Taking stock

I've been spending quite a bit of time in the attic lately, clearing out boxes and sorting stuff into boxes labelled Sell, Store or Trash. Currently I have 10 boxes of stuff to sell, which will take me quite some time as photographing, tagging and putting it all online takes a shitload of time, so I just grab a few things each time I go up in the attic.

The boxes labelled Store (around 10 now) are the ones I focussed my attention on today, to see if I could sort some of them into project boxes. In this case, 1 project in particular due to the arrival of 2 Italeri Loaches from a trade, just for the minuguns that they have, so I can convert 1 AH-6 Night Fox into the twin minigun and rocket pod variant used by the guys supporting Delta in Mogadishu, and 2 others into troop carriers, with magnet swappable boards for versions with and without troops, and 3 of the (almost) correct versions of the Blackhawks (1 for a crashed model and 2 for dropping off troops. I actually have the correct model for the C&C bird as well but I've come to the conclusion adding that is a bit pointless due to the high altitude.

Going off this pic I actually have 1 AH-6 too many, but that will go into my 1982 Israel box as it comes with twin tow launchers, so nothing is wasted. With the 30 Delta's and the 40+ Ranger suitable figures I'm pretty much done for a raid. More suitable buildings are on the list, and when that is all done I'll get busy on the miltia and their assorted vehicles. It sure seems like a lot of work for a 3x3 table but hey, this has been stuck in my brain ever since I saw the movie and make some stuff for it :) Life's goals, bucket list, your call :)

I pitied the mailman this week, btw.

Yeah, that's a lot.

Zlin is a 2nd plane for the Cartel (for Black Ops games), Bf 109E-4 was a freebie, F4U-4 Corsair is for Burma, The 2 Heller kits are for Israel's earlier wars which aren't a high priority at all. More bombs because I like to load out with proper ordonance and the stuff that comes with kits can be iffy sometimes. My 4th Protze, that should suffice for a while. The Airfix Bedford double box, 1 is for a Late Desert 6 Pounder portee, the other as a transport for Overlord. 2 Cayuse just for the miniguns, and they can be made into civillian ones after that....would do very nice as a press chopper or a Cartel one as I will have rocket pods spare. Su-7 is planned for a Egyptian one vs Israel but also long term.

6, yes 6...., LKW 7t trucks. Let's just say I got a very good deal on these (even though I'm actualy actively looking for a 10t version to convert to a Iraqi mobile Roland). And last but not least, a E555......just for static display and a target for commando or resistance raids on secret German locations. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.

I picked up some stuff at Overloon too but that's for a later Blogpost.

Meanwhile, I've added a new Japanese building to my lot, a rather large rice storage. It came out nice. Just needs rocks for the roof but I still haven't found the correct container.

I'll make stairs for it at a later date.

Fencing in some sand.

I've been at it in the attic and have now 10 moving boxes full of stuff ready to disposed of in the coming future (not on this Blog though, I use forums and FB groups for that). One of the nice side effects of digging into boxes that have not been open for years is finding stuff I made when I started (historical) wargaming, like a ton of painted figures and what not. One rather useful bit is this:

Made with the coarse sand I used 10 years ago, and dental plaster casts of a rock wall purchased on my very first Crisis shopw and painted to go with my DAK stuff, they are nicely tall walls in 20mm and chest high walls in 28mm. For something that is about 10 years old it has weathered remarkably well, with only very minor chipping. So, some dusting off, retipping some paint and varnish and she's ready to hit the table in a desert near you.

And in other news....I've been collecting some Israeli stuff.....uh oh......what's this then?

For you following my Blog my love for the Middle East and small scale conflicts with Technicals and militia is nothing new. Collecting stuff to make a 1982 Israeli force just flows naturally from that, so I picked up these at the second hand shop at the Overloon TWENOT show last weekend to go with my M163 and AH-6 TOW and other assorted Israeli stuff that I have. God knows where this will end up.

Swerving wildy off topic! Panzerturm! What?

So, I sat down lastnight to work on the big Japanese house, did jack all for 30 minutes, then decided to go up in the attic to check my inventory and clean up a bit. It helps to check your stuff before a convention, lest you return home with the same stuff over and over (Like the fact that I have 13(!) FW-190 kits in stock.....really). I quickly filled a box with incomplete kits and stuff suitable for wrecks, and dunked a PSC 38(t) box on top, and made my way down again.

So, lots of stuff I can use for Afrika, and what do I do?

...I go and buil myself a Armoured Supplvehicle for Barbarossa. The army that I sold off to Piers for the book a couple of years ago.....for the love of God man :). Anyway, that was 10 minutes of work. And then I had spare turret. 38(t) turrets were used in Tunisia, Sicily, Italy etc, so why not make a fitting bunker?

Looks simple enough, if a tad tall on the table, but I have a plan for that.

Template for the bunker outline, and the metal mounting plate. The underside of the turret was clipped off, sanded smooth, and I sealed the hole with a thin sheet of plasticcard with a magnet epoxied on it (which now sits inside the turret).

First 2 layers, sand the corners (didn't work perfectly but good enough for government work).

4 layers of plasticcard, I've not sanded it all the way smooth, the layering helps with the poured concrete effect when painted. The bacl hole in the back is where the doorway would be....yes, the roof would be a bit thicker then that but this is a wargames model for the table for people who don't dig holes in foam to mount bunkers into.  Mount this on a base, add some space in the back, paint the illusion of stairs and presto.

The bunker sans turret. Underneath the mounting plate is a a hole into the first 2 layers of plasticcard and a magnet epoxied into it, and the mounting plate glued on top so it is not going anywhere. I can now use the same bunker for Normandy by mounting a FT-17 turret on it, for instance.

I'll make a MG and Mortar Tobruk in the same fashion and send both off to the Hobbyden for casting as Piers mentioned he would like a couple and Bryan likes them too.

Right, that is it for now, I'm slightly deceased after taking a trip to the TWENOT event at the Overloon museum today....a single crutch and 3 bags full of model kits don't really mix. I did not recognise the museum anymore, it's completely different from the one I went to as a child. Back then I felt all tanks looked big, but this time I came eye to eye with the restored Panther and it blew me away. I picked up my pre order, a few boxes from the 2nd hand stalls, and the paintset for Caunter. I was pretty beat after an hour or so, decided to leave, drove to the Supermarket for a simple lunch as the canteen was way to expensive for my wallet, and when I wanted to leave I suddenly remembered I had forgotten to pick up another pre order! Crap. So I went back, picked it up, and then found out there was a salesbooth hiding behind the Panther! I picked up a real gem there, but more about that later this week.....

Smell the fresh country air!

Well, maybe not....

Again, heavily leaning on what Jimbibbly makes, mine is  a tad wider but it works, a Japanese outhouse.I think I will make a another one, these take very little effort and can be found in the fields as well.

The big building is fighting me all the way atm (hence I put it aside and made an outhouse).

 Needs woodpanneling, maybe another window on the lower floor? Extra sanding on the roof to make the roof shape fit better. We'll get there.

Front is almost finished, but also needs a window on the top somewhere? Doordetails have to be done too.

And here be dragons! 50 cents for the pair, both (lightly) damaged, so I based them and they will do nicely for Frostgrave of dungeoneering or a cultist hideout. Just needs some sand and other base details.

And lastly, with my apolagies for the terrible picture, a small idol carved in some sort of stone (it didn't look like resin) after cleaning dirt off of it. Based it, will do nicely as a African/South American idol, covered with moss, plants and grasses. Should do fine for 20mm and 28mm alike, and great for Pulp.

I'm now downloading and editing posters and fliers suitable for Gaslands to put up on billboards that I will be massproducing soon.....eating up a lot of time but as always, the look supports the game.

I have just doubled the amount of peasants in my village!

From 1 to 2 :D This farmer can afford 2 rooms in his house..... I've noticed I'm copying heavily from Jimbibbly's work (well, the models he sells at Oshiro), so much so, that I have cancelled my order with Warlord for the house, rice stores (and oild drums). I feel that the 200 Pounds spent there is better sent to Oshiro for things like lanterns etc, and I'm perfectly capable of producing my own quality buildings for a lot less and to my personal taste and style.

I just realised I will also need to build a few outhouses....

Other then that, nothing new. I picked up a few more broken toy trucks, and salvaged the wheels and useful parts, and part of my Caliver order arrived today, a box of PSC A9 Cruisers and a box of 25 Pounders. Sadly, this meant 1 box is on backorder but that is for my late War English so no problem there. Also, I seem to have collected all the aircraft I need for the British and German in the Desert now but I will do a post on that at a later date. Right now I'm working on building number 3 and I already fucked up one wall so yeah.....(managed to fix it though).

Productive weekend

First up, I've been spending real money. Since the type of kits you can trade is a bit limited (tend to be older and/or cheaper kits) I've paid for a pick up order at the next show I'm going to (a kit builders convention at the Overloon museum next weekend). Some kits for my 8th Army-to be, a truck for my DAK-to be and some bargain bin PSC boxes at half price on top of a order of PSC stuff from the UK. I really should stop buying stuff!

To prevent myself from buying stuff I'm just going at it, a lot. That way I'm not or very little online and can focus mostly on what I am building, and when I am online I just listen to podcasts or list stuff for sale. It's not perfect though.

A few weeks back I bought some prebuilt scenery for Samurai games (did I already mention this? I can't remember) and they arrived loose in a box, thus damaged, and they were shoddy built as well, so I put them back up for sale and it was bought and picked up a few days ago. I had picked up the Bushi Buntai (from Northstar) from a sale from a local shop as well, only to get an email from Northstar telling me Sarissa Japanese buildings are 10% off and free shipping over 10 Pounds......well, that hooked me. So, the money I got from the sale plus an extra tenner netted me a nice simple building, 2 rice stores (and a sprue of 28mm scale oil barrels, but those are for TNT). I want the building and the rice stores as the base and expand from there.

FFW to this morning, and I thought, why not try and build me a small shed/poor farmers shack. I've seen tons of stuff from Jimbibbly so plenty of inspiration. So, with a bit of scrap foamboard, some cardboard, swizzle sticks and a couple of matches, and quite a bit of time, I created this:

Foamboard block - scraps from a big foamboard I picked up somewhere ages ago. Turned out this black stuff is very, very hard to cut, nothing like the cheap white stuff I have. 40mm to the rooftop, 30mm for the walls. But it didn't feel right......

 So I raised it by 5mm with a piece of foamboard. Looks better now.

 Matches for the beams, and swizzle sticks for the door and the main spar to support the roof.

I didn't bother to cut out the windows - paint em black and it works too, the roof will be fixed and you can't get inside anyway.

I made a thin cardboard roof first, glued that in place as a base for the wood panelling, glued those in place (I've started using Modge Podge....it's not very sticky in the beginning but sets really fast so I can speed things up).

And then I doused the roof in cheap superglue to solidify everything. The rocks have been epoxied and then coated in superglue as well.

Compared to the bases I use (coins or 2mm MDF) it looks allright. As usual, I'don't use a base (or only very mininal) so I'll coat the black bits with gesso now to fill the holes and cracks.

Does anyone know if these houses are plastered or what kind of material do the use for the walls?

Anyway, it's built, I've learned a lot and the whole thing cost me a tiny bit of foamboard, half a dozen matches, 2 toothpicks and a handful of swizzle sticks. So....about 30 cents worth of material and glue? Now to actually paint it.

I've been hitting the 2nd hand shops again, managed to find 2 more tractors loads like the first one for 1 euro, plus 2 trucks plus trailers for 40 cents so I've been making tire piles.

Basically meant for Gaslands, they will work fine for TNT and RT as well, or stacked in a junk yard, 20mm or 28mm, and are good for roadblocks as well in both scales.

20mm on the left, 28mm on the right. All the tires have been filled with foam and sand and glue on top, with a healthy dose of superglue to seal it. Epoxied them to the bases, now that they have set I can trim them all down.

And that's it for today as it's now 4 in the morning....<bleep>

How one 50 cent toy gives you a ton of scenery.

I like second hand markets / (online) shops. (tbh maybe a bit too much!) I have a list of things in my head that I am looking for and if I see a need for a item, either to be replaced soon as it's almost worn, or something that makes things easier in the kitchen or otherwise, I'll put it on a mental list. Since you never know when you will find it it can be a bit of hit/miss, but hey.

Last week I was making my tour looking for suitable bits for Gaslands, TNT etc and I picked up this:

 50 cents for a farm piece. Way too big for 28mm on it's own. But if we break it down.....

5 inches long, 2 inches wide and tall, this is a pretty big item in 28mm, let alone 20mm. But base it, maybe replace the top covers with something round, paint it rusty and it fits in.

Wheel hubs, 1 inc wide. Makes for great space ship engines, or lean them against rubble and paint them rusty. Nr 4 is lost, broke apart while removing it from the wheel. Oh well.

I like kids toys rubbery tires as they tend to be the type that seems to last forever, compared to model makers stuff. Hotglued the first to a MDF base, and epoxied the rest on top so these are not going anywhere. 2 inches tall, pretty huge, great cover for 28mm figures, massive cover for 20mm, and the tires don't look out of place in either scale - I mean massive tractor tires anyone? Will do fine in Gaslands as well as a road marker of sorts, or even for the finish line. I'm not intending to paint this one....I'll just cover it in pigment, brush most off and fix the rest, job done (as to how exactly going to do that without making a awfull mess.....now that is something I need to work on).

Just put the axles in a rubble pile and paint them rusty.

The frame....some interesting shapes, cut into pieces and paint rusty, jobs a good un.

I have no idea where the 2 black front bits went. :D I swear I had them on the table 5 minutes ago.....but those too, just clean, put on a rubble pile and paint rusty.

50 cents well spent I'd say.

Gaslands: my first (sofar unnamed) racer (WIP)

Well, I had some fun bodgering this together and boy, does 2 part 5 minute epoxy make things easier (and well stuck).

Needs rivits, but other then that good as is. Focus is on speed and ramming. Mine dispenser and boom box at the back for fluff reasons. Side armour for the wheels to keep going longer, light on armour otherwise. Not sure yet what paintjob she will get. Same goes for a name and most of the backgroundstory or sponsorship.

I've got some simple scenery ideas as well, but nothing solid yet, just toying with pen and per for that and leaning heavily on what I've have seen in the Crossout online game.

Desperate times call for.....a spot of welding, an old chassis and a spare gun! Part 1

I decided to just sit down, relax, and build a kit or 2, and to chill. So out comes project nr.3, the Panzer 1B StuK.

Removing the top armour was just a few snips with the cutter, some cuts with the knife and then careful sanding to make the rim appear pretty thin. Getting the left and right fillets in place on the inside (else you look right through the inside opening onto the tracks) was a bit fiddly and I used the Fujimi 1/76 StuG G gun baseplate (now hidden) as a solid mount to rest the framework on. For a change of pace, I have not glued down the top part, so I can paint the inside first. I tried to be as faithful as I could to the pictures of the model that I am using as possible.

I cut the same armour reinforcement panels, the long bars holding the gunmount (and neatly covering the support pillar I have glued underneath to make everything solid once built) and I think, with the limited means at my disposal, I've gotten very close.

(If you are worried about the top shape - this is not the final mounting plate, just a bit to raise the mounting plate to the correct height)

And this is as far as I got today.

Sure, it's not perfect, but so wasn't the original. When I have time again I'll continue on it....God knows when.

In case you are wondering, I'll use it as a "counts as" RSO Panzerjager with the Unreliable trait tacked to it. Sounds about right for this scrapheap challenge.

Look at me! I'm a tree!

Thx to this excellent tutorial that I can just keep looking at over I've made my first tree using the 0.6mm floral wire that I bought. My fingers hurt a bit, it took me a good 2 hours to get this far but with practice I can get that down I think. Well, it's a start.

It's not a huge tree by any means, and it won't be a winter tree but a barren desert tree, and may or may not get some greenery on it. I'll make a couple more so I get the hang of building them. I'll ask Evin to lasercut me some irregular bases for them, as I put this one on a round base and it just screamed "Warhammer!" at me and that's not the plan. When I have the bases, and a few trees, I can epoxy them on the bases and start coating them with woodglue to hide the wire.  I'll use the cut offs to make some shrubs I think.

Plenty of ideas and directions I can go in, tree wise.

Walls didn't happen today. Cleaning is almost done but I thought, to hell with it, and grabbed the box of wire and got cracking. Hey, I actually did something hobby wise, that counts! :D