Gasbag (zepelin 2)

Yes I know my work bench needs a tidy.

It takes a while and it goes a long time through what I call "The NASTY stage". By that I mean a time of construction where you think it will not get better and it is worth scrapping it! BUT rest assured I shall continue.

At present I am only working on the gas bag. Yes it is not historically accurate. It is a model for wargames and not for a museum. So Who cares?

the basic shape

At this stage I have given it 3 layers of paint/glue and tissue to build up the skin. It is too big to paint in one go for It has to be done in layers.  At present I am repainting with a mixture of paint an glue not settled on a colour just yet but I am hoping/planning a dirty beige!

All I care about at this stage is the look and while I realise a 3 year old would destroy it in second I am hopeful (but only just) that it will be strong enough for wargamers.  I plan for it to have 2 or preferably 3 more coats of paint and glue. By which time it may be strong enough. Which of course mean not even close to strong enough.

Rear end (so far)

The read is always awkward. And being as it has 5 lumps maybe doubly so. Fins, rudder and ailerons need to be added at the next stage and will be discussed then. So at this stage not really to much more to say mostly it is do 15 mins work and return the following day. With luck I should have more to talk about next Zeppelin update.

Until then paint  and blog if you can and I shall get more out next time..

All the best Clint

FT 17 (20mm BoB)

There are currently a load of things on the painting table. There is some more VBCW in 28mm, some 28mm ECW (Don't ask going badly!) and more 20mm Back of Beyond stuff. However today here is the 1/72 nd scale (20mm to wargamers) FT 17.

Let us be honest the FT 17 was never a "Good tank" it had a crew of 2 (driver and Commander/gunner). It was designed as a "Mosquito" tank were swarms of them would take the battle field.  Despite not being a food tank it sold well to other counties. (Link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_FT). And saw action in many different wars and settings. So it is totally suitable for Back of Beyond wargames.

This one is armed with a 14.5mm HMG while others were armed with a 37mm cannon.  Personally I prefer the HMG as there is no way you would want this to fight other tanks, but it did in a you use what you have kind of way.

The model by HAT comes 2 in a box and is very easy to assemble. There are 7 parts so it goes together without issue. Instructions are printed on the box but generally you do not need to look at them as the pieces are pretty much fool proof. Unless you decide to musk it up you wont.

One of the interesting things about the tank is that the front wheel is actually made from hard wood in real life. While the tail at the back is designed to help cross trenches.

All in all a great gift and very welcome in the back of beyond universe were tanks should be very rare indeed.

Thanks for looking today no idea what next time I will need to start getting things finished and not new things started on the painting table.

All the best Clint

A mixed bag

yes a real mix of projects today. Yet one thing they do have in common is the photography is terrible. Not making excuses it is just one of those things where nothing has worked!  Oh well.


So starting with some air support for my Japanese in 15mm. This is an Academy 1/144th scale Japanese Zero. The model was just a couple of pounds on eBay. It was easy to put together. But not all that easy to paint. The actual colours went on OK no problem there. The problem comes when trying to get the right colour green. Let me explain. Aircraft modellers will tell you tat the correct Japanese green for Aircraft is a bit of a mystery. Because the colour faded so fast when applied there is no definite answer to what the "Proper colour" should be. Indeed white may be as authentic as green as the colour faded and bleached in the tropical heat. Yes you do see some Navy planes painted white, but army planes as far as I am aware should be green. So this may well be the wrong colour green. But I will not be getting a Munsel diagram out to find out. It is close enough for me in a game where it only appears occasionally

Then we have some 10mm Spanish Civil war regular army light machine guns. I will be also doing some militia LMGs as well but this gets them finished for the regular ARMY. So that is one side finished for Bayonet and Ideology. Although you can hardly see them the figures are Pendraken and in army uniforms. Green clothing but with grey helmets.

Finally here is a single Pic of my first figure from "the Walking Dead"  game finished. A single walker.  the figures are very nice and I will be doing more as soon as time permits. The figures are hard plastic and paint very well. Each of the Walkers is different so the first thing you need to do is work out how long they have been dead and paint the skin appropriately. Therefore I will be painting a variety of skin tones to represent those killed very recently and those killed during the out break.

Well that#s it for today. with luck my get up and go will return soon and I will be able to carry on with gusto!

All the best Clint