Loosing sleep over which gun to mount on your PZ4? K&J Magnetics to the rescue!

Hi Kids,  Here's one of the tanks I've been pretending to work on lately.  I think I primered it about 2 years ago.  Yeah, I must be in a rush!  It's a 1:60 West Wind Panzer 4 which can be made as a F1, F2, or early G variant.  Naturally, the Chuckster can't be bothered to actually make a firm decision.  We play a lot of early war around here, so the stub barrel would be good.  But there's also that June 6th D-Day Gameapalooza coming up, (Disposable Heroes of course!) and those longer guns would no doubt come in handy when you're trying to stem the beachheads.  What to do, what to do.....???

 Here we have a work-in-progress shot of the partially painted tank with the three different guns from which to choose.  All metal all the time!  And if you're an Old Glory Army member this is ~US$20!

Order some magnets!  That's what you do! Partially submerged in a bath of glue is a K&J magnet towards the back of the hollow turret.  I drilled out the backs of the guns and glued in some piano wire, or any other wire that works with magnets.  At first I was afraid that the force would not be strong enough and the barrels would droop, but no fear there.  Even the long barrel has no problem.

 

Meanwhile, the Basement has revealed some more items from a bygone era, some Easter Island head statues (called "Moi" I believe)!  I've been looking for these things for quite awhile, and am thrilled the terrain for KneeCap Island is at least getting closer to the workbench. Armorcast makes some great stuff!  I'm thinking about getting more of their craters, too.

Barbarosa!!!!! No, not the Willie Nelson movie. Although its worth seeing.

Hi Kids, Around here we've been talking about Barbarosa for the past couple years. I'm intending to build some forces for 25mm Disposable Heroes games, and some 15mm stuff for Flames of War too.  If it's good enough for one scale, its good enough for two!  I decided to go whole hog and get some big honkin' units for the smaller scale, especially when I discovered The Warstore carries Zvezda kits! These BT-5's were only about $3.60 each!  Only about 5 parts so they go together in a freakin' snap! I didn't bother checking the unit sizes in FOW Barbarosa, so instead of maxing out at 16 tanks I only ordered 15.  Oh well.  Guess I'll be ordering at least two more, one to be #16 and another to be the HQ tank.

 Here we have a shot of the first batch of BT-5's!  Although Commie tanks tend to be green, I'm a sucker for camo.  And in this scale it's a snap!  I'm undecided whether I should paint the tanks a steel or grey color.  Usually I do but that's a lot of work.

With this many tanks in one unit I decided to at least make an attempt to avoid confusion and number the damn things.  I ordered some Soviet AFV numbers from I-94 Enterprizes. For $3 you can get two sheets loaded with numbers. I think they look pretty good! Highly recommended!  I only had one misbehave, flip over and become unusable.  In the future, if I ever build another BT-5 unit, (unlikely since they are about 1000 points for this many) I will put the decal on the flat part of the turret side. And these kits have only been lurking in the Basement for about a month or two!

So what does everybody think?  Should I paint the tracks or leave them black?

Flesh Tearer Damocles Rhino wip

I picked up this Forge world Damocles rhino years ago in a trade and it has never seen the table. I plan to change that. The previous owner had started painting it as a Dark Angels scheme but that is no more. It will now be folded into the Flesh Tearers. It can help bring in my Jump troops and possibly Terminators On time and On target but it has to live to do that. The next 40k league is Forge world friendly so hopefully the other players will join in the Forge world fun.

From Imperial armor 12, it costs the same as three Cyclone missile launchers from the new Blood angels codex and can be taken as an HQ by several Space marine chapters including the Blood Angels.
It can bring in an Orbital Bombardment once per game, str 10 AP1 Large blast , Barrage
It has a teleport beacon so Deep striking units within 12 inches do not scatter.
It has a Command Vox Relay that allows you to add or subtract 1 from all reserve rolls.

Company B T26 tank for Disposable Heroes and Bolt Action

Thanks to Chuuckaroobob, Who is a River to His People, I now have a 1/56th scale T26 Soviet light tank from Company B. I had talked about getting one for awhile but haven't so Chuckaroo gifted me one for my birthday. I have wanted a T26 to back up my Warlord era Chinese army but it has many more uses in different war gaming eras. They were fielded during the Spanish Civil War, early war on the WWII Eastern front and by the Chinese against each other and then the Japanese.

Out of the box the Company B kit had very few flaws and little flash.

The second chance at magnetizing the turret. The first try I used too small of magnets but the second go round worked much better.

The most glaring problem was a bent resin gun tube. In the process of straightening the tube I broke it off. i had suspected this to happen so I replaced it with a piece of brass rod.

The only real detail missing was at he back of the tank on the exhaust. An air bubble had removed the end of the muffler.

I drilled it out a bit and then replaced it with some green stuff and a piece 1.6mm styrene rod. One it is painted nobody will be able to tell it is a repair.

The finished T26 ready for paint.

The base coated T26, next to a Bolt Action Soviet light machine gunner. I plan to add some more highlights but no unit ID marks to get the most playability out of the model across several different armies.

The challenge has already been issued to dispute Chuckaroobo's M3 Stuart title as the king of the battlefield from an earlier game against my Chinese. That game all I had was a Japanese Ha -Go tank that couldn't penetrate the armor of the M3 Stuart that will be different next time.

Combat Crusher tanks for Bolt Action and Disposable Heroes

I started on the Combat crusher tanks I picked up awhile back. I started by sanding them down to get the decals off. I didn't think about the camera until I had finished the Sherman tank

Here is the American Sherman in a good table quality paint job. I will probably go back and hit some details and clean up the road wheels a bit but it is good enough to hit a table. Beside it is a 28mm Bolt Action Soviet Rifleman to show scale. Good enough for me.

The PAnzer IV primed up

Base coat of Luftwaffe uniform WWII

Dry brush of Vallejo Sombre Grey.  It is a little clean and can use some more details but good enough for the table. Another Bolt Action 28mm Soviet Rifleman beside it for scale. Close enough for me, especially if it is the only tank on my side of the table.

The two Combat Crusher tanks painted up. I will put a few more details and a wash or two before I call them finished.

ColKG

Grenadier War Rhinos and Wooly Mammoths! GW's quakin' in their boots!

Hi Kids, Yeah, yeah, everybody knows about the new Necromancer lad from GW. 1000 pts. US$100. I'd like to point out back in 2nd ed a Balrog was about 1500 pts.  (Or was it first ed?)  So are the Superdudes getting weaker? That's a 33% drop in combat value.  Although I've always dug the spectacular figs some outfits make, when it comes to wargaming I like playing army vs. army.  That means lots of figs.  An "army" of one superdude and a cheering section is not what I'm playing. (That also mean I loose a lot!) By the way, my first Balrog was US$3.29, back when a normal miniature was US$0.80.  Still got the damn thing floating around the Basement someplace.  Painted it with Testors Enamels, cause they were the only paints we had back then.  Maybe someday the Basement will let him float to the surface. It might be chipped but I bet it hasn't faded!  And I still have the anatomically correct male Balrog from Ral Partha, and the modified version they came out with later where they added a jockstrap to make him more politically correct. Funny. But on to our story:
Here's some shots of some more Grenadier Heavy Hitters, the War Rhino!

I've always liked the mega fauna from prehistoric times, and these things are mega in more ways than one! None of the crew are glued on, just in case they have to go rogue!  If I were smart I'd mount them with some pins so they might actually stay on longer than a few minutes...

 If one is good, more is better! After they sat in the Basement 15+ years I got motivated to field these things when Forge World came out with their Ogre Cav units.  I have one of those floating around someplace, too.

These bad boys were painted by Col Kilgore himself, when he wasn't too busy surfing at Charlie's Point or sniffing napalm.



 No motivation lasts forever, there are still a few awaiting the paintbrush. Oh yeah, that Giant is the nuclear option.  You're going to need a bigger brush.

 And while we're on the topic of Grenadier Family Atomics, here are some even Bigger Mega Fauna!  Step back!  Give 'em room!  Yeah, that's the original price tag.  US$19.19 each.  What is that nowadays, 3 space marines?  Can I still use that term?

 Another few figs.  I have one each of the Undead Legion superheavies painted up, and have used them in buckets of 3rd ed games.  In fact, now that I think about it I'm shocked the wings are still on the skeletal Dragon.  I used 5 minute epoxy on all the joints, and although that stuff is a pain in the butt it holds like nothing else can!

Old Hammer from the Depths of the Basement of Heaped Miniatures

 Hi Kids,  Looks like there's all sorts of excitement on the web about old figs.  Of course, there's always been a certain "old figs are cool" sensation with my friends and I.  Not really sure why having figs older than college students is a good thing, but I went spelunking into the Basement to see what I could see.  Most of these are Grenadier or Citadel figs from the Goode Olde Days.

Starting out on a low note, this is far and away the most disappointing miniature I've ever owned.  Bought it brand new, and when I opened it up was so absolutely horrified at the 2-dimensional nature of the beastie I put it right back in the box and have ignored it ever since.

 Ugh.  I wonder if it's worth anything on ebay?  Primered white.

 Here we have two of the three Lead Belcher Organ Guns I own.  All still in the boxes, the one not pictured is still in the shrinkwrap. I was going to ebay it last year but never got around to it. I really dig all those Grenadier Dragons of the Month, but nowadays these dragons are about as large as a GW pony.  Most of these dragons were what, US$8.95 back in the 1980's?  That's about the same as a GW pony's price now too, come to think of it. I love the four Warg Orc chariot, always have.  I've got a painted one also, and have used it in hundreds of games back when we were gaming all the freakin' time!  Ah, those all day long 30 turn 3rd ed games were so much fun!

 A shot of assorted Grenadier box sets.  Come to think of it, if they were all that great why have I left them in the boxes for 30+ years?  Sometimes I really wonder just how slack I might be.  A hint for all my buds:  Don't answer that!

This bad boy was in the back of that last picture, but I figured as a kick-butt dragon Teronus deserved to be up close and personal!  One of these days I'm going to have to inventory my madness. All these figs were purchased brand new in local NC hobby shops or on visits to The Complete Strategist on East 33rd Street, NYC, where I'd go a couple times a year and toss cash around.  Haven't been there in a couple years now, I need to get up there and poke around again!  They probably still have some of this stuff on the shelves!

Grenadier Juggernaut, Painted Old Hammer!

Hi Kids, I know everyone got the accurate impression that I have all sorts of unpainted stuff floating around.  Lots, but not all!  Here are some examples of PAINTED old minis! Now before you keel over from the shock, let me point out that I did not paint these. I commissioned our resident expert Col Kilgore himself to slap some pigment on these figs. He's a lot better at it than I am, too! First up is Grenadier's Juggernaut!  Remember the Orc rider is a 25mm fig! Back when that actually meant 25mm....  I have always dug this fig!

Back when I wanted a Lizardman army, I thought this heavyweight would be a great general!  I still think so, but I lost interest in Lizardmen were I came to the conclusion that even 15d6, taking the best 2, would not allow me to pass a Leadership test. The Orc rider is not glued on.

 Damn that flood light is bright!

His other side.  The Col told me there's a facebook page ("Old School Miniatures" )where they were blogging about this fig, and I figured I'd stick it out there for all to see.

Khemru for Wargods of Aegyptus

Hi Kids,  Yeah, I've managed to take paint brush in hand and accomplish something recently!  Those events are getting fewer and farther between all the time. I have always liked the Wargods of Aegyptus rules (my name's even in the 2nd ed as a backer!) and figures, and at H-con this summer I picked up a few more.  After all, you can never have too many figs!

 These are the Khemru slingers I bought.  You know, that means they only lurked in the Basement of Heaped Miniatures for a couple months before applying paint!  Considering most figs sit around for 10 years or so that is amazing!  The fastest I ever got was 5 Battlefront KV-85's, from purchase to finished in 24 hours!  Just to make it more difficult, I painted them camo, not just KV-1 green.  Anyway, my Army Builder Stain has been going all wonky so I used Kel's Magic Sauce to wash these lads.  Not the same, but it'll do.

 Next up for the paintbrush, two TKS Tankettes from the 1939 Polish Army.  These are Bolt Action resin vehicles I picked up at Brookhurst Hobbies a year or two ago. I should've put a fig in there for scale, as these things are ridiculously tiny.  I mounted the 20mm cannon on both, I had intended to mount one with the MG, but it was such a skinny barrel I figured it wouldn't even make it to the first game intact.  Funny thing is, I am not going to build a Polish army.  I just thought these looked cool.  Probably end up using them in Pulp or Early WW2 games in some way shape or form.

"The Face that Launched 1000 Ships", it's Helen of Troy from Wargods of Aegyptus!  She was a special deal available from Crocodile Games during the Kickstarter for the soon-to-be-released Greek book.  The book was due in Sept, so it's only a tiny bit late.  And the kickstarter generated a huge amount of new figs; I'm positively panting for the new Amazons to be released!

AD&D 1990 Ral Partha Human Ranger

The last figure I painted for a now defunct game store. I painted up a bunch of figures for the store owner to sell. I received a commission when they sold but didn't make much money. When the store closed the owner gave me all the remaining models.

This is a Human Ranger from the 1990 Ral Partha AD&D series. I painted it in 1992 and could do a better job now. I would give the model a future/ink wash and then highlight it.

ColKG

AD&D 1988 Wizards from Ral Partha

Here are a couple more old school miniatures, Wizards from the 1988 Ral Partha AD&D series. I painted these for a now defunct game store. When the store closed the owner gave the remaining models to me.

I painted these in 1992 and my painting abilities have improved since then.

rear of the female wizard

The male Wizard also 1988 Ral Partha. I painted it to be either an Elf or Half-Elf wizard.

The rear of the model.

I block painted them quickly and would treat the current paint as the base coat if I went back to repaint them.

ColKG

AD&D 1988 Ral Partha Clerics

Here are a couple more old school miniatures. These are two Clerics from 1988 Ral Partha AD&D series. I painted these up for a now defunct game store. When the shop closed the owner gave me the models that didn't sell.

I block painted these in 1992 and like I said before it shows how my painting has improved.

a rear view of the male cleric

The 1988 AD&D female cleric from Ral Partha.

rear view of same model.

If i decided to work on these I would probably give them A future/ink wash and the highlights. Threat the current paint as the base coat and go from there.

ColKG

AD&D 1988 Rafm Dwarves

I have been reorganizing some of my models and came across some of my AD&D models from way back in the day. These models are some I painted up in maybe 1992 for a game shop that is now out of business. The owner wanted some painted models to sell. He asked me to paint them and paid me a commission when they sold. I didn't make much money but had fun painting the models. When the the shop was closing he gave me the models that didn't sell.

Pictures don't lie and I mostly block painted them. I have improved a great deal since then.

rear of the first model

A second Rafm 1988 Dwarf.

The bad part about this one is I left the mold line across the shield. At the time I didn't worry about the mold lines so much but now it just looks bad to me.

I am tempted to go back. clean up the mold lines, give the model a future/ink wash ans then highlights. It might be a great fix but they will look a lot better.


ColKG

Zomtober 2014 begins, sort of.

Image from Brummie's Wargaming Blog

Zomtober has returned and I am already behind, the rules are

The rules.

The rules are simple. To take part just paint one Zombie or Survivor (or more!) each week, in any scale you like, posting it to your blog by the Sunday (we use Sunday's as the end of each Zomtober week). So that means one or more minis each week on or before the 5th, 12, 19th and 26th of October. 

I should have a zombie ready today, oopps. So I have to get on the ball and do some catch up.

I picked up a box of Games Workshop Zombies earlier this year so I would be ready. Now to the hobby room to build a few zombies.

ColKG