For fear of little men!*
Before Yule, there was quite a bit of top secret crafting here on the airship. We promised to tell you about it, so here’s mine. Being a German family, the Nutcracker figures prominently on the mantle. (the objet d’art, not the ballet) We have acquired a small collection over the years, and in the last two holiday seasons I have added to it myself.
This year I made this one. I am nearly as delighted with the little fellow as I am with he who inspired him. It is, of course, a portrait of my beloved husband, the Fearless Fabricator. I got the hair just right, didn’t I? (Compare with the In the Lab photo)
And look at his wee belt. He’s sporting a telescope, and a disruption device (it’s like a grenade, but instead of shrapnel it produces a gentler distraction, such as loud music, or a plague of locusts), and lovely gears and deadly sharp clock hands.
Although I will need to get myself a lathe or develop a better source for some of my future nutcracker ideas, I was able to make this fellow from a paint-your-own kit, slightly kit-bashed about the head. For Herr vonHedwig it was relatively simple to even out the brim of the soldier nutcracker’s hat to make it a topper.
Last year’s kit-bash was considerably more difficult, as my dedicated lab assistant had to saw, file, and sand the crown off of the prince kit and round off his head into a semblance of normal head shape. I am delighted with the result though, especially Etaine’s woad and eye painting. If you don’t know who this is, you should acquaint yourself with him immediately!
* From “The Fairies” by William Allingham, Pre-Raphaelite poet, friend of D.G. Rosetti, and precursor to W.B. Yeats.**
** Yeats considered him so, as he was an Irish poet working in English.
As always, I am delighted to see yet another post. You do know I check here daily, sometimes multiple times in a day, to see what the VonHedwigs have gotten up to.
Yours,
Eve