Monday, November 25, 2013

Building the Perry Brothers American Revolutionary War British Infantry in 28mm

 
 
           A little while ago a friend of mine asked that I assemble some of his plastic minis for him. He didn't mind painting them but found assembling the plastic minis a bother, I on the other hand have come to wargaming from a plastic modeling background and enjoy assembling models rather more than painting them, I readily agreed. I have seen articles in the British glossies complaining about the bother of building plastics, this always seemed odd to me as even the very best metal figures need cleaning up before priming so it seemed a trade-off in my mind. I have built many plastic figures before, even customized the poses and figures,  but never paid any mind to the time and work involved, it was just me spending a bit of hobby time. To see of there is a significant trade-off in time I decided to keep track of the amount of time I spent assembling the figures so that I could compare that to the period of time that would be spent filing off mold lines, straightening rifles and smoothing bases on metal figures.
 
      The models in question were the British Center Company from the Perry Brothers series. These are superlative models with the classic attention to proportion and pose that is the hallmark of a Perry product. The figures were cleanly cast in a medium hardness glossy gray plastic that cuts cleanly and easily and takes plastic model cement happily (I used Testors tube and liquid for this experiment). I have heard of people using Super Glue to build plastics, this I have never understood as the plastic cement dissolves the surface of the plastic and, when it evaporates. creates a "weld" so that the joint is now a solid chuck of plastic, it will also not bond skin like Super Glue. These are all factors that favor plastic cement in my mind.
 
the box with contents

Sunday, November 17, 2013

MDG Wintercon Gamefest 7DEC13

     Dave Durocher et al are once again hosting the Metro Detroit Gamer's Wintercon on 7DEC13 at Oakland University's Oakland Center in Rochester Michigan. The events list is here and the link for other info is here. They usually have a pretty good show and this year they are collecting items for Toys for Tots, so drop by and support them if you can!

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

I'm Baaaacckkk!!!!!!

I will be running a big (as in over a hundred models) Fall of Berlin game at Pro or Con on 26OCT13 in the am session. That is if they put it on the schedule.

Don't forget to attend , they usually put on a pretty good show and the dealers are often offering some good discounts as well as a huge flea market.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Another loss to the Old Crew


     As if we wanted more bad news. We have suffered another loss, the ebullient Mrs P., mother of the redoubtable wargaming twins Mike and Steve has passed. While not a wargamer herself Mrs P. was always a smiling happy presence, willing to cook and clean as well as provide space for monster games in her massive basement.

     Services will be held at St Vincent Ferrer in Madison Hts, MI located at 1087 Gardenia. Gardenia runs east off of John R between Eleven and Twelve Mile roads, it curves a bit but stay on Gardenia and you will find it. Visitation begins at 10:30hrs with mass at 11:00hrs, lunch to follow.

     We will all miss you Mrs P.  

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Tom in town


     Tom from Texas will in town on the 14th and 15th of September so this looks like a perfect time to have the Steve B. Memorial get together. I will have some Mead and Port (Steve's favorites) as well as some beer and hard cider on hand to enliven the proceedings.

      We will probably be starting at around 10:00hrs on Saturday with a break near dinner time and then a return to the game room for an Ancients game (also Steve's favorite) sometime between 1800 and 1900hrs. I hope that everybody from the Old Crew will be able to make it so that we can say Good Bye to Steve in proper style.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Sad News and a Great Loss to his Friends UPDATE!!! 2nd UPDATE!!!!

UPDATE   UPDATE    UPDATE    UPDATE   UPDATE

I have just been informed that the service for Steve has been scheduled for 1SEP13 at 1600 hrs at the  American Legion Hall (there is a tank out front) 5551 Boardman Road Southwest, South Boardman MI 49680, near Kalkaska off Hwy 131 south of Kalkaska. 

Thus the meeting at my place is cancelled and you are all directed to that location, sorry for the short notice but this info came to me at 21:55hrs 28AUG13

My grand daughter was playing with my phone and it goes straight to voicemail, she also erased all of the phone numbers in it, anybody that knows Garrie H's number please advise him of the sad news. Also check over the other names in the email addresses and try to contact anybody that I have left out.

Thanks All


This is how I will always remember him; 
The Philosopher-King of Anastasia Beach


     It is with a heavy heart that I break my Summer silence to report the loss of my dear and great friend; Steve B. has died. Steve hasn't been a regular feature of our games for a few years now (the commute from Jacksonville was a bit taxing) but he is one of the founding members of our gaming group. His ready wit and humor made gaming with him a real joy. He was always ready to try new periods or rules and could reason his way through even the most convoluted Barkeresque rulespeak.

     Away from the games table Steve was the guy who could make a friend even before the first handshake. He was one of those Great Souls that seemed to fit perfectly into every group or place that he encountered. A man possessed of a brilliant mind and active body Steve had Degrees in History and Philosophy, he spoke Latin and Greek, he also was a formidable competitor in many forms of mixed martial arts and a fencing instructor and competitor, as well as a crew leader for Habitat for Humanity.

      He certainly was a welcome sight every time he crossed my threshold.

                   It pains me beyond words to think that he will never do so again.

                   The world seems smaller and darker now that he is gone.

      On Sunday, 1SEP13 at 1600hrs I will be hosting a small gathering of Steve's friends at my place, I will provide a bottle or two of mead, all you need bring is your fondest memories of our great friend Steve.

     The circle grows smaller, please remember our friends Steve P. and Little John that have preceded Steve into the Wargamer's Valhalla.

     Mark your friends well, and mind their keeping.

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Two Beauties from Zvezda 1/100 scale KV-II and Infantry Tank Matilda MK I photo reviews of kits

     These have been sitting around the workshop for a bit so I apologize for this "late breaking" news. Zvezda has once again produced a pair of excellent models, both have the fine detail that has come to be the standard associated with this company. Both models capture the look of the originals very well, one massive the other tiny.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

A Look at R.U.P.'s Dystopian Wars Kingdom of Britannia minis



   These appeared briefly in an earlier post and I promised to get a better look at them so here we go; Rich Uncle Pat tends to go "all-in" on anything that catches his fancy so when he decided to get into the Dystopian Wars game from Spartan Games he picked up a very large collection of minis and had them professionally painted by Cornish Mikey's Painting Service. He also purchased the specially made case for the minis to put them in. All in all a very well put together arrangement. The painting work is excellent (see the photos) and R.U.P. reports that the turnaround time was very good (particularly as it was going from Cornwall to Michigan). Enough of all that, on to the eye-candy!

the Avenger class fleet carrier, a vast and powerful ship

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Star Wars X-Wing minis game

    

  Justice&Rule came by a while back with a ton of these beautifully painted models of the Classic Star Wars ships (not those horrid things associated with the Part I/II/III tragedy, the REAL Star Wars stuff) and a set of rules. I have always had mixed feeling about playing 3D games on a flat table but have been able to work past it if the rules were fast and fun (Wings of War/Wings of Glory, Battlefleet Gothic and the Check Your 6 series). The tiny size of the rulebook meant that the rules would likely be easy enough to understand, even for a wargaming dinosaur like me.

Monday, June 3, 2013

A Fight in Lebanon, Part III the Denouement; Killdozer Rules All!

WARNING, THERE ARE OVER FORTY PHOTOS IN THIS SECTION, 
IT MAY TAKE A WHILE TO LOAD

     You will remember the situation thus far; The IDF is making a major road-clearing incursion into a PLO held area, the PLO has been tasked with delaying the intruders long enough for reinforcements to arrive and counterattack. Both sides are sure that they don't have enough combat capability for the job, this means the GM had designed a near-perfect scenario.

from the PLO end of the street the damaged Merkava was a heart-warming sight

A Fight in Lebanon, Part II Opening Moves

     We re-join the game as the IDF blinds come onto the table (for those not familiar with Two Fat Lardies rules; units are represented on the game table by "blinds" -a sort of generic marker- until an enemy unit identifies them by use of the spotting rules, this helps avoid the "thousand-meter tall general " situation that plagues many rules). For the PLO players this is often the worst part, not knowing if it is a Jeep or a Merkava until you force the blind to reveal, often with disastrous results for the unit forcing the reveal . For the IDF it is worse, you know you are a sitting duck but can doing nothing about it but move forward, scanning every window, hoping to spot enemy activity.........


IDF and PLO blinds play hide-and-seek around the Hospital complex

Friday, May 31, 2013

A Fight in Lebanon The Scenario 15mm Rock the Casbah by Two Fat Lardies


      A couple of weeks ago, to mark Dan A's return from the Army, Rich Uncle Pat ran a Rock the Casbah game at his place. The scenario was an Israeli penetration into a PLO controlled area in Lebanon. Each side had specific, and potentially asymmetric, objectives as well as very different forces and capabilities. This promised to be an interesting game.

the table, 
Rich Uncle Pat (R.U.P. henceforth) does a lavishly impressive spread!
I particularly liked the the national flags at either end, 
it reminded me of those old movies that featured a map-board to show the viewer the situation 

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Fireforge Deus Vult 28mm Foot Sergeants

      Following on the heels of the dismounted Knights sets come the Foot Sergeants box from Fireforge. Providing 48 figures at under a dollar (US) each is an achievement in itself but the fact that they are multi-pose and beautifully sculpted as well makes this an eve better deal. The figures are cast in a  dark gray plastic and the detailing is quite crisp. Figures are cast with the torso and legs as one unit allowing a variety of arms/heads/weapons to be used on each model. The box is the same sort of thin card that other European companies use (apparently they trust the shippers far more than Wargames Factory-whose box art is horrid, but the boxes are quite sturdy). Of course these are not just usable as Crusader figures they will work handsomely for any European foot troops of the period, a feature emphasized by the multi-part/multi-pose options this kit provides.

box art is evocative and atmospheric 

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Evidence of wasting more time on the Interwebs; VSF powerplants LINK FIXED

I forgot my workout stuff today so I spent the lunch break web-surfing. While wandering the hallways of whim and fancy I sumbled across this website  "The Museum of RetroTechnology". Obviously an effort of love and dedication this provides tons of really cool ideas for VSF style engines and power sources thay have a basis in real physics rather than some nonsense like "unobtainium" or "sturginium". So, if you like your Victorian Science Fiction to be more Science and less Fiction, take a look. I think you will find it rewarding.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

I think that I have found a new project



   At first I was just fooling around with my photos from vacations to get an idea what the Fort at Matanzas looked like in its glory days. The Spanish covered the Fort (and the Castillo) with a white stucco and then painted the trim in bright red. The building must have been striking against the green Florida coastline. Well, a couple of hours using Paint (yes, I know, an inadequate program for editing pictures) produced this;



    Now I find myself eyeing a pile of blueboard and trying to work out the dimensions for 1/60 scale model. I have contacted the good people at the National Park Service who have informed me that they are currently digitizing the plans and maps of the Fort and the Castillo.

       The question is whether I can wait for that to happen or do I just start cutting foam now?

Sunday, May 12, 2013

In Memory of a Really Good Man

     In the past week my father-in-law, Ernest Klingenberg, passed away. He will be greatly missed as he was a truly grand fellow. I had always wished that he had stopped to write an autobiography as it would have been one heck of a read. He was a child-soldier under the Nazis, a displaced person after the war ended, he emigrated to Canada and eventually the US where he became a citizen, joined the Army to opposed the hated Reds and retired as a Command Sergeant-Major of the Army after twenty-seven years of service. Along the way he fell in love with my mother-in-law and was father to three children, one of whom is my lovely wife.

     We wargamers often push our toy soldiers around with little consideration to the fact that they are supposed to represent REAL men, men like my father-in-law. People with real lives. It made me stop and think a bit.

    Vaya Con Dios, Ernie. We will miss you.

News Flash ! 13MAY13 will be Dystopian Wars

     Dan A has returned from the Army on leave and wishes to play as many/different games as possible. We will be complying with that request by letting him set the agenda until we have to return him to the tender mercies of Army, either at Fort Bliss or South Korea (although I understand that his parent unit, 1st Armored,  has just sent an HQ element to north Jordan, on the Syrian border, to "co-ordinate affairs"). He has chosen Dystopian Wars as a game he would like to play. Any of the crew wishing to join in be at my place at 1900hrs 13MAY13.

      See you there!

Friday, May 10, 2013

Perry Brothers 28mm British Center Company 1775-1783 American War of Independence

     Another treat from the talented folks at the Perrys Miniatures these were announced a short time ago. A good friend, Garrie H, was unable to wait for the U.S. distribution and ordered them direct from Blighty. He was kind enough to drop off a box for this review.

        The minis are up to the expected Perry standards (superb!) with the natural poses and proportions that are the trademark of a Perry sculpt. The uniforms fit and fold naturally and the weapons look to scale out correctly. Additionally the figures come with tricorns, rounds hats and helmets, allowing the modeler to build a large variety of the units serving in the Americas.  Now if they would only be so kind as to grace us with Continentals and French my day would be well and truly made.

box art, complete with the inevitable forest

Monday, May 6, 2013

Photo Essay: Fort Matanzas, Florida

       I first encountered Fort Matazas many years ago and have been fascinated by it ever since. It is a lonely little outpost that guarded the bay entrance to Saint Augustine  in the days of the Spanish rule. The town had been attacked by this back channel one prior occasions and the earlier wooden watch-towers had either decayed of burned down (cue the Scottish Lord from "Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail"), Needless to say this became both tiresome and hazardous so the Spanish Crown dug up the cash and built something a bit more durable. You can get the full story here from very informative the National Park Service's website. You can also get even more information about the Spanish Empire in Florida from the NPS website for the Castillo de San Marcos, well worth the time both of them!

a truly lonely outpost, even to this day

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Sorry about that folks

   Each year I am struck with a case of the doldrums (usually in my case it is late January/early February). This year it started upon my return from a Florida vacation to the crappy sleet and cold of a Michigan April I managed to play a few games and build one model but generally I slouched around and (heaven-forbid)  watched television (Marx was wrong; cable is pure heroin for the masses).

      I am happy to say that I have gotten over all that and will be back in action henceforth. Upcoming articles will cover the 28mm Perrys Bros Brits, the Deus Vult Foot Sergeants (also in 28mm) and a photo-essay of a small Spanish colonial fort that I visited in Florida.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Building the Wargames Factory 28mm War of Spanish Succession Artillery

I liked this kit so much that I built it right away (instead of adding it to the ever-growing pile of projects). Aside from a complete lack of instructions it was no problem to build but I can see where someone unfamiliar with 18th century cannon could run into a problem or two. I will point them out as we move along.

removed from the sprue the parts revealed minor mold-lines, 
these cleaned up easily with a sharp X-Acto knife

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Wargames Factory 28mm War of Spanish Succession Artillery set

     I found these during a recent visit to Michigan Toy Soldier and I must say that I am glad that I did! Cast is a medium gray hard plastic with crisp detail and nearly no mold lines these are very nice indeed. The uniforms are generic enough that they will do for most combatants (with a little extra work they could extend back to the Dutch War of Devolution and as far forward as the 1740's). The cost of 28mm cannon models has long been an obstacle to having a large collection in this period, these models solve that problem nicely as they come in at about US$20.00 a box complete with crew and tools and have a a bonus of two mounted commanders as well. An excellent deal.


again the dreadful box-art

Monday, March 11, 2013

NEWS FLASH Perry Miniatures set to release 28mm plastic AWI British

Another great entry in the expanding line of Perry Bros. Miniatures British troops for the American War of Independence. And they look lovely! Take a peek:  http://www.perry-miniatures.com/index.php

Monday, March 4, 2013

Blood Bowl Tourney?

This is something that I've been mulling for a while and we sort of tried out when Honest Dan was around. I think now is the time to actually try and execute it, though. Right now I have access to at least 3 computers which can play Blood Bowl: Legendary Edition, each of which can be transported to Anton's house. This means that we could, theoretically, have three games going all at once.

My proposal is this: We should run a quick, however-many-guys tournament this weekend as a proof-of-concept. It would be TV1000 and would stay that way, meaning experience wouldn't be accumulated during the tourney. This way it keeps things simple and we aren't slowed down by guys needing to do their book-keeping immediately after their games. It also would keep things less complex, as we'd all be playing with the standard lists.

For those who read the blog and are in the group: Are you up for this? Since the computer basically does all the rolls and keeps things consistent with the rules, you don't really need to be all that knowledgeable in Blood Bowl to play. So don't think that "lack of knowledge" is a preventative factor here. If you are, I'd prefer you to send me your teams to my email (Which is (my username without spaces)@gmail.com) or simply post them here so that I can have them made up beforehand and save us a little time.

If this isn't a good weekend for anyone, however, please speak up. I don't mind moving it to a later date where we can get more people, but I'd like to try it in the next month or so.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

An interesting site

     I know I spend too much time mucking about on the interwebs and not enough time building/painting etc but every once in a while I stumble across a gem. I found one such site w short while ago: The Prison Art Chronicles , an oddly named but highly amusing portion of the MillionMonkeyTheater.com website. It is a recording of one man's obsession with building models out of stuff that is essentially free (or nearly so) and he has built some beautiful models along the way. Take a look, also take a peek at the host page if you are at all interested in cheesy old movies (they review some real whoppers, truly MST3K worthy stuff).  Enjoy!

Monday, February 18, 2013

Building the Zvezda 1/144 Hawker Hurricane

     I have to confess that the Hurricane was always one of my favorite aircraft, overshadowed by the longer-lived and far sexier Spitfire the Hurricane was the backbone, muscle and sinew of the RAF during the hard days of the Battle for France and the the Battle of Britain. Easier to build and maintain, the Hurricane was numerically the most significant fighter of the RAF through those dark days. I always thought it looked cooler as well. Zvezda has added this aircraft to their growing line of 1/144 scale models and it is a beautiful kit.
box art is rather uninspired

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Building the Zvezda KhT-26 flame tank 1/100 15mm

     This little model hardly needs an assembly article, but I have dome them for all of the other kits so here we go;

the front of the box, nice illustration

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

More Russian Beauties, building Zvezda's Matador truck 1/100 15mm

     This is another of the kits that I did a sprue-review on a little while back and have finally gotten around to building. As always with Zvezda kits it is a little gem of detail and very creative thinking in the "make it a snap-tight: way. This truck was one of the real work-horses of the British war effort so if you are building a Brit army for WW2 you will need a goodly many of these. Good thing that they are only about five bucks US.


Sunday, February 10, 2013

Spending the afternoon with some Russian beauties, Zvezda I mean, Part IV; building the PZ IV d 1/100 15mm

     I remember doing a review of this kit ages ago when it first came out but, for reasons unknown, I never posted a build on it. Well better late than never, so here we go.

box art and contents

Spending the afternoon with some Russian beauties, Zvezda that is, Part III Building the PZ III Flam 1/100 15mm

     Having reviewed this kit some time ago I finally got around to putting it together. As anyone familiar with Zvezda kits would expect it went together without a hitch, the fit and finish of the parts was superlative. I still can't believe that these are snap-tight kits, they simply are as good as plastic gets in this scale.

box art, OK but not great

Spending an afternoon with some Russian Beauties Part II, The BA-10 1/100 15mm

     Having finished the last big boat project I needed something different. I cast my eye around my overcrowded "toy room" for something simple and undemanding and there they were, a bevy of beauties from the far-off land of Russia; a pile of Zvezda kits that I had picked up and never built! I scooped them up and got to work right away

      The Stug kit being a dead-easy build I looked for something that would be more of a challenge, there it was the BA-10. Not that there is anything particularly hard about this kit but is does have lots more parts and they are tiny (and my fingers are bratwurst-sized). Off to the races I went!


Box art, nice to see something other than all-green on Russian armor

Spending an afternoon with some Russian beauties, Zvezda that is, Part I The Stug III 1/100 15mm tanks

    Having finished the last big boat project I needed something different. I cast my eye around my overcrowded "toy room" for something simple and undemanding and there they were, a bevy of beauties from the far-off land of Russia; a pile of Zvezda kits that I had picked up and never built! I scooped them up and got to work right away

       First up we will consider the Stug III kit

box art, captures the subject very well

Friday, February 8, 2013

Final Nemesis

 

 Well, I finally took the time to complete the paintwork and add a dash of detailing on Nemesis. I think this has turned out pretty well for a spin-off of a failed project (it WAS supposed to be a small torpedoe-boat when this all started, an effort that I need to return to) albeit a fair bit larger than first planned. Even when I had decided to finish this project I still managed to get distracted and burn a few hours on stuff that would have been fine if left alone.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Nemesis, decision time

Well I have settled on two paint schemes to choose from, both are legitimate historical patterns and different enough from the yellow/black patter that the other ships are painted in to ensure there is no confusion. To test the schemes I painted one side of the ship in one pattern and the other side of the ship in the alternate pattern. I then flipped the images in Paint so that they looked more alike. Below you will find the pictures;







     Comments welcomed, other paint schemes still an option right now, but this project will be put to rest by Thursday night. Thanks to everybody who have provided comments, suggestions and links, here and over at TMP.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Nemesis Advances, UPDATED

     After sleeping on it, and reading the input from comments here and on TMP I decided to go with three slightly shorter funnels. I had realized that the six-funnel monsters were all armored cruisers and that many lighter cruisers had between two and four. Rather than cut down the Epipen tubes that I was using for funnels earlier I determined to make my own from rolled paper. I used the pen tubes as a form and slid the paper tube off when the glue had dried.

 I decided to add the rivets while waiting for the glue to fully dry

Monday, January 28, 2013

Nemesis Proceeds

     Frustrated by the whole funnel situation I decided to do the job with the highest level of tedium: rivets For me this is a Zen thing, I lose myself in the process and can clear my mind. I had covered the model in card last night so she was ready for rivets. Mind you, I am no hero like Col O"Truth, who hand-cuts his rivets from plastic rod. I cheat and use T-Shirt paint, applying tiny dots of it to the model in lieu of gluing individual rivets down. Someday I hope to grow up and join the ranks of Truly Manly Men who are capable of such feats, but for now T-Shirt paint it is.

there she sits, ready for rivets

On Funnels

     The reason for the forest of funnels on the latest model is simply this; that is how they built them "back in the day". Review the funnely glory of these beasts! All pictures are from the delightful Big Bad Battleships website.

count 'em, SIX funnels, Yikes!

Nemesis Arises Redux

     After failing to build a torpedoe boat I decided to upgrade Nemesis to a light cruiser sized vessels. This allows me to fit all four torpedoe tubes onto the hull and fit an array of guns as well.  Turning to the French idea of a commerce raider, heavily enough armed to defeat anything fast enough to catch it and fast enough to outrun any thing that can out-gun it she will sport a pair of eight inch guns as well as four each five inch guns and torpedoe-launchers.


the foam hull was pretty uneven and I used 60grit sandpaper to smooth the shape,
 keep a shop-vac handy if you are going to do this, it is very messy

Friday, January 25, 2013

Alas!....Nemesis no more...Panther instead

   

      As I applied the rivets to the model I was busy thinking about just how I wanted this model armed. The size and number of the torpedo tubes seemed to overwhelm the tiny hull, and the hull seemed to lack the sleek lines of a fast torpedo craft so I decided to re-direct the construction toward a colonial gunboat. This seemed much more in keeping with both the size and hull-form that I had made.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

The Rise of Nemesis

      So what are you supposed to do when your neighbor builds a huge and powerful Armored Cruiser and you would rather spend money on a new palace? You find an inexpensive way to deal with that nasty cruiser at nominal cost. Actually, that was the answer for countries that didn't have the naval budget of powerhouses like Great Britian or Russia; torpedoe-boats (yes that IS the way they spelled torpedoe back in the day, like the whole potato/potatoe thing). Cheap, easy to build and keep up and fully capable of sinking even the largest of battleships they were instantly popular with any nation seeking to defend their coastline on a constrained budget.

    Having built a few larger vessels and looking to try out a couple of different ideas I chose to build one myself. It will belong to whatever navy I choose to oppose my current fleet of Ironclad warships and it's name will be Nemesis.

the hull was made like the previous boats, blue board with card cladding, 
for details on this see the "Adventures in Blueboard and Foamcore" page above

an old Revell PT-109 kit that I picked up at a garage sale for fifty cents 
gave up it's torpedo tubes for the cause

Monday, January 21, 2013

The Colonel undertakes an astounding Project!!

    Col O'Truth  has embarked on another one of his madly rivetty projects and it looks to be his biggest yet; pop by and take a look but start at the bottom of the page to fully grasp the magnificent enormity of it all.

   I am humbled by his breadth of vision and his capacity for applying rivets (particularly the rivets).

Thursday, January 3, 2013

28mm Foot Knights from Eccentric Miniatures

    The things you can stumble across when wasting time on the interwebs never cease to amaze me (or is it that I am easily amazed????). I was searching for pictures of dismounted knights from the Teutonic Crusades when this popped up. Intrigued by the idea that somebody was selling weapons for 28mm knights (and promptly forgetting my quest for original artwork as the basis for uniform colors) I clicked the home button to find that they also produce complete knights to go with the weapons, in sets even. Most intriguing!

image1 (9K)
image of assembled and painted figures
 that I shamelessly lifted from the Eccentric Miniatures website

I right away imagined sticking the extra heads from other manufacturers on them to produce dismounted sergeants, then I frantically searched the site for crossbows (sadly, there are none) hoping to produce crossbow armed Norman footmen. Maybe if we all send them an email (or twenty or so....) they would be kind enough to produce a sprue of of crossbows, or bows even, and then a set of arms holding a decent length spear. That would be very nice indeed! Priced at $16.00US for sixteen figures these are very competitive. If you are thinking 13th century these could fill a spot in your army.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Plastic Soldier Company and Zvezda builds

    My old pal Gary over at oldSarges Wargame and Model Blog clearly had more free time over the holidays than I did. He has posted a number of  photos covering the Zvezda T-70 and the Plastic Soldier Company Tiger I kits, beautiful work indeed! 

      He also has a post covering the future releases from Zvezda. Among them a 1/100 T-35, a KV-II and a 1/144 Polikarpov PO-2 recon plane (eyes in the sky for Soviets!) as well as a bunch of 1/72 scale infantry including Partisans. I must say that I am excited that Zvezda continues to expand this range as all of their work thus far has been top-notch and inexpensive to boot.

    Take a look at Gary's other posts, he is a much better modeler than I am, and whiz with an airbrush to boot.