Monogram 1/72 Boeing F4B-4 a return to the "Yellow-wings" period

 

 

 

       I'm still running away from painting more Hinchliffe Indian figures, so I had to find something different to do. A quick visit to the Heap of Embarrassment surrendered this little gem, a very old kit of an iconic U.S. Navy fighter aircraft, the Boeing F4B-4. This aircraft (and its near-twin the P-12) stood as the main force of U.S. fighter strength during the mid 1930's. It was celebrated as one of the most maneuverable aircraft ever flown and served as a trainer after retiring from first line service. Small quantities served in other Air Forces around the world. Of course there is a Wikipedia article of interest

Great Big Details on really tiny figures; Wargames Atlantic 10mm Samurai and Ashigaru, WOW!!

        Anyone familiar with my reviews of Wargames Atlantic products is probably aware that I'm a big fan of their products. Their 28mm minis have gone from strength to strength. They have now taken that attention to detail, quality of sculpting and value to an entirely new dimension, literally. Barely larger than a third of the size of Wargames Atlantic's usual product these new offerings are simply superb. The proportions, vitality and detail are all first rate. Combined with the fact that thirty five bucks gets you either 328 or 244 minis makes this an incomparable value, averaging just over eight cents a figure!

       The minis are cast in a medium hardness gray styrene that exhibits no flash and only a few mold-lines. Each box has four identical sprues. All the minis are one-piece figures (aside from the optional Mons that may be attached to figures) including the cavalry. After some rather odd sculpts in the Hail Caesar 12mm set from Warlord I had my worries that the one-piece casting of the cavalry would have problems. Happily this is not the case, the mounted Samurai are simply brilliant! Energetic, dynamic and beautifully detailed, I can't emphasize enough how well executed they are. The rest of the figures are sculpted to the same standard.

 

check out that quantity, I can finally buy "too much" all in one box!

Mikro 72, LWS CZAPLA Polish Recon aircraft

        As a way to take a break from grinding though tons of old Hinchliffe Indians I decided to dig an old kit out of the Heap Of Shame and slap it together. Well, it was an old kit but it was no case of slapping it together, this little baby took some work to sort out. 

       By the time WW2 started it was obsolescent but the brave Polish aviators made good use of it and its ability to land on rough airstrips and grassy fields to stay in touch with forward command centers. Of course there is a Wikipedia article on it.

 

a simple-enough looking kit .....

 

....of an uncomplicated airplane, a small amount of flash,

 but mold technology in the 1970's was pretty primitive

Getting close to the end (at last!) Hinchliffe Mediium Cavalry

        I'm nearing exhaustion with this project. Thankfully I'm also running out of Indians to paint. This batch is a dozen medium cavalry, quite possibly the worst troop type under WRG 6th Ed. More of the same old stuff but I feel compelled to document my misery.

        I'm going to have to take a little break from these to recoup my energy. Maybe another airplane model or a piece of terrain. We will see.

Oh Look! Another batch of Hinchliffe Indian Cavalry!

       Yet another in my quest to paint all of my Hinchliffe Indian army. Twelve more heavy cavalry based for WRG 6th ed.  The Indian army in the lists that go with 6th ed is an interesting force to play. On the surface it is loaded with mega-weapons; elephants, four-horse heavy chariots with extra crew, all of the infantry having a two-handed weapon as a sidearm, on the other hand it is loaded with near useless troops like medium cavalry and lacks any troops that can handle bad terrain. To me it provides a lot of blunt force trauma which fits well with my fighting style. Also they are flashy, which makes them more lovable when they lose.

 

       Now I have only a couple of dozen cavalry left and a bunch of light infantry left, oh, and a couple of elephants and chariots..........sigh.

Successfully Seeking Solace in Styrene, the return to spats, the K-P Avia B-35

        As I grind on my next batch of Hinchliffe Indians I find myself spending too much hobby time waiting for paint to dry. To fill these periods of downtime I dug out yet another ancient kit from the Heap of Embarrassment; an unusual airplane from a tiny eastern European company, K-P's Avia B-35. First released in 1974, I bought this kit when it was relatively new back in 1977 from the Squadron Shop in Madison Heights MI. It had shunted from house to house as I got married, had kids, moved three times and retired, now it's finally getting built. 

       The Avia B-35 was the Czechoslovakian  Air Force's first modern monoplane fighter. It was built with fixed landing gear to speed the test-flights and gain experience in advanced fighter design and construction. It had excellent performance, being a near-equal to the BF-109. Only three were ever built with the third model having retracting landing gear. Of course there is a Wikipedia article on this aircraft as well as it's successor the Avia B-135.

        At first glance it seems a fairly crude model, closer examination proves that to be an entirely accurate estimation of the situation. Plenty of flash and parts deformation combined with some sloppy mold-marking (panels lines, which are inscribed, but don't match up as they cross joint lines) gave me some serious reservations as I started assembly.

 

not a complex kit, check out those helpful instructions!

More 25mm Hinchliffe Indians, Heavy cavalry

 

 

 

not the most effective troops on the WRG Indian list

       Having finished the Lindberg Arado AR-234 I once more turned my attention to the pile of unpainted Hinchliffe Indians. There are a few infantry left and a couple of chariots but the largest body of work that remains is the forty or so cavalry. Picking through that pile I selected a dozen heavy cavalry and got to work. The simplicity of the minis and the very basic uniforms made this an easy paint job, taking only about six hours in all.

 

heavy cavalry with javelin and shield aren't world-beaters under WRG 6th

 

these minis hark back to the days when even irregular cavalry marched in step

        Next up will be a bunch of medium cavalry, which are required under the list and are pretty much useless under WRG 6th, making the painting even more of a chore.

Unsuccessfully Seeking Solace in Styrene, Updated Lindberg Arado AR-234

 

I do so love the old school box art and would pay handsomely for the original painting

         Having painted the Indian elephants and a bunch of odds and ends that had attempted to go AWOL from their packages I again dug around in The Vault seeking the remaining elephants that I just KNOW are hiding somewhere. After a half-hour of searching I was left unrewarded and vexed. I decided to let the matter go for the time being and seek solace in some styrene. The first kit that came to hand was a garage-sale find that had set me back the princely sum of fifty cents; an ancient Lindberg Arado AR-234 that had been manufactured in the late sixties/early seventies and had been started by it's previous owner.

 

the previous owner's heavy coating of paint didn't help assembly

 and an unusually poor fit made this a unsatisfying build 

the amount of putty needed to close the gaps gave me a reason the sand away the huge rivets

Pachyderms and Potpourri

 

 

I got the elephants that I have in hand finished and an odd assortment of others too

        I my rummaging around looking for my errant elephants I ended up digging through a box of minis that have been in storage "for a while" (think that warehouse at the end of Indiana Jones). In the process of this I came across some minis whose packages were so old that the plastic bubble had broken down and shattered, leaving the minis loose on the bottom of the box. I took this as a sign that I should paint them. So I added them to the pile on the workbench and started plugging away. This reminded me of just how much progress has been made in the last forty years in the field of miniature design and casting. Most of these minis were simply horrid. But I had taken the step so there was no going back.

 

 some "interesting-looking" figures right to left;

an English longbowman and Spanish sword and buckler from Campaign Figures

 a Cossack axeman and a Polish infantryman from Hinchliffe

 

 

some rather nicer (and newer) Roman Command from the old RAFM range

 

       Now I must decide whether I am going to confront the Indian cavalry or seek solace in styrene....

25% off all printed books from Helion this weekend!!!

🍂 AUTUMN EQUINOX SALE 🍂 STARTS TODAY!

As the days grow shorter, so do our prices! Celebrate the Autumn Equinox with Helion’s exclusive sale from Friday 20th to Monday 23rd September. Enjoy 25% off on a wide range of titles, including military history, aviation, and more. Whether you’re building your collection or looking for the perfect gift, now’s the time to grab those must-have reads! Don’t miss out – this offer is only available for 4 days. Shop now at Helion.co.uk and fall into great savings!

                         Get 25% off All Printed Books!

 

       The fine folks at Helion & Co. (who have caused me to part with an absurd amount of money over the years) have placed ALL of their printed books on sale at 25% off through this weekend. Helion bravely goes where few other publishers go and has printed dozens, no hundreds, of specialist titles over the last few years. I have almost all of the Century of the Soldier series and I can attest to the quality of the research, the brilliant illustrations and willingness to publish arcane subjects. Take a look, you may be pleasantly surprised.

 

quite possibly the most valuable two cubic feet in my house

although the Osprey Men-at-Arms might be pretty stiff competition

Mining the Mountain of Shame, or The Elephant in the Room

        In my quest to paint every single figure in my Indian army collection I put on my miner's helmet and grabbed a powerful torch and entered The Vault with the intention to gather together all of my elephants so that I could begin painting them. As in all things in Life, it wasn't as easy to do as it was to say. The sea of (often mislabeled) brown cardboard cartons cast up flotsam and jetsam that distracted me from my mission (how did I end up with four 1/72 Airfix HS-129s that aren't in my records?) but eventually I located the box marked "25mm Ancients". This forty-plus pound box was carefully maneuvered out of The Vault and deposited on the small gaming table. Opening one of these boxes is always an adventure as they belong to the Pre-Record-Keeping era so I'm never really sure what's inside. Internal organization consists of how many cards of minis I could cram in rather than any sort of organizing by period or nation, see below:

 

some of these date back to the mid 1970s,

 I felt like Indiana Jones entering an ancient tomb

Mission Messerschmitt Me109 Completed

        It took a bit of grind but I got he  whole half-dozen done this morning. Three BF-109b/c models and three BF-109e. I painted them in a mix of schemes between the Spanish Civil War and the 1940 campaign in France. This is a particularly bothersome period to paint for as the Luftwaffe was experimenting with many different ideas regarding camouflage and often left the final scheme up to the ground crews. I did the best that I could while keeping in mind that I am building toys for wargaming not a model for an IPMS grand championship. As usual I build these straight out of the box with no alteration of the models aside from leaving off some fragile bits that would just get broken off during play. Here is the whole crowd together:

 

back to front , right to left; 

three Heller BF-109b, leftmost painted for Spain, the center and right for Poland 1939 

two Airfix/MPC BF-109e, rightmost Heller BF-109e all painted for France 1940

Pro Or Con 2024 5OCT24

        The Metro Detroit Convention Season opens with Pro Or Con this coming 5th of October. This is a fun local convention and provides a chance to meet old friends and make new ones. The usual free Flea Market will be supplemented by I-94 Enterprises, Firelands Games,  Golden Rhino Games,  and RIW Hobbies; so you can sell your old stuff and buy new stuff at the same time!

 

       I will be running an ACW naval action  using these rules, they are easy to learn and play very quickly.

       Festivities start at 8am and run through 11pm with three gaming session separated by generous breaks between to shop, eat (and drink, there is a license on the property!) or chat with friends. The Elk's Lodge is located at 31117 Plymouth Road, Livonia MI. You can get the latest up-to-the-moment information at TableTop Events. The link will take you to the Pro Or Con page. Definitely not to be missed!

Never Forget, Never Forgive

 

 

the enemies of civilization are relentless, 

we must be eternally on guard 

The Anton Ryzbak branch of the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke

an old one but a good one, most Heller kits appeared in the 1960's through the very early 80's

the raised panel lines and rivets give away their age, but they still build up into good looking models

        Pleased I was with the quick addition of strength to my Polish air force by the "group build". In light of that I decided to take it to the next step and build ALL of my BF-109 kits at the same time (there are only six, so it wasn't that much of a tall order). Four of the kits were from Heller, three were BF-109 B/C and one was a E model. The other two kits were the old Airfix mold, one packaged by Airfix the other under the MPC brand. With a fresh No.11 blade in my X-Acto knife and a bottle of Testor's liquid cement at my elbow I dove into the task.

The Last of the Indian Archers

 

the simplicity of the uniform greatly speeds painting

        Between model airplanes I am still grinding away at the unpainted 25mm Indian minis. Here are the last of the infantry archers. Now all that remains is the slingers and all of the foot will be completed. Remaining items are three more chariots and a bunch of elephants.

 

I am quite happy to have finally gotten these lads painted

 

I now have more archers than are allowed under the WRG lists

this makes me happy for some reason

 

 

years ago I had a friend that put far more work into painting the backs of his troops than he applied to their front, his reasoning was that he hoped to spend more time with them facing the enemy than running toward him, it makes sense when you think about it

The Polish Air Force, so far

        I have been plugging away at my Polish Air Force between bouts of painting Ancient Indians. The balance between model airplanes and painting minis helps keep things fresh and keeps the creaking wheel of enthusiasm turning. Having just completed three PZL 11c (Poland's main fighter aircraft in 1939) I thought that I might just get out the entire crowd and take a "family photo".

 

front row; the PZL-23 from Ruch and another from Heller 

second row; PZW72 kit of a PZL P-7, a Mistercraft kit of a PZL P-11c, 

another Ruch PZL-23 and a Heller PZL-11c

third row; Revell PZL P-11c, another by Mistercraft, and lastly another Revell P-11c

Emergency Testing A Scenario, I find myself unprepared for the Convention season; ACW naval at 1/600th scale

        An offhand comment when I was last talking with Zhodani Commando brought to my attention that I have not prepared an unusual and interesting game to present this convention season. Oh The Shame! Frankly four weeks will not provided enough time to produce an entirely new game so I am forced to fall back on a previous offering, it truly is a shame. My first thought was to dust off the Siege of Castillo San Marcos as it has been a few years since anybody has seen that set-up. Then it occurred to me that it would be easier to run a naval game (terrain is SO much easier) and it had been a dog's age since I ran my ACW naval game. In light of that thought I worked out a scenario of subtle complexity that might just satisfy. Of course I made the Saturday night guys playtest it!

 

the impatient Confederates come out to play

 

the Union Navy had other plans and a lucky shot hit Fort Gaines magazine,

 the explosion was thunderous

 

both navies felt it necessary to fight in the narrows, 

there was much contact but little actual damage from the collisions 

 

       This scenario might just do the job but I miss the spectacle of a lavish game! Ideas? Should I revive the Castillo game?

 

 

        Awaiting input

Yet More Hinchliffe Indian Soldiers

        I'm sort of getting into painting these minis, the ultra-simple uniform combined with the straightforward sculpting makes painting them a breeze. I rounded up every last spearman that I owned and got them all painted in one afternoon. That is breakneck pacing for me. Is helped by the fact that the uniform is a white cloth wrapped around the soldier and covers him waist to ankles. I don't think there are eight colors on these minis.....

 

I'm willing to bet that the shields were not left blank

All-in on the PZL11c

        Having built one I figured "What the heck, I'll build the rest of them!" So I dug around in The Vault and found the two remaining ones and stuck them together (one was from Mistercraft, the other a venerable Heller kit). I didn't take any "in progress" shots as the breakdown of the kits in nearly identical to the Revell kit. The Mistercraft kit had some assembly issues and if you are  looking for a 1/72 PZL P-11c I would recommend the Heller kit. 

 

the Mistercraft kit has superb decals and included Polish markings as well

Once More, To The Sky!!! Revell PZL-11c

 

I love the old box-art

        Switching away from painting minis for a moment so that I don't lose enthusiasm I dug up a Revell kit of the front-line Polish fighter of 1939, the PZL-11c. I have built this kit in the past and know that it is a quick-build model that looks the part when it finished. Assembly was quick and the parts-fit was exemplary. The kit does come with a pilot, but, well you will understand when you meet him.

25mm Hinchliffe Ancient Indian Archers

 

only one more batch of archers to go.....

then there is the spearmen, light troops and elephants.....

       I keep plugging away at the pile of metal trying to get these Indians finished so that I can move on to completing a few other projects before the end of the year. Simple figures with a very simple palette, if the paint dried faster I could get twenty-four of these guys knocked out in a day!

 

nothing special by way of brushwork, 

I'm aiming to match my style from thirty years ago so they blend with the veterans

        Hinchliffe was one of the original "kings" of British manufacturers of historical minis. Their catalog was huge and always expanding, I awaited the new issues of Battle magazine to see what was coming down the pipeline. It seemed that they would eventually produce figures for every conceivable conflict. Roman testudoes to Darius on his throne! I would hoard my funds to buy a few of them at a time. I ended up with thousands of them and am only now getting around to painting them!

25mm Hinchliffe Indian Chariots

         I decided to dip back into painting ancients by finishing off my collection of 25mm Hinchliffe Indians. I have been toting these minis around for nigh unto forty years now and have only gotten some infantry painted and based. These chariot models have been doing service in a state of nakedness (based and primed but nary a spot of paint) for simply ages, it was time that they had their status upgraded. I sat myself down and started work, I kept an example of one of the painted figures from the army in hand so that I could make an effort to match the style of the existing troops. After three days of steady work I had my six chariots finished and I am rather pleased with them. The simplistic style of the minis argued for a simple approach to painting, much like my "toy soldier" approach that I used on my 3-D printed Swiss, so I stuck with bold colors applied in a blocky style.

 

I have a few more, as yet unassembled,  to fill out the list and give my subgenerals a ride

 

these will bring a splash of color to an otherwise rather sedate palette 

 

all that remains is for The Housemartin to get back to our regularly scheduled 

Thursday morning "Old Dudes and Old Rules" WRG 6th Ed. ancients games