Illustrations by author:

Those of you who subscribe to the list may have seen pictures of a recent IPMS meeting in California. One of the models was a greenish looking gentleman. I was surprised to see it because I had only just finished making the same model.

He came from the pages of the Czech Magazine ABC and the IPMS version was made by Peter Crow. The green man is one of a series of puppets and here is another. I decided that rather than add the strings, I would just have him as a standing figure.

I am hoping that Peter will send a few photos of his figure (I mean the green man) and the rest of the series at some time�Please Peter!!

OK. As a bit of light relief from the buildings here are a few pictures of the ABC clown.

Pic 1 Here are the arms of the man with most of the instructions as a backdrop. The drawing is the classic Czech way of showing a model and as you can see they work well for a reasonably simple model like the clown- there are about 30 pieces. The words, as you would expect are in Czech!

Pic 2 The body is a simple tube and the arms are tied to the shoulders.

Pic 3 The hat is made of four pieces, a three pointed bit and the three separate insides.

Pic 4 The head is another tube with a few small pieces to make the nose and collar.

Pic 5 The finished figure. Despite being in a children�s magazine this is a very well designed kit. The boots and cuffs caused the most amount of work. To give an idea of the size, the staff he is holding is made from a painted cocktail stick. This is a good example of the diversity of the models available in ABC and it is a pity that it is so difficult to get hold of a subscription. Although I know there are a few people who will arrange a subscription.