Michaels 10mm 1809 BLOG

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Love that terrain! 

[Hertsblue]

A very handsome set of terrain tiles. But it always seems to me a wargaming paradox that the more realistic the terrain the less suitable it becomes to stand figures on. 

[WeeWars]

A very handsome set of terrain tiles. But it always seems to me a wargaming paradox that the more realistic the terrain the less suitable it becomes to stand figures on. 

That is so unfortunately true. I still haven't thrown away my Subbuteo pitches!

[Techno]

Excellent once again Michael !

Subbuteo ?........
Oh... the happy hours I used to spend playing that in my 'yoof'
Cheers - Phil.

[WeeWars]

Subbuteo ?........
Oh... the happy hours I used to spend playing that in my 'yoof'

And weren't you tempted to turn the pitch over and play soldiers on the other side?

[Techno]

No Michael.

The little plastic Airfix soldiers were used outside in tiny trenches dug out of the so called 'flower beds' in the garden..... while Osgood and Hutchinson weaved their way through whichever defenders were in the way, and smacked the ball into the net on the pitch.  

Cheers - Phil.

[WeeWars]

Turned-over Subbuteo pitches were an easy way to convert a drab tabletop into a luscious green meadow - hills created by stuffing whatever underneath. We happily picked up any we could second-hand - without players! Still stored away somewhere - players long gone!

[Chrissy]

Michael - your blog is truly inspirational and I am really looking forward to reading your next entry.

[WeeWars]

Michael - your blog is truly inspirational and I am really looking forward to reading your next entry.

Thanks, Chrissy. The festive season is upon us, so I might have to behave myself and do Christmas before I post again. Cheers, Michael

[WeeWars]

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2013 has begun with a major blog rebuild. My Flash version â€" which was basically one big movie file â€" served my blog aspirations well throughout 2012 but it had its quirks. Page linking, use of back-button, and the movie taking longer and longer to load as the Blog got bigger being the main issues.

A new HTML software package arrived in time for Christmas 2012 and the holiday period was spent re-building the existing site, which has meant recreating over 90 pages as HTML pages. HTML means proper page links and use of the back button â€" every page can now be bookmarked and linked to. I’ve also been able to add more external links within the text. The flag buttons of the Flash site have been replaced with a navigational bar, allowing one-click links to every Blog Post.  Another improvement is that the site should now be able to be visited on devices that can not access Flash sites, like some handhelds and phones.

I did appreciate how the screen in the Flash site retained its position whatever the window size. This meant that on smaller devices the page didn’t keep jumping back up to the top every time the user clicked on the ‘last post’ and ‘next post’ buttons. I’ve tried to achieve something similar with my HTML site. It’s not perfect but if the top of a screen is level with the foot of the banner image, the pages should not need scrolling down as the ‘last post’ and ‘next post’ buttons are used.

It’s still early days. Entry is still via the Flash intro screen. The April 1809 Calendar hasn’t yet been rebuilt in HTML, so it will be missing for a while â€" unless it’s greatly missed. And Napoleon’s signature still needs redoing! It’s been a lot of work (there’re bound to be some rough edges I haven’t noticed yet) but I hope it improves the experience of visiting the Blog.

Cheers, Michael

[barbarian]

Much better.

[Techno]

Well....

I'll be horn-swoggled......
I was having a look at your site earlier today Michael.....Guessing desperately that it was you who had mentioned something like 'Instant mold' (mould).....I just couldn't remember what it was called at that stage...and I wanted to find some to order ....(It's done Huzzah !...and it was you...THANKS !)

Just had another look at your site.....If it's any help to you at all....It doesn't seem to work quite as smoothly as it did before. (Well I'm damned...Barbarian has just posted 'much better'.....To me it 'jumps up and down' on the page before I can go forward. )
As you say...If you've changed things around,  it's early days....and I only look at it on the PC....Me ?...a phone or similar that connects to the intraweb ?....Nah ! I'm too much of a technophobe.

It's still one of...If not THE most impressive blogs I ever look at though.....SO impressive !!

Happy New Year to you too, and keep up the superb work !
Cheers - Phil.

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Love the changes! 

[barbarian]

Cool mini or not sells Instant Mold.

[WeeWars]

Just had another look at your site.....If it's any help to you at all....It doesn't seem to work quite as smoothly as it did before. (Well I'm damned...Barbarian has just posted 'much better'.....To me it 'jumps up and down' on the page before I can go forward. )
As you say...If you've changed things around,  it's early days....and I only look at it on the PC....Me ?...a phone or similar that connects to the intraweb ?....Nah ! I'm too much of a technophobe.

It's still one of...If not THE most impressive blogs I ever look at though.....SO impressive !!

Thanks, Phil. Most of the jumps are just how HTML pages load because they load per page. The Flash movie was nice and smooth because it did all its loading at the start, which allowed fast clicking through the 'pages'. My early solution to viewing the lower (content) part of the HTML pages that I mentioned will be superseded by adding code to links that retain the scroll position - as and when I can work that one out! That may reduce jumps but the flicker you get with loading won't go away. Soz - as they say in intraweb speech 
Cheers, Michael

[Techno]

Thanks Michael.....
I think I actually understood that !!
Cheers - Phil.

[WeeWars]

I knew I'd have to do it one day: the Blog now has a Blog Index, access from the Navigation Bar.
Cheers, Michael

[Hertsblue]

Some-one's been a busy bunny! Great improvement to an already terrific site.

[Techno]

Cool mini or not sells Instant Mold.

Thanks B.

I got mine from Firestorm in Cardiff....Already here...It's EXCELLENT !!
Wish I'd bought some sooner !
Quicker and a lot less messy and time consuming than trying to RTV 'bits' with silicon rubber....It 'gives', which dental wax doesn't ! (That's truly  next to useless for multiple copies.)

And though Instant Mold is very similar to the compound I 'blagged' from our equine vet (Which is used to help stick on 'plastic' horse shoes....Yes honestly.. plastic horse shoes.)....That particular compound sets like rock, so again, it isn't much use for doing lots of copies.

I'm well impressed. (With apologies to FK for such awful use of English.) 

Cheers - Phil.

[WeeWars]

Some-one's been a busy bunny! Great improvement to an already terrific site.

Thanks, Ray. I made the Blog Index very quickly after a request on TMP. After the work I'd done on creating 90+ pages of HTML, I thought I could afford a short break from making the site and get on with the content. It was not to be!

Phil, Don't forget what I said back in November: "Look forward to seeing the results!" I'd be interested if you discover a new way to keep the stuff warm to avoid water and air messing up the mould.