Captain Glynnis Penny-Farthing, OBE: A genesis.

King and Country by Gary  Menten, on Flickr


It’s been asked of me on this forum by what mechanism I create my characters and their backgrounds, which is a question that I have only partially answered so far, but will endeavour to answer in more detail here using the character of Captain Glynnis Penny-Farthing, OBE as an example. I use this character not only because of her popularity on this forum, which seems to rival that of my main heroine Kamiko Takahara, but also because the process involved creating her involves pretty much the full range of influences and processes involved in my character creation.  

1. Monty Python’s Flying Circus.  Yep, you got it.  The inspiration for the name is drawn from the Monty Python audio sketch entitled “The Book Shop Sketch” which was not a part of the TV series, but appeared on the LP “Monty Python’s The Final Rip-Off,” in which a bizarre fellow voiced by the late Marty Feldman walks into a book shop and asks for a series of non-existent books including one entitled “The Amazing Adventure of Captain Gladys Stoat-Pamphlet and her Intrepid Spaniel Stig Among the Giant Pygmies of Beccles, Volume VIII.”  You can’t beat that for silliness and when I stumbled upon Tony Barton’s Antheads co. website, I realized that I could, using one or another version of his sun helmets and possibly some of his rifles at least start to build a Gladys Stoat-Pamphlet character.

Then there was the question of what time frame to put her in.  The sketch makes no reference to a timeline so for all it mattered we could be talking about a 19th century explorer like Lady Stanhope, we might even go so far as to make her a steampunk character, while at the same time she could be a 1920’s, 30’s or later figure.  I supposed any point from the 1880’s to the immediate post-colonial period in say the 1960’s would do.

In the end, I chose to go with a later period and it was as much a matter of practicality as anything, but I’ll explain that later.



2. My own life.  I’m a former sergeant of the Royal Canadian Artillery.  I still have deep ties to my old regiment and there’s an old saying that goes “Once a Gunner, always a Gunner. I’m also a member of an volunteer organization called 3rd Montreal Field Battery, which is composed primarily of ex-gunners such as myself who dress in WWII uniforms and perform ceremonial gun salutes using 3 WWII 25-pdr guns which we own and which my old regiment, the 2nd Field Regiment, RCA allows us to house in the armoury they share with the Royal Canadian Hussars.  We also now have two very rare 12-pdr muzzle loading guns cast in 1810 but that’s another story.

So if you want to know why Glynnis wears a Royal Artillery badge on her bush hat and why I’ve made her a former officer of the Royal Artillery, look no further than this. Once a Gunner, always a Gunner. “Ubique!”
  Also, in case you haven't noticed, I have a very retro bent, especially for the mid-century era.

Go retro by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

3. The arrival of the SDH018 head sculpts.  From the moment they were first advertises as pre-order items, I knew I wanted them all.  They were just so gorgeous.  The first one I got was the long haired golden blonde which I used for Laura Neville.  I got that one first because I dithered on ordering it and when I finally did, it was the only version left on Monkey Depot so I got it, even though I was more interested in in the platinum blonde haired version I use for Glynnis. When I saw that one on e-bay, I jumped on it and bought it too.



Glynnis Penny-Farthing 3 by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

4. Random testing.  When I got the above mentioned head, I tested it using the figure that had previously been Kamiko’s buddy Gogo. I loved the results.  The skin tone matches were as near to perfect as you get with this stuff, and so Gogo’s head got popped off and tossed into a parts box to await the arrival of another body, and the body became Glynnis.  Initially she had Gogo’s top, shorts and boots, her web belt and a Mauser rifle while I went about scrounging for other items.  I had really wanted to dress her in a bush jacket such similar to the one I wear as a 3rd Field Battery member and which I even have in 1/6th scale but in a man-size which is much too big for her.  Anyway, shortly thereafter, a two month old order arrived from Monkey Depot and it contained the green shirt she now wears, which I cut the sleeves down to give a slightly torn and ragged look, then dry brushed to give it a dirty look. I liked the way it looked with only one snap shut, revealing a lot of cleavage and having much the look of a trashy pulp novel cover.  I ordered two Sola Topis from Tony Barton and while waiting for them to arrive, I started experimenting with his hat making technique for her bush hat.  It took me several tries. but you can judge the results for yourself. I gave her a WWII Inglis-made Browning identical to the one I carried in the Canadian Army and the Canadian Army surplus Browning I have in my gun collection, which sort of dates to the post WWII era.  Things were beginning to come together. 


Captain (ret) Glynnis Penny Farthing, OBE by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Captain (ret) Glynnis Penny-Farthing, OBE by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

5. The question of the name.  Rather than completely rip off Monty Python, I decided on a variant of the name.  Glynnis Penny-Farthing seemed like a good choice. For one thing both Penny and Farthing are family names in the UK, and for those who don’t get the joke, (mostly Americans I would imagine) a Penny-Farthing bicycle is what Americans call a “high wheel” bicycle.  For those who were wondering, no reference to the 60’s TV show “The Prisoner” was intended. 


Katanga's Lost Diamonds Part II: The Valley of Strange Occurences by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

6. There was still the question of her primary long arm and for a while I considered getting a Lee-Enfield #5 carbine.  They have a few on the Zhukov’s Attic site, but in the end, decided to see what she looked like with an M1 Thompson and though the butt stock on the weapon is so long as to pose problems posing it at the shoulder, in every other way, it looked just right, especially once the sola topis from Tony Barton arrived.  I decided to keep the Thompson though I now have to get at least one three-cell magazine much for said weapon.  It’s still a work in progress. 


Captain Glynnis-Penny Farthing, OBE, Retired by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

7. There just remained a question of the exact era to set her in. The1950’s or 60’s would have seem to have been the most logical choices and I seriously thought about it, but as was still in the process of building figures for Kamiko’s timeline, it would have been ages before I could build more figures for a separate timeline and so I decided to go the “Full Archer*,” and simply make her a very retro figure in Kamiko;s timeline.  I already had one in the form of Erika, so why not another?  




Well, there you have the creative process involved in creating this character from beginning to end. I hope you found it interesting.

See “Archer” TV series if you don’t understand the reference. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archer_(2009_TV_series)

A fantastic guide into a very interesting character Gary

Quite an interesting glimpse in to the creation and evolution of the character and of the figure to represent the character.

And while I may be American, I recognized the bicycle reference, and found it quite amusing!

It sounds as thought Capt. Penny-Farthing is generally complete, but that, as happens in this hobby, she may still undergo minor adjustments depending on what interesting 1/6 scale uniform and equipment bits turn up in your online searches.

I find the character interesting because she embodies a sort of 1960s-1970s representation of a slightly anachronistic "English" adventurer from an earlier era; along the lines of "Grandpa Potts" from the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang film, or any number of eccentric English characters who showed up on American television sit-com episodes. From the time I was a little kid, there was something about that type of character that appealed to me.

I'm curious to see how most of the forum members, who are actually in and from the UK, continue to respond to the sterotypical-satirical characterization.

And then, of course, as you note, once you paired the head with the body, it was a near-perfect combination. Finding the right head-body combo and then equipping it with the right costume or uniform is an ongoing challenge, and you hit the bullseye with this figure.

Your own background sounds quite interesting. And... firing cannons as a hobby! Hard to top that for fun!

A photo shot a few years ago as we fired the starting gun for the Iron Man competition from a barge in the middle of Lake Tremblant


J1920x1235-23809 by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

And I've been tinkering with the idea of late, of creating a background scenario in which the war shattered United States and the war shattered UK join up with Canada, Australia and some of the UK's former and current Caribbean Islands to form a new, decentralized British Empire.

Kimono Troop Command wrote:

And I've been tinkering with the idea of late, of creating a background scenario in which the war shattered United States and the war shattered UK join up with Canada, Australia and some of the UK's former and current Caribbean Islands to form a new, decentralized British Empire.  

Sounds a bit like some of ActionYankee's world-building! Good stuff!

But firing a field gun from a barge in the middle of a lake... now that's really good stuff!

Where do you get "blank" cartridges for a field gun?

At least... I presume they are blanks.

Yes, they are blanks. The Canadian government is surprisingly touchy about civilians dressed as WWII soldiers firing live 25 pound shells into populated areas. We use original 25pdr shell casings that we put new primers in and pack with approx 1/2 pound of black powder and basically, KA-BOOM! 25 pdr brass casings however are now super rare as the only country still using this gun and making ammo for it is Pakistan, so we husband the 100 or so casings we have very carefully.

We have three guns, three ammo trailers, and three WWII vintage trucks to pull them; two 15CWT Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) trucks and one proper Morris Quad which are as rare as rocking horse manure these days.

Of the three fellows in the photo, the right hand fellow is a retired lieutenant-colonel of the Royal 22nd Regiment (infantry). The fellow firing is a retired warrant officer (one grade above sergeant in our army) of my old regiment, and the fellow on the far left is a former member of the Troupes de la Marine (French Army colonial troops, not marines)

Capt. Glynnis is sure a fine looking figure of a 1/6th figure. Thanks for sharing your thought processes in her development. The name cracks me up. You can't beat Monty Python.

I'm sorry but I missed the mfg of her head sculpt. I she a Kimi Toyz?

Loved the shot of your gun crew too!

Thanks,
Brian

gibri wrote:

Capt. Glynnis is sure a fine looking figure of a 1/6th figure. Thanks for sharing your thought processes in her development. The name cracks me up. You can't beat Monty Python.

I'm sorry but I missed the mfg of her head sculpt. I she a Kimi Toyz?

Loved the shot of your gun crew too!

Thanks,
Brian

She's a Super Duck SDH018 series.

Thanks Gary!

SDH018A, to be exact. It comes with three variants.

I wish I could come with 3 varients

Only three?

well desert comes later

Great background info Gary, I think Glynnis could be my favourite from your characters.

1st class photography as always, very impressive!

Beatlefan wrote:

Great background info Gary, I think Glynnis could be my favourite from your characters.

1st class photography as always, very impressive!

Thank-you. I'm personally very happy with the way figure turned out given that my original inspiration was on the vague side and left a lot of space to be filled in. However since these figures operate in a world of my own imagination, I'm free to decide the styles and since so much in fashion seems to come around again at some point, it's not completely unbelievable that sun helmets might make a comeback at some point in the future.

I, for one, wouldn't mind seeing an update on the ever so fetching Capt. Glynnis Penny-Farthing; have there been any changes to her attire or equipment over the past half year or so?

SCU_HQ wrote:

I, for one, wouldn't mind seeing an update on the ever so fetching Capt. Glynnis Penny-Farthing; have there been any changes to her attire or equipment over the past half year or so?

About the only thing I've done is to add a three-cell Thompson magazine pouch to her belt. I don't really see she needs much else.

Kimono Troop Command wrote:

SCU_HQ wrote:

I, for one, wouldn't mind seeing an update on the ever so fetching Capt. Glynnis Penny-Farthing; have there been any changes to her attire or equipment over the past half year or so?

About the only thing I've done is to add a three-cell Thompson magazine pouch to her belt.  I don't really see she needs much else.  

I agree, as Glynnis is nigh unto perfection in the Phicen world, she doesn't need much else... other than more photo appearances! Perhaps the next time you set up a "screen test" for the work-in-progress stone-and-foliage backdrop?

SCU_HQ wrote:

Kimono Troop Command wrote:

SCU_HQ wrote:

I, for one, wouldn't mind seeing an update on the ever so fetching Capt. Glynnis Penny-Farthing; have there been any changes to her attire or equipment over the past half year or so?

About the only thing I've done is to add a three-cell Thompson magazine pouch to her belt.  I don't really see she needs much else.  

I agree, as Glynnis is nigh unto perfection in the Phicen world, she doesn't need much else... other than more photo appearances! Perhaps the next time you set up a "screen test" for the work-in-progress stone-and-foliage backdrop?

I was thinking exactly the same thing.