More Romans - SPQR Maybe?

I've kind of got into painting Romans, there's something to be said for factory painting, especially when you get into a groove.

These are the same as previous, I think I must have about 60 of these from one of those Warlord Games Roman starter sets, I've also got some cavalry to do too along with a batch of Celts, which may just end up being some local auxiliaries or I may have to do a full ancient celtic force. Those Victrix chariots are just lovely!

Kids are the future, of gaming!

Like many people I have kids, two boys to be precise,  and I'm guessing some of your kids like playing with daddy or mummy's toy soldiers. 

Well below is the outcome of a pleasant sunday afternoon diversion with my 9 and 11 year old where a small Panzer company and a US Recon patrol clash over a crossroads somewhere in Normandy.

The two forces move onto the field of battle

Operation capture the crossroads, who will get there first,  the Jagdpanther or two M8s?

M3 vs PzIV, oh no!

Meanwhile panzergrenadiers try to slow down the two speeding M8

The second squad of grenadiers capture the crossroads and dig in while a jeep patrol sprays them with machine guns. To the south an airborne squad threatens the Stugs

The final outcome turn 6, both sides claim the objective,  this sector of the Normandy campaign is in stalemate!

Both my boys had fun, I adapted Bolt Action and Flames Of War, managed to get the rules onto a single A4, made everything generic (tanks, vehicles and infantry).

Maybe I'll refine and publish on here at some point for feedback.

Space Toys are Fun

I'm busy working on painting my Jomsvikings but there's only so much pastel shades and axes you can paint before you implode, so for a fun deviation I decided to paint up an old toy I managed to recycle from my boys toy box. 

It's supposed to be a Y-Wing but I moved the engines forward and then started kit bashing from my bits box. 

I figured that it would work well for both Star Wars Legion and 40k, I've added a few old 40k decals but kept it neutral so it doesn't place it in a genre.

Random Interlude - Bismarck

Sometimes I forget that my youngest son (9) has a superpower (Autism), until he does something like this. 

 

The Bismarck, in Lego, from memory.

Apparently he wants to build the Hood now,  so watch this space. 

The results of my molding attempts

Not too shabby! Its a little light on the detail around the tracks and the rear looks scruffy. But thats what weathering and mud effects are for!

I could probably have paid for another set for the cost of the craft supplies I used to create this.  However I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and sometimes that's what this hobby is about. Or maybe my focus is changing and I'm getting more pleasure out of the hobby side these days than I am out of the gaming side. 

Who knows!

First attempt at molding

Last post I talked about the great Rubicon Firefly kitand how it came with an extra hull and turret. This got me to thinking could I get another tank out of this? My wife used to be a professional cake decorator and still had a couple of unused silicon mold kits left which she kindly donated to my crazy idea.  I managed to make a decent mold of both track sections and chassis,  but when it came to casting I made a right mess ad I foolishly used plaster of paris which is not the best material to get out of flexible silicon molds.
So back to the drawing board, and something a bit more sturdy, milliput!

Unfortunately I didn't have enough to build the whole chassis so I had to be creative and after casting only the front and rear I had to build the rest of the chassis from scratch.

Its not the prettiest model but should be passable once painted and weathered. 

Not Lockdown Anymore - Sherman Firefly

A few months ago I added a very nice Rubicon Sherman Firefly to the lead pile and with the lockdown here in NZ coming to an end I thought why not celebrate by painting a tank! Makes a change from 28mm!

This kit was a dream to put together, which agrees with everything I've ever heard about Rubicon. Even better you get an extra hull and turret so you can build a regular 75mm and swap them if needed (its built so you don't have to glue the hull and chassis!)

The trickiest part was painting the camo on the barrel. Panzer crews quickly raised how deadly the 17 pdr was and would target the firefly in each tank troop first, so the crew camo'd the end of the barrel with a disruption pattern to make it look like the 75mm.

I'm looking forward to trying this bad boy out, i'm sure it'll suffer from the newly painted curse and explode in the first couple of turns.