Micro Arts Studio H00160 WW2 Normandy Stable with Dovecote (Pre-painted)

 

 

I picked this up just before the summer holiday in a sale with other items from the same shop. It's not something I would usually buy, I prefer to paint my own stuff.....but it does have a appeal to just build and be done. It's a nice kit, lift off base so you have, if you want it, 2 piece of scenery for the price of one. or in this case 3 as it comes with a dovecote.  Size is nice, a bit bright for my liking, but not everything in my collection needs to look like it has been in Eastern Europe for 50 years.  :) Will work fine with other items they have created.

Bought this with my own money and this is a average quality review. New currently 34,95 euros at the shop I got it from but can be had cheaper elsewhere, bought in sale for 26,24 euros excl shipping (and in hindsight not that much of a bargain if I'm honest). Compared to the previous kit this had a bit more damage getting out of the sprues, but we will see if we can fix that with a bit of paint. Eventually. 

 

My eternally unfinished Stargrave Pirate for reference. Poor sod....maybe one day....

 These will fit fine in my collection for Silver Bayonet, or for Pulp. or 02 Hundred Hours. 

Review of H00130 WW2 Normandy Large Tin Shed by Micro Arts Studio

 Purchased with my own money, no freebies here, in a sale at 40% off for 13,19 euros (original price in this particular shop was 21,99 euros)

 

 Nicely packed in shrink, you get 3 sheets of pre printed HDF, with a cover on the front with codes and a photo, and on the back an instruction sheet. Very retail friendly packaging.  

The sheets are labelled as 1/3, 2/3 and 3/4 respectively so you really can't mix them up. I got a bit confused though as the instructions tell you to remove the protective paper covering them. As I could see none I pulled a bit on the edge of the the sheets but that purely removed everything. After watching a few other reviews these showed a white semi transparant paper, so I guess they stopped doing that and I ignored it. Removing the parts from the sheets was easy as with most MDF/HDF items and with a quick sand it was ready to dryfit.

 As everything is printed on one side you put the pieces back to back and glue them into place, easy enough and it gives you the look of a fully finished build in record time.

 

Unfinished Stalker on a GW 25mm base posing for dimensional reference.

Seeing it again now it feels like glued the side door in upside down, but I'm used to seeing those open towards the closest , so meh, no harm. 

Lift off roof when possible is always appreciated!

The door can open thx to the tabs provided, but the fit is a bit loose so they can easily fall off when picked up. Remember that and just store them inside when you are not using the building. 

So far so good, nice little building ey.

Now...

 Something nicely hidden in every promo picture of this item is that the back of the doors has no detail. If you see how it is made it makes perfect sense tbh..... but it feels, how do you say, a bit untruthful. (Edit: after going over pictures of other items they make you can see it, so who knows)

For gaming use, it is no big deal. Visually, no real problem either, though to me, I'm already looking for solutions. 

Fit was great, 0 issues what so ever.

The left overs: 

I did not build the small storage so that is still in the sheet. It apparently comes with a extra set of doors, so you can change it up a bit. Only one set of hinges though, so choose wisely.   Well, that or make your own. The rest can be used for some scratchbuilding of barricades I think. 

 All in all, a great kit, a nice table filler for a wargame or RPG alike. I'll pick up some more from the current sale, the Normandy houses will come in handy for Silver Bajonet or some monster game. 

Special delivery! (the prelude)

Just got an email that my birthday present for this year is ready to be shipped to my location. If I would not be so tired I'd be over the moon AND crying at the same time.....but in light of what Royal Mail did to my previous Wikkywok parcel I'm holding my breath till it actually arrives.

But the pictures....oh my, they are so pretty....... It has cost me an arm and a leg but it is so worth it. 3 part Normandy church for 20mm, with extra seperate church tower top if I want the church to be in England, church can be split in half for use as a chapel or small church, and enough walls to cover quite a bit of area, plus a gate, damaged sections and a nice entry.

I'll add graves and trees etc myself at a later point. I've got quite the vilage now, time to get working on the little details.

Glorious German Panzer! (No, it's not)

Almost done with the L3/33 now. Still have not found the baggy with the buckets, but did find some AB figures in my stash and this assault gun commander was perfect for the tankette. So I cut him in half. I now have a figure that is worth more then the tank it is in. Go figure.

I just finished basing and sanding my entire Iraqi YW-531 collection in the back. As soon as I can trade or buy guns for them and filled the remaining holes, they can go into the painting drawer.

Also, adding more useless beutecrap to my collection, these have just arrived.

The creme de la creme, ready to harass US Paratroops in Normandy (and get shot to pieces in the process). I'm making 4 runners (2 grey, 2 yellow) and the 5th one will be a burnt wreck.

And then there are these guys, courtesy of cheap Chinese imports, Easter Island heads

These are a tough rubber/resin kind of product, They come 4 in a row, but I cut them all apart and rebased them. Some have mould lines, and I scraped a few off, but will most likely not bother with the rest. They are for Frostgrave:Ghost Archipellago or any other Pulp jungle setting I'd want to use. Ignore the Mistery Machine though, that's for Gaslands, needs new hubs, dirt, armour on the glass and some kind of weapon.... A few bigger heads (10cm plus tall) should arrive tomorrow.

It's wrecking time!

Decided to make good use of a underscale Daimler Dingo, in this case the one you get in the Monty's Caravan box.  As I prefer the S-Model version, this one will get a second lease of life as a completely burnt out model. Wheelnubs come from the 1/76 Matchbox LRDG set.

Waiting for everything to dry and set and then it is straight in line for the stuff I want to prime this week. I've left off anything that dates it too much, like fuelcans, so it can be used as a fully burnt wreck for the BEF, Afrika and Normandy etc as well. The green blob to the right of the vehicle is a officers hat btw, salvaged that off of the hard plastic officers inside the box.

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.

Started work on Refugees

In Fall of the Reich (FotR) there is an optional rule that lets the German player move a group of refugees across a road towards a tableedge. If the group succesfully moves off the table the German player can place a random chit back in the pot.

Optional, but just my cup of tea.

The guidelines is 2 stands with refugees, and I will make one with just walkers, and this one, with 2 horses, a cart and everything but the kitchen sink.

The cart is a WW1 German field cart from HaT, kindly donated to me by Sander. In the pic there are 2 cows in front of it, but when finished there will be 2 horses, the cows being livestock I'm painting for Normandy. I sculpted (damn. I'm rusty with that) a matress to lie in the back next to the bath tub. It will need a few more bits to fill it up properly,

I'll be doing loads of WW2 this year as I've joined the 2014 Build over at the Guild, picking the WW2 theme so I can be as diverse as possible, and maybe I'll do some 6mm next to my 20mm as well. A refugee column in 6mm shouldn't be too hard to do :)

Lot's more to come.

KGN Weekend - The First Town - Tilly-Sur-Seulles, June 1944 - AAR East Flank

After Action Report Feldwebel Brasche, Eastern flank

Taken over positions in St Pierre which endured a strong British attack 2 days ago. 75% of the village is in ruins. Our platoon was to hold and defend the village for as long as possible, and guard a possible crossing of the river. The bridge leading to Tilly-sur-Seulles was not our responsibility.

 I deployed my men in the ruins facing the river and the forest. I deployed the PaK covering a opening in the forest which could be used to send armour through. The Stugs were put on reserve on my Eastern flank, but we were limited in ammo for them. Our spotter joined the unit in the Eastern most house of St Pierre for a good field of view over the river and a clearing in the forest. High command sent us a armoured car and cleared us for the use of a 105mm battery. We managed to scrounge up a 2nd HMG and built a bunker for it guarding the bend in the river, this had a clear line of sight to the river.

 Listening in on the radio net we could hear the enemy making a move for the farm on the Kampfgruppes Western flank. My platoon then got hit by British artillery, targetting the last intact house on my Eastern flank. This destroyed the PaK and its crew plus the unit inside the house. Their MMG and the spotter survived unharmed, though their transport was riddled with shrapnel. (5.5 inch artillery hit the building, the PaK deployed next to it got the full brunt of it and was destroyed, I failed the save for the infanry unit but saved the MMG and the FAO. Their vehicle got supressed)

Recovering from shock, the spotter informed me the British were deploying a bridging unit towards us and he would ask for higher up artillery support. This was granted and a 210mm Nebelwerfer battery fired a barrage at the bridging tank. The barrage went wide and hit a position to the west of it, behind a wood. I spotted large secondary explosions and what appeared to be a Sherman turret flung high into the air. (High command used a messenger to get Corps level support, we targetted the bridge but the round scattered.... right on top of an British Infantry and tank unit. I rolled 4 direct hits and 3 supressions for this one and destroyed 1 Shermans and the entire British Infantry unit. Of course the Firefly made its save)

We assume shrapnel did hit the bridging unit as it caught fire, but this was quickly put out again (we pulled the Mechanical Breakdown chit, put it on the bridge and rolled a 6. The British ARV was parked right behind it and in their turn promptly rolled a 6 as well!)

 We could make out British units moving up through the forest so brought down several rounds of artillery, and also sent out Panzershreck team towards the forest gap (For a few turns I brought down 105 artillery on the forest, managing to nibble off 1 or 2 infantry men at a time but never supressing them)

The radio gaves us many updates about the strong attack on the central positions of our Kampfgruppe, and British units has already made it into town. I was about to send out more orders to my men when we got slammed into the wall of our hideout by a massive blastwave. Several of us passed out. (The British used their messenger to get Navy artillery support and put that straight onto the bridge. This cost my fellow commanders a Stug and most of the infantry around it. Gamewise, it propably should have ruined the bridge as well, but we decided to keep it up)

 Our Stugs, already low on ammo, were about to run out so I requested resupply. This made it as far as the bridge before being vaporised (My Eastern stug had a running gun duel with a Churchill and survived all it got thrown at it, it got supressed a few times and finished the game with 1 HE shell left. The 2 Western Stugs ended the game with 1 AP and 1 HE left. The enemy targetted the bridge again (it was their RTP) and wasted the supply truck)

 We spotted the British trying to bring up more infantry and this was engaged by the HMG bunker. When they brought up more infantry they shielded them with their tanks. (First try the HMG kills 2 british including their Bren. Second try they move up the Firefly and use it to cover the troops. The Firefly fails to destroy or supress the bunker)

I would like to commend our HMG team in the bunker as they stayed on their post and managed to supress a Firefly, that was then targetted by a Panzershreck and destroyed (Rolled to supress the Firefly, achieved this, then Warwick moved his Panzerschreck next to it and blew it to smithereens. The Firefly had been resupplied the turn before so it must have been quite the fireworks )




I would like to request a posthumous Iron Cross for my Panzerschreck team as they had enemy infantry on their right and front but still moved forward and targetted the bridging unit just as it was to deploy their bridge. They managed to destroy it, survive the attention all fire aimed at them but sadly never made it back to our positions. (I had been moving the Panzershreck team forward every turn after the destruction of my PaK and with the Churchill at almost max range spotted it, hit it and destroyed it (10+ needed, rolled 11). They then survived the fire of a full British unit before succumbing to the fire of another British unit. Definately the man of the match for my army)

We then received the call to withdraw and left our positions.

Total casualties for my platoon:
1 PaK with 3 crew
5 infantrymen
1 Panzershreck team
And the AOP Beetle has lost about a 50 kilos in weight due to all of the holes.

Commendations for the HMG Bunker crew and the Panzershreck crew.

KGN Weekend - The First Town - Tilly-Sur-Seulles, June 1944 - Army finished!

Last bits!

120mm mortar team 1

120mm mortar team 2

HMG team

MMG team 1

MMG team 2

MMG team 3 went awol from my painting table and I'm loaning one from the club for this one.

Infantry Gun plus crew (1 of them has artillery piping and will be removed once I paint more guns and crews for them)

And the total lot, minus 2 transport trucks and the FAO transport

Now to cut the last bits of foam packaging, then pack it snugly in my flightcase and off to Ireland tomorrow :)