A little Panzer

 Life is still very busy, so there has been very little painting for me in the last few weeks.

My brother and the family came to visit recently and he brought me a 1/72 tank he got second hand (built and painted) for the equivalent of about 1.5 Euros.

It is decently built and painted, I just added a drybrush and a base to make it sturdy for the gaming table. 

I guess it doesn't really count as something I painted, but it is in the collection now and since I have little else to post, it will have to do.

German Panzer 38(t). 1/72, Fujimi, refurbished by Ginzio

Terrain pieces and recycling

This will be a slightly odd post, all I'll be posting has been seen on the blog before, but very long ago and in different shape. 

This is a collection of terrain pieces or tabletop accessories that I put together with previously discarded items or broken models. As some might remember, I moved back to Italy last summer and, although the move was fairly smooth, there were some casualties.

Whatever could be salvaged in some way was repurposed and turned into terrain pieces. I also have more old banners from our very early days as hobbyists that became baggage train decors and a few very very old fences that my brother built in the early 90s that after laying around and broken for over thirty years, were finally restored and painted, the principle being that anything that involved some work should not be wasted and turned into tabletop usable items.

Following you can see the eclectic mix of pieces that I repaired and painted for a whole different set of settings and games.

One of the casualties of the move, one of my beloved three winter Panzer IVs. The turret was caved in, it lost a few roadwheels and the tracks were broken in a couple spots, it was definitely not fixable, so I decided to put a ton of snow on it and use it as a piece of terrain in a winter setting of WWII.

 

These are the fences that IlVJ built circa 1993, there were actually more, but after traveling through different boxes, shelves and cabinets, this is what I could salvage. I based them and gave them a quick paintjob and they are ready for the table.

These are the banners from the first incarnation of my dwarf army, built between 1989 and the end of the 90s. Around 2000 I decided to strip them all down and repaint them (I still have 2 units and a catapult to complete). These were the banners that proudly flew over some of the units, now they will serve as a reminder of the old glories of Warhammer third edition on the background of future battles.

This was a 3D printed Daedalus industrial mech that someone from my Canadian gaming group printed for me for a campaign, its loading arm and a leg snapped during the shipping, it now sits as a wreck on the field of battle.

All these were completed on the side, while painting other stuff, so just came along as I was doing something else.

I enjoy giving a second life to little bits and stuff that would otherwise end up in the garbage, with a bit of work anything can be reused and serve a new purpose.

Esci British infantry Indian war "Kiber pass"

 This is another 80s Esci set that I was given by my friend Felè that I finally got around to paint and base for use with One hour Wargames rules.

I had previously painted the Muslim warriors set from Esci and now I can finally play games using these figures.

They will be small affairs, but it is all about the nostalgia and having a game that we could only dream of when we were kids in the 80s.

Box art

A unit of explorers. 1/72, Esci, painted by Ginzio

Infantry fighting in close quarters.  1/72, Esci, painted by Ginzio

Infantry shooting.  1/72, Esci, painted by Ginzio

Indian infantry shooting.  1/72, Esci, painted by Ginzio

The contingent deployed

WWII British anti aircraft battery

 These are the last two 1/72 WWII kits I had built and ready to paint, there are not going to be more before I move back to Italy.

It has been quite a while since I did anything for my European theater British, I have some infantry (para) in the works, but it will be a while before they are ready.

Bofors 40mm Anti aircraft guns with tractors. 1/76, Airfix, painted by Ginzio

First step in a new project

 In the 2023 final post I had anticipated my intention to start working on the pile of 1/72 Napoleonic troops I have had sitting for ages.

Most if it comes from the generosity of our friend Fele', who gave us all his old Esci 1/72 soldiers, WWII, Napoleonics, etc

Last year I worked to finish my Ancient 1/72 stuff and did a bit of colonial, this year I focused on Napoleonics, I had a big bunch of French line infantry, so I decided to start with that to have a strong starting base for the project.

The plan is to use these models for One hour wargames, a cool system that, albeit simple, is very satisfactory to play.

With the first lot of guys I got 4 regiments of French line infantry and 2 of Italian allied troops, just not to have to paint over 100 models in the same colour scheme.

As usual I used the Army Painter Quick Shade, to have the models finished quickly and very well protected from the wear of the battlefield.

Here is the result:

French line infantry regiment. 1/72, Esci, painted by Ginzio

French line infantry regiment. 1/72, Esci, painted by Ginzio

French line infantry regiment. 1/72, Esci, painted by Ginzio

French line infantry regiment. 1/72, Esci, painted by Ginzio

French line infantry brigade. 1/72, Esci, painted by Ginzio

Italian line infantry regiment. 1/72, Esci, painted by Ginzio

Italian line infantry regiment. 1/72, Esci, painted by Ginzio

Italian line infantry regiment. 1/72, Esci, painted by Ginzio

The two brigades lined up for battle

WWI British Mk I tank

 This is a model I bought some thirteen years ago and just sat there waiting to finally be completed.

the Mk I tank is a classic model and it represent the first step in tank development, on top of that, it was a lot of fun to paint.

British Male Mk I tank. 1/76, Airfix, painted by Ginzio

Cold War tanks

 These are a few old Esci kits that IlVJ bought in Japan and put together during covid.

During my last visit he gave them to me, so I decided to paint them.

As with all other Esci stuff, they have a very high nostalgic vibe for us, so I could not let them sit unpainted for long.

German Leopard 1A1-A1 and Canadian Leopard 1A3-A4. Esci, 1/72, painted by Ginzio

US M8 A5 Patton tank. Esci, 1/72, painted by Ginzio

WWII allied troops

 A semi random bunch of WWII allied troops.

This is all I had to paint in term of WWII allied troops in 1/72 scale.

I am slowly going through my WWII stock, so I'm not really working on any specific project, just adding to my various armies.

British Churchill bridge layer. 1/76, Airfix, painted by Ginzio

French FT17 with machine guns, WWI light tanks still used by the French army during WWII. 1/72, Hat industries, painted by Ginzio

US infantry. 1/76, Fujimi, painted by Ginzio