Dr Syn, a Smugglers tale of Romney Marsh. ** new figure page 17 **

[Malamute]

Some of you may have seen the figures I am converting in The Pikes, Muskets and Flouncy Shirts Painting Club to represent Dr Syn alias the Scarecrow.

Here I am going to document my progress in realising a number of characters from the books and films to Bring Dr Syn and the Scarecrow to life in our current C18th smuggling games. Whilst the stories take place in and around Dymchurch and the Romney Marshes we will be transporting these to Dorset so as not to have poor Jimbibbly build new scenery

Here are some images of the Scarecrow from the well know Disney film/TV series and some from popular literature:















Here is my interpretation of the Scarecrow riding his great black horse Gehenna . He is made from an Outpost Miniatures Highwaymans body and Rapier Miniatures Scarecrow head and a Front Rank Miniatures rearing horse. Green stuff has been added in various places to tidy the figure up and add detail. The horse has been painted to represent the devil horses the smugglers rode to terrify the revenue men and the locals.





I have converted another four riders and horses plus dismounted versions to represent the other Hell Riders including Hellspite and Curlew as featured in the Disney film pictured above.

There are also another ten dismounted smugglers who have all been converted to wear sack masks made from Greenstuff and I am now sourcing figures for some of the major characters including the good Dr Syn himself and the mute Mulato seeking revenge on Syn who is armed with a harpoon...

It should be a fun project and I will document all progress here. Tomorrow I am going to paint Curlew:



 

[TheBlackCrane]

Fantastic! Classic literature which is too-little known. The BBC radio series' were pretty good too.
Look forward to seeing more.

[jambo1]

Brilliant!! Mind my father telling me about Dr. Syn then I saw the film, really great stuff!! Will be following this with great interest.

[Silent Invader]

Fascinating. 

[Malamute]

Fascinating. 

Not surprisingly this has really captured my imagination. 

To start I knew very little beyond the Disney show which I had never seen. I came across the first book and found out there was a whole series of them spanning the life of Dr Syn/Captain Clegg/The Scarecrow. There is much more to the character than the kindly Robin Hood style figure as portayed in the Disney film by Patrick McGoohan. For Starters he is a cold blooded murderer who dispatches people with very little conviction

So much potential for gaming

[Silent Invader]

Sounds great!!!!

I know nothing of the story and am looking forward to watching the game develop (and playing it  ) 

[Malamute]

Sounds great!!!!

I know nothing of the story and am looking forward to watching the game develop (and playing it  )  

Dr Syn is the kindly vicar of Dymchurch under the wall in the late C18th. He does have however a wicked past. He is no other thanCaptain Clegg a much feared pirate, who was supposedly captured and hanged  some years previous.
 He finds the life as a country vicar boring and looking for some adventure becomes involved in a social smuggling ring and assumes the identity of the scarecrow to terrorise the locals and revenue men. He soon takes control of the smuggling gang and for a while everything is prosperous in the town, until the navy arrive looking for smugglers under the command of a sea captain previously charged with hunting down Captain Clegg.
 The captain brings with him a scared Mulato prisoner who has a skill in sniffing out contraband. The Mulato also happens to be one of Captain Cleggs previous crew who he tortured, marooned and left for dead until the navy rescued him.....
That's the first story in a nutshell. There are seven or eight books which flesh out the whole backstory, his adventures as a pirate and how he came to Dymchurch.
It's proper no nonsense adventuring written in the early C20th.

[Silent Invader]

Excellent!

[Michi]

That is very exciting! 

[Bugsda]

Brilliant work  

There's seven books in all and a Hammer film with Peter Cushing.

[Malamute]

Brilliant work  

There's seven books in all and a Hammer film with Peter Cushing.

Yeah,Peter Cushing IS Dr Syn.

[Michi]

Yeah,Peter Cushing IS Dr Syn.

I thought you were Peter Cushing... 

[Phil Robinson]

Stirring stuff indeed.

Romney Marsh? Didn't he play for QPR 66 - 72?

[Dr DeAth]

Excellent conversions, looking forward to the first game

[Helen]

Lovely and inspiring Nick. Look forward to seeing more on this story.