What if...

...after the 2nd WW, everyone had  signed up to genuine real and Lasting peace on earth? Not a cessation of hostilities for a short period while each and every side vied for new angles on causing friction in order to fill up the arms order books but a genuine   realisation we have the same Basic wants, needs, loves and fears and  work towards a bright future for humankind and the planet.
As part of this permanent peace, there would be no need for weapons, no tanks, no guns and  no need for war planes.
The swords would have to be made into ploughshares..or in this case, Spitfires into racing cars.

Wheels -  from a bashed up Siku post lorry
Axles - bits of  sprue from the original Airfix Spitfire kit
Suspension -  Florist wire wrapped around Pins
Headlights - two Pins with the bead type head, 1/3rd sliced off.
I left the wingstubs on as they make nice runningboards

The Inspiration for the  idea Comes from a Toy racing car from my collection..a Mercedes-Benz Racing Car (Dinky Toys 23c)  ....which is celebrating its 66th  birthday this year. It could be slightly older as They (Meccano LTD-Dinky) started making them in 1946, so just after  WWII  ;-)

Airfix ACW Wargaming - Bods and Generals

A round up of recent  bits and pieces.

Union General
He has appeared in a previous post but now he´s got a Standard bearer alongside him. The bod is from the Artillery set, sabre sheath added by welding a staple to his side.
The flag...I haven´t a clue whose or what Regiment it is...Looks ok to me though :-)

Confederate General.
Top half from the Confederate infantry set, bottom half from the US cavalry set. His Standard bearer is also from the Artillery set.
As for the flag, it´s one I came across whilst looking for possible HQ flags,  General Robert E. Lee´s HQ Flag*

Pipers.
Both of them are from the  Airfix Guards Band set with head swops and staples added as Sabres.
They´ll get based as soon as I work out wether to have them as part of a Regiment or as add ons to a marching column.

Union officer.
Converted from the Airfix Cowboys set. Staples for sabre and sheath.

Artillery Flags
I´m not sure how or often the ACW artillery   used battle flags, wether they were carried near the battery, flown when they were on the march or to Signal a central Point like the HQ.
Anyways, I found a couple so it seemed a waste to not have them.
The CSA one I´m not sure about. It seems a bit too Long in comparison to it´s height..or have I made a mistake of using the reverse and front sides as one ?

*I know the flags are big but as I´ve said before..this aint no historical reproduction and I like big flags :-)

Airfix ACW Wargaming (Pt4)

Two Batches of cavalry, one for the Union and one for the CSA. With the recent new recruits (HERE) I´ll be able to make up another two Units.
Then a bit of mix and matching and onto their bases they go.

The CSA have had a couple of head swops. Ok, anyone who has an idea about CSA cav (or, like me,  has looked at PSR) knows that the cavalry on both sides prefered the Hardee type hats but I reckon the use of hardee hats for the CSA cav makes them look more CSA looking....well it does to me.

Also, anyone who has an idea about CSA cav (or, like me,  has,  looked at the write up on this set at  PSR) knows These bods and thier nags (well, not so much the nags but the Equipment on them) that they are about as historically accurate as the film Gladiator, but this Project is old school. ...hence the big flag carried by the CSA Standard bearer...I like BIG flags!! :-D

In the distant past I´d have used a  small screwdriver heated over a candle to weld the pegs on the nags hooves (and sometimes my fingers..happy days) to the holes in the  bases. In most cases it never really Held for Long.
These days, I´m allowed Access to superglue to weld the pegs (and sometimes my fingers .. nothing changes)  to the bases.

I came up with a method  using thin metal wire "welded" to one of the supporting legs to attach the nags  as shown HERE . It´s a way more solid method of attaching them  than either of the "welding" methods but to use it on all the nags would be time consuming.

Some of the nags which were lacking their bases  have the same peg arrangement which fits  exactly to the bases from the Airfix Sherrif of Nottingham set  so they didn´t Need the Addition of metal Pins.

A bit more scenery,  some "snake fences" made using cut up coffee stirrers

I´ve mabe them in interlockable sections. The 8 (so far) have a total length, when locked together, of 1.6m. I was going to add the side stakes propping up the fence at the  intersections but that would mean they wouldn´t be joinable and as the stakes would stick out, theyéd be prone to damage.

Airfix ACW - A bit of a Bargain

New recruits for the Airfix ACW Project bought at  the 42.Plastikfigurenbörse, Herne.
I haven´t counted them but it was a bit of a bargain, €15 for around about 500 bods, horses and wagons.

In the bags there´s the marching poses, 40 plus Union, 20 plus Confederacy, 20 1st issue airfix foriegn Legion which will end up as Zouaves. The bods from the first issue set compare better size wise and scupting to their ACW companions. Also a near complete set of US cavalry. The pile of Shooting, running etc will end up being used for/as conversions.

4 new artillery pieces plus two complete limbers. The limber with the broken trail I can use as a cassion and the spare wheels will come in usefull.
In the bag there´s a full set (including the accessories) of the Airfix Wagon Train set! A quick Stress test Shows None of this copy of the set is suffering from plastic rot!

Airfix ACW Wargaming (Pt3)

Taking a bit of time off from painting the rank and file..Some conversions
A Union General. This one was a bit of a more complicated conversion than I´d intended but after rooting about in the bits box I found a similar conversion (seen HERE in glorious Humbrol enamels along with a few other early conversions) I´d made some 30 plus years ago so it  Counts as "old school"
Nag and legs from the Airfix US Cavalry set, Body from the Waterloo British artillery set and a small concession to the "Nothing but Airfix", head and hat from the Revell 30yrs war Swedish Infantry

CSA Musicians. The drums are made from bits of sprue..
The Drummer made using the odd running and waving pose. He Looks like he´s trying to ease something out...Wind?

CSA Standard bearers. I´m sure a lot of People have come up with These   (and other) ideas to create Standard bearers.
Flag poles - flower arranging wire
Flags - Printed

Another building, this time loosely based on General Meade's Headquarters (The Leister Farmhouse), Gettysburg.
As it´s a gaming Piece and not an historical reconstruction, I didn´t bother adding the steps at the front or the Windows at the sides and back. And look at the size of those shingles/tiles!!!! In reality Theyéd be what, 1.5metres wide and tall ? Still, it got the Roof decked in quick time  :-D


"Don´t worry Victoria, I´m sure it will all be over by Christmas"

Well, Big John may be being  a bit presumptive or he isn´t refering to this Christmas?

Airfix American Civil War Wargaming

It´s arrived !!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

Considering the Age of the book, it was produced in 1977, this copy is in excellent condition. Slight discolouration on the spine but no dog ears or Scribbles/stains on the pages.
Compared to what some copies are going for on Evil-bay etc,   I got this copy for a song.
Having a quick look through, the memories came flooding back! This and some of the airfix mag articles (when pocket Money allowed ) inspired many a table top (and carpet Level) battle.

On a later post devoted to the "Airfix ACW Wargaming " Project I write up the basing, movement, firing rules for  anyone interested.

And, an update on Smokey. She´s now had a slight Name Change to Ghost..but seeing as she is deaf (she can only very high tones) it makes no difference to her what her Name is.
She´s put on some weight and is more or less settled in.

Airfix ACW Wargaming (Pt2)

All available guns finished. Due to "plastic Rot", I only had enough wheels left to put 4 together and some of those are missing parts of the spokes.
A Union gun Crew. These are some of my  conversions from over 30 years ago.
Top halves from the ACW set and 3 bottom halves from the Airfix Russian infantry set and one (far left) from the Union infantry set. Bases are painted up emerald green "old School"

I´ve now gone and ordered the book American Civil War Wargaming by Terry Wise so when it arrives, basing can start.

Both Crews for the CSA finished

and another Union gun Crew added

All 4 guns with Crews.
Note the twisted and or snapped spokes. The dreaded plastic rot? In some cases yes but some of the wheels are still very pliable and  I seem to remember (way back) that  the spokes on a lot of the airfix sets were twisted.

Right, if anyone actually misses thier target they get thier pay docked!

Airfix ACW Wargaming (Pt1)

As if I haven´t got enough to do, Hobbywise, the start of Another Project, this one based on Airfix ACW using just Airfix bods.
Why Airfix ACW? Simply cos I´ve got a few bods already finished and......…

..........and a few spares and..

,,,, the Airfix bods are easy to paint and, Rivet Counters beware,  the historical innacuracy of the bods  gives me a good excuse to say, Any historical accuracy is purely accidental.
Obviously they will be painted to represent both sides but I won´t be getting hung up on wether a CSA bod is wearing a tunic of  exactly the right tone of  Butternut Brown or a Union bod is wearing a Kepi or a Hardee hat. As Noted at PSR, these were intended as toys..and toys are meant for games and games should be fun..not a chore.

I´ll also be making some Conversions. I did so way back when I first got into wargaming/collecting but they will be as simple as I don´t want to get bogged down with the Project which usually gets me distracted into doing something else.

Any half decent looking battlefield Needs some bits of scenery  so first up a couple of generic farmhouses.

As this is supposed to be a fun  Old School  Project,  reliant on being cheap, quick  and easy, so everything about it, including any battlefield "decoration",  has to cost virtually nothing, be Basic, no excessive Detail or in depth historical accuracy, if it looks the part it´ll do and lastly,  durable.

Thin Card from cereal boxes etc glued with PVA

Roofing

Ridge tiles

Chimneys made from high Density foam

and here´s a very inspirational blog.  20mm Crimean War Wargaming & Other Stuff

Bob is also doing an Airfix ACW Project called  Project Battle Cry & Airfix ACW.
The look he´s achieved is what I´m aiming for.

Elf commander

The queen is the Joan of arc from Odemars Leaders set.
I removed the axe at her belt, and replaced the flag and flagpole. The design on the  Flag is apparently called the unity flower, so works well for a leader of different tribes of elves.

The trumpeter is from the Zvezda Russian knights  which, IMHO, is a bloody awefull set of bods, the trumpeter being the only pose having any use.

 The elf wing of the "light alliance" army so far.

I might add the RedBox  elves but only the archers as   the bods don´t look that good in any of the pics I´ve seen
Also a front line of fighters Needs adding...dwarves are the most popular choice at the Moment.

And..another Addition to the household. This one has been hiding in the Woods for the last couple of weeks, daring to get closer and closer to the house, tempted by bits of Food left out and  until cold and possible Exhaustion, made being indoors more acceptable. Yesterday, she allowed herself to be brought inside.

Exhausted, Deaf , old and thin, she (it´s a female) was, after a nights rest and tick removal,  taken to the vets where we we´re given two choices:
1. She would be transfered to the local  home for strays, all vet bills covered.
2. We take her on and also the resulting bills.

Considering her Age and fraility, who would want to take her from the strays home..the Little of what future she had left looked bleak....so only one choice was available.
She has a new home with us :-)
She´s An estimated Age of around 15 (75 in human years), virtually no teeth and dehydrated, definately deaf...oh and she´s a British short hair..ironic really.
After  blood tests (the poor Thing had virtually nothing left to give ) it turns out she´s perfectly Sound internally, so a vitimin B shot, a spell on a drip to get her fluids up, Special Food, 4 hours of watching "Vets TV" (I didn´t realise there was such a Thing)  and a decent sized vets bill, she´s now  back home, eating and cleaning herself  and is looking a lot more happy.

Oh...and she´s called Smokey.

Airfix Elves

The Airfix Robinhood set is, IMHO, one of the best sets as a base for conversions followed by Accurate´s  Hundred Years War English Men-At-Arms and Italeri´s Roman Infantry (I got 40 different poses out of the 3 Basic legionary poses).
This lot have had headswops using the heads from the Revell Anglo-Saxons set.

"Loose!!"

The flag? Looking at it now, it Looks like it´s upside down(?)

The quivers also came from the revel Anglo-saxons set.

Teutonic order 1329 - More pics

Some more piccies of the dio.
Prisoners  (possibly Lithuanians) in the main square

 

More of the Market place

A new winter guest.  The local hedgehog protection Group phoned up asking if we could take in a small (in the photo he weighed only  200 gramms) and feed him up.
He now weighs nearly 500 gramms :-D