Medics (VBCW and more!)

I finally painted these 3 figures. They are Foundry 28mm from the set "Dumping the body!". However I intend to use them as VBCW figures. In fact they are painted as normal VBCW figures (with no particular uniform with the intention that they can be used by any side.  I am not sure why I purchased them originally maybe I was thinking of a grave robbing game (I know that was a plan years ago).  But now they shall function as VBCW medics. No that is not the best way to move a wounded person, before anyone says, but at least it will get them out of the area of firing so they should not be hit AGAIN!

Additionally I found this dead body. so I thought it only right to paint it at the same time. While I do not at this moment have a use for the figure I am sure that in the goodness of time a reason of its painting  will some to mind. I thought it might be best floating in the water as being a little different to just lying on a grassy knoll not least because I had a bottle of unopened GLOSS varnish I was eager to try.
Now all I need is a water filled area, maybe a Victorian docks, in which to leave the stiff!


SECRET PROJECT no 2)

I also needed to make some flying bases. Mostly for Aeronef. Obviously the helicopter is NOT aeronef related so I shall talk more of that another time. To get the 6mm (1/300th scale )Helicopter "right" I shall need to finish the base. I will also need to cut the rotor disc more accurately. But the ideas work fine I just need to execute them better, so expect that to be done soon! When I say soon It all relates to a pre-order I have made with Brigade Models for pick up on Sunday at the Broadside show. I have some pre-orders already in place but most of my spendz will come down to what money I have once I sell a few things. But we can save that for a show report on Monday and a LOOT haul report on (I hope) Sunday night.

Until then take care have fun and paint and game  as much as you are able.

T 55 (6mm)

Firstly I am sorry for no posts for a while. I was not up to it. Alright now so Please say nothing and we can get back to normal as swiftly as possible. I would say a "Thank you to the person (hero) who did email to enquire. Cheers mate I appreciate it.

Not much of as post today. I am working like a swan though and all will be revealed in due course. Anyone asking will be ignored though!

 Here are a COMPANY of post war Russian T-55s. That's not true though I had extras so there is an additional PLATOON (Engineering) of 3 tanks. ( Right in the first picture).

Can I use them in 1980's "Challenger 2" WARGAMING? Yes of course! I can use them in a Russian Naval regiment OR By Bulgarian or Hungarian support forces, perhaps to invade Turkey in a cold war era game I have suggested. But that is years away just yet , and ONLY in my head.  I shall of course be adding to this force in the  coming month until my "Spaniel" attention span gives me other "shinies" to take a look at.

The models are all 6mm or 1/300th scale Heroics and Ros. As yet I do not have any boards to play on but that is all planned for the future. (BUT do not hold your breath).

I PLAN to be back posting ever 2nd day this week and should I think already have enough posts.

So pack up any worries you may have, enjoy your hobby and paint or game if you get the chance.

All the best Clint

M3 Half tracks

 Not very much painting done this week. My mother has been poorly but is on the mend. Last week she could not stand and this week I have managed to walk her to the local shops and back so that is  good progress.

However enough of real life! Here are 5 heroics and Ross M3 US Halftracks.  I say Us Halftracks, but they are in Israeli service and were the MAIN infantry fighting Vehicle/Battle taxi up to 1973. Which is the date I have set for my Arab Israeli wars collection. I only painted 5 as I only had 5 I would have painted more If I had them, The joy is they are the kind of thing that will turn up at a wargames bring and buy and they are also the kind of thing I would like to buy!

In the rules I will need at least 3 infantry squads per 1000 points! So I can see these getting some use and abuse. And used as Target Practice by the Syrian, Egyptian and Jordanian forces.

In the coming week I would expect to see some more "Burpas!" (Matt dropped some off today! For me to paint) . Also behind the scenes I am working in a Royal Navy Land ship (Circa 1889) which is coming on OK and when my order from Pendraken arrives I will be able to finish it off and furnish it with some crew. So that is all to look forward to in the coming week, but for now just a meagre offering today.

Cheers From SUNNY  (and Hot) North Kent!
All the Best Clint!

Centis.

Very little done wargames wise these last few days, Well nothing I can talk about anyway.

So instead of posting nothing I have managed to paint up 3 Centurion tanks in 1/300th scale (or 6mm if you prefer).

These will be going to my Aram Israeli wars collection for cold war commander. In the rules no matter how big your army you can only have a MAXIMUM of 3 of these tanks. So no point in painting many more. I suppose I could paint another 3 as Jordanian Centurions! And that would be just to scare the Israeli player!

In the game it has a range of 100cm and a firepower of 5d6 which for the time period is pretty impressive. More so a it has 6 hits. I knew it was an impressive tank for the time after all in the Korean war not a single one was  knocked out despite one vehicle being hit (mostly by RPGs) over 90 times.

So in the rules I do Like the fact that a maximum of 3 are allowed in any one game. Which considering 3 Centurions would be nearly half your points in a 1000 point game! But we all know players who would want more "super tanks" in a combined arms game than anything else including infantry, artillery, command, recconisence, air support  or everything else put together. Which does not in anyway lead to a balanced game. And that is just because they want to win. Even if you played a 5 or 10 thousand point game you would still only be allowed 3 in the game MAX.

That's my very small post today as I have sickness in the family and my painting/hobby focus is elsewhere.

All the best Clint

Dust clouds

Some of you may remember my desire to do some 1/300th scale Arab Israeli wars as I harken back to my youth. Well I have moved it ever so slightly forward as a Project. Yes I have painted 2 SU 100
Soviet Tank Destroyers used by the Egyptian army in the wars up to and including the 1973 Yom Kippur war. So that is an extra 2 vehicles done.

Also I think I have found the rules I like. Simple enough for big battles yet detailed enough to have a good fun game. The rules in Question being "Cold War Commander." The rules do cover most actions from 1946 to about 2010. But you may have to do some slight research to get balanced forces and NOT use vehicles out of period with other countries. For example some WW2 tanks, APCs and artillery were being used in the Yom Kippur war including German Panzer Mk 4s but the main front line troops were not using them very much at all. Also the famous Russian T34-85 was being used by both Egypt and Israel (Israel captured about 300 from the war of 1967 and they were used but only in desperation as the main Israeli tanks were either British Centurions or US M48 Pattons) and while the rules do give a very good place to start the army lists are very broad in regard to who can have what. But seriously nothing that a little background reading on the Net would not sort out, that is UNLESS you have players who want to always have the best equipment in unlimited numbers..... We have all come across them I am sure.)

 One of the things about the desert is the fact that vehicles moving (Particularly if moving fast) tend to have dust trails following them. I stole this idea shamelessly from BIG LEE LINK and I hope he does not mind me sharing it and does not want to batter me for doing so!

So following Big Lees example I decided to make my own.

This was done in a very few easy steps.

Firstly MDF bases were used, although you could use other types of bases and for bigger scales that is probably the right thing to do. To the MDF bases, some "Woodlands Scenes" Clump foliage was super glues.

Once dried I watered down some PVA white wood glue. (Which is technically a resin ("Resin W" if you want to know) ) I then soaked the clump foliage in the watered down PVA and left it for a couple of weeks. This allowed for thorough drying and... (Yeah it was up the garden shed and I forgot about it!I will confess!)

But Once dry it had a solid texture and not spongy like Clump foliage usually is. So once dry I sprayed the bases with Grey Primer. Other colours are available it was just what I had available. Then I used two Highlights to colour the dust clouds. Starting with the desert floor colour and then adding about 50% white for the second coat.

The grey still shows through and the desert colours tie the dust clouds to the terrain and setting.

Other than drying time (which was long... too long really as I forgot about them) the 15 dust clouds took about 45 minutes from start to finish.

Simply placing one behind a vehicle will tell me if it has mover either this turn or last turn.  Which may alter its chance to hit or be hit when firing occurs.

A simple game addition which will remind me if the vehicle has moved and will look the part in game without distracting from the look of the game.

Thanks for looking today.
I may not post for a couple of days as I am about to start a conversion and I dislike doing work in progress blog posts.

Cheers Clint

Maglach 2 Israeli Tank Company.

 Yep here we go again another catch up post. This is a 1/300th scale (6mm in wargames speak) Maglach 2 Tank Platoon circa 1967. All ready for my 6 day war project.

yes I keep promising to "re- cover" the desert but I think that can wait until the summer and it gets slightly warmer. So for now I will just put up with it.

The Company consists of 2 tank Command platoon and 3 platoons of 3 tanks each. They should be a very good match for my T55's (yet to be shown). I did struggle with the Hebrew lettering on the turret sides, but at that scale an going over a bumpy surface in lettering I am not sure of I can life with the result.

All the models are Heroics and Ross and each tank works out at 50p each so an affordable army to put on the table.

Rules wise I am thinking of Flames of War. As while I prefer the "Challenger 2" rules by Bruce Rea Taylor I think trying to explain the different ammunition choices to some of my club might be tricky. So Flames of war will be an easier option for a club game. I could well be wrong as I am sure there are some there who not only will understand the difference between HEAT and HESH DU (depleated Uranium) and AFPFDS many will just ask which is the best against Tanks or infantry or soft skins and to be fair it is the kind of thing that the commander and gunner would know.

More again in a couple of days.

All the best Clint