Wednesday 18 September 2019

Fake News - The Mystery of the Peculiar Rash.


We have a report from our man in the field that the devious Monty Bartholomew ‘Slackjaw’ Smythe has broken cover to attend the Hospital of Pestilence and the Unexplained, cunningly disguised as a dear friend to Lucky Larry, who was admitted yesterday for a strange skin complaint that was initially described as ‘interesting’, but is now understood to be super glue related.


Nurse Morphine Millicent, acting as spokesperson for the hospital, said that ham fisted modeller Larry, would not be in any discomfort while on her watch and was pleased to report that several items of a 1/72nd Tiger tank model kit had been successfully removed from the patients body and that both Lucky Larry and his model could be expected to make a full recovery.


However, in a turn of events, Doctor Danny Dry Brush, an authority on the gentle art of highlighting, has had to put out a further statement confirming that the hospital is fully investigating the claim that ‘Slackjaw’ Smythe was seen leaving the building while smirking and carrying plastic items that were suspiciously similar to the yellow Italeri hard plastic kit parts liberated from Larry’s person.


In a recent development, Slackjaw’s great friend and confidant, Tommy Twoface, for the princely sum of £5 and a pickled onion, has disclosed that ‘Slackjaw’ Smythe has this weekend been gleefully working on a 1/72nd Tiger I fast build model from Italeri, that he had only very recently acquired from a ‘friend’!


While it has always been difficult to prove Slackjaw’s involvement with anything bigger than the 12mm scale, we feel we are getting closer to the truth.

Only moments ago, Heartbreak Harry, who has been temporarily distracted by the charms of Madame Divine, contacted this office, having recovered a business card from a diorama of a Tiger model and a tatty factory, suggesting shenanigans that clearly point the finger of suspicion at the illusive ‘Slackjaw’ Smythe.
A business card of fake specialism found
next to the model!


Is the net finally closing?
An Italeri 1/72 Tiger 224 in a diorama setting where the business card was found. Has Slackjaw
become over confident or is this a case of fakery by the Society of Misdirection.

Further evidence of Tiger 224 on the prowl at a farm - somewhere, has Professor Rivet casting some doubt on the whether in fact Slackjaw Smythe did have a hand in any of this at all!
Has someone has been a bit heavy handed
with the rust effect on the Exhaust Shroud?
This actually looks like the cack-handed work of Lucky Larry himself, just what’s going on?
Can anyone be trusted.

Any comment in the Gazette's letters page below will automatically be entered into an ‘out of the hat’ fake draw, with the winner probably receiving a £10 Amazon gift voucher. Closing date is midnight (GMT) 30th September 2019. Just a token of appreciation for all those that indulge these pages and support the Blogosphere.

EDIT - With great ceremony and much merriment, a 'pulling the name from the hat' party was held at my place, I am pleased to say that Lee from the enjoyable 40mm based 'napoleonic therapy' blog has won the £10 Amazon Gift Voucher. Link to his blog http://napoleonictherapy.blogspot.com

Thanks to everyone who posted.

EDIT - I have calmed down the rust on those exhaust shrouds!



23 comments:

  1. Nice Tiger I! From the left rear vantage point of our observer, what size of weapon could knock the rust off the exhaust shrouds without actually penetrating the beast? Given that information, the rust problem could be solved without repainting.

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  2. Unfortunately, that particular viewer is Bazooka Billy and he only has one toy!

    As is typical, I went and had a look at some photographs of such things .... after the job was done. The best example that I saw showed very battered shrouds (twisted, dented and with holes, perhaps from small arms), but significantly without rust. It looks like the heat from the exhaust results in heavy fatigue / fading of the camo paint, but the steel is holding up well against any visible signs of rust / oxidation.

    I think with these, in the first instance, I will just try dampening down the vibrancy of the rust (rust powder that was applied over wet reddy / brown paint) as best I can (a bit of dabbing should do the trick) and review!

    If that doesn't work, then Bazooka Billy can have it!

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  3. I love the atmospheric shots of the Tiger I, along with the nice job on the painting. IIRC as kids we used to lie down and try and get nice views of our toys, such as this, with one eye closed. Happy daysQ

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    1. Thanks Steve, I really enjoyed the photo scene bit.

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  4. Perhaps Messrs Lucky Larry and Slackjaw Smythe were working in cahoots? It's the 'reasonable doubt' conundrum: Mr Smythe escaping conviction as Mr Larry could plausibly have done the deed; and vice versa.

    The crime might fall short of perfect, but it is hard to fault the 'get out of jail free' card...

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  5. It is entirely possible, as you get two Tiger models in each Italeri box and this could of course account for Lucky Larry having all parts of one model glued around his person, while 'Slackjaw' may have been working on the other and it is quite possible that in the confusion we have lost track of which model is which.

    Professor Rivet, is a well know associate of The Dark Art of Modelling forum and something of a specialist on the restoration of Soviet armour circa 1943. If matters came under close scrutiny, his considerations would carry much weight.

    We should perhaps not be too quick in forgetting the convenience of Heartbreak Harry 'finding' the incriminating business card, allowing him to be so helpful to the Shenanigans Gazette.

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  6. Good looking tiger Norm........think the rusted rear looks fine. As for the misadventure with the glue I am not sure what to believe or not. Fake news is so difficult to assess so I am not clear how much is based on fact. All I can say is I have had a few close shaves myself !

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  7. Thanks Matt, I think it would be fair to say that the glue aspect was inspired by a recent mishap at my desk :-) the closest I have come to full skin to skin bonding!

    Years ago, the cartoon strips were full of images of parents taking their kid to hospital with the humourous bucket or pan stuck on their head. The modern take could very well be Dad attending following a superglue moment.

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  8. Great fun read Norm and what a fine Tiger, the exhaust rusting looks good to me. I'm sure we have all been there with the superglue! is that a PSC German in the pic? What size bases are you using for individual figures?

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  9. Hi Lee, yes the partial back end of a PSC German and I share your view of them not being the most inspiring figures, perhaps they could do with some stronger undercuts, but I will continue with them. The one partially in the picture is a trial base, with 3 figs on a 50mm round base. I am tempted to go either down a base size with two figure pairings or to a non-round base and keep three figures. I am not doing individual basing and would rather think of a base as being a half squad, so a German section would be two half squad bases and a LMG base. That’s what I am thinking anyway.

    There is a photo of the infantry base in a post linked below, you can click in the pic for a closer view.
    http://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2019/05/blitzkrieg-commander-iv-in-172.html

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Norm. I'm really tempted to go with Peter's basing method (Grid Based wargames blog), the individual basing is just not working for me with these plastics either. I'm coming round to them though having painting most of the Americans now.

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  10. That Italeri Tiger looks great and their kit prices look very reasonable; takes me back to the sixties and my Airfix kits. 1/72 certainly has a lot going for it in choice and cost.

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  11. Thanks Kev, it does. In some ways it is a shame that hard plastics took off in 28mm, a revival of the 1/72 scene in hard plastic might have been a sweeter point for more people.

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  12. Thanks Andy, not 10mm, but that is in the queue :-)

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  13. Fun read, though I must admit that it took me a little to catch on, slow on the uptake I am. Tiger looks great and like above I think the rust is suitable. It’s a hard life for a tiger. 😀

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  14. Thanks Stew, I suspect the humour is local and doesn't travel well. Actually at normal viewing distance the rust is fine. In the picture, it is over-lit by flash, shot too close and of course the digital shows too much detail.

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    Replies
    1. Might not travel well across generations either....
      😀😝. (What a jerk I am)

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  15. Nice looking Tiger, maybe it's just a bit unlucky with the primer on the exhaust? The last picture reminds me of Kelly's heroes where the Sherman shoots the coloured shell by mistake!
    Best Iain

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  16. Yes, another poster in another forum said similar and it just made me smile, I must watch that again.

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  17. Thanks Michal, I have to remember each of the painting stages now, because there are two models in the box and I want them to match .... I should have made notes :-)

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Thanks for taking the time to comment