Dusty Projects Part VII A Random Spanish Nao

actually it is just the Santa Maria in fancy dress

       Still trying to hit one model a day. The Revenge took a bit out of me so I scaled back my aim and built one of the simplest kits in the pile the Santa Maria. Stock out of the box except I added a row of gunports along the side (simply squares of card glued on the side). I had painted ones on the Santa Maria but found the effect unconvincing. This is a little better, on the next one I think that I will drill holes and square them up with the door open above and a bit of sprue for a cannon.

Italians in Belgium Bombing Britain ... Why? Because we can.

So as I painted through the Germans and British from Blood Red Skies, I noticed that there was really very little variation, on either side.  The Brits are Spitfire's supplemented by a few holdover Hurricanes.  The Germans are ME 109's, Various bombers, and some Stukas and ME 110's for something different (they are kind of siting ducks).  To make the limited selection of models worse, there was a VERY limited variety of camouflage, The Brits have two patterns, and the Germans really only one pattern.  So as I was slowly losing my mind painting the same pattern over and over again (48 times for the Germans, but who was counting), I remembered that the Italians stuck their nose into the hornets nest too.  So I resolved to find some reasonably priced versions of the Italian entrants if possible for variation. Shapeways provided the following. 

In the foreground is a Fiat G.50  and in the rear is a Caparoni C.A. 135.  The Caparoni is substituting for a Fiat BR 20.  Both have a same silly tail design and defensive armament, although the Caparoni is a little smaller and can carry slightly more bombs, at a slightly slower speed.  

Book Review, William III's Italian Ally

       William III's Italian Ally, Piedmont and the War of the League of Augsburg 1683-1697 

       Author Ciro Paoletti

       Artist  Bruno Mugnai

       ISBN 978-1-911628-58-3

       Ciro Paoletti has added a noteworthy volume to the library of English- accessible books on the War of the League of Augsburg. Why Helion insists on belaboring every book they publish on this period with a headliner reference to William III is beyond comprehension (particularly as in this case he was William III for only part of the period of the conflict!), the subtitle Piedmont and the War of the League of Augsburg 1683-1697 is far more accurate and descriptive. The stupid title aside I found this a vastly informative volume.

       Written in a breezy conversational style (much like a well-done lecture),  Paoletti gives an overview of the situation before the outbreak of war, then describes Baroque warfare in general before delving into the organization of the Savoy/Piedmont army. From there he further examines the uncomfortable (for Piedmont) alliance with Louis XIV's France before heading into the reasons for Victor Amadeus' switching side. This leads into a year-by-year description of the campaigns against France culminating in Piedmont switching sides and finally achieving Victor Amadeus' war aims. The book is profusely illustrated with period maps and scenes as well as portraits of all the main characters. Further enhancing the illustration is a section of color plates by the very talented Bruno Mugnai. One quibble is the inclusion of period battle maps with no further description, they are of little use, or interest, when the reader doesn't even know which side is which. 

        Happily free of the ponderous translation errors that have plagued this series thus far, this book was an easy and enjoyable read. From a wargamer's point of view there could have been orbats for the armies each year rather than round numbers and new maps of the battles, sieges and maneuvers would have greatly enhanced translating this interesting series of campaigns to the tabletop. This book should provide the reader with an excellent entryway into this much neglected (in English) but important theater in the war of the League of Augburg.

       Very Highly Recommended

Dusty Project Challenge Part VI, The Revenge

        In an effort to force the pace on the COVID-19 lockdown modeling challenge I have been trying to keep on a one-ship-a-day pace, but it is difficult. Today we look at the Revenge, another fine kit from the Zvezda stable of 1/350 scale kits. Flawlessly molded in a soft tan plastic this snap-tite model displays the elegant detail and innovative design that the rest of this series demonstrates. Another set of superb decals accompany the model as well.

Go Big, or Go home! Zvezda 1/350 San Martin

the front of the box has some nice artwork

        Continuing with my lockdown inspired building spree I knocked this one together this afternoon. I should have suspected something was up when the box was twice the size of the Golden Hind kit and had some real heft to it, this kit is a hulking beast. That is not to say that it isn't as beautifully detailed as any other model that you would get from Zvezda; it simply dwarfs the previous two kits in this series.

Dusty project challenge Part IV; The Golden Hind

very nice graphics, too bad about the text crowding the picture so much

       Having enjoyed building the Santa Maria in 1/350th as part of my Covid-19 lockdown inspired Dusty Project Challenge I decided to turn my gaze to a rather larger model; the Golden Hind.  This is a very much more involved kit.  It is cast in the same medium brown plastic as the Santa Maris and displays all of the flawless molding and fine detail that is a hallmark of Zvezda kits. Parts fit and finish was very nearly perfect.

All At Sea Dealing With The Lockdown, Long Lost Project Challenge Part III (Updated)

       Still imprisoned due to the Wuhan virus I continue to bulldoze my way through the mountain of projects lying about my basement. Now it is the turn of the 1/350th scale 17th century ships that I bought over a year ago and never even opened. Well, that has been remedied and the Zvezda kits are up to my expectations. I have to admit that when I first saw the "snap-fit" label I was prepared to be deeply disappointed but I came to respect the skill and ingenuity of the designers when I was building their 1/100 scale armor kits. The ship models display the same high level of detail, flash-free casting and perfect fit that have become a hallmark of this brand. They also have the advantage of having been designed with wargamers in mind and are made to be used as waterline models. I started with the smallest model, the Santa Maria (yes I know that is a 15th century ship, but it the only thing close to a frigate available in plastic in this scale).

Shanty-town, and a few other things

       Promise completed, if a fair bit late! As part of the "Finish one of your old projects" challenge I got all of Rich Uncle Pat's  shanty-town completed today. I must say that it feels good to be clearing old projects off the workbench! Next I will take a crack at the 1/350 scale 17th century ships for the Epicurean Wars campaign. In the meanwhile here is a look at the shanty-townn before it gets shipped off to take part in R.U.P.'s African Cold Wars games.

 

fences, wells, a church and some farm buildings

Long Lost Project Challenge Updated! Again! And Yet Again!

       Having just completed one project that had laid dormant for a while, and just beginning another that was shunted aside for an embarrassingly long time, I have decided to challenge everyone to take a look in those dusty corners and find a project that you had started a while back but failed to finish. Get it out, dust it off, and get it done. Most of us will be imprisoned for at least the next three weeks which means that we have plenty of time to get cracking  and, if not finish the job, at least make some substantial progress.

       I have finished Zodhani Commando's Afghan terrain and now I'm working on Rich Uncle Pat's shanty-town buildings. After I have completed that I am going to get out my 1/350 scale 17th century fleets and get them built and painted so that the naval components of the Great Epicurean Wars will be properly represented.
 
      There is no prize, and precious few accolades, just a chance to challenge yourself and encourage others. Please post your project in the comments section with a link to your blog. For those without a blog or web page send a photo of your progress to me at daftrica89@yahoo.com (Challenge Project in the title please) and I will post your progress in an update to this entry.

       OldSarge gets first dibs for sending me the link to his Samurai Castle project; he has been 3-D printing this thing for a while now.

 

My Challenge Project

Zeppelins vs Blimps! Using Aeronef rules

Probably due to watching "Things to come" too many times (an old Raymond Massey movie based on an older book by H.G. Wells) as a youth.  The idea of a Zeppelin game has long rattled around in my head.  In a History class long ago a professor once told me that the Brits were so flustered/scared of the Zeppelins that they experimented with arming blimps to go fight with the Zeppelins.  During basic research for a sub chase game Anton and I have often discussed I discovered specific references to British schemes involving Blimps vs Zeppelins.  So I decided to combine the two into one project and here it is.

Hooray for Osprey!!! Free Books!!!! Updated

    The much better than fine folks at Osprey Publishing are GIVING AWAY FREE BOOKS to make everyone's enforced time-out a little less tiresome. Each week for the next four weeks they are offering five titles for free. You can check into their website and download the Ebooks for no cost, the selection will change week to week so check back often. And remember to support Osprey in the future as a way of saying thanks for this incredibly generous offer.

The End of German Bombers

Something Churchill prayed to have for several years.

So we in Michigan had one decent day last weekend, while we were all under house arrest.  So I grabbed my three boxes of Zvezda, JU-88 bombers (the standard Nazi "heavy" bomber of WWII), sat on my front porch to avoid upsetting my wife with the smell and glued the three bomber together.  I decided this time instead of giving another painting demonstration, I would do a build demonstration, and since it is the last of these bombers I am doing it will work out well as if anyone looks these posts over they will now see the build post first and then see all the painting demonstrations afterward.  The builds are all generally the same.  The planes go together generally easily, but there is always a problem or two.