Post and rail fence in 54mm

 I found myself with a little time on my hands, it being too hot to work outside, so I decided to turn my attention to finishing up the fences on my 54mm road.

The post-and-rail fence is constructed just as the actual ones are with wooden uprights, holes augered through them, and the ends of the rails resting in those holes.

Scraps of poplar, pine, and mahogany went into the construction of the fences.

This post-and-rail construction is typical of the turnpike fences of this region during the Civil War.

Here's one a portion of fence on the historic Hagerstown Pike which passes through 

Antietam National Battlefield...

and here's its little brother.

The  Mumma farm lane as it appears today...

 

and as it appeared...

on September 17, 1862.

Good fences make good neighbors, so say the grouchy neighbors anyway.

Soldier on!

Mannie

Played with...a casual post

Here are the childhood soldiers of the father of a friend of mine.  I think loss of paint indicates a much beloved set of soldiers.

A Barclay anti-aircraft truck.  Sadly the crewman in the rear has lost his head.  A casualty of bedroom floor combat no doubt.

A fairly crude gray iron  indian and horse.

A Barclay machine gunner in very good condition and his friend (who once had a separate helmet) who is much the worse for wear after running back and forth for ammunition.

A helmetless artillelryman on the left and a stretcher bearer on the right.

Two gray iron doughboys

a gray iron bugler and a Barclay flag bearer.

A hollowcast crazy rootin' tootin'  six-gun shootin' bowlegged cowpoke has just blown into Dodge.

Two iron pirates with mischief on their minds.

A Barclay drummer.

Three iron doughboys home from the front.

A Barclay cadet with little paint left; how many demerits for that one must wonder?

His classmate equally worse for wear.

A knight of old in very nice condition.

A Barclay carrier pigeon soldier, helmet detached and apparently with a head wound.

An iron cop, or prison guard for keeping ne'er-do-well soldiers in the stockade.

Fort Ward Fare-thee-well

I've previously posted a couple of pictures of my Sculpey Fort Ward bastion.  As it is drying out, shrinking and cracking with age I thought I'd take some time to give it its due before it gets plowed up and paved over to make room for a 54mm Walmart, as do so many historic places.

Fort Ward is  a one of the Civil 

War ring forts which defended Washington DC.  It is in Alexandria Virginia and is maintained as a state park.  Much of the fort is in a remarkably good state of preservation and an entire bastion has been restored to its Civil War appearance complete with three 30-pounder Parrot guns.  Its really worth a visit if you find yourself in the Washington area.

My version of Fort Ward has three embrasures for Armies in Plastic 30-pounders.  Revetments are made with sandbags and gabions, all sculpted from Sculpey (European friends can use Fimo)

The guns overlook a menacing no-man's-land of chevaux de frise; ouch!

 If this gun looks menacing from this angle...

its even more so from the business end.

What's this?  I didn't realize the position was manned.  These officers seem to be zeroing in on a target.

"Action front!  Case, 850 yards!"

I'll leave off here lest the faint of heart swoon at the terrible destruction about to be wrought by this wrought-iron monster.

Cracked, and showing its age, my 54mm Fort Ward has now had its day in the sun.

Here's hoping we all do.

Soldier on!

Mannie

Postscript:

Many comments on this post reflect a concern that I'm going to somehow destroy this piece; not at all I'm merely "retiring" it to let gravity, age, and the environment have their way with it.  Sounds like a parable for all of us.

Fort Ward and Norma Desmond...

.

both are showing their age.

About ten years ago I used Sculpey to make one of the bastions of Fort Ward in Washington D.C.

Sculpey is wonderful stuff, but in large pieces such as this one, it tends to crack irreparably