Vampifan's Views 45 - Monthly Musings 26

Vampirella by Michael Golden - sexy and disturbing!

So we come to the end of the first month of the year and the time has seemed to have flew past. My love affair with all things to do with St. Trinian's continues. I thought I had all of the films on DVD - The Belles of St. Trinian's (1954), Blue Murder at St. Trinian's (1957), The Pure Hell of St. Trinian's (1960), The Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery (1966), St. Trinian's (2007), and St. Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold (2009) - but thanks to the erudite knowledge of my good friend Joe, he informed me that I was missing one - The Wildcats of St. Trinian's (1980). The reason I missed it was that it was not listed amongst the St. Trinian's films on Amazon. This was because they didn't have it in stock and nor did they know when or if they'd be restocking it. Seeing as I wanted it to complete my collection I resorted to plan B - eBay. I found an American seller who had lots for sale at just $12.00 (roughly £8.00), and they were all Region 0, meaning it can be played anywhere in the world, so I ordered it and it arrived yesterday. I'll watch it this weekend. It's funny but the blurb on the back of the DVD describes it as "the forgotten St. Trinian's film." Very apt, I thought.
I have converted four Hasslefree Miniatures 28mm scale figures into four of the girls from the 2007 film, namely, Chelsea (the Posh Totty leader), Taylor (the Chav girl) and Tania and Tina (the first form twins).
I have been thinking which of the seven films is my favourite and it has to be that 2007 version. Why? For me, it has  the best cast of characters, with far greater emphasis placed upon the girls instead of the adults, as in the earlier films. Most of my figure collection are of characters from that film, so it seemed to me to be an obvious choice. I admit that I like all seven films (yes, including The Wildcats of St. Trinian's, which I saw on TV many years ago) but last weekend I watched the 2007 film again, and it just reaffirmed why I love it so much. My one and only criticism of it is the casting of Flash Harry by the obnoxious Russell Brand. What a tool!
Having built up a good collection of figures of the girls I am now concentrating on the staff members. I have found a few worthy contenders from Black Cat Bases and Turnkey Miniatures (who took over the moulds from the dearly departed Mega Miniatures). I have found my headmistress and Flash Harry from them, along with a few other teachers and yet more schoolgirls. This is growing into quite a collection!
I did say that I wanted to pit the girls of St. Trinian's against my zombie horde in a one-off ATZ scenario, but Joe came up with an even better suggestion - why not run a mini campaign with them? He said he could think of a few scenarios for them and I certainly can as well. I see no reason not to run a St. Trinian's campaign alongside my Team Vampifan campaign, with one set in the UK and the other in the USA. Hmm, the best of both worlds. This has set my creative juices flowing. As things are just in the planning stages now, I'll take on board any suggestions you might have for my alternative campaign. One major difference will be that firearms will be far less prevalent in the UK than in Mayhem City. Melee combat will take precedent over shooting.
And so to other news. I have finished painting a batch of zombies and corpses from Recreational Conflict, and a set of four zombie clowns from Studio Miniatures. Reviews will follow soon. I seem to have lost my mojo for making card scenery again but once I find it I'll go at it with a vengeance. I must finish making my Brummie's Burgers fast food restaurant. Then I want to make Carl Stoelzel's excellent Haunted House, which he kindly named Scott Mansion after me. And, just to add to the huge backlog of buildings I want to make Carl has just gone and released his first Wild West buildings set and I can say they are excellent. Damn you, Carl, why do you churn out so much great stuff? I can't keep up with this much awesomeness!
I tend not to comment on The Walking Dead TV series because I don't have satellite TV or watch it when it is repeated on terrestrial TV. Instead I wait for the DVD boxed sets to come out and then watch the whole season in a few mammoth sessions. By the time I've watched them most folk are watching the next series. However, my friendly window cleaner knows I am a huge fan of the show and he's even more of a fanatic than me. He's been recording series 4 and he lent me the first 8 episodes on DVD. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching them and the 8th episode with the attack on Rick's prison by the Governor and his force was just awesome! Now, like everyone else, I can't wait for the mid-season break to end.
That's all for now, folks. Be happy. I know I am!