Can you guess the next project?

Hi Chaps,

Well my dreams of 6MM glory have been put on hold for this month as my son was very underwhelmed at the thought of gaming with such miniature miniatures!

So instead its back to what any normal 12 year old would want to game...can you guess what it is before you see the third photo?

I am not a prepper but I love reading about the subject and I do acknowledge that it makes sense to at least have some information on the subject.

Well this photo should have given you a clue? I already have a large collection of military types for this game but this lot arrived today, happy times and something very different!

Plastic figures in 28MM have in my opinion revolutionised the war games hobby. Practically anything is possible and who knows what will be available in a few years time? After reading all the prepping books and watching the films I should be able to ride out the first six months of the Apocalypse in comfort and if I am the last man alive not much will change as I game solo!

Keep blogging !

Back of Beyond Vehicles Complete

Hi,

This is just an update to let you know how the toy cars turned out for my Back of Beyond army. The army itself is in the process of being brought together and comprises mostly of Copplestone figures but four Minifigs have made an appearance as well as a less than shy White Russian female. When I have gathered enough figures I will start basing and painting-the best bit!

These are basic models (on Warbases vehicle bases) and probably cost £3 in total....the budget survives!

Unfortunately my attempts to play a few games in 6mm have suffered a slight setback as a large pile (nay mountain) of plastic zombies will have to be tackled first. Not a problem as I like looking at the Baccus website.

Thanks for blogging Chaps, keep going because its great reading and I use your ideas!

Back of beyond Vehicles Update 1

Well this has not happened for years...two posts on the same day. The urge to tear down the little toy cars was just too big and despite having done this before it was still exciting and as usual threw up some problems that I did not expect.

First I used a Dremmel with a 5mm drill bit to drill out all the rivets holding the model together. As you can see there are bits of mazak (also known as pot metal) everywhere. This is really nasty cheap metal and always seems to head straight for your eyes so eye protection is essential. I am not being boring or over protective about this as metal shards in your eyes can be a life changing event and as modelers and painters it will be a very negative one.

All die cast models are pretty much the same, the excellent older Lesney Yesteryear models are very well made so I have left that for another day...maybe I will source a sitting General and driver before I start that one!

This is what the toys look like after a bath in caustic soda. I put them in a plastic tub (a takeaway item!) and then poured boiling water over the height of the castings...next keep adding caustic soda slowly ...it will bubble and fizz and eventually with a gentle wire brushing the paint should come off. Do not put any plastic into the caustic, only the metal parts. I never strip the wheels as they can be painted or washed over.

I have refinished a few cars before but the paint on these models was the thickest that I have ever come across.I wont be replacing the plastic roof on the lorry so I have filled the holes with milliput...the van (soon to be an ambulance has had its roof clipped back on ready for a black undercoat. I will attack any remaining paint with very fine wet and dry.

Any suggestions for the colours for the wagon would be great...the wheel arches will remain black-should the body be grey? The ambulance is going green as it just seems right somehow...maybe a few years driving ambulances for HM makes me think that they cannot be any other colour?

Thanks for looking.

Back of Beyond Transport

Hi Chaps,

Today being a usual lazy and if I am honest mundane Sunday has taken an unexpected turn for the better. Walking around a damp field before 8am this morning I chanced upon a couple of vehicles which will later this week be repainted and based. My budget is intact as the van and lorry were 50p each...the old car has been in a drawer for years but will see a new life as a staff car.

My warlord Chinese army just got its first transports for less than a pound, exciting times...now to find the Dremmel and caustic....I will keep you posted.

Who Games in 6mm?

Hi Chaps,

I was wondering how many of you game in 6mm? One of the reasons that I have never really bothered with this scale is because not a lot of people seem to blog about it! Visually I am sure it looks effective en masse but is it any ones preferred scale?

The reason I ask is because I would like to war game with my son, maybe DBA (which version is it now...2.2 or 3.0...or 7.9?). Baccus seem affordable (I am on a budget as usual) and I thought that this may provide a welcome distraction from 28mm? How do you represent a character in this scale? Or do you not bother? Black Powder and Hail Caesar are also in my library so your advice would be most helpful.

My last question is does anyone scratch build their own terrain? Is it simply not worth bothering? Balsa houses in 6mm?

Thanks in advance, I really am looking forward to getting some actual games in  before I start my 28mm Back of Beyond armies in 28mm this summer.

War Hammer Empire Army

Hi Chaps,

Earlier this morning I began to clear my shelves in order to dust them (I live in a modern house but it gets dusty quickly) and  I realised that I have a lot of Empire figures so I thought that I would put some pics on here. These are mostly the older figures that I have bought from fleabay and at least one unit has been repainted but on the table they look OK.

First off are the artillery, the smaller piece is from an old boardgame? Anyway this will give you an indication of how long I have been collecting these figures!

The second picture is the artillery command stand, the chap holding the brass telescope was painted around a decade ago!

Third and fourth pics are a unit of fanatics...pretty much looks like kicking out time from one of the local pubs here in Preston!

This picture is of a magician and his helper...the figures are Reaper miniatures and are made from a wierd plastic but they hold the paint well enough.

An almost finished unit of err riflemen...the powder monkey was fun.

There are two units of shooting types again and one of Spear men, the molds are not accurate enough to paint the stripes correctly so you have to wing it!

Lastly a fun girl and an ogre...there are another 16 shooters based and primed but it may take a long time to get them completed as this has never been a project, it sort of happened on its own. I have come across my old copy of the rules which may even be playable but I think these guys will have to go to make room for my Copplestone figures which have been in a box for too long.

Thanks for looking Chaps! Keep blogging.