Confederate Navy Gets a boost from my Bambu mini

        The other day I offered to bring a "standby-game" to Flintcon (just in case there was a weather-related cancellation). When I looked at my ACW fleets I decided that I didn't want to run the same scenario again.With that in mind I designed a scenario wherein the Confederates had managed to secretively assemble a fleet to challenge the Union blockade of the Gulf Coast, This would require a much larger Confederate Navy. 

       With no time to order additional models from Thoroughbred (or any other manufacturer for that matter) I turned to the internet to find some free STLs to feed to my Bambu Mini. A few hours later I had a freshly-printed fleet of Confederate boats.

 

looking at them now makes me wish I had gotten that .02mm hot-end

the striations are prominent!

 

 

the light color doesn't help at all,

 fortunately most are a lot darker and it hides the lines better

 

beer-mats provided the basing material and Americana Prussian Blue provided the water color

 (yes, I realize the these were mostly riverine craft and should be floating in a greenish-brown ooze) 

while Future floor wax gave the water a nice glossy shine

      Now all I have to do is knock together data sheets for my really simple ACW naval rules and I'm all set for the convention.

Wargame Convention Update, Flintcon February 1st

 

        With Spartacon just barely in the rear-view we find Flintcon arriving on the first of February. This is a great little convention hosted by the tireless Rod Cain at the St.Paul Lutheran Church and School located at 402 S. Ballenger Highway, Flint MI 48532. Gaming will start at 9am and run through 1030pm. 

       Further information can be found on their website  or their Facebook page 

       This con always has a fun and friendly atmosphere  and usually has a superb flea-market

Finishing The Polikarpov I-15 series, decals, details etc

 

 

       I had a chance to sit down and paint the pilots and attach the windscreens. I then touched up some silvering on a few of the decals. All that remains is to do the weathering (which will be a while as I have grown tired of this project and have a dozen other projects on hold). As such I have released the planes to their respective air forces and sent them on their way.

th Soviet Biplanes, Some Paint At Last!

 

       Frustrated by the continuing bad weather I just went ahead and primed these indoors, They were then brush-painted using Americana paints. Acrylic floor wax was used to gloss them for decals and Vallejo spray matte finish was shot over them to dull them back down. Two have joined the Nationalist Chinese air force, one has chosen to serve Republican Spain and the remaining four are under orders of Stalin. Pilots, details and weathering still need to be finished before they can be released to their respective  employers. 

Further Adventure In Soviet Biplanes, Aviation USK I-15 series

  

 

       Continuing my effort to get all of my Polikarpov I-15 series models done in one push I sat myself down and confronted the pile of USK models. These kits were far from what current standards are but they are thirty years old and short-run kits of aircraft with limited appeal. Even with those caveats in mind they are frankly rather rough. Molding quality is below average, detail is foggy, parts fit is dodgy and the instructions are vague. The kits do have rather nice decals. They are the only option unless you want to spend thirty bucks a kit for I-15s.

 

 

yes, that is the sum total of the instructions

With the holidays behind me it is time for another Mass Build; The Polikarpov I-15 series

        Rumors of my demise are greatly overstated. The blog and I are not dead, just overwhelmed by the hectic pace of the holiday season. To start the new year off in grand style I decided to build the complete selection of 1/72 Polikarpov I-15 series that I had stashed in The Vault. These would provide aircraft for the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Spanish Civil War, The Nomonhan Incident, the Winter War and the early days of Operation Barbarossa. While the kits come from two different manufacturers (and thus demand separate builds) the painting process will link up nicely and I shouldn't spend too much time watching paint dry during this exercise. 

       First seeing the light of day in 1995 the Encore kit was originally released by ICM, the different versions on the box-cover matter little as all the parts for all the versions come in each box (all being molded on the same sprues). By modern standards these kits are primitive, requiring a lot of clean-up of mold-lines and putty on the gaps. Counterbalancing that are the very good quality decals that are usually found in Encore kits, which is happily the case here. The Aviation USK kits, circa 1992, are frankly crude, parts molding and fit are dodgy, and the instructions are scarcely more detailed than Mesolithic petroglyphs. Pretty much all that can be said is that building them is easier (slightly) than scratch-building. On the flip-side the decals are excellent.

 

there was another USK kit that I was still looking for when I snapped this shot

Merry Christmas To All

I would like to wish you all a merry and joyful Christmas season!

May the coming year find you all happy, healthy and wealthy!
 

Just a quick PSA announcement

 Hello All,

I just wanted to alert everyone that Spartacon also known as "Deathcon" for the STAGGERINGLY bad weather events customarily associated with it, is FAST approaching.  

Wargames Atlantic28mm Conquistador Cavalry and Renaissance Heavy Cavalry

 

 

 

       Long promised and at last they are here. Wargames Atlantic has released their Conquistador and Renaissance Cavalry boxes. I picked up mine from Michigan Toy Soldier the day after they came in (I have been waited for these for some time now). These kits share a lot of common parts so I'm going to combine the reviews. As usual they are molded in a medium hardness gray plastic that exhibits no flash and minimal mold-lines. All the sprues have excellent detail and crisp lines. The anatomy of the riders, horse and dogs (yes dogs!) is excellent, natural and realistic, no wild gymnastic poses and the horses display a powerful look (as one would expect from a horse carrying a man in plate armor). All-in-all this is top-notch stuff!

Gettting ready for another test of Never Mind the Matchlocks

 

 

the table, viewed from the Blue side

        Having rather enjoyed the last test of Never Mind the Matchlocks I decided to expand the group of guinea pigs, erm, playtesters, and run another game. The armies are essentially the same, the Red side is smaller but (mostly) better trained while the Blue side has the advantage of numbers. The battlefield layout is similar but slightly different and the Generals in Charge will have freedom of deployment this time. The only significant change to the rules is the lifting of ammunition restrictions as by the 1680s most troops had some sort of cartridge-box. 

        Each of the Brigadiers have been issued two Orders Tokens but we will roll before the game to see if there are any Amateurs or Experts in the ranks. In the case that such brigadiers are created the General in Charge will be allowed to re-assign the commands. They will also be allowed to reorganize the brigades if they see fit. I made cards with each units pertinent data on it to flatten the learning-curve for the new players. Please excuse the unsightly mess they create, please also forgive the unfinished General figures, they are a source of deep embarrassment to me.

A First Try Of Never Mind The Matchlocks

 

     I was intrigued by the free issue of Never Mind the Matchlocks that came with the latest issue of Wargames Illustrated . I had enjoyed the prior editions of the rules and thought that there were some interesting mechanics. I lack armies in the period of the War of the Roses so I never had a chance to give them a try. I do have armies in the period 1660-1690, just after the ECW, so I decided to give the rules a try with some tiny modifications. Pikes were pretty much a done deal by the end of the ECW/TYW so I left them out and increased the resistance of infantry to reflect the increasing availability of bayonets. I also dropped the ammunition rules as troops carried cartridge boxes of up to forty rounds instead of the "Twelve Apostles".

        I set up two generic armies; Red on the right and Blue on the left

 

the initial phase wherein players move units alternately and artillery is allowed to fire was an interesting difference to most rules, we found that the cavalry swept around the flanks while the infantry endured the attentions of the enemies guns, a cavalry clash (at the bottom of the screen) brought an end to this phase, Red's cavalry that charged were crushed and sent fleeing to the rear, musketry and cannon fire broke out across the board   

A Great Big Thank-You to all our veterans!

 

there is no greater honor than to hazard life and limb for the safety and freedom of others

        I would like to extend a great big thank-you to all our veterans. They all deserve recognition for placing themselves at risk so that we may enjoy the liberties enshrined in our Constitution.  Most do not get the recognition and honors they deserve so I would like to personally thank the ones that have impacted my life:

         George, my grandfather, the Great War. A first-generation German, he enlisted the day that we declared war on the German Empire in 1917.

         Wesley, my father, he was scheduled to be drafted for the invasion of Japan. The atomic bombs saved him that ordeal. As an Army National Guardsman he was activated to fight in the frozen hell of the Korean War. 

       Viktor, my father in law, he fled the fall of Germany as a child and found a home in the USA. He served six years in the Army and then twenty-four more in the Army Reserve, retiring as a CSM, the Cold War

       Tom from Texas, US Army, Cold War

        Brad the Unlucky, US Army, Cold War

       Trunkmonkey, US Army, Cold War

       Mike Reese, US Army, Cold War

       OldSarge, He fought in Vietnam  as an infantryman and then enlisted in the Navy and served as an airman on P-2 Neptunes during the Cold War 

       Bob Webb, US Army, Vietnam, Cold War

       Brendan Moore, US Air Force, Cold War

       Honest Dan, currently serving, US Army, GWOT

       The Hutch, US Army, Cold War

       Joe, currently serving, US Army, GWOT

       Paul daMarine, US Marine Corps, GWOT

       Rick Jones (not THAT one!) US Navy, Cold War

       Zhodani Commando,  Company F 425 LRRP., Cold War

       You are Good Men, one and all. I ,and the Nation, owe you all a debt of honor and gratitude!