Sci-Fi always has a use for a Naff Model

When I saw a 1/72 model being sold for £1 (in Boyes) I was not expecting "modelling quality" - and it turns out I was right, but instead of bemoaning a terrible representation of a Dutch APC, I can see the Sci-Fi potential of a 15mm futuristic "battle tank" thingy (see below, I must point out, even the plastic of a was horrible quality to work with): 

Imagine it painted white, weathered with extra terrestrial muck and supported by Star Gruntz figures (see below, it will look OK as a 23rd century "mother ATV" for an infantry unit): 

Fun not at all serious - but get it to the tabletop nevertheless ;) 

PC Game - Flash Point Red Storm - WWIII "The War That Never Came"

This is my latest PC obsession, which has already caused the wife to pass caustic comments on my hobby and her hubby's strange sense of priorities. It hankers back to my teenage youth (the late 1980's) and the threat of the Cold War going "Hot" was in the back of everybody's minds (see below, never mind "Nina and her 99 Red Balloons" .. what about those T-72 Tanks? There are thousands of them!): 

What I love about this game is the WEGO system (something that would mentally kill you if you tried to umpire something like it on a tabletop, as the computer must slice a turn into so many little segments and hold tract of who goes first etc on a huge list of actions) and the "hands off AI" for a lot of the minutia (stuff the troops would be doing without you having to tell them to do it .. for example, indirect weapons repositioning themselves after a shoot is a case in point). The double bonus is the classic FOW (Fog of War play .. which leaves you [peeing] on "the seat of your pants") during play. The triple play bonus whammy for me is that it is breathing a bit of life back into my modern 1/300 scale collection (which seemed stopped at Modern Spearhead about a decade ago) as a few little extra models would not go amiss. I may look to expand it is the direction of some Americans and British (BOAR) - already having some Russians/Warsaw Pact and West Germans. 

The red rings around my eyes tells you all you need to know for now ;) 

633 Squadron Project: 1/200 BRS Models

If you look closely you will see "half" of 633 Squadron (see below, queue theme music - I know you know it): 

This is one of my long standing childhood "silly dream" projects. 1/72 scale is way too big, as is 1/144 [as well as being seriously expensive last time I looked]. 1/300 seemed "almost right" but a little bit on the small side, so 1/200 seems the manageable compromise and the Warlord kit is very nice (plus I also have a Skytrex Action 200 Nazi Flak Battalion which is the same scale). I know I don't need twelve planes (as you can recycle them round) but once I have done the first six, in for a penny, in for a pound - just the question of a making the fjord scenery and a Nazi atomic factory to blow up ;) 

Strelets Soviet WW2 Winter Partisans .. and that strange figure in my set?

Over the festive and New Year break I had the opportunity (like many of us) to do some "hobby sorting" which included some 20mm figure plastic figure basing (see below, some lovely 1/72 scale WWII Strelets Soviet WWII Partisans in "Winter Dress"):  

They are an unusual but lovely set and so full of character (see below, the rugged partisan leader who accepts no excuses): 

Rugged and determined, armed with a SMG and ready to meat out retribution to the invaders (see below, you have got to like those boots): 

The agricultural worker turned partisan, perhaps not a great shot with the rifle but he will be persistent  (see below, gotta love those ear flaps): 

Then this mystery figure, at first I am thinking this is really the partisan's great, grandfather riding one last time against the fascist hoards in defense of the motherland, after all he does look Russian, of a Cossack style of sorts but definitely the wrong century! (see below, what is going on? It turns out this is a Strelets "Easter Egg" or "Cuckoo in the nest"): 

The answer comes from the ever useful Plastic Soldier Review Page: 

http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/ShowFeature.aspx?id=15

Vintage Airfix and Christmas

I found that I could not really say no (see below, some of the ones I missed when I was a kid): 

The doubling up on the Fiesler Storch was a case of one for Rommel and one for the European theater of operations (including rescuing Mussolini). 

Happy New Year

 May fortune shine on you this year, Happy 2021

I Think The Time Has Come For Another Ancients Game (OHW)

Inspired by the review of the Persians, I think it is time to revisit their Greek cousins and "go forth" with another One Hour "Ancients" Wargame. I am thinking a small City State feud with some Greeks at play (see below, I am sure access rights ancient well of Artemis is once again being disputed): 

Time to look through the book of scenarios for an interesting one to play and see if I can interest my eldest into playing - and perhaps bribe him with an offer of the Disney Plus TV Channel Subscription id he plays ;)