Thursday, August 27, 2009

Cheque, Mate?




Ok, you asked for it.......


Here by popular demand (well, steenbeck demanded it, and she must be popular - I mean have you seen how many A-listers she gets?) is the chess set I made for my Dad when I was about 15 years old.


Please don't look too closely at the wooden plinths, it was the best I could do with the tools and skills available to me at the time. The soldiers were bought from a supplier I did alot of business with at the time, since I was creating five large wargaming armies. They were unpainted metal alloy but I painted them in the uniforms of the era. I even knew what colour to paint the collars and cuffs (that's NOT a euphemism) for each regiment.


I know what you're thinking. Some teenagers spend their years locked in their rooms writing witty/morose songs, some get pissed down the park but me I painted little soldiers in authentic uniform colours. Whatever!


P to Q4.


Your move......


24 comments:

steenbeck said...

It's brilliant!! I think the Plinths are very well done. I like the shape of them. I'm very very impressed.

My dad has old wooden cigar boxes full of lead soldiers in his attic, from all different eras. I think he painted them himself, as well. And he became a history professor! Makes sense, doesn't it?

THanks for posting, Gordonimmel.

treefrogdemon said...

They look great, gordon - bet it took you ages.

Shoey said...

Reminds me of a chess set I made with my Dad when I was 8 or 9. It was one of those resin kits with rubber molds, if you inhaled any of the resin fumes you would not be in any state to play chess. The figures were medieval, Euopean but not English, & very impressive & hefty - I wonder what happened to them, we never got round to making a board? Anyway thanks for unlocking that particular memory. Scuse me, I seem to have something in my eye.

gordonimmel said...

Since posting this I've had an idea and I'd like you all to help me see how it goes.

Having signed off with a typical opening chess move (white Queens prawn to Queen 4 - I think that's how you say it but I'm not an expert) I'm inviting anyone and everyone to propose the next move and then the next one and then the next one etc. You will have to set up a chess board yourself to follow it but let's see how far we get. If moves are called out simultaneously then the first one to show up on this blog is the valid one. The second move - if it is now invalid - will have to be called again.

For your info 'white' are the French on my chessboard. The 'king' is the flag bearer (relatively immobile, unable to defend itself but a major prize for anybody) and the queen is the mounted general (very mobile with an ability to significantly influence a battle wherever they appear).

So, set up your board and propose the next move....

Blimpy said...

I love it! I'm currently teaching the 5yr old miniMcFlah the delights of a chess battle, and bloody loving it!!!

TatankaYotanka said...

Are you getting the royalties from Anthony Gormley and the Chapman brothers?

lambretinha said...

I'm used to a different nomenclature, (and a different language too) but I'd move 1....P3K for the blacks

gordonimmel said...

@Tatanka Yotanka

Eh?

gordonimmel said...

@lambretinha, I was about to say 'is anybody going to propose a move or what' but there you went and did it.

The only thing is that,as you say you're used to a different nomenclature, which I didn't know about and as I'm not a chess expert I can't comment on but it suddenly makes me worry that I've taken on more than I can chew.

Oh dear.

But are you saying that you'll move the pawn infront of the black king forward 1 place?

I can see this falling apart but let's treat it as a prototype online mass chess game shall we?

TatankaYotanka said...

Plinths, ... toy soldiers ... looks like intellectual property to me.

lambretinha said...

It's ok, it's clear enough, really! Yes, that's exactly what I was suggesting...

gordonimmel said...

@Tatanka Yotanka, oh I see. I'm such an idiot and a philistine.
What you're saying is that since I created these figures 30 years ago but Gormley only put his on the plinth this year that is obvious intellectual property THEFT. mmm I think I'll write to my solicitors in the morning.

Ok so lambretinha has moved black's king pawn (thingy) one space forward, what's the next move?

goneforeign said...

There's a game I play with myself here, when a new post appears I'll look at the image and scan the text without looking at the poster and try to guess who's posted it, I usually get better that 60%. I clicked on the chess boards to enlarge and knew immediately it was Immel. My brother's a PhD particle physicist and he did very similar things at that age, the house was full of armies and fleets, I was more into drawing German aircraft.

Proudfoot said...

Those soldiers look dashed familiar. Wellington and Boney. I did the same thing although I never finished the English army.
I didn't have horses or cannons either.(Why did I do the French first?) This was a brief detour from the WWII aircraft I used to make. I'd probably OD'd on Airfix glue and needed a break.
Q: Why does (nearly) everyone prefer German aircraft?
Anyway, good work gordonimmel!

Proudfoot said...

PS Bilmpy. Proudtoe (5) loves chess too. Get 'em while they're young. I can't remember how to castle though. It's been ages...

gordonimmel said...

@Proudfoot, I did WWII Airfix aircraft aswell! They've actually disappeared (which is strange because my mum tends to keep everything and then give it me back - which is why I've now got the chess set back). I seem to remember a good mix - Spitfire, Hurricane, Mustang, Stuka, Messerschmitt 109, Heinkel 111, Junkers 88, Lancaster, Focke Wulf (careful how you say that!).

I went overboard with the Napoleonic armies tho'. I had (and still have, actually) French, British, Austrian, Prussian and Russian, each with about 300-400 figures - infantry, cavalry, artillery - and all painted by myself in the correct uniform colours of the time, with which I wargamed. I know I know. Try telling kids of today that you spent your teenage years shut away in your bedroom painting toy soldiers and they won't believe you. They'll naturally assume you were up to something much more sordid.

treefrogdemon said...

But gordon, there's a modern version of tin soldiers now that kids use for wargaming...there's a chain of shops that sell then which I can't remember the name of.

Proudfoot said...

Was your Focke Wulf a big 1/32 model? That was my favourite.Along with the Bristol Blenheim. A crap plane but fun to make. I had a kind of Queen style 'No Synthesizers' rule except that it was 'no jets'. Except the ME 262.
I never got into battleships much. They kind of looked daft hanging from the ceiling.

gordonimmel said...

@treefrogdemon, I think I know what shop you're thinking of but I can't remember the name either. I think they deal mainly in 'Fantasy' figures -Lord of the Rings stuff, which I was never into. I was always strictly historical. Alot of what I did get were from normal shops and they were the cheap plastic Airfix 20mm soldiers. Usually only French and British I would just paint different coloured uniforms on to represent Prussians, Russians & Austrians.

@Proudfoot. I never did get one of those huge Airfix models. It was only a few weeks ago that I was pinting out to frauimmel that that's what made me drool on the toy shop window as a lad but I never had the money (and my parents refused to fork out for) one of the huge ones. All my planes were of the size that they had about a 6 inch wingspan in real life.
I did a couple of ships infact I remember doing 'Prinz Eugen' (the Bismark's escort) aged 6 or 7. I then painted it lurid gloss green.
Oh well.

gordonimmel said...

Sorry, that should be 'pointing out'.

I don't 'pint out', especially when frauimmel is around....

TracyK said...

*Games Workshop*

You in't seen me...

treefrogdemon said...

That's it, Tracy...and really, gordon, kids play with the figures exactly as people with tin soldiers used to reenact Waterloo. My lodger that I used to have would invite his mates round and have them all arrayed on the kitchen table.

goneforeign said...

When we talked about 'works of art' we'd like to own some weeks back I opted for a Rolls Royce Merlin engine, you could have twisted my arm and I'd have said a BMW 801 just as easily, though I'd probably feel a bit traitorous. The 801 was fitted into the Focke Wulf 190 and the Junkers 88, probably one of the finest air cooled radial engines ever designed. It was 42 litres, 14 cylinders and produced about 2000hp. Trouble is to hang that on the wall, it weighs about 2500 lb. I'd need a re-model of the living room, though it would look nice up there wouldn't it.

gordonimmel said...

Impressive, goneforeign. I used to know the armament and airspeed of most of the major aircraft of WWII but I never knew anything about the engines.