Wargames Atlantic 28mm Age of Chivalry Foot Serjeants 1150-1320

 

the front of the box, with some beautifully painted examples

        A welcome addition to the Age of Chivalry range this box gives us the hardened professional warriors that formed the steady foot element of medieval and Crusader armies. I just picked up this box from the folks at Michigan Toy Soldier and it meets all of my expectations. Inside you will find twenty four of some of the best looking miniatures you will have seen in a long time. Excellently sculpted, perfectly proportioned and finely detailed figures with a wide choice of weapons and a huge choice of heads, these will be a great addition to your medieval collection.                                                                     The models are cast in a medium hardness light gray plastic that takes detail very well and are cast without a trace of flash and barely a trace of mold-lines. There are two sets of sprues; two frames supply a selection of weapons the other provides the miniatures and further selection of weapons.

Wargames Atlantic 28mm Great War German HMG

 

       I have to confess that I've been waiting (impatiently) for a long time for this release! The good folks at Michigan Toy Soldier provided me with this box for review. Now that they are finally here it seems the wait was worth it. Nothing says "stuck in the mud of Flanders" quite like a set of the classic Maxim MG-08 heavy machine guns. The box comes with three identical sprues each of which has a crew of three and two models of the MG-08, one with the base in the low firing position and another in the high firing position. I do find it thoughtful that we are provided with two machine guns to go with the different bases, more extra bits for the spare parts box! 

       Each sprue come with three crewmen and a staggering total of thirty-three heads in every imaginable combinations of headgear and gas-masks. The crews are all crouching/kneeling/prone but it would be a simple matter to attach the arms to a standing figure from the German Infantry set to make figures that are manning a gun in a trench section. The models are cast in a light gray medium hardness plastic that shows detail very well and is entirely devoid of flash. Only the smallest amount of mold-lines are present which are easily cleaned up with a hobby knife or file. The three crew depict the gunner, a loader and a spotter and the proportions and anatomy are realistic. The clothing drapes well over the figures and will reward both careful "three-layer" painting as well as contrast style approaches. The uniforms and equipment appear to be accurately sculpted.

Wargames Convention Update; Battlefields 2025 15MAR25

        A sure sign that Spring is coming (despite the single-digit temps as I type this) is the approach of Battlefields.....who needs groundhogs anyways? Saturday March 15th starting at 8am this perennial favorite will be back. This show always has a friendly atmosphere, a great Flea Market and an interesting selection of games all for the small price of ten dollars at the door. You can find them at Tabletop Events to get a look at the game schedule and attending vendors. Set the time aside to see some great games, see old friends and make new ones!

       You can find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com//proorcon. The tables of the Flea Market are free and there are always some neat door prizes to be raffled off.

Curtiss P-36 in 1/72 scale 3D print

        You have seen this pair in an earlier post but I thought that the comparison would be better after the print was painted. It is easy to spot the differences between the models; the 3D print lacks a delicacy of edge and has opaque glass for starters. As wargaming models I have to confess that I prefer the 3D print for several reasons. First is cost, on average the 1/72 scale model of the P-36 will run around $18.00US once shipping etc is accounted for, the print requires less than a dollars worth of filament. Second, survivability, the difference in durability between the print and the model is similar to that between a hockey puck and a Faberge egg, and we all know that gaming figures can lead a hard life. Third, time; we must understand the significance of the passage of time. Cleaning up the print takes a fraction of the amount of time that assembling and finishing a plastic model requires, both take the same amount of time to paint and decal. In light of those considerations I am willing to sacrifice a level of detail in pursuit of fielding the forces I desire with the limited funds and time that I have available.

 

I had to buy after-market decals for the print, that ups the per-unit cost to almost a dollar

Curtiss A-12 Shrike, my first 3D print in 1/72 scale in Chinese service against Japan

 

 

I finally found a Chinese aircraft in an interesting to paint scheme and just look at those spats!

       After cleaning up and prepping my 3D prints I went looking for an interesting paint scheme, Nationalist Chinese aircraft usually came in monochrome schemes but I found this sweet (and easy, unlike the Dewoitine D-501) scheme. The usual Americana colors and Acrylic floorwax provided the colors and glossy surface for decals while Vallejo matte spray knocked the shine down. 

 

       The Curtis A-12 was part of a series of attack aircraft that Curtiss designed for the USAAC during the thirties. It was proceeded by a similar aircraft (coincidentally all named Shrike) with an in-line engine the A-8  and followed by the twin-engine A-18. The links will take you to the corresponding Wiki articles

More monkeying around with my 3d printer

 

 

a Curtiss A-12 fresh off the printer on the left, supports removed and a coat of paint to the right

       I have been slowly building a collection of 1930's air forces to wargame with. Out of old habit I selected 1/72 scale for my collection (this was back in the days before 3d printing and the internet). In this process I came to realize that there were a LOT of designs that were not available in 1/72 scale and  a good many there were available were very expensive limited-edition kits. Not having the money to buy, or the time to build, dozens of high-fidelity scale models I figured that I should give the 3d printing world a try. 

        To my surprise and delight I founds that there were dozens of generous souls out there who were creating and giving away STL files of aircraft (and tanks and ships, etc etc). Taking advantage of this kindness I promptly downloaded  some files and scaled them to 1/72 and fed them to my handy Bambu Mini. After a couple of hilarious misprints (always add the supports!) I managed to print a couple of  good looking models. These cost me about 60 cents worth of filament and a few hours print time. Cleaning up the prints takes less time than building a scale model so its a win regarding my time. 

 

inadequate supports created this Cuthulu-esque looking thing

 

I found this file of a Curtiss A-12 Shrike scaled at 1/100 and took a stab at scaling it up to 1/72

not perfect but the scale model runs over fifty bucks and this is less than a buck!

 

 

I did the same with this file of a P-36

by changing the orientation of the print to nose-down produced a much smoother print

the painted model is a 1/72 scale from Revell

       On top of the cost savings the 3d printed models are far tougher than scale models. This is going to make a huge difference in the speed that I expand my airfleets (and save me piles of cash).

8 x 10 Full Color Photographs of Flintcon 2025!

 Without circles or arrows, but with brief explanations underneath them!  (there is no prize if you get the reference)    

 

Free Blades

 

Here is a Rollicking game of Free Blades, they are always fun games and the people running it are very into their game.