And, once again, things spin completely out of control! UPDATED

       Yesterday I knocked together a little starfort for my 1/350 navy to shoot at. Well, forts don't just float in the sea by themselves so I started thinking about coastlines. But coastlines are pretty much endless while islands have a very limited amount of coast, so an island was the answer. But why would you build a fort on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere.....thus the island needed to have a reason that people would want it, a nice harbor perhaps. From that point I made the leap from cogitation to cutting foam and this happened;

Something brand new (for a change)

I thought that my new fleet might want something to shoot at

never mind where I'm going to get 1/350 scale cannons

       OK, the real problem is that I watched that classic Burt Lancaster movie The Crimson Pirate

which feature pirates sacking a fortified town. As I was watching the movie it struck me that my newly assembled fleet had no landward opposition. Having finished the movie, and still at odds with myself over which other dusty project to complete, I began toying with the mechanics of building a 1/350 scale fortress. Not being an abstract thinker I tend to do my thinking with my hands. The next thing I knew I was cutting foam. I'm afraid that we have seen where this can lead.....

 

getting the bastions right is always the problem 

I think that I have finally worked that out!

 

in this scale even the glacis becomes a real possibility!

Dusty Projects XVI; Lindberg HE-100 1/72 scale

       About fifty years ago I struck a deal with my cousin John, who was almost exactly a year older than I. We would buy each other the coolest World War Two airplane model that we could find for our respective birthdays, which were a mere six weeks apart. I took my lawn mowing money (which was paid at the princely sum of twenty five cents a job) and walked the mile and a half to the local K-Mart where I laid down almost forty cents for a model HE-100 for him. K-Mart at the time was a proper Department Store and had a Models and Hobbies section managed by a WW2 vet who was also a modeller. In return my cousin got me a HE-162 Volksjager model. We were both delighted with our gifts and promptly shot them to pieces with our BB guns. 

       I was, however, struck by the sleek lines of the HE-100 and resolved to get one as a "keeper" (i.e. it would be spared the ravages of the Red Rider and have a coveted place on the display shelf in my room). For reasons that escape me now this never came to pass, that is until a few years ago when I drove past a garage sale that was displaying a sign that said simply "Old Models", intrigued I stopped and took a look. Among other treasures I found myself a Lindberg HE-100 kit. I promptly made it mine. It had sat unattended in a box in The Vault ever since, until last week when my endless hunt for the errant Airfix Mayflower turned it up. I paused for a moment and then set it aside to build.

Book Review, The Cretan War

The Cretan War, 1645-1671
The Venetian-Ottoman Struggle in the Mediterranean 
Author and Artist, Bruno Mugnai
ISBN 978-1-911628-04-0

        I have always been a fan of obscure conflicts and I have to say that I was excited by this title as I had never heard of this war.The heroic efforts of the Venetians and Hapsburgs in protecting Western Civilization from the centuries-long assault by Islam has gone virtually unnoticed in the Anglosphere. Bruno Mugnia has produced a comprehensive work covering the Fifth Ottoman-Venetian War that continued from 1645 to 1671. The depth of his research is reflected in the four page long Select Bibliography (in at least three different languages, mind you). This is a product of tireless effort and true passion.

Dusty Projects XV, Polish Light Cavalry 15mm

       I won't bore you with the "while I was painting these" photos, you can find all sorts of that stuff further down the blog. Here they are ready to roll (that is as son as the matte spray dries) the famed Polish Light Cavalry LISOWCZYCY!  Based for Tercio rules these are skirmish cavalry that scout and pave the way for the dreaded Winged Hussars.

 

seriously, they are shiny because the Vallejo Matte Spray takes a bit to dry

The final leg of the Zeppelin game

The last element of the Zeppelin game

Ships play a layered and critical role in the combat history of lighter than airships.  Several Zeppelins were actually shot down by British vessels.  Most of the Zeppelins that were shot down by the British were shot down thanks to an assist from the Royal Navy.  And of course the entire blimp side of the game arose as an effort to fight off the German submarine menace.  In casting about for some 1/1250 ships to use in scale for the Zeppelins I discovered a company called Historia Emporium (here is their website ( https://www.greathistorygifts.com/ ).  They have hundred of 1/1250 scale preconstructed and painted boats from various high end manufacturers like: Navis, Mercater, and Hai at a wide range of price points (starting at $3 and extending over $100).  Apparently there is QUITE a market for tiny but hyper accurate models of vessels from both world wars and beyond.  I had no idea.

Dusty Projects XIVb Then The Winged Hussars Arrived!! UPDATED

       I found myself really struggling with painting these figures. They are fine miniatures despite their age, I just find painting 15mm figures to be taxing. So I put them down for a while and did other things for a bit to see about regaining my enthusiasm. Here are the results;

Dusty Projects XIVa, Now I remember why I like 28mm figures

seriously, it's me, they are lovely figures, but I can barely see them
I should have painted them long ago when my eyes still worked!

       Three days steady work and the Winged Hussars are nowhere near done. Granted, they aren't wearing uniforms which requires a lot more switching of colors and all. But, still, this is incredibly slow. I did take this bit of work as an opportunity to experiment a bit with the Contrast paints.
       Despite dire warnings that these paints shouldn't be mixed with other paints or thinned with water I went ahead and did both. Gulliman flesh gave an interesting color over a tan base but I had already primed these minis in white; to resolve this I simply added some Americana Burnt Umber and a tiny touch of red along with a couple of drops of water. Happy with the color in the mixing dish I applied it to the miniatures with pleasingly effective results. This opens the door to some other options, sadly I will have to wait until the sorry idiot running my state decides that business can resume before I can explore this further, assuming that any of the local hobby shops surviive.

 

so much for following orders....

Won't you take me to ... Zeppelin Town!

Having obtained and painted the planes and zeppelins I now needed some more or less stationary targets as "destinations" for potential Zeppelin raids.  The problem of my chosen scale (1/1250) for the Airships became clear to me quickly.  In 1/1250 scale a standard train track is about 1 millimeter wide, or basically a pencil line.  In the end I found a replacement set of building for a newer Monopoly game very inexpensively ($4) and decided they would do.  Well after a bit of a delay as I fiddled around with arrangement of the buildings I have now completed a general British town for occasional Zeppelin visits. 

Here is what I had to work with.  I purchased a replacement set of the game Monopoly.  The boards are simple mdf all about the same width and of various lengths as can be seen. 

Dusty Projects XIV, Minifigs Polish Winged Hussars

 

cleaned, and ready to be primed 

       The Vault has surrendered one of it's oldest denizens to me. A drawer full of Old Minifigs Polish Winged Hussars dating back circa 1985AD. Tipping the scales at over three decades of patiently waiting to be painted they are still nice figures. They are a close threat to the Claude for being the longest on the "To Do" list. I will get these little beauties primed tomorrow morning and then it is back to the brushes!

 

mold plugs that have to be removed with real tools, 

ahh yes, I miss the good old days

Strelets British Infantry in Attack 1701-1714 20mm 1/76

  

 the front of the box, it provides a good idea of the period uniform appearance

       Well, I must say that I love this set and hate it as well. I love this set because it covers a period that is barely addressed in 20mm and does it with some lovely figures, I hate it because I am just completing painting dozens of units in 28mm for the same period. Enough of my own problems. In this set we will find forty-four actively posed and delicately sculpted miniatures depicting the British Army in the period of 1702-1714. The figures depict troops that are, or are about to be, engaged in hand-to-hand combat. The uniforms are correctly depicted with deep cuffs and full loose coats without turnbacks. The only possible complaint might be the over-representation of Grenadiers, but as these troops were often assigned to lead assaults and Forlorn Hopes that point barely rises to a minor issue. The miniatures are cast in a stiff, but still pliable, rust colored plastic that holds the detail that was sculpted without signs of blurriness or mold marks. The depth and clarity of the detail will make painting a breeze. I find myself wishing that Strelets would credit the sculptor as whoever the anonymous talent that is behind these figures deserves full credit for excellent posing , anatomy, and having a feel for how uniforms drape over a persons figure, these are truly tiny works of art.

Very highly recommended.

Dusty Projects XIII, Get Him To The Greek UPDATED!

 

the lone figure that I finished painting back in January when I assembled them

       Having run out of of ships to assemble and paint I decided to take a step toward a different subject and a much larger scale. These beautiful Victrix Greeks have been knocking around the workshop for months now so I figured I should tick that box off and get them done. Besides, I had purchased some of the Citadel Contrast Paints before the world ended and was itching to give them a try.