Big Man Spotted in Small Tiger II Turret

Hats off to Trebian for spotting this anomaly - from the same manufacturer (I think Tamiya, via Warlord Games) totally different scales of Panzer Commander - both of which are supposed to be representing a 28mm scaled figure (see below, the Tiger I Commander [on the right] seems to be the correct scale, whereas the Tiger II Commander [on the left] is a bit to much of a "big boy" and would really struggle to slip in and out the turret without being "greased-up"):  

I removed the "big chap" from the Tiger II and just "closed up" the tank for action! Problem solved!

Postscript: Excuse the blurry picture below - but he even looks big to other (Allied) tank commander figures from other Warlord kits (see below - and and superman?): 

It shows more clearly when you click and expand the photograph.

Note to Self: Tamiya/Warlord Games 28mm King Tiger Assembly Instructions Link

The "big cat" beast - the German King Tiger tank (see below, another "why on earth not" Warlord Games "sprue sale" purchase):

Although  a relatively simple build - instructions help (see link below): 

https://www.chaosbunker.de/en/2018/07/23/review-bolt-action-king-tiger-with-zimmerit-plastic-kit/

Note To Self: Tamiya/Warlord Games 28mm Tiger I Assembly Instructions Link

 

Warlord Games 28mm Tiger I purchased in their annual/seasonal "sprue sale" (see above and below - please note cute but fragile aerial on engine deck that won't last long!):

Useful link to Assembly Instructions (see link below): 

https://www.americanwargamersassociation.com/2017/04/tiger-i-tank-by-warlord-games-review.html#google_vignette

It is a relatively simple kit but these instructions helped me from making "sad" simple errors that all modellers live to regret, I think the kit is originally the Tamiya 1/56 one. Nice clean lines and an easy assembly. Recommended, certainly in the "sprue only" sale at half the retail price of the boxed version! Better for the planet too - less packaging *he said grasping at straws").

ClearFix Tip - When It Goes Yellow Get a New Bottle!

ClearFix is obviously a bit like snow - when it goes yellow beware what you can use it for! To be fair you typically use so little of it at a time, unless you are making a plane per week you may never ever use a whole bottle. In my case, years will go by before you pull it out of the storage tin (which may or may not help being away from direct sunlight). Indeed as I found out to my cost when making my Vietnam helicopters, ditch it if it goes gloopy and yellow. Clearfix (though slow in drying and bonding clear plastic to normal plastic) is however the way to do aircraft canopies .. otherwise the terrible chemical affect that I do not understand ruins the cockpit look. ClearFix is a wonder chemical when clear but buyer beware avoid the yellow (see below, RHS clear and "Good", LHS gloopy-yellow and very bad!):   

I had to resort to covering up a smeared mess on one helicopter's side windscreen [reconnaissance Gun-Ship Loach, if you really wanted to know] with Tamiya X-25 transparent Clear Green. Note, authentically it was used on top horizonal window covers of Vietnam Huey's and Loach's alike to cut down on glare from the sun above [?] I am guessing - but I don't think side windows were typically covered - but I think the "look" seems to work (see below, my Italeri 1/72 "Little Bird" festooned with decals - grinning shark mouth underneath):  

You have to be careful when handling Italeri as they are delicate, but beautifully made!

My first Big Scale 1/35th Tamiya Model for Charity (Ukrainian Humanitarian) Panzer IVD

Big shout out to: 

Twitter #kitoff

Twitter @WeHaveWaysPod (Al Murray and James Holland) Podcast

https://twitter.com/HistoryBowsh/status/1505494990713233415

Twitter @RedFiveModels (Jack Bowsher)

Just Giving Page: 

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/red5whw?experiments=donate_now_track_click&successType=StaticDonateButtonClick

My model of choice (that was in the loft .. purchased for £17): Panzer IVD (France 1940 Colours)

Let the modelling begin, in this big, brave new scale for me!

Battle of Britain PSC Game Preparation - 1/300 Planes Painting

Take a quick look at my 'behind the scenes' frantic painting tray situation a few months back, all in preparation for the Stockton Pendrakon "Battle ground" wargaming show where I helped put on a Battle of Britain game (by PSC but revamped from an older TSR version). I decided that the little bland little playing pieces (standard raw plastic grey) in the PSC game needed to be painted up proper to look authentic (see below, the RAF contingent are being prepared, as the models had handy roundel indents I decided to try and paint them by hand - there are also a few 1/300 "metals" I found [milling to the left hand side, two Fairy Battles, two Hurricanes and three Spitfires] these were just  "kicking about", but in the end I did not use them): 

My good old fashioned Tamiya paints come to the rescue as the RAF fighters (Spitfires and Hurricanes) receive their classic BoB [Green/Brown] basecoats and I used a Revell acrylic Sky Blue for their undersides (see below, twelve basic fighter markers are required for the game, the exotic Bristol Blenheim, BP Defiant and a Gloster Gladiator are seen as "stretch goals"): 

Finally a flight of painted Hurricanes takes to the skies. The main purpose of the game was to show how a "double blind" version of the game played, so the painting was a "bit of chrome" (see below, with a WIP Blenheim, lurking in the background, varnish drying and ready for battle against the Luftwaffe): 

Squadron scramble teh RAF "are all up" (see below, 100% of RAF planes needed for the game are complete, nine on green mat and three on brown wooden table):

Both sides needed to be represented so once the RAF were finished out with those dark green paints for the Luftwaffe. A selection of seven planes of various "representative" types were required, some fighters, some bombers. I did use some existing painted metal Me 109s and a Stuka, to which I hand crafted some crosses on. It was the medium tactical bombers that I was really after. The He 111, Ju 88 and Do 17z  (see below, the first application of the base colours was rather unimpressive as the two colours were almost too close together to be able to distinguish between them): 

The painted Luftwaffe "end game" or rather finished products looked better though, as I darkened one and lightened the other - even though painting on the crosses by hand was nearly the very end of me (see below, a Heinkel He111 "Blitz Bomber" and a Dornier Do17z light/medium reconnaissance bomber): 

And with that they were ready for the show and off they went!

Show game report: https://exiledfog.blogspot.com/2021/11/stockton-battleground-2021-battle-of.html

Xmas Presents: Naval Aviation and an Osprey Submarine Game

From underneath the Xmas tree I was given these little crackers. Two Blood Red Skies (BRS) Midway expansion packs (IJN and USN carrier naval/carrier-based bombers) plus a surprise modelling project in "large scale" 1/48 of the marvellous Royal Navy Sea Harrier. I must confess that I hummed and hared about asking for the Midway expansion packs, but the Devastators have such a soft spot in my heart and I cannot easily see them in 1/144 - the alternative wargaming scale IMHO. I justified the BRS packs as going from a "complete game in a box" to a "complete campaign in three boxes" which was good value for money (see below, one resin project and one traditional plastic project - sharp eyes will also note the Pacific war Vallejo colours in the background [USN Pale Blue and IJN Ivory White]): 

From flying above the waves to swimming beneath the (Cold War) waves! A game from the Osprey stable but written by a former RN Submarine Commander. Also an excuse for a few 1/3000 Navwar modern miniature perhaps (see below, note in the design notes it is very much a "game" rather than a "simulation"  but based upon "the principles"):  

Fun to be had in 2022 with these, but my first (January) 2022 project is cracking on with some British 15mm Malburians! 

Note to Self: Confederate Paint Scheme Used

This is the palette box I used to paint the Confederates. It may look intimidating but in all honesty there was a 80:20 split, namely 20% of those paint bottles did 80% of the work and the other 80% were mainly "little dabbers" (see below, old faithful Tamiya did most of the work ably supported by the small figure specialists Vallejo): 

Undercoat

Airfix Acrylic Primer and Vallejo Brown (Dipping Jar) Wash, which serves as a part primer and as part shade/picking out detail

Flesh

Vallejo Game Colour range: Dark Flesh (Shade), Dwarf Flesh (Base) and Elf Flesh (Highlight)

Tunic

Tamiya range: Dark Grey XF-24 (Base), Neutral Grey XF-53 (Base/Highlight) .. was thinking of using Light Grey XF-66 or Medium Grey XF-20 as a highlight, but may return to this step at a later stage if I deem it necessary

Trousers

Tamiya range as Tunic above or Light Blue XF-23 (Base) and Light Blue XF-24 + White (I used Vallejo Foundation White as a strong white)

Shoes/Belts 

Vallejo Model Colour range: Black (Base) and with Tamiya Field Blue XF-50 as a neutral highlight/second tone in for the black

Muskets/Swords/Cups

Vallejo Game Colour range Gun Metal

Bags/Straps

Vallejo Game Colour range: Khaki (Base) with Khaki mixed with Foundation White (Highlight)

Canteen

Citadel Foundation Calthan Brown (Base) then mixed with Vallejo Game Colour Leather Brown (Highlight)  

Gun Stocks

Vallejo Game Colour Charred Brown (Shade), Beasty Brown (Base) and Leather Brown (Highlight)  

Flag

Vallejo Game Colour Blood Red

Tamiya Flat Blue XF-8

Vallejo Red Ink to re-touch red after Humbrol varnish dulled it down too much

Vallejo Game Colour Bone White (Base for stars and hemming) and Foundation White (Highlight)  

Touching-up was either a fine black line or a thin wash to fit in the recesses

ACW Confederate Army update: Humbrol Acrylic Varnish Stage

And finally it was time to be varnish them "in the sun" (or rather while there was sun) and the ACW Confederates were crowded in "spray painting formation" in appropriate easy to spray lines - or so I thought (see below, the ACW Confederate Army, the thing a I discovered and something my Physics teacher never told me was that the force exhorted from the Humbrol Acrylic Matt Varnish spray can, was so mighty it blew some of the figures all away across the table (light plastic on card, say no more)! - Goodbye Bedford Forrest, nice knowing ya! They were safely recovered from the weed patch, but it was a much different experience than spaying 25/28mm fixed to coins - "catch the pigeon" fashion):   

Once the strafing run was complete I stood back to admire my handiwork (see below, that is a 'goodly' bit of painting [by my standards] done over the summer in the "lock-down holidays" - my fingers were firmly crossed hoping that nothing was going to go amiss with the "varnish drying" stage): 

The inspection revealed a good matte coverage over most of the figures. The (Vallejo) paints were nicely dulled down (so that the Vallejo matched the Tamiya finish nicely) but there were one or two horses and one artillery piece that had been affected by the dreaded "white varnish seal" of painting doom. On the horses I used some suitable coloured Vallejo ink to soak in and on the artillery piece I simply repainted the affected wheel and cannon. Methinks I will have to check out the Army Painter (or even Games Workshop) alternative as it may be a better product.

ACW 20mm Project - Confederate Infantry WIP Review to Date

In the beginning there was a sad forlorn box in the loft of "based figures" that bore the scars of many false starts (see below, needing some love I tried to bring everything to a base level, the Union boys seen below were covered in PVA and then "washed black" with Vallejo Dipping Black):   

Conversely the Confederates were PVA'ed and then "washed brown" with Vallejo Dipping Brown (see below, Confederates to the left and the Union Federals to the right):

The original Revell painting diagrams and Tamiya (in period with the original purchase date) acrylic paints (see below, I decided to go Confederate first as the challenge of painting highlights in grey was easier than the study of "variations in blue" for the Union): 

An earlier post showed my first Confederate unit (a unit being: six bases, three figures per base) so here is my second (see below, a column marching to the front, keeping in step): 

The first unit with Confederate flag flying in the breeze (indicating an "elite" unit for me in the "One Hour Wargame" rules), lined waiting for the action to start (see below, the first two units were all of similar/identical poses and a "detailed study of grey"): 

The "third division" got a more interesting "rustic mixed bag" of Southern gentlemen, where the grey gives way to browns, khaki and butter-scotch (see below, there is definitely some Confederate character in these poses and I do like the range of poses that work well together): 

The "fourth division" was a good mixture of poses but more back to the uniform Confederate grey (see below, again with a flag to indicate an "elite" unit): 

Finally the "fifth division" a mixed, mixed bag of poses and colours which feels really in keeping with the Confederates, particularly the longer they were on campaign (see below, this units completes "the max" number of infantry units I need for the One Hour Wargame Rules ACW army): 

Gathered in mass they look a fine sight (see below, they still need some TLC on the bases [aka flock], but with a sense of relief and pride I can put my paint brush down): 

I think the boys are looking good, time to move onto their [Confederate] artillery and cavalry supporting arms!

Another Crazy Project: Cold War Planes

I cannot really justify this at all but at the same time I could not help myself. Three Tamiya kits for a tenner from Wonderland Models at Xmas .. I had bought them before I knew what I had done, a Christmas present to myself along with some other Colonial stuff. In fairness I had walked by a huge stack of these models a few months previously and these were the tail end and I figured they would not be around for a third visit (see below, beautiful looking kits it has to be said):

The IL-28 in particular is a classic sinister Cold War piece of kit. Maybe you will see it flying over Afghanistan perhaps?

WW2 BEF: 7RTR France 1940 - Matilda Battalion in 1/200 - (Monster Post)

Stage One: 40mm square bases are covered in air-hardening clay and stippled with an old toothbrush to get a rippled ground effect. The vesicles are used to make track marks in the wet clay (see below, it looks like the BEF are about to invade the arctic!):

Stage Two: Disaster recovery as the air-hardened clay did its job it curled the edges of the card to the heavens. To recover from this while it was still partially damp I firmly pulled down the corners. Cracks appeared and it was going to obviously crumble but I let it dry fully then applied a coat of PVA and let it set (see below, how many times when you are modelling do you want to cry!):

Stage Three: Make the base brown! I grabbed some Anita's Acrylic browns to hand and mixed a couple together to get a base brown (see below, "Bark Brown" was too dark IMHO so I mixed it with Burnt Sienna and liked the result):

Stage Four: Making the tracks stand out. Using the third Anita's Acrylic (Chocolate Brown) I roughly applied the lighter of the three browns to the churned track lines (see below, it may look a little rough just now but works when the rest of the green basing comes into play along with a couple of highlights):

Stage Five: Prime the Tanks in Airfix Acrylic Grey Primer (see below, a "ghost fleet" of Matilda IIs, please note I have snipped off the Western Desert extended range external fuel tank off the back of the beast):

Stage Six: Wash the "ghost fleet" in Vallejo Brown Sepia Wash (see below, I always think something magical starts happening at this point - the detail on the Matilda I tracks seem to stand out really well):

All told the Command Decision version of the 7th RTR (1940) is thirteen models strong (see below, looking mucky but warlike):

Stage Seven: Tank-track highlights (see below, a lighter shade [Anita Acrylic's Chocolate Brown mixed with Tamiya Flat Yellow] is 'wet-brushed' along the tank track):

Stage Eight: Final Tank-track highlight (see below, add a touch of white to the previous mixture and light touch the sides of parts of the tracks - I am being very 'sad' here):

Stage Nine: Dry-brush some Chocolate Brown and Bark Brown (Anita's Acrylics) over the none track area of the base (see below, tank-tracks but no tanks?):

OK here they are, bases and tanks (see below, at a push ready for the tabletop?):

Stage Ten: Flocking the bases with model train-set scatter (see below, watered-down 'Play School' PVA glue used as the 'adhesive agent', dip and press into "flock box" then tap with finger excess away):

Getting there! (see below, three combat companies and a HQ company):

Stage Eleven: Tank highlight, second tome of green added (see below, Tamiya Olive Drab with Tamiya Flat Yellow added, in a a 2:1 ratio as seen on this Matilda II):

Stage Twelve: Final green highlight (see below, Tamiya Olive Drab with Tamiya Flat Yellow added, in a a 1:1 ratio as seen on this Matilda II):

The 7th RTR as seen from a far (see below, the highlighting is just beginning to make a difference):

A Matilda I close-up (see below, tracks still to be painted):

A recon Bren Carrier close-up (see below, crew and tracks still to do):

A MkVI Vickers Light Tank close-up (see below, tracks still to do):

The 7th RTR (1940) locked away in its travelling case (see below, highlighted green and flocked bases but awaiting a little TLC on the track front):

Stage Thirteen: Tank tracks, Vallejo Game Colour Gun Metal mixed with Vallejo Black (ratio 1:2) followed by a highlight of a more Gun Metal bias (1:2 ratio) to finish it off (see below, 90% is unseen on the Matilda II but leaving it just "as-is" would have been wrong as I would have known):

The Vickers MkVI Light Tank is basically a turret on top of a Bren Carrier (see below, the tracks are slightly more prominent on it, so no getting away from doing them here):

The recon Bren Carriers (see below, again the tracks are prominent and plus they have Bren LMGs sticking out that need gun metal):

The Matilda I's are true phoney war "clanky tanks" as they have almost comically exposed tank tracks, a bugger to super glue together in 1/200 scale, but the final product was worth the effort (see below, the Matilda I's got an extra Vallejo Brown Wash over their tracks to make them look mucky and a tiny final Gun Metal highlight):

Stage Fourteen: Elephant grass clumps, aka "static grass" (see below, the 7 RTR ready for the Germans, although the Carriers crews are still grey):

HQ: The Command Matilda II and the HQ Company (see below, the recon element of the battalion [Scout Carriers x2, and MkVI Light Tank] are charged with 'finding' the enemy):

The Infantry Killers aka Infantry Support:  Matilda Is, two companies (see below, at a steady walking pace these beasts are heavily armoured Vickers HMG mobile pill-boxes):

The Tank Killers: A company of the 'deadly' Matilda IIs, still slow but armoured ahead of its time and although armed with a 'pop-gun' (aka 2pdr) it still could go through any contemporary German tank's armour (see below, soon to be hailed as the "Queen of the Desert" by the Desert Rats in the Western Desert):

Stage Fifteen: Adding the uniforms to the Recon Carrier crews, it had to be done (see below, Vallejo British Uniform with Khaki Grey highlight, Russian Green Helmet with Russian Uniform Green highlight, Dark Flesh with Dwarf Flesh highlight):

Are you ready for Arras gentlemen? These boys are. Rommel is waiting! Just let me call up my friends fro the 8th DLI for a jaunt ;)