Happy Fourth of July to American readers of my blog.
Happy Fourth Of July to my tiny Americans below!
Patriotic colours of red, white and blue of the WW1 Minute Girls, seen here (above) in my Camp Fire Girls USA from the 1910s and 1920s. Conversions from STS Little Britons LBB30 Boy Scout in this 42mm range.
Scouting Wide Games in Art, on Postcards and in Role Playing Games
Happy Father’s Day to all!
My late Dad was an (Assistant) Scoutmaster for many years, who enjoyed Wide Games as a wartime child and as a Boy Scout, so I think he would appreciate this post.
Here below are a collection of links to some of my recent posts on interesting scouting paintings and postcard images, along with RPG elements, which have provided me with inspiration for gaming scenarios for my Scouting Wide Games for the Tabletop Project.
The Scouting Wide Games for the Tabletop Project started out in 2019 as a simple page and posts on this Man of TIN blog but has since grown to become an entirely separate blog.
Here for Man Of TIN blog (and Man of TIN Blog Two) readers are these links as a quick update on this ongoing tabletop gaming project.
Postcards
I own so far only a couple of these curious silent film type Davidson Brothers postcards (above) and have found more images online. I hope to acquire some more affordable examples over time:
I have also enjoyed finding some fantastic scouting paintings such as ‘The Wide Game‘ by George Hillyard Swinstead from the Scouts Heritage Service online via Art UK:
All good inspiration for my Scouting Wide Games for the Tabletop Project.
Role Playing Game Characters and Badge Skills
With the help of Alan (Duchy Of Tradgardland) Gruber, I am thinking through how to add a Role Playing Game RPG / NPC elements of character ability (and badge skills) to the simple Wide Games and snowball fight rules.
My D&D / Stranger Things related blog post introduces this topic:
It could be The Shire, the Upside Down or a D&D scenario map? Your local woods transformed with The Cloak of Romance and a suitable Wide Games gaming scenario and imagination …
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Scouting Wide Games – for Girls?
Along with uniform research for figure conversions on early Scout uniform and that of other youth movements such as Camp Fire Girls USA and British Camp Fire Girls, each having their own page on the blog.
Ready for gloss spray varnish, the finishing touch to my Camp Fire Girls USA figures:
It’s been a busy month both at work and preparing a local history talk in the evenings, so these Camp Fire Girls figures got stuck on the painting table in their tissue paper bloomers for a few weeks! Sorry, Girls!
The original STS Shiny Toy Soldiers 42mm Little Britons Range LBB30 Boy Scout figure (a stout little chap!) can be seen on the left.
Finally after more research into uniforms for African American Camp Fire Girls, out came the paint brushes for some prototype figure painting in gloss shiny toy soldier (pink face dot) style.
I have chosen variations on the patriotic ‘Minute Girls‘ WW1 era red, white and blue Camp Fire / YWCA uniform that lasted through to the 1960s.
You can read and see more about all this at my Scouting Wide Games for the Tabletop blog post:
Not everything worked, I have learnt a few lessons about history, painting skin tones in gloss toy soldier style (no pink face dot!) and also some further ideas for refining or diversifying my figure conversions for making up the rest of each eight girl team or patrol of African American and a patrol or two of White American / Latin American Mexican patrols.
These badges or insignia look like YWCA (Blue Triangle League?) badges for these organisers and officers – photo from the The Work Of Coloured Women by Jane Olcott 1919. These uniforms are businesslike and very similar to British women’s police constable or Women’s Royal Navy uniforms in WW1.
(African American?) Camp Fire Girls under canvas “Camping in Old Kentucky”.
Another view of the YWCA Reserves photo c.1919, the YWCA version of Camp Fire Girls?
YWCA Reserves? Camp Fire Girls activities like Scouting and Guiding could be adopted in part or whole within other existing youth programmes.
The activity looks quite odd – I’m not entirely sure if this is rope callisthenics with individual ropes, long group ropes or staff drill.
In this photograph, you can see an interesting range of variations of uniform of the Middy Top and neck tie, as well as knickerbocker / bloomers or skirt and white Keds type sport shoes. In an old black and white old photograph, it’s difficult to tell details.
They are not ‘uniform’ from skin tone and hair style to clothing.
Some have no neckties. One girl (far right) has an off white or khaki Middy Top.
Some have white Keds type sport shoes and white socks.
Some have full knee skirts, others have bloomers or knickerbockers.
Interesting that none of these African-American girls in any photos are wearing hats. Some have head bands and big white ribbons, obscuring the faces of those behind.
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You can see more on African American Camp Fire Girls and YWCA Blue Triangle League uniforms and activities at my previous post:
All good uniform reference for my LBB30 Little Britons Boy Scout figure conversions (left) into Girl Scouts (right) and Camp Fire Girls (middle).
Here in preparation, these figures have tissue paper PVA skirts and hair and filed down scout hats with tissue paper softening or brim changes.
The Middy Top is quite loose and smock / slops like without a belt but it proved difficult to file down the belt details on the front. I used a thin layer of tissue paper to smooth the belt out.
The Camp Fire Girls Necktie is bigger, flatter and less Scoutlike but difficult to file. I left this in place as it fills out the curves on the figure in a more feminine way.
Unlike the scout scarf, the back of the neck tie is hidden under the collar of a large Middy flap, like a triangular sailor suit neckcloth.
I didn’t manage to put bed rolls on this first batch of Camp Fire Girls.
The little known British version of the American Camp Fire Girls (1925 British handbook photo)
Another enjoyable research ‘rabbit hole’ for my Scouting Wide Games for the Tabletop Project, in hobby terms let’s call it obscure uniform research and gaming scenarios for my DMZ demilitarised Project:
Crossposted from my Tabletop Scouting Wide Games Blog:
This will eventually make it onto the tabletop or garden in the form of gaming figure conversions to match my Girl Scouts, Guides, Boy Scouts Figures.
Blog crossposted by Mark Man Of TIN, 1970s Cub Scout (Bronze Arrow, retired) on 23 April 2022 – Shakespeare’s Birthday and St George’s Day. Be nice to Dragons!
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Unlike the scout scarf, the back of the neck tie is hidden under the collar of a large Middy flap, like a triangular sailor suit neckcloth. 
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