20mm ACW figures from HaT Industrie

      Fresh off the presses at HaT comes a selection of ACW infantry and command figures. Represented are Union troops marching, Confederate troops marching a group of command figures that are usable for either side and a sampler box that has one sprue of each type in it. These are all cast in a soft shocking blue plastic that takes detail well and shows very little flash. The single-themed boxes come with standard HaT box art (which means well above average) and the sampler set has a childishly drawn scene and Spanish language labeling. The back of the box shows digital renders of the figures that are in the set. 

        All of the troops wear a mixture of uniforms but none are in greatcoats. The Union set features Hardee hats while the Confederate set has soft hats; in both boxes a fair number of the models are wearing kepis. The Command set has standard bearers, drummers, and officers one of whom is mounted, the equestrian sculpt is very well done. 

Back to the Spats! Building the Fiat C.R. 42 Falco in 1/72 from Revell

       This is a benchmark aircraft; Italy's last biplane fighter and the last biplane to score a kill in aerial combat; plus it is really cool looking!

 

ah, the good old days when box covers were real artwork

I always wondered what happened to the original paintings

 

       Italy brought the C.R 42 into service in May of 1939 eventually producing over 1800 of them. It served on every front where Italian forces were engaged (and a few where they weren't i.e. The Battle of Britain). It had a reputation for being a robust and agile fighter, despite being slower and under-armed. This model from Revell dates back over fifty years, closer to the time of the Fiat's last aerial victory than to today!

Revell 1/72 P-36 Build

 

 

       Another of the classic old Revell kits from my childhood, this little gem is one of my favorites. Sure, it has raised rivets and panel lines but they are very finely done. The parts fit is exemplary and the overall outline is spot on. Not bad for a kit that is over half a century old. This kit might just be a gate-way drug into yet another small air force; I have models of all the Polish combat aircraft, the Finns would be a bigger proposition as they lasted longer than the Poles but it still had a limited inventory.  As usual I'm building the kit "S.O.B." (Straight Outta the Box) which includes using the standard kit decals (which look pretty good in this case).

Spats, and all that.........

 

 

garish paint-jobs are a bonus

        For some time now I have had a side-hobby of collecting aircraft from the late 1930'-WW2 era that fit into a small number of focused areas of interest (unlike my wargaming which is almost traumatically unfocused!); Fixed undercarriage/Spats, The Polish Air Force 1939, WWTT (What Were They Thinking) and Too Cool (this last is hugely subjective).  Just how an aircraft earns a place on the lists is subject to an arcane thought-process that is unclear even to me (it seems to involve single-engine aircraft as an aspect), but having a few narrow fields keeps me from branching out too far into the weeds. 

Gaming Update 26DEC20

 I will be hosting a game at my place 7pm on December 26th 2020

I would love to see you here

P.S. I have tested Covid free twice now so I am out of the woods on that front!

Product Review, Rubicon Models Market Produce Set 1 28mm 1/56th scale

 

just what the pillagers were looking for!

       Every once in a while I find something that I didn't know I needed until I saw it at Michigan Toy Soldier. This is one of those things; a set of market goodies to add that little touch of realism to your game. This sort of thing is normally cast in resin or plaster which is usually expensive and fragile. These beauties are cast in light durable plastic which displays excellent detail.

More With The Spats????

the Henschel HS 126, so ugly that you have to love it 

        I got a surprise Christmas gift from a friend, I had mentioned that I was looking to fill a hole in my "WW2 warplanes with spats" collection and he gifted me this little beauty. Thanks Steve!

Plane Crazy

        A near-brush with Covid and the resulting upsetting of my schedule left me with precious little time for hobby stuff over the last couple of weeks. The odd hours that I had I spent finishing up a few aircraft models for various wargaming applications. First I finished up the airliners for the Cold War in Africa  games that R.U.P. has been running, then I built and painted a couple of Korean War U.S. Navy models for a friend of mine. These all were a refreshing change from slogging through dozens of soldiers (an effort that I will soon return to) as they are all one-off projects and a subject matter that I haven't dealt with in years (.......er, decades).

       First we return to some anonymous African airport circa 1965;

 

an old WW2 workhorse

 soldiering on in the service of the mythical Tatesavy United Airline

Stocking up for the Holidays with Bastion Games, Opening Black Friday 27NOV20!

       My good friend, Tom from Texas, is going to fulfill a life-long dream of opening a mega hobby shop/wargaming store this coming Black Friday. Long in the making (no thanks to Covid-19!) but well worth the wait! Located on the northwest corner of Woodward Avenue and Long Lake, Bastion Games will bring a top-flight hobby store to northwest Metro Detroit. The shop will stock Games Workshop, Star Wars (all varieties) Reaper, and Dungeons and Dragons as well as a host of other product-lines. The address is 43239 Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills MI 48302. The phone number is 248 499 6888 and the website is Bastion Gaming

           A stand-out feature is the availability of complete, fully painted armies that are available for sale. This shop also features a massive gaming hall and three smaller private rooms for specific themed games. Gamers wishing to try out new rules or armies can contact the store about having a game set up to play with their friends. Access to the store's large selection of ready-painted armies and extensive terrain collection makes it possible to run that campaign or mega-game that always seemed impossible. 

        I got a chance to take a sneak-peek as they were putting the final touches on. Let's take a look!

Gaming Update 20NOV20 UPDATED!!!!!!

We will be gaming at my house on Saturday November 21st at 7 p.m.

Be there

28mm Late Roman Cataphracts by Gripping Beast

       As if I needed more figures to paint! Finishing out their Late Roman collectrion GB has brought out some lovely Late Roman Cataphracts (although, with tiny changes, these would easily serve in a LOT of other armies!). Let's take a look ....

 

 the front of the box, nice artwork

Rules Review; Blood and Valor

 

       I had heard great things about Blood and Plunder (a rules for the Pirate era from the same publisher) but, having a different set that I was quite happy with, had never played them. When I saw that Firelock Games was bringing out a set for the Great War era I was interested and picked up a copy shortly after they appeared at Michigan Toy Soldier.