PlaymoFriends
Creative => Customs Gallery => Topic started by: Erik on February 06, 2008, 18:33:29
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Hi friends!It's been quite a while since I've posted,so I thought it was more than time to share some pics of some of my latest customs with you all... :)They're some of my "new" soldiers.Hope you like 'm!
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Nice customs, and very smart uniforms, but the pictures are all out of focus!
Can you retake them in focus? It seems a shame not to get the focus right for such great figures.
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Great use of Playmobil parts, Erik!
I love your figures ... Is the red jacket on your general from the new Circus theme? It really looks cool!
Since I seldom get around to cleaning my reading glasses, your photos look fine to me ... ;)
All the best,
Richard
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Nice customs, and very smart uniforms, but the pictures are all out of focus!
Can you retake them in focus? It seems a shame not to get the focus right for such great figures.
I think the last one is OK. I believe that the focussing mechanism of the camera is focussing on the background rather than the figures, possibly because the camera is resting on the table or at the same height as the table. Try putting something taller (say a ruler) than the figures level with them, focus on that and then, without taking your figure off the shutter button, take the ruler away. Then fully press the shutter button. Alternatively, the camera is just too close and you need to come back a bit.
Having said all that, even a bit out of focus, I can still see that your new customs are well up to your usual high standard and look very smart indeed.
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Those are all great figures.
Are you using a macro mode to take the photos? If so check in your manual (you still have it of course ;D ) and see what the set length is. Mine has a set focal length of 8 inches so I try to put as much as possible in a flat plane at that point.
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I think Gordon has it, the focus is on the background not the klickies.
I usually take klicky photos on macro mode, and focus on a klicky face in the middle of the group, but then crop the picture to suit. I also use a tripod and a 2-second shutter release to avoid camera shake, and since most of my photos are indoors, set the white balance to tungsten lighting, but don't use a flash.
My wife taught me all this, I'm a photographic ignoramus.
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Hi, Erik, your customization is excellent, except for a little detail:
In the 7 years war, time to which I think your customizations belong, France was still a monarchy, and that tri-colour flag is that of the French revolutionaries.
However, in 3112 "naval stronghold" (3288 in USA) there is a flag with the flower that was the icon of the French monarchy (so the blue-jacketed soldiers with black tricorne hats of the pirate line must be French). So, the problem can be solved easily.
Good luck, and sorry by the little criticism.
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Hi, Erik, your customization is excellent, except for a little detail:
In the 7 years war, time to which I think your customizations belong, France was still a monarchy, and that tri-colour flag is that of the French revolutionaries.
Good luck, and sorry by the little criticism.
This is true for the French/Indian Wars, but for the Napoleonic Wars, the tricoleur would have been used.
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Hello, Pyrrhus ...
Hi, Erik, your customization is excellent, except for a little detail:
In the 7 years war, time to which I think your customizations belong, France was still a monarchy, and that tri-colour flag is that of the French revolutionaries.
Actually, Erik's customs are "fun" representations of military uniforms. And, because they are Playmobil figures, I personally think that's OK!
You are absolutely correct that the French tricolour is appropriate for the Napoleonic period. And, Erik's figures probably more accurately depict Napoleonic rather than Seven Years War (French and Indian War in the colonies) figures.
Most French uniforms from the French and Indian War were an off white (very light gray) colour with wide cuffs of different colours depicting the various regiments.
I would like to extend a personal invitation to all of you to join us over at GW-PC for more "serious" discussions about things "militaire" ... ;)
All the best,
Richard
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Hi all!
Sorry, the criticism was not bad-intentioned.
It is true that the Napoleonic armies were revolutionary and thus employed the tricolour flag, but even when I do not know much about French war customes, I think the tricorne hats were not used in Napoleonic times, at least for the soldiers.
That is why I think the tricorne customizations are better suited for the Seven years war and even the American revolutionary war, because of the Hessian mercenaries, were tricornes were also used.
Notably, the Playmobil pirates' soldiers have an uniform much similar to those of your first picture, Richard.
All the best
Pyrrhus.
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I forgot, I am also in the GW-PC forum.
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Hi all!
Sorry, the criticism was not bad-intentioned.
Pyrrhus.
Don't worry, I never thought it was. :)
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Hello, Richard... is there an special thread where you are discussing in the GW-PC forum? Because this last week the forum has been much quiet.
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Hello again, Pyrrhus ...
Sorry, the criticism was not bad-intentioned.
Don't worry, I never thought it was. :)
As Gordon said, "Don't worry!"
And, I would like to add ... "Your comments are very constructive!"
It is true that the Napoleonic armies were revolutionary and thus employed the tricolour flag, but even when I do not know much about French war costumes, I think the tricorne hats were not used in Napoleonic times, at least for the soldiers.
Aha! That all depends on when you think that the "Napoleonic Period" actually began. Was it when Napoleon rose to power 1n 1796? Or, was it when he went to Egypt to fight the Turks in 1799? Or, was it when he crowned himself "Emperor" in 1804?
Regardless, it was a gradual evolution from the tricorne, to the bicorne and finally to the shako. And, no matter what the uniform regulations said ... in those days, changes was quite slow to be heard about and even slower to be adopted.
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That is why I think the tricorne customizations are better suited for the Seven years war and even the American revolutionary war, because of the Hessian mercenaries, were tricornes were also used.
I agree that perhaps Erik's Playmobil customs might actually be best suited to the time of the American Revlotionary War (but, that would make his French tricolour incorrect) ... ;)
Depending upon the regiment, the Hessian mercenaries wore both the miter and the tricorne.
Hello, Richard... is there an special thread where you are discussing in the GW-PC forum? Because this last week the forum has been much quiet.
The GW-PC forum is not as active as the Playmofriends forum. And, no, there is "no special thread" ... So, maybe you would like to start a new topic at GW-PC to discuss this further? ... :)
All the best,
Richard
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Ooops... you seem to know about Napoleonic customes, hehe...
I did never saw a picture of soldiers from Napoleonic wars with tricornes, that's why it seemed unsound to me. But you are right they can well have been used, after all, Napoleon begun fighting few years after the French Revolution, where these hats were clearly used.
And I want to ask something: I thought the bicornes were used by higher ranks, but... where they also used by the soldiers??
I also started a thread in GW-PC forum on flags, asking which of the Playmobil flags, from Medieval and later times, really belonged to a state or feud. I am also much ignorant on this, I expect somebody, overall German or French, can answer the questions on the Medieval flags.
All the best.
Pyrrus
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What a foo!
Now I realize the 1795 "soldat de ligne" uses a tricorne or bicorne there!! :-[
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Hello, Pyrrhus ...
What a foo!
Now I realize the 1795 "soldat de ligne" uses a tricorne or bicorne there!! :-[
Don't be so "hard" on yourself ... :lol:
It took me many, many years to even begin to know anything about anything ... ;)
One thing that I have learned is that there is always someone who knows something that I don't know!
One such person is our dear friend Ian Croxall from Oregon, who has created his fantastic WarFlag (http://www.warflag.com/) website. I think that you'll enjoy visiting this site. (Click on "THE FLAGS" (http://www.warflag.com/flags/select.shtml))
All the best,
Richard
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Ok., thank you for the lines, and you are right. Indeed I am not a great knower of 1700s and 1800s uniforms.
I was regretting I send a message before asking you if the bicornes were used by the soldiers, and saying that I never saw a Napoleon soldier using tricornes, when the pictures you attached showed a 1975 near-Napoleonic "soldat de ligne" with what do not seem to be anything but a bicorne or tricorne...
Wow, what a flag site (I am mostly interested in the Medieval flags, I think the Playmobil old German mercenaries may have the flag of a German city)!!. Merci mon ami! :wow:
PS: Did you see my last message on the GW-PC forum, on the flag of the red soldiers with shakos of the pirate line??
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PS: Did you see my last message on the GW-PC forum, on the flag of the red soldiers with shakos of the pirate line??
Yes ... I am very curious to see how the members at GW-PC will answer your question ... ;)
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Tricornes and bicornes started out as regular, wide-brimmed hats with the flaps pinned up, is that correct?
I'm asking because I'm curious how "elaborate, non-utilitarian" clothing comes about. From the 1300s onward seems to be an era of clothing becoming ever more complicated and ostentatious, until by the 1800s it even shifted to common troops in the field--
With now the fashion-balance shifting back to simpler, more functional clothing (including the growing obsolescence of the suit and tie).
I think I've traced trousers back to horse-riding people of northern climates. So now that we've done away with average man's need to fight from horseback or endure prolonged exposure to winter elements, it seems rational that within a few centuries men will be wearing kilts and knee-length tunics again......
-Tim
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Tricornes and bicornes started out as regular, wide-brimmed hats with the flaps pinned up, is that correct?
Correct!
... it seems rational that within a few centuries men will be wearing kilts and knee-length tunics again......
Maybe. However, I almost exclusively wear shorts!
(Photo and figure from Jochen "Little Jo")
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Maybe. However, I almost exclusively wear shorts!
I like going barefoot, even in northern climate. It sends my neighbors running for their firearms, but I've found that walking through snow (to get the mail or newspaper) when the temperature is above freezing (so that the snow evaporates almost as fast as it touches you) is very pleasant.
On the other hand, walking through snow in freezing temperatures is like stepping across a box of needles...
I wish I'd known you, Richard, when I was younger and had more influence over my final destiny.... I would have set my sites on a second home in the tropics instead of trying to get the most out of life for the least investment....
-Tim
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I wish I'd known you, Richard, when I was younger and had more influence over my final destiny.... I would have set my sites on a second home in the tropics instead of trying to get the most out of life for the least investment....
Is it really too late for you? ... ;)