The Flashman Papers

[harrytheheid]

Very much a WIP, and it's going to take months to complete with at least six different dio-drama bases and a bunch of figures and accessories still to be done:-
Set initially in late-Victorian era London, ("Flashman and the Tiger"), but hoping to cover all 12 of George MacDonald Fraser's books, (plus a lot more), I give you…..
…..where I’m at right now with this new project.

Full Cast of Characters

Young Flashman 1860
To be used for "Flashman and the Dragon" and maybe "Gandamak" as well.

Elderly Flashman 1888 to 1900.

Elspeth Flashman
“Flashman’s Lady”.

Selina Flashman
Flashy's not-so-virginal Granddaughter.
Honorary Colonel 17th Lancers.

Svetlina Flashski
Flashy's unacknowledged Russian Granddaughter and Anarchist Agent of The Black Hand, (see John Buchan's "The 39 Steps"). Not particularly virginal either.
Honorary Colonel of the 17th Pavlova Serbian Lancers.

Three Anarchists
Officers in the 17th Pavlova Serbian Lancers - associates of Svetlina.

Bertie the Bounder
Albert, The Prince of Wales.
Later Edward VII and Emperor of India.

Jack the Ripper
Say no more.

The Mortal Remains of Mary Kelly.

Shadwell Gupta
Former Risaldar-Major in the Sikh Khalsar.
Flashy's ex-batman and now-butler - a bit daft after his brains were addled in 2nd Afghan War.

The Yellow Peril
Foo Manchoo - Criminal Mastermind.
Runs all the gin palaces and opium dens down Whitechapel way – together with his deadly femme fatale enforcers.

Rudyard Kipling
Scribbler for the Civil & Military Gazette in Lahore India - freemason.
Presently on holiday in London in 1888 and spending the time stoned out of his mind.

Varney the Vampire
Victorian era's most notorious member of the Undead before Count Dracula came along.

Willem von Sternberg
Son of Flashy's nemesis in GMF’s "Royal Flash".

Jasper Speedicut
Former schoolmate of Flashy's.
Now fallen on hard times and eking out a living as an Uber Cab driver in late-1880's London.

Captain Scud East
Former schoolmate of Flashy's.
Believed to have shuffled off this mortal coil at Cawnpore during the Sepoy Mutiny 1857, but recovered and escaped the Nana Sahib. Died in China 1860.

Private Tom Brown
Former schoolmate of Flashy's.
Insufferable prig - was his fag at Rugby School - served in China 1860.

Butterfly Blade
Imperial Chinese Guardsman 2nd Opium War 1860.

Maybe
Sgt’s Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnehan – and Billy Fish.
On leave in London.

Otto von Bismarck
Prussian statesman and founder of the Second Reich.
Visiting Queen Vicky in London.

Count Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatieff
Chilling Russian spy - looks a bit like Tsar Niki II.
Visiting Queen Vicky in London.

Kaiser Wilhelm II Hohenzollern
Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia.
Queen Victoria's Grandson - given to having ideas above his station.
Visiting Queen Vicky in London.

Lillie Langtry
Actress and habitual loose woman.

Lola Montez
Music Hall Performer.
Later the King of Bavaria's mistress - and maybe Bismarck’s as well.
Another loose woman.

Mina Harker
Vampyre.

Two figures representing The Victorian Gutter Press.
Work for the Daily Mail, probably.

Inspector Frederick George Abberline of Scotland Yard.

Sgt George Godley
Metropolitan Police Force.

Sir Charles Warren
Metropolitan Police Commissioner.

John Merrick - The Elephant Man
Suspect in the Ripper case.

Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde
Suspect in the Ripper case.

Professor Moriarty
Suspect in Ripper case.

Tiger Moran
Moriarty's Hit Man
Suspect in the Ripper case.

Sherlock Holmes
Consulting Detective.

Dr Watson
Consulting GP.

Oscar Wilde
Token LGBTXYZ character.
Scotland Yard’s contact for artistic impressions of suspects in court.

Ebenezer Steptoe
Rag & bone man and Dad of young Albert Steptoe.
Runs a junk yard in Shepherds Bush, London.

Salvation Army Band
Hard-case opium dealers.
Employees of Foo Manchoo.

Various onlookers, curious loafers and urchins - descendants of Fagin's pick-pocketing gang.

Anyone else I can think of.


Accessories

Small Cart - for carting away dead Ripper victims - and sometimes dead opium/gin addicts.
Large Cart - Ebenezer Steptoe's main modus operandi.
Uber Cab – maybe two.
Junk Yard down Oil Drum Lane.
A Pub exterior.
A Pub interior.
Various street locations down Whitechapel way.

Cheers
H

 

[fogie]

Looks like a few old Phoenix figures in there - promises to be great fun.........what larks !!

Mike

 

[harrytheheid]

Looks like a few old Phoenix figures in there - promises to be great fun.........what larks !!

Mike

Difficult to find late-Victorian civilian figures that provide the characters I'm looking for. The Phoenix castings work fine - and there's a few more of them I'll be ordering up soon.

Cheers
H

 

[Nap]

Hi H

Great project there

Following this with interest so keep us all updated when possible

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[harrytheheid]

Hi H

Great project there

Following this with interest so keep us all updated when possible

Happy benchtime

Nap

Yeah, and there was me trying to convince myself that I'd had it with 54mm figures as I really struggle with anything smaller than 75mm these days.

This project is going to be gloriously inaccurate historical nonsense, and the characters are being represented with figures from a variety of manufacturers, which is causing compatibility and scale issues already.
However, I've almost got all the figures I'm going to use and anytime I get bored painting them I can just swing over to doing the scenics.
Come to think of it, I can really only cover three of GMF's books;
Flashman
Flashman and the Tiger
Flashman and the Dragon
Plus dream up a couple of yarns; Flashman in Whitechapel and Flashman at Whitby Abbey.

 

[Dennis]

Love it Harry will follow with a lot of interest, good luck.

 

[fogie]

Harry, don't forget to include Frank Frazetta's version of Flashman,,,,,,,,

Mike

 

[Landrotten Highlander]

now THAT would make an interesting half-bust thingemything, particularly if it is along the lines of RP's Catafratari half bust

 

[harrytheheid]

Harry, don't forget to include Frank Frazetta's version of Flashman,,,,,,,,

Mike

View attachment 352526

Haven't really thought about doing "Flashman at the Charge" to be honest.
For the time being, I'm concentrating on "Flashman and the Tiger" - and it was re-reading that particular story, together with having the Chronos Miniatures Holmes & Watson in my GA, that kicked this off in the first place.

I've got enough civvie figures lined up on the workbench (and still to be ordered) that I can do a sort of non-GMF yarn - "Flashman and the Ripper", and have some old K&C Chinese miniatures which together with a few kit figures means I can have a stab at "Flashman and the Dragon". Also have more than enough FL Napoleonic figures that I could probably do a Ruritanian-type "Royal Flash" as well, and a basic "Flashman at Gandamak" is possible.
The trick will be picking out suitable events from the books that can be recreated with the range of miniatures I already have available, am presently working on, or am intending to order up.

Oh, and the three Tin-Berlin kit figures of what are going to be the Serbian 17th Pavlova Lancers popped through my letterbox this morning. That just leaves a couple more orders for Phoenix castings and accessories, one more kit figure and a few accessories order from Historex Agents - plus a giant resin/wood scenic item from ATS that I'm still chewing over. I have to be careful and keep international orders to around £100 to £120 at a time otherwise I'll end up attracting unwelcome attention into what I'm importing, plus maintaining domestic harmony always has to be factored into the equation as well.

I haven't counted them, but it's going to come to something like 60 kit figures and castings with at least 3 of them mounted (not all to be in the same scenes of course); at least 2 more wheeled vehicles and perhaps 4 to 6 diorama bases. So it's a huge commitment in time, especially in a scale that I'm not really all that comfortable with any more, (age catches up with all of us). And even at one figure/per week with relatively simplified paintjobs, it's going to take about twelve months to get them all done. Having said that, I can probably do a few scenes in a couple of months from now, while updating this thread at regular intervals as I progress through all the items I need to assemble and paint.

Oh, and I'm not even going to think about representing the cowardly cad's somewhat, umm, "amorous adventures" - at least, not in any revealing detail.

Cheers
H

 

[fogie]

60 figures ? Goodness gracious, Harry (posh speak for Bugger me!!), that's staggering.............

Mike

 

[harrytheheid]

60 figures ? Goodness gracious, Harry (posh speak for Bugger me!!), that's staggering.............

Mike

Yeah, that's pretty much what I said when I took a quick guess. Or at least, words to that effect.

I better head up to the hobby room tomorrow morning and confirm what's waiting to be done, but there's 12 castings on order from ATS, and around 8 plus 2 dogs Phoenix castings still to be sourced from S&D Models, not to mention the Historex Agents order going in at the end of this month.
Hang fire and I'll nip upstairs right now. Back in a minute.

Yup, there's 30 foot figures up there (about 15 of them at various stages of completion), plus 3 mounted examples which I haven't started yet. There's also these 14 guys from a diorama I did a few years back that I can use....

Plus there's at least half a dozen K&C Chinese female figures I can use for the 2nd Opium War....and a Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carneham if I choose to use them.
So no shortage of figures, although as I've said they won't all be used in the same scenes.
I do intend to take short breaks from doing them as I want to avoid a hobby becoming a chore. Might do a small fantasy vignette I've got in mind, in between times.
Then there's the vehicles, the scenics and diorama bases to be done, although the bases are going to be relatively small at around 350mm x 250mm.

Cheers
H

 

[harrytheheid]

Now that I've muddled my way through what I'm trying to do here, it strikes me that I could do a "Peter Sellers" and have the same figure representing several characters.
This guy is going to be Inspector Abberline of the Yard....

....but he'd work just as well being;
Sir William Gull - royal physician
Richard Mansfield - actor playing Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde at The Lyceum Theater 1888
Both characters feature prominently as Ripper suspects in the "Murder by Decree" and "From Hell" movies. In fact, Gull was the Ripper in both movies, (which would have been highly unlikely IMO).
But using the same figure as multiple characters does appeal to my sense of the absurd, would save a few bob, and kind of fits the vaguely surreal premise of GMF's Flashman books.

 

[Nap]

60 figures ? Goodness gracious, Harry (posh speak for Bugger me!!), that's staggering.............

Mike

Not much going on there then Harry ...lol

Abberline figure looks similar to a Andrea undertaker !

Get those brushes going , order lots of pizza and takeaway .....and away you go !!

Nap

 

[harrytheheid]

Abberline figure looks similar to a Andrea undertaker !

Get those brushes going , order lots of pizza and takeaway .....and away you go !!

Nap

My goodness, so he does! Imagine that............

I'm also using a few other Andrea characters. They do one that might work as Billy Fish, although he'll need a lot of conversion work.
On the other hand, they tend to be smaller than Tin-Berlin, or Beneito figures; and I'm using a few of them as well.
However, Andrea and El Taller appear to be extremely compatible in terms of size.
It's no biggie as I've had much the same issues in the past when mixing different manufacturers. Just means you have to be a bit creative with the camera.

While I want to limit using figures from my First Legion collection, this guy is a perfect Rudi von Sternberg from "Royal Flash"....

....and these two would make for great Ruritarians....

Ruritarians? Is that a real word? Easier and certainly more "historically accurate" than using Schleswig-Holsteiners to describe them though....

 

[harrytheheid]

Anyhoo, having taken a few days break cos of other things, it was time to get back to the workbench this afternoon.
And here's where I am at close of play tonight.
These two are almost finished - just need a bit more work on the shadows & highlights, plus a clean up on the faces and slight overpaints -should be done over the next couple of days.

This two are just about finished as well.

It'll be this lot next. Had to use white milliput on the Young Flashman head joint....

....along with these. I've still to decide on the replacement head that's going onto the Elderly Flashman figure.

Better progress than I expected to be honest. Still have to do a bit of drilling & pinning on the 2nd Flashy Granddaughter and Sir Charles though.
Cheers
H

 

[harrytheheid]

Spent this afternoon cleaning up castings, drilling & pinning, and filling gaps on several of the figures I intend to use in this project. Then gave them a very light coat of primer.
Color to follow over the next couple of days.

 

[theBaron]

Nice use of some classic figures, there, Harry! I've accumulated some of those myself, for my "Berlin 1910" collection. Elspeth, for example, and the one you've used for Jack the Ripper-they're a "Junge Dame" and "Vornehmer Herr".

Is the figure you used for Selina a Russian casting? I saw one very similar on eBay, depicting one of the Tsar's daughters as colonel-in-chief of a lancer regiment. I thought it would convert nicely to one of the German royal ladies in a similar role, but before I could buy it, it was gone, and the seller hasn't posted any since.

I like the portly German, too. Nice collection!

Prost!
Brad

 

[harrytheheid]

Nice use of some classic figures, there, Harry! I've accumulated some of those myself, for my "Berlin 1910" collection. Elspeth, for example, and the one you've used for Jack the Ripper-they're a "Junge Dame" and "Vornehmer Herr".

Is the figure you used for Selina a Russian casting? I saw one very similar on eBay, depicting one of the Tsar's daughters as colonel-in-chief of a lancer regiment. I thought it would convert nicely to one of the German royal ladies in a similar role, but before I could buy it, it was gone, and the seller hasn't posted any since.

I like the portly German, too. Nice collection!

Prost!
Brad

Hi Brad,
I have two examples of that "Tatiana Romanov" kit. My first one is "Selina Flashman" as Honorary Colonel of the 17th Lancers. The one I primed yesterday will be "Svetlina Flashski".

The kit is by Chronos Miniatures and it's available for a very reasonable $15 - so I might just order a 3rd one.
http://chronos-miniatures.com/index...tegory_id=1&product_id=205&Itemid=104&lang=en

The portly German is the Emperor Franz Joseph kit figure from Masterclass. I've replaced the kit head and he'll now be "Otto von Bismark".
He can do double-duty as Bismark in London circa 1888, and also in an Imperial Germany vignette I've dreamed up which will be similar to the pre-Revolution Russia example I'll be working on in the near future.
Most figures for these two are still in the post.

Cheers!

 

[harrytheheid]

Got the basic colors blocked in on "Svetlina Flashski" today.

Once the paint was touch-dry, I attached her right arm.

Still a long way to go before she starts to look like her distant cousin "Selina Flashman", but it's early days yet.

Meanwhile, I'm calling it a day with "Mrs Elspeth Flashman"....

....and "Bertie the Bounder" as well.

I'll be taking a break from this project tomorrow and concentrate on finishing off my small War of the Three Kingdoms diorama.
Cheers!

 

[theBaron]

Hi Brad,
I have two examples of that "Tatiana Romanov" kit. My first one is "Selina Flashman" as Honorary Colonel of the 17th Lancers. The one I primed yesterday will be "Svetlina Flashski".
View attachment 353958

The kit is by Chronos Miniatures and it's available for a very reasonable $15 - so I might just order a 3rd one.
http://chronos-miniatures.com/index...tegory_id=1&product_id=205&Itemid=104&lang=en

The portly German is the Emperor Franz Joseph kit figure from Masterclass. I've replaced the kit head and he'll now be "Otto von Bismark".
He can do double-duty as Bismark in London circa 1888, and also in an Imperial Germany vignette I've dreamed up which will be similar to the pre-Revolution Russia example I'll be working on in the near future.
Most figures for these two are still in the post.

Cheers!

Thanks, Harry! Chronos, eh? The one I saw was from a Russian seller; I wonder if it was Chronos, or a pirate copy. Thanks for the tip, I'll have to get myself a couple of them!

The Franz Josef figure reminds me of an old Jackboot Miniatures figure from back in the day, a somewhat portly and very jowly Prussian, holding a stein in his right hand. The Krug is appropriately sculpted, the taller style with a lid with a finial, like a reservist's. In my collection, I put him with a tavern owner and a keg on a stand, watching the parade. I have a dragoon from Franklin Mint, also holding a mug, that will join him.

I look forward to seeing more of this as you make progress!

Prost!
Brad