Packed for COW 2018

The tottering pile of junk which featured in the previous post has now all been stuffed into the car.  Now all that remains is to climb aboard and head south this afternoon.  It's currently 23 degrees C here and forecast to be 27 C at Knuston by late afternoon so the climate control will be getting a good workout!

Finally facing my Waterloo - Waterloo visit 5

The next stop of the day was at the Emperor's final HQ.  Again the tickets bought at Waterloo covered entry to this splendid little museum.  Not many photos due to the rather cramped nature of the rooms but very atmospheric.  In some respects the best location of the day.

Plinth mounted eagles outside the museum.

Then it was off to Plancenoit.  We stopped to admire the very imposing Prussian memorial, complete with flag.

It's quite impressive...

...and somehow very German!

Looking NE across the fields.

After that we had a quick stop at the local Carrefour supermarket to stock up on essentials (wine, beer, chocolate...) and then off back to Calais.  By now we realised we were running a bit late and it would be touch and go as regards catching the ferry we had booked so my right foot was a little closer to the floor then earlier.  All was well until 30 miles short of Calais the weather closed in - the rain varying between heavy and torrential.  As a result we (just) missed our boat and had to wait a hour for the next sailing.  Back in Blighty the precipitation continued most of the way across the dark and busy roads of Kent but we arrived back safely in London at half past midnight.

White Christmas?

Well nearly.  At around 1830 yesterday a sleet shower turned to snow and began to settle.  The photo above shows the motor pool at Megablitz Towers at around 2300.  Fortunately we were at home and - dog walking excepted - didn't have to be anywhere today.  I gather that central Sheffield was gridlocked with the added bonus of a power cut.

 Above:  this was the situation at 1900.  Below: and at 2130.

Meanwhile in the parallel universe that is Little Cold Wars the roads were kept open by this splendid Simca Sumb snowplough which came with a collection of Solido military die casts I recently acquired.  It even has snow chains on the wheels.

Indian Vampire

I need a few Indian aircraft for a game Bob Cordery and I are presenting at COW next weekend.  I already had a couple of suitable models in stock and more were soon forthcoming from Andy at Heroics & Ros.  First up is this Dh Vampire.
Given the need for speed (over and above my usual laziness and incompetence) I went for a basic paint scheme of some green camo over the overall grey primer.  Markings are by Dom's Decals from a sheet of roundels I bought a couple of years ago.  A coat of matt varnish finished it off.  Actually it looks better in real life - as usual the camera flash has highlighted the many flaws in my paintwork!

Can you guess what's next?

Snow place like home

While comments have fairly flooded in over the past couple of days, my relative silence is because I've been in London.  A series of business meetings was lightened by lunch with Trebian and dinner with Bob Cordery and his wife.  Bob and I also managed a quick game of Battle Cry.
As usual I drove to Newark and then got the train to Kings Cross.  On Thursday morning I set off from this:

When I arrived back at Newark at around 1930 last night the 'original' snow on my car was largely gone and a recent fall had left only a thin layer.  This was soon gone as I set off up the A1 and apart from a thin drizzle the roads were without hazard.  When I got out of my car it was completely clear of snow and ice.  Hardly was I in the door when the snow began to fall - the top photo (taken as ever from the games room window) shows the situation at around 2200.  My car is on the right.

The game Bob and I played was First Bull Run.  I was the one in the grey hat, so I am pleased to be able to report a Reb victory!  Above are the final positions, below my battle-winning cavalry.  A Yankee infantry unit they'd been tormenting had run off and built these earthworks.  So we went round the back...

Winter wonderland

The wintry scenes continue.  These photos were taken from the games room* window this morning.

The roads are OK as far as I know, but my meeting this evening has been postponed so I don't (yet) have to tacke the scene below with a shovel...

* I wasn't skiving - it's next to my office.

Snow stops play (again)

Actually it started on Monday when about 3 inches settled here.  There followed a couple of rather cold days (-6C on Thursday morning) before more fell on Thursday evening.  A rather more enthisiastic fall began yesterday afternoon and has continued on and off since then.
I was meant to be at a Funny Little Wars game in West Yorkshire today but it was called off last night as people coming from further south couldn't make it.  So I've done some painting instead.

The motor pool at Megablitz Towers

Home again. And weather.

We returned yesterday from a short trip to Scotland. The weather on the journey home was the best it had been all week, as it was generally sunny and only began to rain about 10 miles from home. Within an hour of unloading the car, however, a spectacular hailstorm was underway. The photo above (take only 10 minutes into the storm) shows the 6 inch wide guttering below my Wargames room window piled high with ice.
Apart from unpacking a couple of eBay purchases which had arrived while I was away, my only modelling activity was to slap some black paint on the Su15.

Winter in Forbodia

News is just in that Forbodia has been hit by the recent cold snap which has made travelling conditions as treacherous as a Vulgarian diplomat.  At least the snow should stop the pointy-heads invading for a few days...  The photo above shows one Forbodian citizen immobilised by the weather. (Photo posed on the roof just outside my wargames room window.)

Back in Yorkshire the snow isn't too bad and after some very interesting conditions on Saturday evening the major roads are pretty clear.  Except for the dense fog...

While I have no doubt that I could have extracted my car (above) this morning, knowing that I had to travel on some minor roads in East Yorkshire I sensibly opted for plan B (below).

Whitby

Just to prove that the sun does (occasionally) shine in the UK....

Whitby - seen from the south side of the harbour.

Looking from the north side of the harbour.

The dead centre of town.  West Cliff in the middle distance and Sandsend further away.

Still snowing...

More snow has fallen overnight, and my village has been mentioned on the national news as the scene of a 'major incident', with over 100 vehicles stranded on the nearby A57 for a second night. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-11895812

On the plus side,I managed to do a bit of painting over the past few evenings.  The first model to be finished was a Sherman Crab.  This is one of JR's old conversions - I have simple effected some repairs and added the deep wading trunking before painting it.  The flail 'chains' (made from thread) look quite convincing.

 Next up are some vehicles which will form part of 7 Armoured Division.  The AEC Armoured Command Vehicle is an impressively large lump of resin and was a easy kit to build.  I forget the manufacturer - Raventhorpe perhaps?

 Staying with 7 AD, here is the logistic 'tail'.  In the background is a re-bodied Matador made from the fuel bowser with a plastic card GS body added.  Nearest the camera is a similar conversion of the Matchbox Leyland Retreiver from the 'Monty's Caravan' set.  Setting both off nicely (and despite my painting) are the splendid figures by AB.

Snow stops play

No trip to the Wargames Club in Sheffield tonight due to the weather.  By this morning there was over a foot (30cm) of snow in my village - so no prospect of moving any cars.  My car (below) looks as if it has had another parked on it's roof. 

I have just returned from a walk to the nearby village shop to find that the Police and the Edale* Mountain Rescue Team have taken over the church hall to shelter stranded drivers from the nearby A57.  I walked down to the A57 to be greeted with mildly apocalyptic scenes.  The road is currently lined with stationary vehicles.  I spoke to one lorry driver whose rig has been stuck fast since 6pm last night.

The forecast indicates that the snow will continue to fall for at least .another 24 hours.  On the plus side, I can get some painting done tonight!


*for those of you unfamiliar with the name, Edale is in the heart of the Peak District, some 30 miles away from here.

More weather!

To give you an idea of how quickly the snow fell, the following photo was taken only about 48 hours after my previous post. I finally dug out my car on Thursday. The hardest part was pulling the doors open... The construction of a snowman inevitably took place, complete with Bundeswehr surplus beret and cool shades. He has been named 'Gunter' on account of his passing resemblance to one of my airsofting friends.