Hanging Gardens

A wonderful present arrived from my mate John Smillie yesterday; well, two presents.

The small complex of Eastern buildings is sturdily made from plywood, with removable interior floors.  He also gave me 8 or 9 small but very pretty fruit trees, some of which have multiple trunks.  I've just put these on the roofs, for the purposes of the photo.

Below is a view from the rear, I just love the buttresses.  If I ever get an Eastern city built, this will take pride of place.  Thanks, John! 

John has recently set up a blog about 45 Commando in which he served, and in which his son currently serves.  He is going to build a model, using a range of 54mm Marine figures he designed and sculpted himself,  to be presented to the Commando.  Have a look here.

He's also in the early stages of making some cypress trees for me.  No one makes any cypresses, to my satisfaction, and they are a key element of many mediterranean battlefields, so I await these with considerable anticipation!  I hope they will look something like the pencil-thin ones, below, which I saw on holiday in Greece.

John takes commissions, so if there's a building you've always fancied, he might well be up for it.  Drop me an email and I'll forward.