A praise, a rant, and maybe a small cultist chant

Sorted out a ton of stuff today, for school, family and little bit of the hobby. . Based up all of my Terracotta zombies I purchased at Impact 2017, took a picture of that, then promplty converted the standard bearer into a normal one, no standard (and no hand), as these wilol function as just zombies for a Chinatown or Ronin/Daisho battle.

Just need to base the clipped head from the banner as well. Very nice figures, pity they are OOP.

Picked up my trade box today, with a Academy M35 truck, a Heller 109 B/C that actually does come with a canopy (unlike the last trade) and has the iconic early mouth style intake. Ad a dual seat Skyraider, because..... why not. Only cost me 2 kits and shipping in return.

I also passed my First Aid exam yesterday, most of it went swimmingly other then the imitated torn leg muscle ( never been a sports guy and never had anyone near me have this happen to them, so besides a coldpack and giving them some painkillers there wasn't much I could actually...I just needed to be more confident in my respsonse. Same went for a guy with a painful ear, and it hurt inside his head. No bugs, no hits, just a red ear and pain in his head. I gave him some painkillers as well and told him to see his doctor if it was still the same tomorrow. Actually I was supposed to give him a hotpack for his ear, but just painkillers would do fine too. Bandaging, CPR, AED use, staying calm and informative to the victim, no problems there.

Fun though, sitting in a room full of very nervous people, you could smell the fear :D

But yeah, I passed, and as a gift for me doing so I'm buying a ticket to Militrack for the sunday show and to see actual, functioning WW2 German vehicles. My favourite desert Stug rebuild is coming too, I can't wait to see it live and his Marder next year.

Then we come to my Grubby Tanks order I arrived today. As youy may or may not know, I've stopped buying his resin vehicles as the casting quality is incredibly low. But his figures were fine, with the occasional mould slippage or other casting issue. Well, 1/3rd of this order has issues. Either too little metal, or excessive metal build up on faces and arms, some mould slippage and then there is this  in the Russian officer pack.

Yes, he really is that flat...... :(

Already emailed him, again, about the defects. At this rate every order I make has defects, and sure, they will get replaced, but this really should not be necessary to begin with.

More tomorrow :)

It really helps to read an army list BEFORE you build stuff, you know?

So, in between my studies, I've managed to build and base 2 Russian 45mm M1937 AT guns for my Partisans, one on the move and 1 in position, after getting inspired.

Apolagies for the shitty quality pictures....still using just my phone....

 Gun on the move in to (or out of?) position. Most pics I've seen of it being manhandled is with 2 people at the front of the gun and 1 in the back steering it....I think? Put a muzzle cap on it to keep the dirt out plus 2 cases of shells. I have no gun crew yet so these are just stand ins. It's my (current) standard towing base (which is T shaped) with the back end held in place by a pin, to keep it level with whatever is towing or pulling it. I thought about adding lift handles on the legs, but stopped after adding doing the tow hooks on both guns. I just want to have these done so I can move on to the next lot.

I've added some extra reinforcement between the shield and the base of the gun as for some odd reason both guns had the mounting pin bent and split and even after bending it back and using glue, the gunshield sat at a tilted angle. Not anymore :)  The in situ gun is placed on my favourite Y shaped base. This way I can easily add and remove troops and keep them as close to the gun as possible.

So, all good then, innit?

Nope. I got inspired by seeing pics of the Partisan 37mm AT gun in action:

....and assumed that the 45mm one would be the upgrade for the Partisans. I assumed wrongly :(

The basic gun is the 37mm (for which I can use a captured PaK36 or 37mm M1930 - for wargaming purposes the same gun) and the upgrade is the 47mmL32

Technically speaking a licence built Böhler. Drat. I don't have those in my stash. No, ffs.......

Well, not to fear!

After comparing the stats of both guns, they have a identical HE and AP value, so there is no problem using them as is.

Crisis averted! Now get these suckers painted up asap.

PS: The guns are PSC 4 in a box Russian AT guns (45mm 1937, 45mm 1942 and the Infantry gun) and the spare barrels can be used for bunkers or other purposes. The Partisans are from the Kelly's Heroes range from Grubby Tanks.

This might get a bit Technical

Just to help out my buddy Ferry a bit :)

(click on the pic for a bigger size)

I have more in storage, just not in easy reach, so this will have to do for now.

1. S&S Lada Riva saloon car. Super generic resin car, fits in everywhere and as everything. Taxi, police car, civillian, car, target car. S&S even makes African and Arab half figures to glue on the windows for a drive by. S&S Lada Riva Currently retails at 6.50 UK Pounds. Single cast with 4 metal wheels. Casting is typical for S&S, so be prepared to fill in the air bubbles with some greenstuff. This one is painted as a Yugoslavian decoy for aicraft.
2. Same S&S Lada Riva saloon car, this time painted up as generic TV crew car, fitting for any warzone since the 70's
3. JB Models (now Airfix) Landrover. Plastic kit, you can buy a verson with a hardtop or a soft top, and they come with a trailer, which is supereasy for loads of armies. Price varies from a couple of euros second hand right up to some stores asking as much as 15 euros for a single kit (which is a bit ridiculous ans a proper diecast can be had for half that). Again, super generic, as a civvy, Technical or as these 2 WIP's, British Special Forces rides for the Cold War.... I really should finish those someday, even though I'm no longer in big scale Cold War conflicts, they would be very handy for TW:2K
4. Same as 3, but with AT asset, The other one will get a minigun, thx to a former SAS friend who wants to remain anonymous.
5. Hobby Den Toyota 4x4. I have a ton of these, all based up and ready to go, just paint them black, add a magnet in the back so I can slide on a Back off sign in Arabic, add a magnet in the roof so I can put a MMG/HMG/Minigun/Grenadelauncher on it. They are meant for my Blackwater project, but can double as unmarked black cars for any location and any faction, be it intelligence, government, drug lords or warlords, anything goes really. Very affordable too, these are currently priced at 6,50 euros for a single resin cast with 4 resin wheels.  Hobby Den 4x4 Toyota  Bryan also does a Technical version of the same vehicle, I reviewed that back in 2012: Hobby Den 4x4 Technical
6. This SUV is made by Britannia/Grubby Tanks, and would be a very good deal at 6 UK Pounds each, as it comes with 2 Taliban and a 12.7mm Dhssk. It has 4 metal wheels and the veicle itself is a single resin cast. Therein also lies the problem, as in the last few years I've been let down by the terrible casting quality from Britannia's caster. Having said that, this is a very smooth model, nothing like the hard cornered armoured vehicles, so it could be less affected. Although sold as Taliban, there is nothing stopping you from using this as a Special Forces ride. Afghan Technical
7. RH Models aka Liberation Miniatures Technical. Very nice ride, but due to getting my entire country blacklisted by our benevolent Dictator Rolf Hedges, no longer available to us. Included for completeness.
8. Britannia/Grubby Tanks M35 truck. Really old casting, upgraded with a aluminium tubing exhaust to bring it up to M35A2 specs, and a miscast BRDM-2 hull, cut down, added in the back, as a makeshift convoy protection vehicle for TW:2K. I didn't like the way it was going with my add on door armour, so took that all off and forgot all about it. Suitable from Vietnam up to present day, as a Government or Rebel vehicle, easily converted and less costly then the Academy M35 truck. But yeah, their current castings are shite so order at your own risk. Britannia/Grubby Tanks M35 truck
9. ICM ZIL or Jiefang truck - I picked up a dozen or so of these way back when shipping was still affordable for less then 4 euros per truck. Pretty generic truck, multi role use, civillian to military, plastic so easily converted by adding drop in loads or a baby wipe tarp.
10. RH Models Saxon. Also added for completeness, I picked up some second hand ones for use with TW:2K and was surprised a few years ago when Ukraine got about 2 dozen from the UK to help with the war effort.....and that was the last thing I ever heard or saw about them. Not really a Technical but makes for a great militia/marauder vehicle.

Now, there are a lot more Technical suitable vehicles available in 20mm. I've made a order with the Hobby Den as well as some samples to paint up for their shop,  and like I said, I have loads in my stash I need to dig out as well, but that is for a next installment.

Now, comparing these to diecasts, the diecasts are of course much cheaper, especially when bought second hand. The wheels tend to be a bit of a let down, but you can always rip them off ond base them on suitable resin wheels. Shape wise, they tend to be a bit hit/miss, I've got more then a few who look suitable but when measured up, turn out to be way oversized. Caveat Empor, bring a 20mm fig with youy when shopping, I say.

Hope you find this helpful.

All your Base belong to us

Nothing much to report. Sat down around 8 in the evening, and decided it was a good time to base all of the miniatures I had lying around next to me. Yes, all of them.

42 WW2 Japanese, 25 WW2 Partisans, 45 Vietcong and 83 Taliban.

Also cleaned up the gaps and mould lines on the 2 28mm farm buildings and cleaned the pipe bases, ready for a coat of thinned down wall filler.

All in all a productive evening.

Last of the many ( I hope)

I visited a local fellow kitbuilder (aka hoarder) who is liquidating his 1/72 collection and I brought him some of my surplus 1/35 stuff. In the end, I can say we were both pretty happy with our trade..

I picked up the following:

 Partially started Skyhawk, with upgradeparts for the extended exhaust for the Israeli's. Goes into the 1982 Israel pile.

 Toss up between a Iraqi or a Argentinian bird, purely planned for display purposes.

 Decals for the Gazelle helo, so I'm now sorted for the Syrian, Iraqi and Yugoslav ones.

If I can find a cheap box of these, I always snatch them up. With additional plastic bits they become lovely.

 For the burned Russian convoy.

 My favourite 222

 For my Overlord British

 Even though it has rubber tyres, I picked it up anyway. I'll either wreck it or trade it.

 Will this joing my future French of the German Polizei Units? Who knows....

 Straight onto the Israeli pile.

 Extra AAA for the Desert Brits or the BEF.

 Will be a civillian aircraft, I think.

 Another Russian wreck.

 For Iran-Iraq.

Other then some outstanding orders with the Hobby Den, Grubby Tanks and some second hand trades, I'm kind done with buying/swapping/trading (not selling though!). I'm going back to building stuff several nights a week to make a dent in the pile in the atic, as well as more scenery, courtesy of a new friend:

After getting interested in these a few years ago, but never having the money to buy one, I've been looking on and off for one for the past 2 years. 6 months ago Erik and decided to put a little more effort into it, and tonight I picked up this beauty at half retail. The receipt says it was bought last week, and the owner bought it to try it out, and felt he could find something better, so bought a 700 euro model with all the trims and fittings possible, and put this one up for sale. Jay me.

I will invest in some add ons for it, to make easy and consistent angular cuts and straight cuts with thicker foam. For now I will just play with it for a bit.

I've got a job! Yeah, about that..... :(

Got a phonecall this morning from Iris, my job agency coach. She informed me she had received a vague email from the company that is going to hire me. Well, make that WAS going to hire me. Quoting economical circumstances, they have decided to put the job on hold for the time being.

Iris is more then a bit upset (as am I) as she has put a lot of effort into it, all the paperwork is done and was to be signed this week by the 3 of us. But no. Iris is also quite upset that all her communications have been with the company president and now all of a sudden a employee is emailing this without a real explanation.

So yeah.....shit.

<sigh> I took some painkillers for the knee, discussed this with Kim as I was visibly quite upset, took the afternoon off and just returned from my final First Aid training day (exams next week). I volunteerd to do a test exam (day could not get any worse, right?) I only managed to forget to remove the ring and watch of a 2nd degree burned hand and accidentally held a victims hand when he had just spilled lye over his arm and hand. But you don't flunk on that kind of stuff and I won't make those 2 mistakes next week. I really want to pass this exam, not just for my resume but for myself and Kim and the kids, if something ever happens.

Tomorrow, a new day, a fresh start, and we will carry on with the Quest for Work! TM


Anyway, we are here for the hobby stuff. Been burning through my stuff (not literally) on monday, managed to cut the amount of junk on the gaming table in half, removed half the junk from my first cabinet and sorted out what can be sold off (most) and what not (very little). So progress is being made. Also, I received some trade stuff and decided that in the future, starting now, anything I get that I want to use myself, gets cleaned, based and sanded asap. That way I'm not online hunting for new stuff and working with what I got.

So, in no particular order:

Did the Renedra Ramshackle Barn and American Farmhouse 1750-1900 I had in my stash for a while now, glued all the windows shut, fixed the roof and based them on 3 or 4mm MDF (took this picture) and just finished sanding the edges. General cleanup tomorrow. It's aimed at 28mm TNT, but will do for Cowboy games and ACW skirmish f I ever get that far.

I got these 2nd hand, I just stuck them to their bases and changed the cobblestone one on the left to the same sand one as the rest. Captives for 28mm TNT or any other game that needs prisoners/hostages/sacrifices.

I've bought a second hand lot of 20mm VC and NVA, just based and fillerd them, sanding tomorrow when everything has set hard and is trimmed on the sides. The lot came with the grey Liberation Models K63 APC on the right (missing its gun), I washed, cleaned and trimmed that to fit today. The yellow one is a Red Star one I just removed from the bag, cleaned, heated and bent back into shape, and is now ready for basing and a new gun. The 3 painted ones (including 1 command/medical version) are gifts from Chris. Also need to be cleaned, based and a ggun. They are for my (2nd) Iraqi army for Iran-Iraq and the Gulf War. The Liberation one is marginally bigger in size and has some different details, but nothing major and will make a nice platoon CO ride I guess.

The VC and NVA need sand and good cleaning of any mould lines, and I wanted to convert the NVA into VC by sanding down the sun hat until Piers reminded me that they woudl work perfectly a Main Force VC. So that saves me the work for that.

Also, I need to grab from my weapons bin, a MG-34, a PIAT and a MP40 for the VC as weapons.....some conversions are in order.

All of the Partisans I received have been based, fillered and sanded. Removing of mouldlines is up this week, and then see who needs a head swap, conversion, GS work etc. Also build 2 light AT guns for them (which will do double duty with my Russians).

So much to do, and suddenly a lot more time (jay..... :( ) so hey.

A bridge too far - salvage job

Still going over my collection of boxes, I pulled out a partially smashed H0 bridge, with a bag with most of the broken parts. Most were clean breaks, that I managed to fix with simple plastic glue, but one of the feet was really smaed up and I had to epoxy that. As she is now, I need to fix 3 small areas with some plasticcard, fix some of the flash and excessive glue from the p[rvious owner, then plate over the length of her with wood like the other one. I'm thinking about doing the same with the one that is already painted.

Well, when getting second hand stuff you never really know what you are going to get, pictures from a lot tend to not be very good 9 out of 10 times. Of course, it doesn't help if you drop the box it is in.... It is by far my largest bridge, at 34 centimeters (or 13 inches for you lot across the Channel)

All of these bridges are meant as rural ones, wood planking for the most, so they work from the late 1900's up to now, depending on your location. Being able to work for 28mm is a side thought, but these will come in handy for things like Necromunda as well.

My keen eye did spot one thing.

They are both the same width (and annoyingly, the painted one isn't!) but I spotted that both (and the painted one with some modification) can be modded to have the exact same supports, with a embedded rare eearth magnet, and slotted into place in a later to build ramp. This way, one rampset will be able to hold all bridges and any puture ones I decide to make.

Plenty of examples of ramps to be found online:

The basiscs are quite simple. 2 ramps and a bridge part. This works in any scale.

Some lovely ideas here, depending on the surrounding you can be as elaborate as you want to be.

Just lovely.

Of course, adding derelict sections becomes quite easy as well.

Turning it back into a railroad one isn't that hard either:

Just slap the FoW ones that I have on top of the woodwork and call it a day (sadly, that does not work with the small one).

In the future, I want to build pioneer bridges and bailey bridges in the same fashion, but no rush right now. First I want to get these 3 done.

But yes, no problem.

Anyway, fixing my problem bridge is rather easy. Just expand the broken bits into square shapes, fill in with scrap plasticcard and glue into place. When it has hardend, cut to size and give it a good sanding.

The missing L beam is still a bit wobbly....I will cut it down and glue a longer L beam on the inside for added strength, once this has set. No need to be perfect, just make it strong enough to last for quite a while.