1/72 PZL-50 Jasztrzab by KPL

 

        I got this kit from Ebay for a few bucks, it came in a ziplock bag (the box being lost to the ages) mostly to fill out the list of Polish aircraft. It is a kit of extreme simplicity. My copy was molded in a weird semi-translucent plastic that made assembly interesting. The kit has a host of questionable details (or lack of them) and the fit was dodgy at best. The kit does date back to 1979 so I am willing to cut it some slack.

       The PZL 50 was to be the replacement for the PZL 11 but was delayed by changing government requirements and problems with engine development. Only one prototype ever flew and it wasn't armed or equipped with a radio. If it had been possible to equip the PZL 50 with a more powerful engine the performance would have been a near-match for the early versions Bf-109. As it stands the aircraft is just an interesting side-note in the history of pre-war fighters.  Of course there is a Wikipedia page

Oh! The Slings and erm, ah..... more slingers of outrageous fortune, the last of the Hinchliffe Indian foot

       Having foolishly relied upon my memory (which was not the best, even back in better times) I converted and painted thirty Indian two-handed swordsmen into slingers, in retrospect I should have stopped at twenty as that is all that is allowed under the WRG 6th Ed. list. Be that as it may these were a pretty quick job. Now all that remains is eight horse and four chariots (and the missing elephants, assuming that I ever find them!

 

the whole crowd

 

I organized them in batches of ten, differentiated by color

 

 

the "conversion" consisted of drilling a hole and sticking a thumb-tack on as a a shield

 then bending the two-handed sword around a bit and painting it brown to make a sling

 

some carried it on their arm, others hung it from their belt

 

if anybody has an idea as to what Indian troops in the 400-200B.C. period painted onto their shields please contact me!

       Once I get these guys completed I will have to decide which army falls under my gaze next. I have Byzantines, Normans, Gauls, Franks, Vikings, Persians and Greeks all in various stages of incompleteness. I am leaning toward the Normans, mostly because I love the Old-School Minifigs horses, but that remains to be seen.

1/72 Matchbox P-12E another U.S.A.A.C. fighter from the "Yellow Wings" era

 

 

 

       Having built a Boeing F4B-4 and still not having found my painting muse (or perhaps deliberately ignoring her voice) I decided to rummage around in the Heap of Embarrassment and find the "Brother from another Mother" to the F4B-4, the P-12E. Almost identical to the F4B-4 there were minor differences in the landing gear and of course no arrestor gear or life-raft. Three hundred and sixty-six  copies in several different versions served in the USAAC and it was the main strength in the mid 1930s. Of course there is a Wikipedia page that covers this pretty well. 

        The Matchbox kit is cast in two colors; and for once the colors of the plastic and the colors of the originals match well-enough that you could almost just build it and slap the decals on and be quite happy with the result. Of course, I'm not smart enough to leave well-enough alone and decided that I needed to paint the model before assembling it.

Monogram 1/72 Boeing F4B-4 a return to the "Yellow-wings" period

 

 

 

       I'm still running away from painting more Hinchliffe Indian figures, so I had to find something different to do. A quick visit to the Heap of Embarrassment surrendered this little gem, a very old kit of an iconic U.S. Navy fighter aircraft, the Boeing F4B-4. This aircraft (and its near-twin the P-12) stood as the main force of U.S. fighter strength during the mid 1930's. It was celebrated as one of the most maneuverable aircraft ever flown and served as a trainer after retiring from first line service. Small quantities served in other Air Forces around the world. Of course there is a Wikipedia article of interest

Great Big Details on really tiny figures; Wargames Atlantic 10mm Samurai and Ashigaru, WOW!!

        Anyone familiar with my reviews of Wargames Atlantic products is probably aware that I'm a big fan of their products. Their 28mm minis have gone from strength to strength. They have now taken that attention to detail, quality of sculpting and value to an entirely new dimension, literally. Barely larger than a third of the size of Wargames Atlantic's usual product these new offerings are simply superb. The proportions, vitality and detail are all first rate. Combined with the fact that thirty five bucks gets you either 328 or 244 minis makes this an incomparable value, averaging just over eight cents a figure!

       The minis are cast in a medium hardness gray styrene that exhibits no flash and only a few mold-lines. Each box has four identical sprues. All the minis are one-piece figures (aside from the optional Mons that may be attached to figures) including the cavalry. After some rather odd sculpts in the Hail Caesar 12mm set from Warlord I had my worries that the one-piece casting of the cavalry would have problems. Happily this is not the case, the mounted Samurai are simply brilliant! Energetic, dynamic and beautifully detailed, I can't emphasize enough how well executed they are. The rest of the figures are sculpted to the same standard.

 

check out that quantity, I can finally buy "too much" all in one box!

Mikro 72, LWS CZAPLA Polish Recon aircraft

        As a way to take a break from grinding though tons of old Hinchliffe Indians I decided to dig an old kit out of the Heap Of Shame and slap it together. Well, it was an old kit but it was no case of slapping it together, this little baby took some work to sort out. 

       By the time WW2 started it was obsolescent but the brave Polish aviators made good use of it and its ability to land on rough airstrips and grassy fields to stay in touch with forward command centers. Of course there is a Wikipedia article on it.

 

a simple-enough looking kit .....

 

....of an uncomplicated airplane, a small amount of flash,

 but mold technology in the 1970's was pretty primitive

Getting close to the end (at last!) Hinchliffe Medium Cavalry

        I'm nearing exhaustion with this project. Thankfully I'm also running out of Indians to paint. This batch is a dozen medium cavalry, quite possibly the worst troop type under WRG 6th Ed. More of the same old stuff but I feel compelled to document my misery.

        I'm going to have to take a little break from these to recoup my energy. Maybe another airplane model or a piece of terrain. We will see.