I'm not sure i'm up to the task but i've been asked to provide 3 or 4 illustrations depicting scenes from Arthur Ransom's books 'Swallows and Amazons' and 'Swallowdale' I've got pretty much everything i need (or know where to find it) but i could do with some help finding a few items. These must be suitable for Poser 4 and inluded; A kettle... one of those big old things with a long spout your granny used to use. Hair suitable for a little girl in the 1930s A casual dress (pinafore?) for same girl (age about 9) An oil or candle lantern A parrot cage (domed according to the book) A telescope A small anchor A trianguar penant as might be found atop a mast Any help with any of the above would be greatly appreciated. Jack

There is a domed birdcage at DAZ, in their free archive. Poserworld has a school unuform dress which will probably work for a 30's style child's dress. You may well find a suitable lantern there too. If not, 3D cafe has several, IIRC.

A telescope

This kind?

An oil or candle lantern

SAMS 3D had several of those.

oh man .. please tell me these books are finally being republished :)

The community here never fails to amaze me, thanks guys. Ok, just short of the hair, the penant and the kettle now... though i'm still looking for a better dress if anyone can think of one. Lyrra, i just went to my local bookshop and bought them off the shelf, but then i'm in the uk. Have you tried amazon? Jack

I had no idea that was from a book. I saw a short TV series called swallows and amazons when I was little. I thought it was great, but for some reason I never saw the final episode and never found out what happened to them. Is it a kids story or do you think I would enjoy the books as an adult? Love esther

Hi Esther. The series you probably saw on TV was set on the Norfolk Broads and was based on two of the later books "The Coot Club" and "The Big Six" and did not use the main characters from the original story. (There are 12 books in all, written between 1929 and 1960 something) The Swallows and Amazons books were indeed written for kids and the writing style reflects this. I live in the lake district where some of the series are set and Arthur Ransome certainly captures the feel of the location and the period of history. Would you like them as an adult? Well, I found myself smiling at the rather dated English middle class 'isn't everything jolly nice?' attitude that pervades throughout the stories. Childhood is idealised and the characters are rather Enid Blyton. I doubt children today would identify with the world and people Ransome portrays. But for all that, and even though I was reading them to get a feel for the characters, I enjoyed the refreshing simplicity of the stories. I think, then, that if you enjoyed the series on TV you will like the books even now. Jack

Lemur... The kettle.. sorta teapot-shaped?

Hiya Trekkie!! Yeah. That sort of thing but biggerer and metalerer :) Jack

A kettle generally has the handle on top, too.

Oh yeah... and a handle :P Jack

Ok! Let's see what I can do. :o)

Yep, exactly like that. :)

Lol... yup exactly like that! How'd you do things like that so fast?!! Welcome to the top of my xnas card list :) Jack

FK Design's braids (at 3dcommune) would be good for a little girl in the 1930s. Or maybe the Madelia Hair at DAZ?

For a dress...the Party Girl dress by PickersAngel? It's a bit fancy, but maybe with a more casual textures it would work. Or the Red Riding Hood dress for Maddie at DAZ. (There are other textures for it out there; it doesn't have to be red.) DAZ also has La Petite Chou for Laura. Again, it's kind of fancy-looking out of the box, but there are other texture packs out there.

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Thanks trekkie (hugs) i'll let you know when i've got something worth showing. Jack

Madelia Hair and La Petite Chou seem to fit the bill pretty well, with a bit of tweaking. Thanks randym. Damn, i suppose i've got no reason now not to start work lol. Jack

I'm glad I could help :o) You know I like challenges like this :o)

Attached Link: http://www.nessrepros.co.uk/index.htm

Attached Link: http://mystic-nights.com/directory/index.php

It's the cage for Captain Flint, isn't it. Check the Microcosm freebies at Runtime DNA. There's a good texture in the Riverbeds set for the sort of flattish, smoother, pebbles I recall from the sides of lakes in the Lake District. The colour might be a little too red, I recall something more of a grey with a touch of blue. I recall there being two BBC TV series of the first book, Swallows and Amazons, the first being black and white, and there was a film with Virgiunia McKenna as the mother. It's a slightly chilling thought that John and Roger would almost certainly have joined the Navy for WW2. John probably being a regular officer, while Susan and Letitia would have been Wrens, most likely. I don't think that's quite what the real children did, wasn't one a Doctor, but that's the age-group and it fits the fictional family. Think of "The Cruel Sea".

You can find some ship anchors here:

http://www.visualyinsane.com/MISCELLANEOUS.htm
(under objects/miscellaneous)

http://lann.club.fr/Pages/dload.htm

http://www.3dcafe.com/

Message edited on: 03/11/2006 16:43

Attached Link: http://www.dec.bc.ca/images/template_images/spyglass.jpg

Check Faveral's ships and accessories. Also the various pirates that are around. Nothing at DAZ 3D... High Seas Adventures for S3 at PoserPros has one, and if you have a freebie pick left, it's in that list. There's a spyglass and sextant in Faveral's nautical bric-a-brac set. The Aurore Accessories includes a ship's boat, not really right for Swallow or Amazon, but maybe usable in the background.

Attached Link: http://www.ukquad.com/swallows%20and%20amazons.JPG

svdl has a boat in free stuff that looks like that. Actually, he has two, a PP version and a P5 version (also works in P6).

Attached Link: http://www.humboldt1.com/ar/tars.html

Also, because i'm using P4, i'll have to try and avoid water close-ups but i thought i might take a crack at John working on swallow's new mast in Horseshoe Cove. Other ideas include the camp on Wildcat Island, climbing the watch tower near swallowdale, the trek across High Moor and seeing the Adder at the charcoal burner's camp. I do want to do a scene with Swallow in it, but i haven't decided how best to pull it off... I might have dust the dreaded P5 off and use that (shudder)

For Antonia Tiger (and anyone else interested lol)
The Swallows were based on the children of the Altounyan family that Ransome met in the Lake District in 1928 and who he taught to sail. There were 5 children: Barbara (whose name was apparently changed to Taqui, early on in her life), Susie, Mavis (everyday-nickname 'Titty'), Roger and Brigit. In later life Roger was a flying instructor during the Second World War and as Dr Roger Altounyan invented the Spinhaler, used by many asthma sufferers. I have no idea what happend to the rest of them.

The Amazons were probably based on Pauline and Georgie Rawdon Smiths. But if you want to know more you can visit The Arthur Ransome Society site at the link. BR>
Jack

Message edited on: 03/12/2006 02:38

Hi lemur01, well i have a little toddler so i'll get hold of the books and maybe she will enjoy them when she's a little older and i migt even read them to her. In the TV series i saw there were girls and boys doing dinghy sailing races, the swallows and the amazons, and then the children were split up from their parents during the second world war, trying to find their families. i remember one of them had a treasure box so of course when i was little i had one too. love esther

oh i may be thinking of the tv series the silver sword with the treasure box - i never saw the end of that one either!