HMS Repulsive

Hot on the heels (well, OK - not that hot...) of my HMS Courageless build comes another bodge conversion.  Again, this is based on the Airfix HMS Hood kit with the hull similarly shortened, albeit by a bit less than the earlier model.  As the name suggests, this bodge is based on HMS Repulse which, if I take off my glasses and squint at my copy of Conway from the other end of the wargames room, looks a bit like a truncated 3-turret Hood.  Sort of.

Repulsive with Courageless (behind) in the dry dock of the famous South Yorkshire shipyard.  In the background are some old metal ships I picked up on ebay last year.

The hull takes shape.  From this angle you can hardly see the join...

...but this view makes it clear that Repulsive is another 'cut and shut' job.

Rude Romans

A little something for the weekend now. 

In amongst JR's toys was a small sealed packet intriguingly labelled 'Roman Slave Market'.  This had evidently been bought sometime in the early 1970s(?) from Clyde Models in Glasgow and may have been made be Rose Miniatures.  I was unable to resist the 'challenge' of painting this lot quite early on.  Never before has so much flesh coloured paint been used on so few figures!

South of Cheux, Normandy 1944 - part 3

More action from Normandy now.  The second Sherman troop joins the fray as the Germans continue to give away their positions by blowing up John's tanks.  The British could win by exiting AFVs (ideally 4) from the southern edge of the table.

The heroic Shermans lurch forward - led by my elderly Roskopf plastic model.

A German PAK 40 skulks in a wood - and notches up kills!

The work of the AT gun can clearly be seen!

The second Sherman troop rolls up to (but not yet over!) the crest line.

The mighty Honeys roll forward - disregarding all danger!

More burning German recce - and the Daimler pushes on.

An overview of the battlefield.  My Shermans have moved forward.  What could go wrong?

John's carrier burns, while the infantry section clears Panzerfaust-wielding infantry from the ruins.

John's Daimler puts the wind up the German mortar crew.

My Shermans advance to take on the PAK crew.  Plain sailing then?

Bugger.  A pair of Tigers.  So much for our plan!  Where is reverse gear in a Sherman?

A final overview.  On the plus side, a couple of the burning vehicles are German.

The surviving Shermans (3 of them!) and the Honeys pulled back behind the ridge line and called it a day.  Astonishingly the game was a narrow Allied victory, due to the German stands we killed.

Roman Senior Centurion

More pointy-stick wielders now.  These chaps were rescued from JR's attic and have now been treated to some paintwork.  I'm not sure of the manufacturer - but I'm sure someone out there will clarify that.  They are 'small' 25s and fit in well with their modern plastic brethren.
I got slightly more ambitious with the legionary's shield and from a distance it doesn't look too bad.