Thanks to Dave for permission to reproduce here a post he made elsewhere:
Bob O'Brien died this morning peacefully in his sleep after a short illness and a fall. He was 92.
He was one of those responsible for WRG and many Airfix Magazine article of converting soft plastic figures; articles that have influenced many of us even if we still have no idea where to get Banana oil!
Bob intoduced me to wargaming Seven Years War using the WRG 1685-1845 set (naturally) with a raft of home mods so was my first opponent. A couple of weeks ago when a friend umpired an Russo-Japanese war naval game, which I lost badly, I had the honour of being his last wargame opponent.
Bob's interests covered wargaming from earliest recorded history onwards and on land or sea and in the air. His impact on the hobby has yet to be fully assessed but he will be missed. As a veteran of WWII both with the BEF in 1941 and later in North Africa his store of ancedotes could both enlighten and distract. When telling him about our BattleAxe game 2 years ago I mentioned Halfaya Pass, his response 'I know it well'. Few men have driven the along the whole of the coast from the southern border of Turkey to Tunis. Much of it more than once.
Gentlemen if you knew or were influenced by him then, at your leisure, raise a glass to what Bob described as the wargamer's toast: 'Confusion!'
Dave.
In tribute here is one of his many articles on modifying Airfix plastic figures for wargames, this time from Military Modelling October 1972.
