Something different - £2 Abrams from the Works!

Whilst looking around our local branch of The Works, I spotted a kit of the M1 Abrams reduced to just £1.99. In fact they had loads of them, so I thought I'd buy one just to find out what they were like.

On opening I found two cleanly moulded sprues, a hill and turret, some paints, brush and stickers and some incomprehensible assembly instructions!

Before assembly I decided to prime it white and brush paint the main parts Iraqui Sand.

Assembly wasn't rocket science and resulted in a roughly 28mm scale model!

Whilst the detail is rather basic to say the least and the turret (which is fixed) lacks the panels under the mantelet, it could still play a part in a skirmish game.

Grab yourselves a bargain.

Special treat - mdf Paint Rack

I showed Colette a link to an mdf paint rack I'd seen on the web (http://www.wargame-model-mods.co.uk/ourshop/prod_2859234-paint-stand-50-bottles.html) that looked to be just what I wanted. Until now I'd a cheap spice jar rack as a substitute. I measured the gap, but sadly I hadn't room to fit one of these new ones in :-(

Unbeknown to me, she'd been in touch with the proprieter, Tom, and he'd designed and built a "landscape" version that was perfect for what I wanted. Once he was happy with the design, Colette purchased one as a surprise pressie!!

I dry assembled it first to get the idea of how it went together (it comes with instructions) and once happy, PVA'd it all together in no more than 10 mins. Left it to set overnight before I fix it to the wall. I glued a strip of mdf to the back (some of the packing material) and then drilled this to allow a couple of screws to support the rack against the wall.

There we are, finished. All my Vallejo paints and washes in the rack, some GW washes on the top. Very pleased.

Final two buildings from the Troll Trader

Finally assembled and painted the two last buildings from my bargain set.

The bank and the saloon. Once again these are simple mdf boxes, but once painted up they really look the part.

The bank has a slightly different design to the signage which is attached to the flat roof. This takes the form of a shelf over the top edge. Once again I used my printed planking paper to form the floor and sprayed all the parts white to start off with.

This was the only building that presented a slight issue. This was due to the building having an inner wall forming a strong room with the bank teller windows. As the wall had two tabs that must locate in the roof , it is important to glue the wall in place and then dry fit the roof until the glue I'd dry. This will ensure the tabs always line up. To populate the strong room the kit includes a large safe that can be assembled with the door open or closed.

Finally I came to the saloon. This was simply a box to assemble, so posed no issues at all. I opted to leave the saloon doors fixed shut as this is so characteristic of the Wild West I know and love from cowboy movies.

This kit came with a few bits and bobs to bring it to life. These included the bar, a rather curious "square" beer barrel (that looks better than it sounds!) a single round table a six "bottles" to scatter around the place.

These five models are quite simply excellent. They cannot be beaten for price at £30 delivered for five items. I've enjoyed building and customising them through decorating each individually.

I love my 4Ground buildings very much - they are in a different league - but to get you started or to boost your Wild West town (as I did) these are just the ticket.

Next mission, to paint up the cactii and chickens I bought from Great Escape Games at Crusade, in Penarth. And the three packs of Frontline furniture sets to populate those 4Ground buildings.

More 28mm mdf Wild West Buildings completed

The next kits I have had a go at are the gallows and the sheriff's office.

The gallows are a simple, quick to build kit. Ok the hatch doesn't work for real like some kits, but you've got the choice to leave it open or closed.

The noose was made from some fine string, soaked in PVA. Once dry, it was painted and highlighted and glued to the cross beam. To finish the gallows I just washed any "Virgin" areas of mdf with sepia wash. The surface areas singed by the laser look fine as they are.

The sheriff's office differs from the rest of the group as it has a small lean-to cell added to the rear. This has a lift-off roof with detail of shingled engraved.

The cell is separated from the main building by a finely laser-cut set of iron bar doors. A bit small for a lengthy stay (I don't think a 28mm villain could actually lie down!) but ok to leave a drunk to sober up!

The interior comes with a gun cabinet and a (somewhat random!) large crate! These provide some interest and potential cover, so I'm not moaning.

I glued the front doors open and finished the interior off with some "wanted" posters printed off the web (from the Foundry Rules with no name). Once again, I'm seriously please with these.

Only two left to do, the bank and the saloon.

Bargain 28mm Wild West Buildings

Last week looking on eBay I found a set of five mdf buildings for just £29.95 delivered from a trader in Newquay Cornwall, called "the Troll Trader"!

The set comprised five items;

1. Bank

2. Saloon

3. General Store

4. Sheriff's Office

5. Gallows

All are simple models made in a similar style to those supplied by Battle Flag and Arcane Scenery. They come  un assembled and un painted but are quick and easy to put together and decorate.

A nice touch are the fixtures and fittings that come with every building! For example, the General store comes with a counter, three sets of shelves and some packing bases to stack on the shelves.

To finish the general store I firstly sprayed the walls (both sides) with white primer and the roof in black primer. The floor was finished by gluing "planked flooring" that I'd found the internet and printed out.

Then after assembling the building, I painted the walls, door and window frames, and sign with acrylics.

All in all I think these models present really excellent value for money with each item costing just £6 each! Give them a go!

Dead Man's Hand - more buildings

My daughter bought me one of the excellent 4Ground DMH buildings for Xmas.

Finished assembling this in 2 hours this morning and it's ready to go on the tabletop straight away.

I think I've enough buildings to be getting on with now.

Three in total. Two side street buildings and a Sheriffs office.

Only seven figures left to paint up........

28mm Rorke's Drift

Well I've finally got there. After 12 months to the day I have finished my Warlord Games Rorke's Drift!

It's been a thoroughly enjoyable exercise. But took me rather longer than I hoped.

My time for modelling, gaming and blogging are rather limited these days as I've become a part-time student. Well that's my excuse anyway.

Initially I started by trying to paint the walls white after I'd finished building the hospital. This proved difficult as I tried to paint around the exposed brick work and window frames. 

I was just going to paint the brick work with wash to bring out the texture. But it was taking for ever to complete. Time for plan B.

I approached the storehouse differently. Two coats of white primer were sprayed on the parts whilst still on the sprues.

Then the brick work was painted brick red and the window & door frames brown. Once dry I washed these areas in sepia before giving all areas a dry brush of white.

Once dry I assembled as per instructions using PVA glue. All that was required then was to touch up the edges that were hidden when on the sprue.

Much quicker and a good finish.

The models go together flawlessly and are a pleasure to build. Each has internal walls creating individual rooms with open doorways. The doors are not included, which I felt was a shame but are available seperate lay from 4Ground at £4.50 for both buildings. The detail on the resin walls, barricades and wagon is superb and they were a pleasure to paint. I simply sprayed a dark brown undercoat and then dry brushed the various top colours.

Game play will be endless with this set. I just need to get on and paint the figures now......

Square Bashing terrain pieces - Fab Foam

Following one of our frequent visits to the Hereford Hobbycraft Store, my wife introduced Me to Fab Foam. This comes in A4 & A3 sheets (50 or 80p respectively) about 1-2mm thick and in an endless variety of colours. Some (not many) can also be had as self-adhesive sheets. It's very light and flexible, and easy to cut with either knife or scissors.

I've been thinking ever since that this material offered an alternative to the old felt shapes to designate woods etc. and finally I got my chance to try it out by knocking together some basic terrain bits for my SB II game board.

The wooded area bases were cut from brown sheets, dry-brushed green and burnt umber and with clump foliage attached.

The roads were 30mm wide base from brown with 20mm wide metalled area from self-adhesive sheet. Dry brushed grey with some left over Jarvis N Gauge hedging added.

The built up area base is grey sheet with self-adhesive metalled area running through the middle.

The canal was from A3 blue sheet with grey tow paths added from grey A3 sheet - glued with Bostick multi-purpose glue.

Next, I'm going to make some modest hills from foam board and some trench lines with no mans land using mdf boards as a base.

Square Bashing Playing Surface

As part of my 10mm SB II plans I needed a playing surface.

The rules state an area of  48 (8 x 6) 150x150mm squares - 1200x900mm for the 15mm game.

I've decided (rightly or wrongly) to reduce the square size to 100x100mm as my figures are on much smaller bases (25x20mm rather than 30x30mm).

This would mean I need an area 800x600mm. I found the answer in Hobbycraft - an 800x600mm ready prepared canvas. 

I started by giving the canvas a coat of cheap acrylic green paint.

Next I gave it an all over wash of diluted antique oak coloured satin varnish.

To take the sheen off I gave it a coat of Army Painter matt coat spray.

 

Then finally I marked out the grid with a Sharpie permanent pen.

Now all I need are some terrain pieces mounted on 2 square big mdf sheets as described in the rule book, hills, shelled areas, woods, built up areas etc...

Make your own bocage hedges - part three

So here's a few pictures of the finished hedges in action so to speak.....

Whilst they are tall enough to provide ample cover for these Crusader Miniatures they would also work fine with my 15mm armour infantry.

Hope this proved useful....I'd better get on with the other 20.