by DougM » 31 Jul 2023 18:24
funnelwebs and redbacks in your cardboard boxes is no fun, and at least it isn't a brown snake

Redbacks are just an ice-cube fix, but they do bloody hurt when they bite. Never found any funnel webs in a box, just the usual wolf and mouse spiders. I agree about brown snakes. I very rarely saw any on the property, but if I did they died. Those things are neither shy nor retiring.

[DougM]

We used to get a fair number of Eastern Browns living in Canberra with a pool next to a nature reserve. Bloody aggressive in the mating season, and merely aggressive the rest of the time. Friends lost two dogs to Browns. I ended up sharing my wargames shed with a massive Funnelweb I named Shelob the Lesser. As long as she stayed on the window ledge and ate flies I was happy. We did have an absolutely massive wolf spider at one stage, but it vanished. Thing was virtually the size of my hand.