Sarissa Precision N610 - Destroyed Small House - 15mm

 I picked this up in last years Black Friday Sale (I think....could have been the year before?).

Comes with a 1x MDF sheet and 1x card sheet with parts. Cleanup is quick as always, minimal nubs. Assembly is quick, you can't really go wrong here tbh. I left off the ruined 1st/2nd story roof rathers/floor/whatever it is (I really don't know) that you can assemble hanging down into the open floorspace. I just put that into the spares box for a future project and snipped down a few of the planks that extended a bit too much for my liking. 

Currently retails for 9,99 Euros. Destroyed Small House - 15mm

White primercoat, sponged another wite coat, grey coat and dark washes, details in red, last ashy highlight and she is done for my 15mm AK-47 and Vietnam collection. Went for the "This just burned down"-look. Might make another in a "We don't go there anymore...." look, not sure if I have more of these.

 

 

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. 

Warbases.co.uk 15mm Landing Pad and Ramp - Built, painted and reviewed.

 The Warbases 15mm Starbase 962 range has some nice bits of kit, including the very versatile Landing Pad and Ramp. I picked up 2 of these in my pre Xmas spend of 2024 and built one pretty quickly after that to see if it would work for 28mm as well. And it does, quite well actually. 

Landing Pad and Ramp

Quite affordable, it sets you back 6.67 GBP and for that you get a platform, 4 legs and a ramp. This also means build time is quick, with most spent on the 4 legs...stilts...supports....you know what I mean. It comes with no pre lasered numbers or markings so anything goes and you can easily paint it up to match your table, scenery collection or even force. I went for a basic weathered grey, yellow trim, a simple code and some wear and tear...negating the rust for a change. KISS was the motto this time so weathering was minimal (for me).

I left the ramp seperate as that helps with storage and I think it is meant that way, but don't quote me on that. If the pictures make you feel it isn't completely straight, trust me, it is. While assembling it I put it all on a glass plate and a bit of weight on top to make sure it set as flat as possible. But my large cutting mat will never ever lay flat, no matter what I do.

Using some 28mm scenic items to show it works fine for 28mm as well. The Buzz Lightyear Fighter makes for a great Point Defence Fighter in 28mm, the weathered blue green scenery in the back of the shot is from Games Workshop, the orange and green canister are Ainsty's 28m  Upright Octagonal Containers and the blocks in front are from a Jenga set with a coating of wall filler and 2 paperclips to turn into cheap barriers. The 28mm drone and the 2 metal barrels on the platform are scratchbuilt.

Using some 15mm scenic items to show it works for the itended sale of 15mm. The Buzz Lightyear Fighter makes for a great (Heavy) Fighter in 15mm. The orange and green canister are Ainsty's 28mm  Upright Octagonal Containers that work great as heavy cargo for 15mm, and the block in front is from a Jenga set with a coating of wall filler and 2 paperclips to turn into a cheap barrier. The 2 metal barrels on the platform are scratchbuilt. The yellow robot is a not AT-AT walker from Germy's 3mm range, sold through Brigademodels.co.uk these days as the Mercenary Heavy Mech GMM-334 with some minor modifications,  the 2 robots on the platform are from Groundzerogames.co.uk, the small one from the SG15-V13 pack with a scratchbuilt cooler added to have my own 15mm Wall-E, and the bigger one is the big humanoid droid from the SG15-V16 pack.

Everything was paid for with my own money, no freebies here. I can really reccomend this, affordable, easy and quick to build and paint and should fit fine into your 15, 20 or 28mm collection.

Oh, and for that one person wondering where I got the ramp code from.....

...the license plate of the car that was parked next to mine on my lastest Hospital visit. Inspiration can be so simple :)

Review: Warbases Small Concrete Hut WW2-SCH Tthe Little Shed that could)

 Same spiel as the other one, paid for with my own money and I do this for fun. Yada.

Nice solid little kit. 4 walls, section with a door, section with the window, and roof and floor. Build time was a good 20 minutes, I left out the door and the window and replaced it with a card door. No windowframe as I wanted something different and put in a section of cut off MDF sprue. Added windowsills as usual. Paintwork was about 2-3 hours, most of that on the weathering and the leaves and drying time. Went for the abandonded look with lots of muck and moss. Shoudl fit in any of my gaming interests.

Cracking little thing, works for any table, everyone needs at least one shed. 8/10

Review: Warbases Large Concrete Hut WW2-LCH (aka The Shed)

 I've picked up a number of Warbases items this week and I might as well make a review of some of them. or maybe all, eventually. I paid for all of these with my own money, no donations and I'm most certainly not getting paid for this review.

This is 28mm Large Concrete Hut WW2-LCH and cost me 5.83 GBP excluding tax.
Well lasered, very small connecting points so easy to push out and clean up. I noticed Warbases uses the edge of the bases to cut out round bases of various dimensions to make better use of the empty space. I think that is a smart and economical thing, although I like having those leftovers to scratchbuild and fix things with. 

I did notice the MDF does not have the same coating as Sarissa Precision does and in places it's a bit rough and fibrous, even more so after my method of painting (Agressive sponging).... but only really noticable close up. Cleans up as normal, takes glue and paint as normal. The doors do feel smaller than I'm used to and it doesn't feel as tall. Once I have more stuff finished I'll set it next o ther kits I have.

(And then I went and deleted the pics of the MDF layout cause of course I did....<sigh>)

Building was quick, I did miss not having nubs on the base to align with the holes, but this gives you the option not to use a floor at all (or glue it top the top and the roof on top of that so you have a box with an open underside as I know some people like that. I'm not one of those people). But with the floor down and the walls glued to the side you only need to slot 2 inserts, a door and the windowframes. They both come as a full sheet of the same thickness MDF that you can glue behind the opening. My preference would be card but thats more of a habit thing. The MDF parts for the window don't line up with the walls so you need to shuffle it a bit after adding glue. Easy and again no issue. It does leave a gap at the end but I sawed off an offcut of MDF and glued that in place. The door fits nicely, but the detail is only engraved on the front. It is not lasered through so you can't remove the door to leave it off or keep it slightly ajar like I like to do. Well, not easily anyway. It's nothing a proper modellers saw can't handle :) The result is though the inside lacks a door, but adding a rectangle of card would give a nice impression of one. I just did not bother this time.

With cleaning it took me maybe 15 minutes to build. I feel no battlefield should be without at least one shed. Like water and food they are a essential part of life. 

I added windowsills out of scrap MDF and used thin cardboard to enhance all of the vertical columns. I added scrap MDF strips underneath the roof so it lays in the same position. After painting I added overhead transparancies for glazing.

This meant for my Stalker build but is generic enough to fit everywhere (in a semi modern setting).

I'll give it a 7 out of 10.

And now the result.

Sarissa Precision Airstream trailers, also a mini-review

My Sarissa Precision Crisis purchases arrived today (together with my Zinge order, which was nice)

I picked up 2x Airstream Trailer (28mm) for my TNT Trailer park, 1x Russian Dacha (20mm) and Russian Timber townhouse (20mm) to go with my Russian collection for WW2/Modern (of which, to date.....nothing is built?)

I had planned to take a rest with my hands as ye olde hands are giving me all sorts of trouble, but when this lot arrived today I really want to stick to my guns......MDF gets built, Resin gets washed and based (and nothing for plastic as I've been selling a ton of that, not buying any new).

 It's a kit with 1 sheet of MDF and 1 sheet of greyboard/cardboard, and 2 pages of instructions, which are pretty clear, even if the cut card  at the ends of the trailer is different than what is shown on the instructions....but the end result is the same :)

Building an MDF kit isn't hard, take your time and dryfit after cleaning the parts, then glue and do it 1 step at a time. I'm using my knock off Mod Podge for it, for the drying time mostly and ease of use.

Rubber bands are your friend in this case, it makes sure you get a nice bond on all the curves. And this has a lot of curves.

 Even with my hands as they are, I made this in a bout 3 hours (so you people with functioning hands shoudl have it done in 60 minutes or so) as it's not a ton of parts you have to put together.

I did make 2 changes, the gastanks as supplied are a bit too basic for me, but that is why I picked up the Zinge small gastanks as it just looks better. And a Zinge breezeblock to support it as the cruciform stick that comes with it is a bit bare. I'm also looking at replacing the ventilation thingamajig on top with something else. Oh, the door doesn't come with a doorknob, but from the picture on the website I can guess they used the round punch outs from the trailer frame as a knob. Works fine, so I will do that too.

To ensure a long life, both of these will be based, and put in my Post Apoc collection. Not sure when I have these finished.  

All in all, a nice little kit for the 9 Euros it costs (when writing this), and for that, you get a nice caravan you can use as is, with other caravans, as an objective or as a LOS blocker, and equally at home on a Cold War, Zombie War or Post Apoc table.

Reccomened!

30 day kit challenge! With a bit of a review too!

Took a day off to get over the stress of my Bussiness Math and (English) Language exam on tuesday (which I passed with an 8.25/10) and that started digging into my cabinets to go over my endless suplly of metal and resin kits. Well, not endless, but there is a lot. Some of it was bought when I just started out in the hobby, as well as much newer stuff.

Anyway, I've got a large box of resins and metals set aside, together with some painted stuff, that can be sold in the near future to fund future (and past) purchases.

Yes, past purchases.....

Last week, I actually bought some stuff again for a combined value of 150 euros (which I really should not be spending!)

• A once used 6x4 Quarantine Zone mousepad gaming mat from GameMat.EU. Seller agreed to 50 including shipping for a 70 euro excl shipping mat new in the shop. I have been looking for a nice Necromunda suitable one so I didn't want to pass this one up. A bit of long term planning as I don't really have much suitable scenery yet, but that can be remidied in time.

 

• A fellow gamer buddy of mine (one that actually is a teacher like me but still works as one) put up a lot of Americans and Afghans up for sale last week. I managed to talk him down to 100 euros for the lot, and as you can see from the photo's, they are more then worth it as the paintjobs are very, very good indeed. Beter then mine even, dare I say it. 56 figs painted to this level for this price is a steal, and I will cherish these. Yes, they are on 2 cents bases but that is not the end of the world, I'm the odd one out for using 1 cent bases anyway.

 Yeah, more goats. I haven't got a vlue where my painted goats are tbh, they are "somewhere" in the attic. They will turn up someday.

Civllians, lots and lot's of civillians, Great paintjobs, very colourful.

I'm not in need of US troops perse, but decided not to pass up on these as they will come in handy when I want to play with friends who don't have miniatures of their own. I like these Elhiems.

I can never pass up on contractors, especially well painted contractors/ "undercover" SF

Right, back to the 30 day challenge. It is currently the 20th day of the challenge (if my math is still correct) and I have added the following:

I got a free partially built and sprayed Airfix Spitfire Mk 1 with a kit lot a while back, so I took that from the box, removed the spinner, the prop and the canopy. I magnetised the nose and the prop, removed the blades, drilled a hole, inserted a flight plug, epoxied that plus 2 magnets into place, and replaced the canopy. Perfect for the BEF list. Which, if I had checked it earlier, would have told me that it wasn't in the list.....feg. Well, counts-as-Hurricane then it is!

SandS models French AHN truck - ordered when they were released, now finally built. Did notice mine are considerably less straight then the painted model on the shop listing, both my fueltanks are angled down at the front. One for Early War, the other for Late War. Currently10 Pounds eac . LINK

SandS models Toyota Hi Ace van - ordered when they were released, now finally built. One will be an Middle East ambulance, the other 2 generic civillian suitable for world wide usage. Currently 7,50 Pounds each. LINK

 Sgts Mess greenhouses and outhouses. I picked these up 2 years ago at Crisis I think, now finally cleaned them (not that there was any flash on the outside, these are superb castings!) and washed them with plenty of soap to get the release agent off. I've decided not to base these as to increase their usefulness on the table. The Greenhouse currently retails at 5.50 Pounds LINK and the Outhouse at 3.00 Pounds LINK and I can reccomend these highly. Superb castings for a very nice price.

Sgts Mess French WW1 Memorial. Completely different resin from the previous items,with a white metal figure, none the less a nice addition to any French town when built. I think I have some white metal wreaths in my bits box "somewhere" that would look nice, else I will use flower tufts to enhance this a bit. Currently retails for 4.50 Pounds. LINK Seeing that they do a British WW1 memorial as well, I will put one on the list for the next Crisis show to enhance a Britsh village for Sea Lion.

Sgts Mess Generic 1939 single decker bus of a typically British design. Superb casting, again, very few faults for a rather affordable vehicle. Will make a great troopcarrier for the BEF, Home Guard or even VBCW games. No idea what I will paint this one. Currently retails for 7.50 Pounds LINK

 Frontline Wargaming makes affordable vehicles, even if they take a bit of work to get up to specs due to the amount of resin bubbles and holes, and they can be a bit rough but once cleaned and painted they are very nice indeed. I can only give you the Frontline link LINK as the webpage does not have a direct link to the vehicle, and it is listed as C4 Dlivery Van at a cost of 4.20 Pounds. It must be severely overloaded though as it sits very low on the rear axle. Must be carrying explovives for the 5th Column or something.

I'm not quite sure who made this, I think Red Star? Long OOP, this is a M47 tank with questionale trackwork, and I drilled holes in the barrel to make it look like the real thing. It's going straight into my Yugoslavia box as I have seen some used by the Bosnians, but I will most likely make it as generic as possible. No idea what it cost, I know I picked this up years ago. Now finally built and based.

ICM Zil-157 with shelter. Half built and based, it had rested on top of a old resin kit that had partially melted and melted the plastic base of this truck as well. Rebased it and I am looking for spare parts  for it as it is a bit incomplete. Not sure if this will be green or sand, could go either way atm

Progress on the T-55 turret. It is magnetised and finished, I will fill the few holes when I need to paint this and all external fitting have been removed as this one is meant for a dug in or bunker mod. The wreck has been fitted with the T-54 turret, I just need to make a Oyumaru mould of the correct hatch and then I can start banging up the fenders etc.

I also based a metric shit ton of figures.

 Frostgrave Ice Gorrilla that when painted will work as a albino for the current rostgrave setting and the new one. Not sure if the base is too large though. The other large base is some kind of steroid mutant that I will put into my Big Trouble in Little China box. In the back are Copplestone Neo Soviets, a few will need helmets instead of fur hatsand will be painted up as Chinese remnants for Fallout/TNT games. The 20mm Police box is from Sgts Mess as well as the Cold Frame, both will make lovely add ons for a British table.

 I was gifted these African milita troops and based them asap. They will go into my Mogadishu box. All RH Models.

 Foundry (French) Partisans. Rather expensive for the amount of figures that you get, they are rather lovely, I would love some more of their MG teams to convert to other weapons like a Bren etc. LINK
9 Pounds for a pack of 10 figures. I might pick up another pack or 2 next Crisis and do head and weapon swaps with them.

A lot of Britannia MIniatures Taliban I bought off a friend. I know have plenty to a orther Alliance vs Taliban game. Also 2 Lancer figures, a fez weraing commander with a sowrd that will be my Partisan leader, and a WW1 British trooper with a pigeon that will be converted in a partisan for a Comms Team, he just needs a second person and I need a Oyumare cast of that pigeon to use as a base to make my own flying version to base up.

And that's it for now. Started a ton of things, but untill all the holes have been filled in the resin vehicles, they don't count for the challenge. So that is my job for tomorrow evening. Same goes for the figures, no spackle and no sand means they are not finished. So for now only the Spitfire counts!

I finally played another game btw, a solid game of Gaslands in the Memorial Zen Garden and Racetrack at Modhails place. Safe to say, I didn't make the finish line as Modhails mini gun ripped into my after I had spun out of control 3/4 along the track. I had the last laugh though as my rocket ammo ( I had not fired a single rocket) and my remaining molotovs detonated in a large fireball, destroying his car and burning off the remaining paintjob on Ozymandas his car (that I had put on fire twice before with molotovs). I really should have not given him a car with a HMG turret though, that is nasty.... Next game in a few weeks :)