How it all started, my involvement with Crann Tara

 Firstly, thanks to all for the positivity about restarting posting. Nice to hear from many folk that I respect and admire, and glad you've all got through the last few years.

On reflecting about some sort of structure/logic/narrative to posting images etc, I thought it might be of some interest to talk about my focus over the last few years, which has been making and painting the Savoia (Piedmont-Savoy, from the War of the Austrian Succession) figures and the parallel work helping (at times) with the development of the Crann Tara range. I'll say from the start, that the range exists, due to one person, Graham Cummings, who very much was the driving force behind it, taking it from being a small emerging Jacobite range to one which ultimately covered a huge range of nationalities and troop types for a period covering the middle of the Eighteenth Century. The other significant recognition also needs to go to the late Richard Ansell, the sculptor of the range (and the excellent, and very much compatible, Minden/Fife and Drum Figures), who, in my view, didn't get the recognition he deserved for the quality of work he produced. Sadly, the price of not being instep with "fashion". Perhaps, in time, his work will be better appreciated.

Some of what I'll say, has already been said elsewhere, these are my recollections and my "story" of involvement in this, something, which was a hugely enjoyable and rewarding exercise, in many ways.

My involvement with this range started very informally, through John Ray's "A Military Gentleman Forum". Graham was aware that I'd done some fairly rudimentary (Many might say I still am! 😀) sculpting/figure making, and offered me some dollies and bits and bobs from the range to "have a play" with. I thought I'd have a go, and roughly about this time, Charles Grant, was getting involved in the range too, helping do a lot of the research work on uniforms, potential future figures and the like. I knew that one of Charles's fathers favourite units from the old, spencer smith era, was the Fusiliers de la Moliere (FDM), so I though I'd have a go at them and see how I got on. It was my first go at doing figures in this quite fine, detailed, slim style, and it wasn't easy! Ultimately I made 8 foot figures and 4 mounted for the unit. In my view, they were "ok", inevitably, now, a number of years later, I think I could have done them better in some respects, but they are certainly passable. It was also, in hindsight a silly figure to start with, all that Brandenburg lace and the mounted figures hat/helmet were really difficult to do.

Here's a few pics of the figures I made, painted by myself:

More to come .....

John