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#21 healey36

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Posted 02 November 2016 - 07:05 AM

F-toys produces a range of 1/144 scale aircraft kits that work well for 15mm, even though they are slightly small. Pre-painted, easy to assemble and relatively inexpensive as compared to traditional 1/144 scale kits from the plastic-model manufacturers, these are a good way to get some air-support on the table quickly.

 

Here's an early Hurricane IIC night-fighter from F-toys:

 

Hurricane IIC a

 

Hurricane MkIIc RAF 87Sqn LKR Night Duty Z3353 England 1941

 

This kit came with a couple of variations for markings. I tracked down this photo of one of them which was helpful in determining the location of the markings. Doing a bit of research on the type, they were virtually ineffective in a night-fighter role. Ground-control would direct them toward enemy formations, but it was up to the pilot to locate and engage the enemy aircraft. The IIC carried no on-board radar.

 

You can find these kits routinely on eBay, and I've picked up quite a few at meets such as Historicon's vendor hall.

 

Healey



#22 healey36

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Posted 18 December 2016 - 10:11 PM

A dusty Jgpz IV on the move on the Eastern Front, late-summer 1944:

 

Jgpz IV a

 

Perhaps a bit overly dusty...Battlefront 1/100.

 

Just messing around with the Nikon:

 

Jgpz IV b

 

Jgpz IV c

 

Healey



#23 healey36

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Posted 18 January 2017 - 04:19 PM

A few months back I flipped a couple of 1/2400 GHQ over to Old Army Miniatures Painting Service for their treatment...Matthew did a great job:

 

Dorsetshire

HMS Dorsetshire

 

Nürnburg

Koln

 

Now I have to clean all mine off and start over...

 

Healey



#24 healey36

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Posted 27 February 2017 - 06:43 PM

I lost a good wargaming buddy a few weeks back and his wife asked me to stop by recently and assess the posthumous state of his empire. He had a vast number of books, models, games, and magazines, as well as a large collection of photographs. It's daunting. Another friend of mine is going to help me wade into this for her and sort out what's what. In the meantime, though, it was a bit of a gut-check.

 

Over the last ten days or so I've been looking at my own state of wargaming affairs. Man, do I have a lot of irons in the fire! For a guy my age, when you start looking at the number of things you want to get done, figure out the time required using a per-task time estimate, then check the actuarial tables, wow, I'm not sure there's enough time left, lol. So I've made a conscious decision to focus on the existing stock and hold off acquiring more stuff for awhile...well, at least until Cold Wars in a few weeks.

 

In the course of plowing back through the parts/figures drawers looking for infantry I found a few thirty-year-old Heroics & Ros 1/300 aircraft. All had been given a base-coat and not much else. Using a pile of decals I've accumulated over the years I thought I'd clean them up and finish them off. Here's the first, an H&R IL-2M Sturmovik:

 

Sturmovik 16b

 

Sturmovik 16a

 

I think I'll fashion a small acetate disc to affix as a spinning prop...some folks think that looks silly, but we'll see. A bit of stretched sprue for the rear-gun would be neat too.

 

Whenever I finally get the MP stuff on the table I have a buddy with a 1:1 Panther battalion he's been threatening me with for years...a few of these IL-2's should even up the odds substantially.

 

Healey



#25 healey36

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Posted 15 March 2017 - 11:05 AM

In prep for play-through's of MP I've been working on cleaning up a number of old terrain mods that we made close to thirty years ago. Some were in decent shape, some not so much. I've decided to make a few new ones to replace or update the old. While doing this I thought I'd document the process here. The plan here is to make a mod that features a low ridge or hill traversed by a road.

 

The base will be 1/4-inch non-tempered Masonite. In the old days we used tempered Masonite which is hardened and has some degree of moisture resistance. Finding tempered 1/4-inch Masonite today has been problematic, i.e. I can't find any. Plenty of 1/8-inch tempered, 1/4-inch notta. I'm concerned that applying spackling, glue, paint, etc. to non-tempered material might result in some serious warpage. This is an experiment...we'll see how it goes.

 

First step was to cut a 12-inch square base. In the old days I had access to a nice table saw which made short work of this exercise with a high degree of precision. Today we'll use a hand-saw, a bit more tedious but with care can be nearly as precise. Getting nearly exact square bases is important when it comes time to fit them together on the table...slight variations will lead to small gaps between the modules (most unsightly).

 

Next step is to slather on some plaster or spackling to form the ridge. I'm using DAP Vinyl Spackling...it comes in a small plastic can and costs less than four bucks for eight ounces. If you're going to make a bunch of these buy a bigger bucket...it has a fairly long shelf-life if you keep the lid on tight. Also you can add a bit of water to soup it up if you don't like the consistency. Ideally you should apply it in layers, letting it dry between each application, but since I want to form a road in the ridge I'm going all in with a single application. I use an old putty-knife to apply the spackling, smoothing and forming. After building up the ridge I use the knife to form the base of a road up-and-over, touching up the bank slightly as I go. When it's dry you can use some sandpaper to take off any edges you don't like and further smooth it up a bit. Being over an inch thick at the crest of the ridge it's going to take quite awhile to dry. We'll give it at least twenty-four hours and then check to see how much it has (1) dried, (2) cracked, if at all, and (3) warped the Masonite.

 

Pics after step Step 2 (waiting to dry):

 

Terrain A

 

Terrain B

 

After forty-eight hours things are still a bit cool to the touch which leads me to believe it's not completely dry. Still, quite a few cracks have appeared in the pile, especially at the thickest areas (the downside of not being patient and applying the plaster in gradual layers):

 

Terrain C

 

I'm going to let this dry a further twenty-four to forty-eight hours, but in the meantime I patched some of the cracks (probably prematurely) with a bit of Elmers ProBond wood-filler:

 

Terrain D

 

The good news is the warpage of the masonite seems to be minimal...I'm hoping that remains the case after another stretch of drying. Then we'll be ready to sand off the rough spots and give it a coat of paint/sealant.

 

In an effort to minimize warpage (if that's possible) I screwed the mod down onto a piece of 3/4-inch birch plywood:

 

Terrain E

 

Once we've allowed it to completely dry, paint/sealed it, ballasted the roadway and flocked the rest of it we'll take it up and reassess the warpage. Hopefully it remains minimal to none.

 

Another twenty-four hours of drying and we're moving on. I took some sandpaper and knocked down any weird bumps or edges, then vacuumed up the dust. Next step is to give it a base-coat of green and gray acrylic paint:

 

Terrain F

 

Terrain G

 

The gray is a bit light but it should work. I'll let this dry for eight hours or so and then ballast the road. Later I decided to repaint the road-base a burnt sienna...the gray seemed too light.

 

(continued next)

 

Healey



#26 healey36

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Posted 19 March 2017 - 03:56 PM

After the paint's thoroughly dry I applied a thin coat of white-glue to the road area, then doused it with Woodland Scenics fine railroad ballast:

 

Terrain H

 

I let that sit for fifteen minutes or so, then shake off the excess which is returned to the bin for future use:

 

Terrain I

 

 

Next a slightly thicker coat of white-glue is applied to the turf areas:

 

Terrain J

 

 

Similarly this is doused with turf material. I use Woodland Scenics fine ground foam in a home-mixture of two or three colors. Pile it on:

 

Terrain K

 

 

Same deal...let it sit for fifteen or twenty minutes, then dump off the excess and collect for re-use. Sometimes the glue will sop up all of the ground foam in a few spots...just dump some more on, wait fifteen minutes and dump it off. Let it dry overnight.

 

Terrain L

 

After drying overnight I unscrewed it from the plywood base and turf'd the corners. Then I applied some coarse ground foam to any bare spots (shouldn't be any) or just random places to simulate brush. After this is thoroughly dry give it a light overspray with clear matte...this will help hold everything in place after a Tiger battalion rolls over it.

 

Criminy, you say! Yeah, it's a bit tedious but what you end up looks pretty sharp. You don't have to make too many mods to have a set that is sufficiently configurable for nearly any situation. If nothing else you have a nice diorama for taking world-class pics of your miniatures.

 

One big issue is storage...you can't just pile them one-atop-the-next in the closet without incurring some damage. They are pretty durable, but won't stand up to too much beating around. I'm thinking of making a pizza-rack sort of thing to store them in, maybe with an old sheet over it to keep off the dust and cobwebs.

 

Okay, that's it. This one and maybe one more and I'm ready to start motoring some tanks around the table.

 

Healey

 

Edit :: Came down this morning and there's already a Russian recon outfit climbing all over it and dammit, there's a spot I missed with the turf...ugh!

 

Terrain M


#27 healey36

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Posted 17 April 2017 - 10:45 AM

Somehow I've managed to accumulate a decent-sized stack of 1/600 Old Glory Shipyard kits...I recall buying various examples at Historicon at the Old Glory booth but I didn't realize how many. Don't know if anyone here has ever built one...I certainly haven't. While rummaging around looking for some Microscale 1/285 decal sets I found this one in a pile of other stuff.

 

This kit is IC-118, USS Texas (Rev-1). I've seen her variously classified as a BB and as an AC. Stem-to-stern she measures roughly 6-1/2 inches. Regardless, it's one of the smaller kits Old Glory offers and has some interesting characteristics:

 

USS Texas c

 

In a moment of near-total insanity I sprung for a 1/600 deck-railing PE set.

 

The resin casting for the hull is sharp. Deck planking, while terrifically out of scale, is apparent, as are other details. The cast parts are rather rough, and you have to inventory everything...sometimes there are bits missing. Some of the kits appear to have masts provided, some you apparently have to make for yourself.  Also, no instructions are included so you need to find some decent references to help sort out the assembly.

 

I've seen a few photo's of folks gaming with these but I have no intention to ever attempt it. While in college we played a few games with 1/700-scale WWII models and that required a gymnasium. It was fun but required massive real estate.

 

Here's a couple pics of Texas for reference:

 

USS Texas b

 

USS Texas

 

These will be handy when trying to figure out where the davits/boats go, among other things (note the deck railing).

 

This is pretty far down the project pile, but presuming I eventually get around to attempting to build one of these this will be the one.

 

Healey


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#28 healey36

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Posted 19 May 2017 - 01:03 PM

Sent off an order to War Times Journal recently to sample their 3-D printed models...have to say the stuff is really sharp...really.

 

Here's a 1/2400 Royal Sovereign-class BB (1891):

 

As delivered:

WTJ RS c

 

After a quick base-coat of Testors Model Master FS 36118 Gunship Gray:

WTJ RS a

 

WTJ RS b

 

Includes pre-drilled mast holes.

 

Far above and beyond my expectations. Hats off to the folks at WTJ.

 

Healey

 

Edit :: Here's a couple of snaps of what I came up with for HMS Revenge:

 

HMS Revenge B

 

HMS Revenge A

 

I based the scheme on this colorized PC I found on the net:

 

HMS Revenge 1892

 

Needs a bit of touch-up, especially on the decks where the wash pooled. Masts ideally would include multiple spars and ranging positions but that's really fiddly at 1/2400 and most likely wouldn't survive the first five minutes of game-handling. 

 

Healey



#29 healey36

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Posted 07 June 2017 - 07:04 PM

Off ships for a bit. Here's some 1/285 and 1/300 early-WWII armor we whipped up for the Horton Cross scenario:

 

Counter-attack at Horton Cross g

CinC Stug-IIIB.

 

A10

Heroics & Ros A10.

 

A13

CinC A13's (early version, before they added the sloped armor boxes to the turret sides).

 

Basecoats are ModelMaster enamels (Gunship Gray and Dark Green) with various Valejo acrylic details and an overspray of ModelMaster lusterless flat. The Stug's decals are from Microscale set 13-16 and the British squadron markings are GHQ (at this close the camera picks up the tinting pixels).

 

Nothing spectacular...game-quality for frequent handling.

 

Healey



#30 healey36

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Posted 11 July 2017 - 03:32 PM

Slowly working my way down the pile.

 

Here's WTJ's 3D-printed 1/2400 USS Olympic:

 

Olympia

 

Olympia B

 

Painted in the Great White Fleet scheme (as best as I could determine it). This base seems a bit small for her so I haven't cemented her on yet...

 

Healey

 

 



#31 healey36

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Posted 12 July 2017 - 03:09 PM

Started work on a Cressy-class armored cruiser:

 

WTJ Cressy

 

The figure is a WTJ 3D-printed 1/2400...another nice model. This time I cemented in the guitar-string masts before applying the base-coat. Can't say enough about pre-drilled mast holes.

 

A nice shot of HMS Cressy, presumably a few years before the war:

 

HMS Cressy

 

Her WWI career was brief,..scarcely two months before she and her sisters were lost in the catastrophe with U-9.

 

Healey

 

 



#32 healey36

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Posted 22 August 2017 - 09:15 AM

First attempt at a 1/2400 Flower-class corvette, HMCS Dunvegan:

 

K177 B

 

K177 C
 
The casting is by Viking Forge, mounted on a cut down ODGW base. I used a bit of acetone-based Tru-Color paint on this...not sure what the euphoria is about. Maybe it's great in an airbrush, but brushed here. Expensive and a pain to clean up.
 
The mast is a length of stretched-sprue attached using Loctite GO2 glue. I'm not sure if the plastic sprue or the paint accounts for the lumpiness. No mast hole, just pasted it in.
 
Labeling is a pain. Including the ensign and ship-name yielded a label obscured by the etched wake, so I just went with the pennant number. Attached with a bit of clear cellophane tape. Functional but unattractive.
 
The casting is sharper than I expected. Some of the Viking Forge stuff is pretty primitive, but this one is a Krtina sculpt so it's decent.
 
Healey
 
 

 



#33 healey36

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Posted 22 August 2017 - 09:20 AM

Picked up sets of WTJ 1/2400 small and medium fighting tops:

 

tops
 
Possibly use these to dress up bare masts. USS Olympia first up...
 
Healey


#34 healey36

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Posted 14 September 2017 - 07:32 PM

I bypassed Olympia and went straight to HMS Cressy. This is the WTJ 3D-print I started earlier with masts, spars and fighting tops added:

 

Cressy C
 
Not really very happy with this. I went with Vallejo 70846 Mahogany Brown for the deck and it seems too dark. The ink wash really didn't do much, and then I overdid it with the rust hoping to highlight the anchors and chains.
 
Also the fighting top on the aft mast looks to be upside down (I think), but would anyone notice? 
 
Probably a shelf-queen...wouldn't last five minutes on the table with my meat-hooks.
 
Healey


#35 healey36

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Posted 29 October 2017 - 09:37 AM

GHQ Minotaur-class armored cruiser:

 

Minotaur A
 
Despite my unhappiness with the deck-color as described in the previous post I went with it again, this time applying a more substantial ink-wash. As my good friend and naval-historian Mark Stille advised, "It's still too freakin' dark!". Okay, okay, I get it. That together with the fact that despite some deft handling I still manage to bend the secondary gun-barrels in all directions...ugh.
 
From two feet away though it will look brilliant. Moving on...need to build an airplane.
 
Healey


#36 healey36

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Posted 20 November 2017 - 03:45 PM

An F-Toy IJN A6M5 Type 52, 1/144th scale. All pre-painted, assembly and application of version-specific decals required.

 

Zero

 

Zero

 

 

Nice little model of the late-war land-based Navy fighter.

 

Healey


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#37 healey36

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Posted 29 November 2017 - 08:22 PM

Another 1/2400 Viking Forge casting, this being VK-3358 HMS Dorsetshire 1941. As I've already a GHQ version of Dorsetshire in inventory we did this as her County-class sister HMS Suffolk.

 

As she would have appeared during the 1941 mission to locate and destroy Bismarck:

 

HMS Suffolk 41a

 

HMS Suffolk 41b
 
Not a bad little model. Unlike the GHQ version this casting includes rudimentary masts (which is nice, although terribly out of scale). One problem - the casting is bowed slightly so her stern and bow are a bit elevated. Anybody have a good method for correcting that issue?
 
Good for the table in a battle-worn, North Atlantic kind of way.
 
Healey
 
 
 
 

 



#38 healey36

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Posted 07 January 2018 - 08:26 AM

Been working on some early Valentines:

 

Valentine Mk1
 
Valentine Mk 1
 
1/285 CinC castings, dark-green enamel, acrylic dry-brush and tracks, decals by GHQ. Did a lousy job of cleaning up the flash-lines, but from two feet they look okay.


#39 healey36

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Posted 04 February 2018 - 05:31 PM

Learning a few things along the way here. First, the 3D-print layering leaves some roughness on the hull in these WTJ models:

 

HMS Mansfield
 
It's not consistent model-to-model, making me think it's a function of the printer on any given day. I only notice in these close-up snaps...eyes are too far gone to find them objectionable on the table.
 
The second thing is I've found painting makes stretched sprue brittle. I had pasted in a short mast on Mansfield before I painted. First time I touched it afterwards it broke off. Stretched sprue is great for its flexibility, which apparently is mitigated after a spray of enamel. Had the same experience with the mast on the Flower-class corvette. Guitar-string looks too heavy for these small ships. Someone suggested a bit of heavy fishing line...maybe I'll give that a try.
 
Healey


#40 healey36

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Posted 18 February 2018 - 04:51 PM

Started preparing for a refight of River Plate:

 

Graf Spee
 
Figurehead 1/6000 Graf Spee, homemade base, assorted acrylic paints.
 
Healey





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