In with the old, out with the new.....

Wait, what?

Currently it's:
1. TNT
2. 3mm Ruins
3. Rhino wreck
4. 3mm armies

Nothing wrong with TNT. Loving it. With the help of my buddy Alex I even added a new scenic piece to my collection. He was kind enough to make a detour from his trip home to pick it up from a seller who refused to ship. And he just dropped it off. Didn't want anything for the help. Love that guy :)

Flo's Diner from Cars. 12,50 euros. That's my filling station sorted in go, though I will do some dissasembling on it and rework it a bit to make it more fitting. Not now though, trailerpark first, this is for later.

3mm Ruins - going at it. Too much fun making them. But it does not have any priority so I just do a Block when I feel like it.

3mm Armies - what I need to do now is photograph all of the infantry models so I know what is in each bag, so future orders can be made accordingly. I'll be mixing the infantry you see. Also not a priority.

Rhino Wreck - intended to do just for fun, but can go back in the cabinet, as it is being replaced by something else.

Replaced by what? Well, this Blog is called 20mmandthensome for a reason. 20mm used to be my main focus, but it kinda dropped in priority as all the locals game in 28mm or in 15mm. In my relax time I've been reading up on the Battlegroup FB page, the Blitzkrieg book (as the rest is still packed up) and having small discussions with Piers. And in league with my new found enthusiasm, I realised I'm better off going back to my roots and paint what gave me so much joy, and that is 20mm. Don't worry, I'll alternate with the rest, but the time has come to dig up my 20mm stuff, do some small repairs, and start to finish units to a gameable standard.

How am I going to do that?

Back to basics. The core of each army is Infantry. The core of Battlegroup is 1 unit of Infantry, so that is what I will start painting. 1 German army for Early, Mid and Late War, tuned to the books that have been released sofar. I'll start off with Normandy (the Overlord book) as that Infantry Unit is 80% done, it is missing a 80mm mortar and a 3 man LMG team, plus some options from the Support Options.

It feels like meeting an old friend I have not seen in years, and picking up where I left off. It feels good.

The German Heer - what will I look for paint wise

I want to keep my 28mm Germans as generic as my 20mm ones. So I've been looking for tutorials how to paint these models in generic German Grey. I'm looking at this:

FOW painting Guide

I used the 1940 example when painting my 20mm's and I think it is good enough to paint my 28mm with. Fortunately, Christy Beall made this excellent tutorial with just what I need (that and I've added Crusader Miniatures to the list of mini's to buy as I like their 5cm mortars and AT rifle teams):

Battlegroup Aircraft

While sorting out the attic I refound my plastic kits collection, which is rather extensive (+300 kits and counting). I've put quite a few aside for sale next year, but hoarded quite a few others cause they fit in with my build plans.

Some of these are aircraft. Now aircraft in Battlegroup are a fickle thing. You can pay for a scheduled attack by a fighter, fighter bomber and sometimes even a bomber so that it attacks a certain point at a certain time. If I understand the rules correctly they can be driven off by AA guns or even destroyed when they take too many hits. Or you can pull a aircraft chit and roll a 5+ for it to arrive, and then roll again to see what type of aircraft arrives. Again, these can be driven off by AA guns  but give you more flexibility in their attack mode. Buying a Forward Air Controller raises the chance that a aircraft arrives when you pull the chit (and grants you a extra offcier), so that's very helpful too (and another great modelling oppertunity

As I will be focussing on these rules, it would be nice to pick up my old hobby of model airplanes again, I made quite a few when I was a kid....I just never painted them. These days I do paint them and modify them with a wall plug and a magnet inside that so I can use them on my flight stands. It is the best of both worlds really, model aircraft that actually get to be used on the table.

So what do I need? Well, the focus lies with Germans (Early to Late), Russians (Early to Late) and British (Late), so I will need all of the books.

Barbarossa
Kursk
Overlord
Fall of the Reich

Barbarossa first then. The Germans get the Ju-87D Stuka, the Fiesler Storch and the Bf-110. All 3 are in my collection, ready to be built. The Russians get the I-16, the I-153, The SB-2 and the Il-2 Sturmovik. I have all of these except the SB-2, and I keep eyeing ICM kits of the model on Ebay, but this is not in any hurry.

Kursk. The Germans get the Ju-87D and G Stukas, the FW-190F, the HS-129B, the Fiesler Storch, the FW-189A Uhu, the HS-126 and the He-111.I can reuse the Early war Ju-87D. The rest I have in stock, apart from the Uhu, but I'm chasing that on our local Ebay. For some reason I feel like swapping out the He-111 with a Ju-88, but I have both kits so maybe both will get built, who knows. No rush again. I would like to use the Bf-110 strike fighter here as well, plus a Me-109E strike fighter as they would be fun to build for the Hornisse Zerstorer Gruppe. It is not too hard to make stats for the 109E. I have a Bilek Hs-129B but it doesn't feel right, like it is a underscale model, but it does come with a 50mm cannon pod. The Russians get the Il-2, now with a backseat gunner, the Pe-2, the Yak-1 and -9, the P-39 Aircobra, the Po-2 and the Il-4 (the book calls it a 4 engined aircraft while in fact it only has 2). The Pe-2 I picked up recently in the shape of the excellent Hobbyboss kit, I might have to source another Il-2. I don't have a Yak-1/-9 but the prices on Ebay don't seem very high so we'll see. A  P-39 i have several, 1 in progress, the Po-2 I'm trying to aquire but sofar no luck, and the same goes for the Il-4. I'm eyeing both on the local Ebay but sofar my bids have not been accepted or even replied to.

Overlord. The Brits get a Spitfire or a Typhoon, with an Auster as AOP. The Spitfire would be a Mark IX or Mark XII, and I have neither. Looking at Ebay, the Italeri Mark IX one seems nice and cheap too. A Academy Typhoon has been with me for years, so it is time it gets built. Austers tend to go for silly money, and I'm not sure if the Antartica one builds the same aircraft. The Germans get the Me-109G and the Fw-190 G. Neither I have in stock and unless I trip over one, won't be bought this year unless I can trade some of my kits for one.

Lastly, Fall of the Reich. The Brits get the Typhoon and Auster again and a Tempest. Since the Academy Typhoon is so cheap I'm tempted to build 2, one with and 1 without D-Day markings. I have no Tempest, but plenty of those on Ebay right now. The Germans get the Fw-190G, the Ju-87G and the Me-262. I can reuse the Fw-190G from Normandy and the Ju-87G from Kursk, so I will only have to build the Me-262 with bombs. I'm tempted to stat out the Arado Blitz and the Ju-188 just because I have the models and give the Germans the option of a 20-30 Point bomber strike, albeit one that is Unique cause by then fuel is scarce.

I have no plans for American aircraft yet other then the L-4 as a placeholder for the Auster. That doesn't mean I won't build them (I have plenty of the models in stock) but starting US forces isn't on the cards yet till 2016 or 2017, if ever.

Also, refinding German wunderwaffe kits like the Flying Wing, Panther F turrets and even the first helicopter makes me dream about things 1946, though a book like that will probably be all fan based. Maybe later.

Catch of the day

...or, more precisely, of the week.

I've been spending the proceeds of my sale on items that will help me with, or are part of my projects. A great help for this Ebay and Marktplaats, a local Dutch variant on that theme. Ebay has the minor issue in that it clashes with the 2 weeks rule. Auctions tend to run for a week, so that doens't really work, hence I just made a list of items that I want, made searches for it on Ebay and saved those. If there are new items posted that fit the bill I get a signal. If after 2 weeks I no longer require the item, I delete the search, easy as that. Marktplaats is easier, people put stuff on that stays on for a month. More then enough time for me. But I have to be honest, I sometimes break that rule if there is a very good deal to be had. On Ebay, this means sellers offering low or free shipping, or a very low opening bid. On Marktplaats this means making a low bid and then just seeing if the seller responds, or not. If after 2 weeks I still want it and there is no reply, I can always raise my bid.

This week I received and won the following items:

On Marktplaats, I made a bid of 2,50 euro for a 1:72 Revell Me-262. This was accepted after a few days. As I didn't need the box or the instructions, the seller agreed to mail it to me in a brown unmarked envelop instead of a package, making the total cost a mere 4,75 euro. I'm going to combine this with a 1/72 Quickboost resin starboard engine that is partially dismantled (which I won for 6,50 Pounds incluyding shipping from Australia recently) and base it wheels down as a late war German forest plane on a wooden platform. A piece of scenery for short :) I still have plenty of aftermarket decals in my stash so that is covered too.

On Ebay, I used Buy it Now to buy a early example of the engine used in the Me-109, amongst others. This set me back 10 Pounds including shipping, plus I bookmarked the store for the future as shipping from the UK to me was a mere 60 pence. I can't even mail a average envelope inside Holland for that. They send out normal kits for 1.65 Pounds shipping, normally this is 5 Pounds minimum for most Ebay sellers from the UK to Holland. I don't know how they do it, but I like it. The engine will be used in my casting experiments, and the casts (if they succeed or not) will be used in the Me-109 wrecks I'm planning on building. A few years back I got a great deal on a stack of old Matchbox(?) Me-109E's for 1 euro a piece from Italy, and besides making Crimson Skies planes out of them, they have not been used yet. Since I like making wrecks, this one should be fun.

On Marktplaats again, I ran into a seller who was liquidating his Ho train collection, and had quite a few lots of scenery items as well. He was selling each of the items you see for 3 euro per lot, the normal store price for this lot is well over 35 euros new online. 17,50 Inlcuding shipping, and a nice addition to my forest which I refound last week in the attic. The Kohl & Salat (Cabbages and Salad) is especially welcome, as in one of my pre orders for the Crisis show I have 2 greenhouses and 2 smaller ones. These will mix very well, and so I can do back gardens for the Wikkywok houses.

Marktplaats, I picked up this for a mere 5 euros, and I only had to divert my ride from work by a little bit to pick it up. Now, wait a minute, I don't have a American army, right? That is correct, but there are 2 reasons I've picked it up. I do want to make an American army, but that probably won't be till 2016 before I start it. Secondly, the British army I want to start needs an Auster, and these are hard to find and go for high prices (usually). This will be a nice stand in. The price helped a lot too.

Back to Ebay, I was browsing the shop were I bought the 109 engine, and found this Pe-2 for 9.20 Pounds including shipping. I already have a Pe-2 kit from a obscure Russian company which is a dramatically bad piece of engineering. I've read stellar reviews about the Hobbyboss one, and the price was very good so hey, another kit for my Mid to Late War Russians. On opening the kit I was pleasantly suprised at the low parts count, which is perfect for me. It will be easy to modify to take a flight stand.

I've been watching the old Matchbox Churchill AVRE ever since I picked up 4 boxes of PSC Churchills, as I think these will make a great add-on piece for one of them. Problem was that whenever I was watching, these went for 10-15 Pounds plus 5 Pounds shipping minimum. I made some bids here and there and was always outbid. Till last week. My opening bid of 4.99 turned out to be the winner, and for 10 Pounds including shipping this one is mine. Now I just want the bridge, and the add on parts, so I have no idea yet what to do with the complete tank. Maybe sell it, or build it as a wreck, who knows. A great find, this one. The decals are still crisp too, very nice.

I also picked up some Oyumaru plastic clay from Ebay, from Hong Kong, for casting purposes. I'm a bit late to the party, I believe this hit the scene 1-2 years ago, so I won't bore you with details on who and what. This has been explained in better detail by many Blogs, like this one. I want to use it for the engine block, and wheel rims that I will use for burnt out wrecks, and other engines that I can find, as these tend to be pricey online. If I can make my own casts for private use, the better. I'll probably will do even more things with it, who knows. Anyway, 30 sticks put me back 20 Pounds including shipping, but those should be enough to last me quite some time. I'll grab a few boxes of Milliput when I'm at the Crisis show.

I have a commission running with Wikkywok at the moment, and he shown me some lovely photos of the first testhouse he made for me. Aside from 1 or 2 minor points, I was quite happy with it already so I'm looking forward to having all 4 right here with me. More on that at a later date.

Lastly, a purchase arrived from mid August :) For some reason, mail from Canada is incredibly slow at best and glacial at its worst. Dunno why. But I received 2 Blue Steel books today, namely Civil Wars: The Gun Trucks and Blue Steel IV: M-50 Sherman tanks and APC's in South Lebanon. These were, with shipping included, quite pricey, but that is normal for such a specialist publication. The Gun Truck book gives descriptions of photographs of various gun trucks used, also explaining to which faction they belonged, very handy! The M-50 book gives details about the M-50 and the APC variants, and lots of detail shots of rusting hulks. Both books will come in very handy for my Lebanon project as these were used by the SLA, one of the militias I will focus on.

Of course, this has been quite the expense, so it is back to selling again, as I still have a lot of micro armour to sort for sale. Back to that right after posting this :)

Focus Points

For the rest of the year, besides selling stuff, I wil focus on 20mm.

For my own sanity, I have a checklist.

W1. WW2 Germans (Early-Mid-Late)
W2. WW2 Russians (Early-Mid-Late)
W3. WW2 British (Late)

M1. Cold War Dutch Mechanised (1980-85)
M2. Cold War British Special Forces (1980-85)
M3. Cold War Soviets Recce (1980-85)
M4, Lebanese Civil War, various Militias
M5. Mogadishu, African Militia
M6. Yugoslavia Civil War, Serbians and Croats
M7. Taliban

SF1. Stalker Project
SF2. Modern Mercenaries

I've sold off Vietnam and I will not be doing Sci-Fi for a while.

Of my Projects, only W1 Mid-Late and M1 are in a gameable state and have opposition in this country to game with/against. W1 should be updated with another German Infantry platoon and more vehicles (loads in stock thanks to PSC). M1 has a fully painted vehicle fleet but the infantry is unpainted. I will not be working on these this year.

W1 will be updated when I have a game planned and need new kit. Most likely Late.
W2 will keep the focus on Late due to the number of T-34/85's based and built and converted and ready for paint.
W3, being 2 British Infantry platoons plus support was my project for the last half year, which sadly tanked due to my increased dosage. I've pushed these on towards 2015

M1 will be picked up in 2015, and I have to do test samples to get the vehicle paint right again. Hopefully, in 2015 SandS will release the YP-408 so I can motorise my infantry towards 1975-1980. A F-16 has been aquired for airsupport.
M2 my Special Forces haven't been toutched since 2011, but I have 2 more special Land Rovers ready to be painted, I just need crew. Also need to make debussed crew. For small Skirmish games.
M3 is a new project, I want to get a small Recce force done, nothing major, as 2 of my mates already have sizeable Soviet forces, and I want a few of my own. I'll probably start his year.
M4 Already did some work on these, I want to do generic stuff first that can cross over to Mogadishu before comitting to one or two militias. As there is no opposition here locally this is a skillz and fun project. (my opposition being in Ireland and Portugal)
M5 I will focus purely on the Africans so I can eventually do AK-74 with them as well. No local opposition so again Skillz and Fun.
M6 Several vehicles converted, I need to test out JNS green before I will commit. There are long term interested parties that probably won't commit till I have a decent force (and they paint much quicker then me) Skillz and Fun cause the opposition is in the USA!
M7 Taliban. 2 people I know have Modern Dutch I can fight against. I want to focus purely on Infantry, I have a bag of Liberation, when those are done I will order Elhiem. 2015

SF1. Really long term ans I don't even have rules for it, more a labour of love and excuse to expand The Junkyard.
SF2. Modern Mercenaries. Also meant for AK-74 but modelled after Blackwater. No opposition, Skillz and Fun.

The list looks rather extensive, but I will try and focus on one project plus 1 back up project a month. Everything has their own box or drawer, so after that period they are easily stored untill taken out again. Each month I will see what tickles my fancy and do that, that way I dont have to worry about getting bored.

I really don't want to be running 12 different projects on my table at once, so this is a better way. A bit OCD, I admit, but quite maneagable.

A extra plus is that I have most projects in stock, so I don't have to spend extra money on figures, instead saving money for future scenery expansion.

Beobachtungspanzer III

Beobachtungspanzer III. Insipred by my 20mm model, I tried to copy it as much as possible.
40x20mm base Heroics and Ross model suitably converted.

Just a little bit more (for Kursk)

Not 1, not 2, but 3 Borgwards will be rumbling across the table. Updated the original as well with jerrycans, cleaned up the front and added handles to the charge. Also made a seperate charge.

And the man who will be in control, a converted Italeri Fast Build Panzer III

Working on getting the control box looking proper now, then back to the rest of the tank. Open hatches nicked from a PSC Panzer IV.

Battlegroup Kursk up for pre release

My next game is Kursk on the 18th of August and will be with these new rules, with the author and the publisher fighting in the same battle (on opposite sides though!). They will be released in September and for the first 500 pre orders you will get a free PSC 1/72 Stug sprue.

I've just preordered.

Russian decoy guns for Kursk, Part 1

I'm having a small factory line here....producing decoy guns for the Russians players for the game in August, based off a original schematic. I'll be modifying it in places to make it more wargamers/builders friendly though. Doing this on a practically 0 euro budget as well.

They are not hard to build and add a little character. I'll leave it to the Russian players to use them or not. More progress and details soon.

I need more Russians!

Box of goodies arrived, started work on numbers 13,14 and 15.

....but now I feel I need 3 more, to make wrecks from. And 3 more, to fix tank riders on. And.... :)

Kursk T-34's

Checklist for updating the PSC T-34's

For 10 tanks I need:
- Drill 10 gunbarrels, 10 machinegunbarrels and 20 exhausts.
- Molest 40 fenders, front and back.
-Bend 30 handrails for the turrets
-Bend 60 handrails for the hulls.
-Create 10 headlights.
-Update 3 tanks to type 43.
-Create 10 antenna mounts.
-Get 3 commanders.
- Build or cast a X amount of box fueltanks

For 2 wrecks and 2 German ones this list mostly repeats itself, but the captured ones will get a Notek headlight and other Germanic upgrades (command cuppola, rommelkisten) and the rest will be done in the painting phase.

Russian

German

I decided to do the first 2 wrecks using the full tank, and when I start the third I will only need part of it (turret) to get the right look.

Though my order still isn't packed or sent, so God knows when I can get cracking on that.

GMG Weekend: Kursk

My next trip to Ireland, in a little under 4 months, will be to fight on the German side in a big Kursk bash.

For this, I've sorted my to do list into 3 sections; German, Russian and Scenery.

Scenery wise I will be adding a few wrecks to my collection, maybe make another windmill and do various Russian farmyard stuff.

German wise I don't have a clue yet, I've requested, and have been granted, a spot on the German side, but listwise we are a bit in the dark to what we can and can't use. Personally I'm hoping to build me a few of the PSC Panzer IV's this time, and if I can make them H's even the better as those will be useful for Normandy as well. Having said that I have a small stash of Wills beauties so G's or even F's are not a problem either.

Russian wise, well I'm not on their side, but I will be handing over a full T-34 company to the gamesmaster. They might use it, they may not, who knows. And that is what I have started off with.

4 boxes of PSC T-34's (The 5th is in backorder, should be here next week-ish) gives me a starter of 12 T-34/76 1943. Of this lot 2 are for the Germans, the other 10 are Russian. Of these, 3, including the CO, are with the command cuppola which I made from surplus hatches left over from the Pegasus T-34/85 Fast build, with some modification. 1 of these will be a OT-34.

As soon as the last box arrives 1 will complete the 10 tank Company and 2 will be turned into wrecks.

Everyone will get banged up fenders front to back,  replace the cast one wire with brass, make either a Notek or a normal headlight plus pots for the removable antenna to go in just using left over sprue that I will carve up. None of this lot will get the round fueltanks, a few will get square fueltanks, most will be without.

Looking forward to getting these finished and ready for paint tbh.