gentlemen, start your .... too late they are already off!

Well it arrived! What arrived? Well the thing I got on eBay that I was excited about. Am I still as excited. Well truth to admit no. but I am still excited, just not as much. (I think that is inevitable).

Let me explain. for years (since my first copy of "Space 1889" I have really enjoyed steampunk. But having seen more than a few Youtube videos about Asylum the Lincoln Steampunk festival I kind of lost faith. There were to many people dressing as pirates or fairies or fluffy animals or well you get the idea. NOT Victorian science fiction at all but tea drinking fantasy. Now if that is what they want good luck to them. But I have moved over to "Dieselpunk" Now many of you will not have heard of dieselpunk no worries it is fairly new to me.

But I have made my first purchases... well actually I have not they were actually made several years ago but I got them for steampunk.

Ok cutting the waffle what did I get.

Well diesel punk is a lot less common than steam punk. but one thing it does have is planes. Lots of aeroplanes. So I bought planes.

These are all Wizkidz plastic Crimson skies planes. I am not hppy with them, they all need re-painting. Theer is nothing wrong with the current paint jobs of course. However they were painted by someone probably on minimum wage with no interest in dieselpunk and probably no interest in much other that the pay check either.

Still I digress here are the planes. I have 26 in all. Lots of them style wise I d not like. but that is not going to stop me at all.


 So gentle and not so gentle reader grab a coffe and a ciggerette and hold on it is going to be a bumpy ride.

Firstly I need to aquire some rules I like. and then make an airship so nothing is going to happen over night.

Just stit back and try to ignore any turbulance it is just the pilot trying to find the best and fastest route.

Should I ask for any suggestions as to painting schemes feel free to chip in. But at present I am thinking Camoflage rather than bright colours.

That is it for today. thanks for looking and back to the aeronef paint mines for me.

Slow progress. But at least progress.

Yes it has been slow. All spare time today/yesterday (depending on when you read this) was spent travelling and buying things... Nope only paint and Varnish and groceries and food and cleaning products. Boring stuff.

Here is the START (and only the start) of Matts Aeronef British fleet.

Not being an expert I was unable to tell which ships are which class etc. with luck no one will ask.

These 7 are just the start. I have about 50 in all to do. Matt does not do tings by half. No siree!

I went with a basic Black and white finish and bleached decks and yellow smoke stacks. Underneath they all have a red base. This was a tricky red and ended up as 3 coats. Luckily I have a quicker way now!. (and a different red and less translucent paint now.) It makes all the difference.

Now re-stocked with paint/brushes and varnish. I hope to be able to get more done and at a far faster rate.

Progress has been slow, but at least it is in the right direction now.

I am even getting tempted to make an airship! What did I type that out loud? Nurse the meds need to be increased fast.

All the best Clint

Another 6 troops (Dux Britaniarum)

Continuing the dark ages at least in my mind. here are the next 6 figures which makes a unit in Dux Britanium. just 2 units to go and one (the skirmishers is started.) these are warriors, which is a step up from levy but still not likely to set the world on fire. But as they have had to catch the boat from their own country and cross the water they are not too poorly as a unit. Again I stuck to easily dye-able colours and as many patches as to make them look feasible.

So they should mingle in quite well with the others. For convenience I went for plain red/brown shields just so the unit is easy to identify and NOT for any historical reasons.

 I have shown everything finished so far.

• 1leader (with dog)
• 1Champion
• 2 sub(lesser) leaders
• 2 units of 6 (16 shown) hearthguard warriors
• 2units of general warriors.

Still to come:

• 4-6 skirmishers
• 3rd unit of 6 Warriors
• Additional warriors to bulk out each unit.

No cavalry are planned as until they have lands of their own transporting horses is too much time and effort for this raiding force. It is possible they may have a cavalry unit in the future, but VERY unlikely. (Unless you buy me one... no I though not!)

Sorry no fancy back drop today I can gleefully say I have been distracted by an eBay find which was swiftly purchased. But I digress.

Enjoy Sunday I have a LOAD of painting to get finished now! best wishes Clint

Another unit. (Dark Ages)

I am of course talking about Dux Britaniarum where a unit starts as 6 figures. So yet a whole unit finished.  Why do I think this is strange when 12 figures could be 480 in Napoleonic wargames? I don't know.  NO whole army picks just yet. but one is planned but I still need to do 3 more units. (2 units of 6 and 1 unit of 4 Skirmishers). They have now all been purchased and indeed the next unit is already started.

I did not put them in the same order when taking the front and back photos but still I am sure you will forgive me. the colours are authentic, (Red Dyed with Madder (in real life) and Blue dyed with Brazil Wood (again in real life.) Most (BUT not all) colours could be dye in dark age Europe as long as you steer clear of PURPLE and dark colours. Also remember that paint and cloth dye are very different.

Well that is a quick post for today. More again soon. All the best Clint

A totally bias Club AAR

At the club on Sunday 6 of us played a 28mm Zulu game. I was the Zulus with Richard in the centre and Jim on the far left. (I was on the right). Against us ws Tim and Colin, playing the British. We were using "The men who would be Kings" rules and all the terrain was supplied by Matt as were the British while Jim Supplied the Zulus.

Having learnt in the past that "tribal forces " need
to make the best use of any cover.
It was a little disturbing that Jim had nearly all the scrub
 over his side of the table. I had a few hills
 and Poor Richard had a large open area to cross.

I skjityed the hills as best I could.
JIM malingered at the back (If he ever gets a blog)
Then and only then can he have his say.

Richard had to cross open ground.
The results were well shall we say predictable.
Tim sent his cavalry (Lancers) and attacked one of my married units
the British Lancers won, but not decisively
But it was a win. Costly for both of us.

using every inch of cover, and being criticised by my own team for doing so
I advanced without taking many further casualties.
yes I took a few, but not very many from shooting.

Suddenly in a position to attack. Richards forces did
 manage to attack the defended barricade.
But he was beaten back with terrible casualties.

It was then I was able to launch my attack.
Instead of attacking Tim who had squared off against me. I
swerved and attacked Colin's troops in the rear.
I think all the other players were surprised.

Tim was of course happy that he was not attacked.
But sad at the same time as the
british line lost quite badly
Resulting in a huge hole in their centre.

I cannot claim it all my own way though.
Tim used carbine fire from horseback and almost wiped out my married unit.
 

My unmarried unit also lost it,s leader in the fight and was thus unwilling to motivate.
But the hole in the British line did allow the other Zulu players to
advance and exploit the situation.

Over all it was a Zulu victory and one dear I say I was fairly instrumental
in creating.

All players did loose a lot of troops.
(Strangely except Jim)
On both sides.
OK I was a little harsh on Jim in this write up. he was not really that bad.
But I did say I was going to write up a bias report against him. So consider that done.





 

FINISHED AND STARTED.

Yes that sounds like a music album title for a cheap band from the 60's) I apologise if this was an album title, but you get the idea.

Firstly here is the remains of my German Aeronef fleet. You may recall I forgot to paint one when I did the rest. so that has now been rectified.

They are Van 7 German patrol nefs. (LINK to shop) They came as part of the German starter fleet and are now painted and with the others. (still trying to sort out bases I am happy with.)
But they are done so nothing to worry about too much for now.

The bottom pic is some figures I sent off for from Gripping Beast. I must say the service was exemplary.  They arrived in their own card board box very fast indeed.

I have started the next unit and with luck I will finish them  pretty soon but not this weekend. Generally the figures are very good and well suited to Dux Britaniarum. Buying direct from the maker was cheaper than eBay as well So expect to see the first unit of 6 middle of next week. Over all I am excited to paint them and assembling them was a pleasure and not a chore.

Hopefully an AAR on Monday, until then take care have fun and paint like crazy if you get the chance.

AND THEN THERE WERE 3

Yes let me take you back a few weeks when I finished these  (( http://clint-anythingbutaone.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/ltv4s.html ))

I said at the time that one was in worse condition and I may or may not get around to painting it. Well the Joy is that I have finished it! One of the reasons was that I got them all cheap and they were badly cast. So badly cast that there was a whole on the back (tail) entrance ramp about as large as the nail on my little finger. As well as chips air bubbles and dust particles and bobbling. (I am sure there is a technical term but you know what I mean.)

 Since then I have repaired the hole, being honest it did not take long and I probably could have done a better job. but as I considered the vehicle a "Throw-away" I was not in the mood to spend too much time on it. BUT as you can see I am glad I did repair it. As I now have 3. OKAY they are not perfect, but they are good enough.

If you look at the bottom of the ramp inside you can see the repair. Not brilliant, but good enough for me and any games I put on. As it was painted at a different time it is a different shade of green, it also has a different style of base. Oh well my mistake  and at least I have another vehicle ready for the table top.

So job's a good 'Un! as far as I am concerned. I have shown all 3 together just to kind of prove this is a new vehicle and not one of the others re-photographed. And at the very end is a Youtube video of one being put through its paces by some vehicle restorers.

I do have 3 more Amtracks (Amphibious-tractors) to do, but they are more fighting vehicles than troop transports. Therefore I have left those for another post while I think about what kind of turrets (yes turrets) I put on them/

Until next time take care, have fun and paint something.

All the best Clint

NEW PROJECT ALERT

Well almost (sorry Joe ). Personally I did not like SAGA, I know many people did and that is great, but for me I could not get to grips with troops that could do something one turn and not do it the next. I am sure they could not have forgotten it in a space of 10 minutes. Anyway I like the period and setting and already have the figures (well some of them at least). Now Dux Britaniarum is currently played down the club so that makes sense as the "way to go!"

Dux Britaniarum is set about 500 years earlier than SAGA. This could be a problem is set later. But earlier the armour and weapons were pretty much the same. OK there is less chainmail and less Dane Axes and less hauberks, with almost no need to split he front for mounted knights. But there were more bearded axes and more Van Dyke mail shirts. (Get your wellies on if you want to get into the deep bullshit about exactly when and where they changed.... it was an evolution and not overnight at one battle)But generally it was similar if not exactly the same.


So I raked out my Saga Figures and started to have a look at what I could use and guess what!  Here they are!

From left to right
Lords champion. Full metal jacket, 2 weapons and a shield and ready to take on another champion if asked.
Lord (with hunting dog on base) Originally a SAGA Welsh lord, but quite happily acceptable for Dux Britaninarum
2 lesser/younger lords Nuff said really

 8 elite warriors for the Saxons. No one give me a hard time about the shields. I went for simple colour combinations so we could easily see who was in each unit. While it may not be historically correct it was something we did do in re-enactment so it is something I am happy to continue with.

As you can see there are 2 units of 8 figures each. While you only need 6 figures to make a unit the unit can increase to 8 figures in a campaign. Therefore it was easier to make the units 8 figures at this stage and not 6.

These troops could Be British or Saxon (only 1 unit for British), or at a REAL push Sub Romano British, but then we are stretching the figures a bit.

Rather than re-base I did stick with 20mm square bases it makes no real difference in the rules so no need to change them. All the figures are Gripping Beast and with the exception of the dog and the lord are plastic which makes them a cheap force to put together

I have already sent for the rest of the troops so that I may make either a British or a Saxon  force. While I shall not be able to field 2 forces I suspect there is anough players at the club who can already field a force so I am happy to just have one.

That's it. Thanks for looking today. I suspect it will be more 15mm Pacific war items in a few days time.

Spectrum is Green (SIG)

 I have had these hanging around for a while. I also have some Highland cattle that I was actually looking for when I unearthed these. Highland Cattle... best not to ask I am sure they will be along soon.

Anyway here are 4 Crooked Dice "Timelift" security. Any resemblance they may have to any Gerry Anderson Puppet shows is purely coincidental. In fact to show they were not part of the Puppet show I have deliberately selected different colours.

WE Have Captain Tangerine He did start as captain Lemon but my cousin did ask if I would paint one in her favourite colour.
Captain Grey (again it did start as captain Charcoal but it looked better a little lighter.
Captain Tourquise. Maybe from the Indian Sub continent.
And Captain Purple. Of African descent but he could come from anywhere really.

I have no games for these planned, I just wanted to paint them. All finished within 1 day, undercoat to varnish and all because I cannot (at the moment) find the cattle I want to paint.

I am tempted to get some more as they were so easy and so much fun to paint but until I find a use for them I shall not.

That is it for the Bank holiday weekend. Another post on Tuesday.

Have a good weekend all the best Clint

Still working on SCW

Yep I am still working on my armies for the Spanish Civil war.... Although I must admit I am running out of steam.

These are all Pendraken 10mm figures. Actually the Anti Tank gun is old Skytrex Action 200. Which n longer seem available. And that just shows how old I am.

These are all nationalist troops, but that said there is no reason they could not be Republican troops. It really was not as clear cut as we would like to think.  The Antitank crew are actually WW2 British Navy, but does that matter? I think not. There is no point in playing the SCW and getting fussy about which is which and what is what. Everyone used anything they thought was best.

I was lucky enough to be asked to playtest some SCW rules. And they should be commercially available before the end of the year. I will not at this stage go into detail as that would be very improper. I will just say they did work, but from my point of view (not having seen the final draft) they did not seem very different to WW2 rules and the Spanish Civil war was very different. SO I will need to wait and see what the final draft is like before saying anything more.

Just 4 more stands 3x Light MG's and 1 Anti tank.

Not a lot more to add. Thanks for looking today and back to 28mm for Sundays post... (assuming they get finished today.)

Another Zombie!

Yes the post title is much more about me than anything else. I just cannot, for some reason, get going this week.  Only 1 Zombie finished.

The figure is by Mantic and part of the Walking Dead starter box set. I have tried to make it look like her tights are ripped and laddered. Also  that she did at one time work in a diner. If this is your take o how the figure is painted brilliant. If not I am sure you have in your head a back story for her.

As with the majority of these zombies they come with wounds already and most often a deformed limb as well. On this one her left arm is broken and hangs at a strange angle. They all have something though so expect to see more on the next one.

I am still very much enjoying the walking dead game but am finding the starter set very limiting. Which clearly it is designed to be as they want you to send more and even more on it as time goes by. For me though after 2 playing sessions (or 7 games) the "Shine" is wearing thin.  This does not mean playing will cease or the painting will stop, just that it is not as new and exciting as it was when I first got it.

I have no painting fr Matt at present ad have nearly finished the stuff (I do not show) for Peter. So no plans for the next post just yet. It will need to be a surprise. Maybe the last 2 German Aeronef ships, maybe the start of the Dutch fleet. If I am very lucky I will find the cattle I know I bought but seem to have hidden as they will be the start of a newly revised project taking over from Saga. We still all (well most) have the figures so perhaps it will re-start.

That though is it for today. Al the best Clint

Te-Ke (15mm Japanese Armoured car With tracks)

yes the title is misleading. It is not a Tank. It was not designed as a tank or used as a tank and it is not intended to be a tank. I grant you it does look like a tank, but a very small one. It was actually designed and used as an armoured car. Yes it has tracks but with only 12mm of armour (which is enough to stop bullets and shrapnel of the period,) It was never intended to be a tank.

 While it is NOT a tank it was armed with either a medium/heavy machinegun or a 37mm anti tank gun. All these have the second option. I was going to paint the other turrets up and use them, but as these turrets kept falling off (and at least 1 broke) I have decided to keep the glued in place.

The models are "battlefront" Flames of War 15mm vehicles. based on plastic-card 30mm frontage and 40 mm long. So feel free to measure the photos and see how big they are. (They are small) . During WW2 about 620 were built and they were used in China, Burma and the pacific Islands. In PBI they have an armour value of 4 and a gun value of 5, which is pretty low. BUT as they are intended to be used as tracked armoured cars we cannot really hope for them to stand up to late war heavy armour. They just could not. They only have a crew of 2 the driver and the commander. The commander takes the role of gunner, loader and vehicle officer, while the driver drives.

There are not so many of these that survived the war and many/most would have been destroyed but a couple of examples still do exist I tank museums around the world.

These 5 help to give some variety and a very little armour to my Pacific forces. Yes looking at the photo on the right they were this small. And small obviously means both low profile and harder to hit. So perhaps they may be alright on the table (who am I kidding players will kill these as quickly as they can).  Which takes nothing away from how much fun they were to paint. Just do not expect them to last long against many opponents.