Quick minefields

I needed a couple of unmarked minefields for the Foy-Notre-Dame game recently.  Luckily I remembered I had a few of the 15mm Peter Pig minefield castings, so despite having rather larger toys in mind I decided to use them.  I glued them onto 4-inch circles of mdf and added flock.

Here they are with a couple of 1/50 scale vehicles.  I think they look the part.  

Foxholes

I found a bag of these resin-cast troops in foxholes in a batch of stuff I was given a couple of years ago.  A few weeks ago I decided to try painting some.  I'd based them on small bits of card to make them easier to handle and less fragile, so there was room to flock round the edges to blend in with my Hexon terrain.  I'll probably use them to mark dismounted or dug in infantry.

 

Fort Vaux....sort of

 A few months ago I began working up another 54mm Great War game.  This involved another visit to Verdun - this time a bit further east, near Fort Vaux.  This meant I'd need a fort.  Big forts were very impressive fashionable things for late 19th century governments to build, but they were very expensive.

I opted to avoid the 'impressive' and 'expensive' elements, and indeed accuracy as I instead hacked about a slab of 2-inch insulation board with a bread knife.  Some of the offcuts were used to make the outer banks of defensive ditches.  Observation cupolas and a gun turret were added from mdf and the ensemble daubed with emulsion paint. It's pretty ghastly but I think it gets the point across.

Our other Verdun adventures include the left bank, Douamont and of course the real thing!

Bogged down?

 I need some marshes for a game. The terrain will be my Hexon tiles - the hexes are 10cm across. I therefore decided to paint a couple of 8cm mdf circular bases, painting small blue pools with two coats of gloss varnish. The rest of the bases were flocked to match the Hexon. 

To get more value from them I decided to paint the other sides too, as small lakes. 

I think they’re quite successful. 

Plant a tree in 2023!

 I’ve been vaguely intending to rebase some trees for a while now.  I have a few individually based and could do with more.  To that end I dug out a box of multi-based trees and separated them.  My box of random mdf bases was raided for suitable 20x20mm squares. All were drilled and a tree threaded into each square, with a dab of PVA to keep them in place.  The following day I painted one base at a time then immediately thrust it into my box of flock.  When they’re dry I’ll brush off the surplus flock and er, that’s it.

As to the trees.  The nicer ones were bought at a show in the 1990s for something like £0.40 each.  And if you think that’s a bargain, the ‘Christmas’ style fir trees were bought in a model shop in Scotland in the 1980s for £0.05 each!  What great value terrain!  

Goings on at the garage

I acquired this mdf kit a couple of years ago and built it over the weekend. I think it’s designed to accompany 28mm toys, so 1/56 scale or thereabouts.  It arrived in my possession without instructions so I blundered my way through assembly. In spite of this it turned out OK and I gave it a basic paint job using emulsion and cheap acrylic paints.
It looks like a lot of old village garages used to - and not just here in the UK. It’s pictured here with a couple of 1/43 scale diecast cars. A side project of mine is an attempt to amass a collection of models of all the cars I’ve owned. At the petrol pumps is a Volvo 850 in more or less the same colour as my 1992 2.0 20V GLT (owned 1998-2000) while lurking inside is a Saab 9-5 standing in for my 2004 Aero (owned 2009-2013).

I can’t believe it’s not bunker - part 3

The bunkers are now painted and complete. Here - in these hastily posed photos -  we see some of the comrades skulking bravely behind their mighty concrete walls. Well, OK, flimsy plastic but best not mention that to these chaps. 

I can’t believe it’s not bunker - part 2

The high quality Soviet bunkers have been based  - otherwise they were rather wobbly - and undercoated in black. More paint will be applied when this coat dries.

I can’t believe it’s not bunker

I spotted this ancient margarine tub heading for the bin a few weeks ago. “So what?” I hear you cry. Strange to say, it put me in mind of photos of Soviet WW2 pre-fabricated concrete MG bunkers I’d been looking at. Having successfully rescued the thing I at once set to work to produce yet more of the museum-quality terrain for which I am rightly famed.

The first step was to cut it in half....

...next I cut out the vision/firing slits. These are quite tall so as to accommodate both kneeling and standing firing figures. Stay tuned for the next thrilling episode!

Plastic Warrior show 2019 - purchases

 In my previous post I mentioned some purchases. There follows my full confession....
Above - the loot arrayed for your inspection.
The two kits - 1/35 Tamiya 20mm FLAK and 1/72 Waco glider were a tenner the pair. A good start!
The recent Fort Fisher game highlighted my dearth of ACW senior Yankee officers, so I was pleased to secure the quartet of Starlux’s finest - two mounted and two on foot.
A sextet of old Crescent Zulus was an unexpected - and frankly unlooked for find - but I couldn’t resist them.
Three old hollow cast Vickers gunners may be converted.  Into what I know not.
Some scruffy medievals and the pair of Charbens Russian mortars were cheap and useful.
The Edwardian medical teams are a mix of hollow and solid casts, nicely repainted.
The Barzso box contains only half a set (8 figures) of medieval figures but they were (by my standards) a sensible buy.
Italeri figures are getting pretty rare so I bought the set of Mamelukes with no plan in mind.
The box at the front contains some Marx Alamo figures. These are versatile and could end up anywhere. Even the Alamo...
To the right of that box is a set of Engineer Basevich Soviet women soldiers. Plenty of work for them in WW2 and later.
The Replicants figure is a bloke playing an electric guitar. He is apparently based on one of the firm’s founders.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.
The white plastic things are vacformed emplacements. You can never have too many.
Finally, the sandbagged horror with a roof was a gift from Brian. It could be just the thing for my Japs at Nomonhan.

Back to the trenches

Sorry it's been so quiet around here of late.  Blame mostly pressures of work.
Anyway, back now to what my dear wife calls 'cocking about.'  I bought these sandbag sections off eBay a few months ago - I think they are 28mm scale and amount to a total of 4 feet in length.  I have based them using some scrap mdf and hardboard and gave the ensemble a basic pant job topped off with Ronseal's medium oak satin varnish.

The chaps lurking within are ancient 54mm WW1 Brits.

A tree-mendous discovery

Following the success of my recent lumberjacking project I have found another (rather bigger) artificial Christmas tree to tear apart!  While clearing out the cellar of a house my wife owns and is selling, I discovered untold treasures.  Well, to be honest I discovered a modest amount of rubbish in amongst which was this splendid item.  For the moment it has taken up residence in my garage but I hope to embark on the task of chopping it up over the next few weeks.

The gentle art of forestry

As we were packing away the Christmas decorations (this was a few weeks ago!) I was instructed to take our increasingly sad looking small tree out and dump it.  Given my deep environmental concerns* I clearly couldn't live with this sort of waste!  I remembered that the trees used in Paul W's garden (see below) bore a striking resemblance to bits of artificial tree and so a cunning plan was born.  Above can be seen one of my new 'trees' temporarily planted in a lump of blu-tac and under close guard.  Interestingly, the rest of the regiment are keeping their distance in case the tree falls down....

The tools of the trade.  The branches were first removed from the tree with the hammer and then cut into tree-sized pieces using the pliers.  A brief but brutal process.

While only a small (2 foot tall) tree, it yielded enough little trees to fill this container.  My tea mug is there for scale.

*I like my environment to be awash with toy soldiers and related ephemera.

More Hexon bits

The completed hex tiles.

I recently needed a few single 'desert' hexes to add to my existing Hexon collection.  As I had 'flocked' my own desert set (the original pre-flocked desert Hexon was a bit too orange to my eyes...) I used a few of the blank (bare brown plastic) hexes I bought at a show earlier this year.  It occured to me while engaged in this process that it might make a useful post for others considering a similar course of action.

First I washed the plain hexes in soapy water and rinsed them thoroughly before leaving them to dry overnight.  Next I 'painted' one hex at a time with a liberal coating of PVA and doused them with fine sand - as per the photo below.

When dry, I dabbed on further blobs of PVA and piled on clumps of 'grass' flock.  This is a good way of covering up any 'bald' patches in the sand.  Finally the tiles were treated to a blast of spray varnish.

The completed hex tiles playing host to some 6mm South Africans.

Steve's Walmington-on-Sea church - interior

Steve's 'Walmington-on-Sea' church - windows

Steve has now complete his church - including guttering and glazing - and had sent me more photos.

As well as a close up of the drainpipe, this shot offers a tantalising glimpse of the interior.  More coming soon!

Steve's 'Walmington-on-Sea' church - exterior

Inspired by the use of his Dad's Army figures for a few games recently, Steve is currently hard at work building a church in 28mm scale.  Here are some photos of the work in progress - interior pics will follow soon.

The Verger (left) and Vicar look pleased with their new workplace.