Albadross C-type part 3

 

Here then is the completed Albadross.  I made up what felt like a suitable colour scheme - the decals are a combination of what came with the kit and from the decal box.

I'm particularly pleased with the observer.  He started off life as the dismounted motorcyclist from the Airfix Recovery Set and was obligingly already clad in crash helmet and gauntlets.  His right arm - previously stopping traffic - was angled down to grip the edge of the cockpit while his left was given a bomb (from a 1/144 scale kit) to drop on the wicked enemy.

Albadross C-type - part 2

 As you might have suspected from my last post, I soon decided to bodge the Albatros into a two-seater.  This took the form of moving the top wing further forward and mounting it lower. The original cockpit became the observer’s location while a new cockpit for the pilot was created from the aperture for the MG mounts. What could go wrong?  While Albatros two-seaters (C-type = armed two-seaters in German aviation parlance of the time) did exist, mine wasn’t going to conform to a particular type so I really-christened it ‘the Albadross’ which nicely sums up its status in life.  Of course, ideally a C-type would be longer of fuselage and broader of wingspan but you can’t have everything.  Just tell yourself it’s further away....

Albatros D.III - part 1

 

While building my Roland to double my fleet of German two-seaters, I also dug out this rather venerable Albatros. Not least as I remembered PW’s delightful two-seater bodged from a similar kit.  I decided to crack it open and evaluate it for possible bodging. 

Being an old kit there were relatively few parts. I think this is a re-boxing of the old Revell kit. 

Esci 7.5cm light infantry gun - part 2

 It’s been hanging about for a while but I finally finished this kit today.  Here it is posed for some hasty photos.

Esci 7.5cm light infantry gun - part 1

I’ve always liked these German infantry guns so when I spotted this antique kit at a decent price I clearly had to have it.

Helpfully it includes five crew figures.

Despite the kit’s antiquity the figures went together well. The gun was more of a challenge as several of the parts were warped but it all came good in the end. I suppose I’d better paint it now....

Category 2 Motor Rifle Battalion

 Hot off the production line is this battalion of Cold War Warpact infantry.  These are mostly the 1970s Airfix 'Modern' Russians with some Esci figures and a couple from a cheap Chinese set of WW2 Sovs.

 As their first outing will be as 1973 Syrians it is fitting that they are photographed on my sun-scorched and desert-like lawn.

A brace of Hinds

You'll remember the Esci and Airfix Mi-24 kits I was knocking together before Christmas?  I actually finished them a few weeks ago but the first opportunity to photograph them outside only arose a couple of days ago.

They seem to have turned out quite well.  I went for the same colour scheme on both as I expect them to appear as a pair more often then not.

 Above - Esci with Spiral AT missiles.  Below - Airfix version with Sagger AT missiles.

 I left the main rotors removable to ease storage and transit.

These are the 3-foot aircraft stands I built last year.

A hurried Hind

I forget where I picked up this old Esci kit but it's been 'in stock' for a couple of years.  As I'll soon have work for such a big chopper I decided to throw it together last weekend.

The parts all looked crisp enough.

It went together easily enough - helped by my usual disdain for internal detail which left many fiddly parts still on the sprue!

There were a fair few explody things to attach - I built these as separate sub-assemblies.

Lining up the rotor blades was an adventure.  I wonder how long they'll last.

So far so good.  I'm hoping to get it painted by the end of the year!

Ilyushin Il-14 'Crate' - part 3

I managed to finish this in time for the varnish to be dry to pack it for COW.  I still say it looks almost nothing like a Dakota...

 Extra big red starts for the avoidance of doubt.  And to give AA gunners something to aim for.

Ilyushin Il-14 'Crate' - part 2

It's assembled and is now wearing some paint.  I really need to get a move on with this as it is booked to appear in a game this coming weekend!

Ilyushin Il-14 'Crate'. Or is it?

I started work on this IL-14 to support my Little Cold Wars forces last week.  It's quite a basic kit and so went together quickly.  Clearly if I was a 'proper' modeller I would be appalled by it's many inadequacies and rectifying them would take ages.  But you know my standards are much lower...

And for the benefits of the cynics among you who have been thinking "hey, that's just an old Dakota kit"...

...I confess.  But the Il-14 (produced from 1954-1960) does look pretty similar.  and hopefully mine will look better than this one:

The haul from Paul - part 1

A very pleasant surprise last week was the arrival of a box of many random things sent to me by Paul at Plastic Warriors: http://plasticwarriors.blogspot.co.uk
I will reveal the contents gradually over a few days but we'll start with these chaps - Esci 'modern' US  troops in 1/32 scale found by Paul in his attic (which sounds like it's worth a visit!) and painted by him to a much higher standard than I could manage.
These will see use as part of my Little Cold Wars project where the nine figures will give me two four-man infantry platoon stands to be known as 'Foster's Rangers'.  More on these chaps when they're based and varnished.
Cheers Paul!

HMS Prince of Wales

Well done to those of you who managed to identify this ship in my earlier posting on County class cruisers. It is HMS Prince of Wales, a battleship of the King George V class. What was more of a struggle was naming the maker. As can be seen in the photos, this is an Esci kit, although I believe the same moulds appeared more recently in Revell boxes.
The kit went together nice and easily - something else which makes me think this is essentially the Revell model.
PoW has now been undercoated and will be painted soon.