Airfix Lego Planes Flypast

I know they are kind of big (1/48+ scale) but they do make me smile (see below):

All for the kids (of course). The Me-109 and Spitfire £4.99 each from a Charity Shop. The Spitfire was a replacement for an earlier one that "got lost". The BAE Hawk Trainer (the plabe in black at the back) was £2 from a "car  boot sale". Mega bargain.

Note: From the same "car boot sale" I restrained myself from acquiring seven 1/1000 WW2 IJN Yamato Battleships .. part of me still thinks it was an 'opportunity lost' rather that a 'sensible head' on for once. Maybe it was the fact I could not sneak them into the house without the rest of the family "seeing me"!

Lost One ... Back to 199

Ooops there goes one!

"Lies, damn lies and statistics!"
Better get back to the real business of posting and having fun then!

;)

Wargaming Horder Confession: Philosophy 101.. Found this VLOG interesting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bejo37a1k0k

What? That man. Who me?
Hmm, the wife did find out that those boxes in the loft were not in fact Xmas decorations!

Also of interest (when to stop [painting a model]):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGNJyFdGUqI

Also, also of interest "The Price of Perfection":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Yve7bislU0

Thank you "Tabletop Minions"

Bob's Book: Portable Wargame

A nice little read, Mr Bob Cordery's "The Portable Wargame" and I am glad I've bought it. Why? Two reasons:

• It goes to the heart of the matter of KIS KIT "Keep It Simple but Keep It True". A bit like Formal Methods in Computer Science - "Less is actually a lot More" particularly when simple rules can develop into [unexpected] complex phenomenon ;)
• For a small investment in material new periods can be investigated (I never thought I would consider "Colonial" but here's me thinking 15mm or 6mm Zulu War! Not since DBA have I seen such a good ROI (Return On Investment) with figures and the potential to play numerous games with minimal effort.

That T-34 immediately begs a few WWII wargames to my mind, not too dissimilar to Phil Sabin's games (FireMove comes to mind) from his Simulating War (see below):  

Watch this space for an After Action Report in the near future hopefully!

As a footnote, this little book was a lifesaver on a very long, work-related, train journey from hell. Thankfully this little book was slipped into my laptop bag inconspicuously and helped pass teh time and entertained my through a solo lunch in the hotel ;)

PS I see Bob has another volume out exctending his rules system, heading back into the Ancients period!

Oooh .. Spanish American Naval War 1898 .. "Shiny thing"

On my internet travels I discovered this little shiny gem:

Part 1 (Models): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI565sn0OaY
Part 2 (Painting): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J19rw1sOCg
Part 3 (History Lesson): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFjoeBPQSI8&t=111s
Part 4 (Wargame Rules): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uwJ2P2c-zc
Part 5 (Wargame I): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQoEDyj-a0E
Part 6 (Wargame II): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpY0ZHR1Zgk
Part 7 (Wargame III): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGE7fwnDk-A

I must confess I have not watched them all, but rather skipped through.
A brilliant project that I sense I seem fated to follow at some point!
Plenty of other things to paint first!

Phil Sabin: Educational use of "Lost Battles/Simulating War" Academic (but nevertheless interesting) Talk in Edinburgh

A very interesting presentation by Professor Phil Sabin (KCL)
https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/1_zxih99nr

Fletcher Pratt Wargame Video Links to YouTube

Fascinating series of YouTube videos on the subject of the "history of" The Flestcher Pratt wargame:

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K_TMVO3OIM
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkZJsz259t4
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SOBV7BtiPg
Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOLU57A0zYU
Part 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsDN0Rjirh4

CoW Convoy Battle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8IsQTm6vh4

Thanks to the good elves of The History of Wargame Project, the Conference of Wargamers (CoW) and the Wargames Development Group.

My expanding Wargaming Library ... Fletcher Pratt Naval Rules

Courtesy of the History of Wargaming Project ran by the indomitable John Curry, but just as importantly coming highly recommended by both "Tim" and "Bob", I have (finally) purchased the infamous Fletcher Pratt Naval Wargame Rules of WWI and WWII (see below):

Purchase number two was the prerequisite "golf tees" to be used inverted as "splash markers" in teh game (see below):

The shape of things to come "a straddle" (see below):

Time to depart to the loft to dig out the 1:1200 Airfix "Sink the Bismarck" and Revell "Battleship series" waterline models!

Spitfire Summer .. Make it BIG!

It has been a while since I last played about with building a model Spitfire (see: Previous Spitfire Blog Posts). I usually model with (it has to be said quite impractical for use on the wargame table) in 1/72 scale. I think it's a childhood thing. However I do have some 'bigger ones' (as wel as smaller ones) like the 1/48 Airfix Spitfire Vb (courtesy of the kind in-laws) that has been wanting some TLC since my youngest son (then four) threw it across the room and "bits went everywhere" (he had a strong arm a strong arm for such a small lad!). My wife consoled me (I was in some state of shock) when I came back from work to review the carnage. So finally (this weekend, after three years of procrastinating) I got to work and started reshaping all the missing bits [the rear landing wheel, 20mm cannon barrel, radio mast and the cute 'six o'clock' mirror] out of the "aircraft spare box". I also worked on the perspex canopy defining in black lines for the struts to paint over green for a more cool cockpit look (see below, note in the background my youngest sons "quick build" Lego-style Airfix Spitfire, it has stopped his catapult arm going into action again):  

However while in the loft I found this 'bad boy' (see below):

This can  be my ultra silly "Spitfire Summer Project". If I thought a 1/72 scale plane was impractical for the wargame table, then 1/24 must be impossible unless you design games for The Conference of Wargamers (CoW, Tim/Bob?).