Friday, February 26, 2010

Pz IV E Platoon - Magnetizing Hull and Turrets

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This is the start of the Panzer IVE platoon for the Barbarossa 2012 project. It is also the first time I've done any extra modeling steps beyond super-gluing together FOW vehicles.

As for the drill bits, I used a 3/32nd bit and a hand drill. I circled, circled, circled the area (after clamping down hull or turret to a patio table), gradually making a depression round and deep enough to hold the magnet. I then used Green Stuff to lock the magnet in place. On the fist hull (far left in picture), I tried Super Glue to secure the magnet, but with the magnet being so small, Fumble Fingers (me) created a mess in the turret ring. Using Green Stuff, I can "smoosh" the magnet into the epoxy and let it dry/set with no mess. It's important to let Green Stuff set before testing the hull/turret combo, otherwise the hull magnet is "sucked up" and connects to the turret magnet. Oops!

I have to say there is a big sense of satisfaction after installing the magnets. It's a feeling of yeah, I did that.

Monday, February 15, 2010

ORCCON Tune Up

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On Wednesday, I was at The Realm in Brea, CA. ORCCON 2010 was going to start in a few days at the LAX Radisson Hotel. One of the main events is a 2-man team Mid War tournament. Each member of the team brings a force of 1,000 points to square off against other teams in 5 battles over President's Day Weekend.

Friday, February 12, 2010

She's better than a 20 Charisma wood-elf princess with a +5 mithril bow

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Most gamers have been involved in some type of gaming for many years. We all started somehow in this hobby of ours. It might have been the bookcase Avalon Hill board games – allow a moment of silence to remember a company that produced many classic board games. Maybe you got you got into miniature wargamming with the advent of the Chainmail rules. A great majority of us started with the D&D Blue Book or boxed set containing the funky, oddly shaped and entirely inaccurate dice. Or, you started with the first fledgling video games – Atari console, anyone?

In our youths, we spent hours upon hours with our friends playing these games. Our imaginations ran wild in the roleplaying genre, especially when hormones are involved.

For the roleplayers, how many of your characters ended up winning the hand of the fair princess in a tournament, or rescuing her from the claws of a fierce red dragon? So what if she’s a Halfling princess and your character is a half-orc. She’s rich!

How about the mighty Paladin defeating the Evil Baron with the help of his stunning daughter with the exotic eyes? Did I mention the Baroness is a 20th level mage and likes to wear tight-fitting robes when casting 10-dice fireballs down the hall? Oh yeah, she’s a keeper!

Let’s not forget your Ranger/Thief who just happens to catch the eye of the Sylvan Elf Princess. Who knew auburn hair, green eyes and fair skin could be such a devastating combination in the looks department. Yes, she can summon the creatures of the forest to do her bidding – usually to comb her hair, knit her dress and sing to her while she readies herself for a date.

Finally, did your Samurai really travel the land alone like a tragic Ronin? Or did he barge into the Shogun’s Castle, battle ninjas and eat Panda Express food with the Shogun’s daughter? You bet he did! Heck yes, she’s a Black Belt in every known martial art and then some! How can such small feet send a ninja hurtling over the castle walls and still look good in a silk kimono? Domo arigato, sweetheart!

We’re grown up now (hopefully). We’re also lucky in that we have found the woman of our dreams. No, they don’t fight ninjas (she does keep a wary eye on the kids), command the wildlife (except for the pets), cast fireballs (unless she’s not a very good cook), or filthy rich (well, there’s always the state lottery).

They are just there for us. They ask us how our day went, when they know by the look on our face it wasn’t a good one. They make sure we have a meal. They are our fashion consultants, which boils down to throwing away that convention T-shirt we've kept the last ten years. They laugh at our stupid jokes - or not. We can enter a room filled with guests with a 5-day beard, uncombed hair, bags under our eyes, stained sleeping shirt, unmatched pajama bottoms, and moth-eaten slippers and yet she’ll still point at us and proclaim to the crowd: “That’s my man!” (afterward she’ll kick our asses for embarrassing her in front of so many people. At least she has the sense to wait until the guests have departed).

They tolerate our hobby.

“How many more tanks do you need?” she asks.

“Um, well, uh. You see, honey, a new campaign book came out and there is this really neat Russian tank, and um, well, after I have the tank I won’t need anymore for awhile.”

“You said that last month.”

“Er…..”

You get the picture.

On Sunday, let’s not forget our significant others. Sunday is her day. Put the dice down. Put the tanks down. Put away the game controllers. Turn off the computer. Take her to dinner or cook up your special recipe. Go to a movie or rent one and snuggle up on the couch. Most importantly, say those three magic words.

She really is hotter than a 20 Charisma half-elf.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

3rd Guards Mech Corps - Family Photo

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Yesterday I completed the last batch of M4A2 Emchas. I'm not happy with the way they look. The Army Painter spray blotched and powdered, which doesn't give a good surface for decals to bind. I'll chalk it up to a "teaching moment" on what and what not to do in painting. The lessons I learned can only help me with future painting projects.

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On the other hand, I think the ISU-122's came out spiffy. They were primed with hardware store Krylon black and then the Russian Green was drybushed. I need to use Microsel and the techniques so the decals blend with the model and the outline disappears.

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Thank you to GeekEGuy for V I Nevky and the two platoon leaders! Here's the two platoon leaders and the volunteers to soak up 75mm and 88mm German shells.

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A blurry Nevsky (user error, not the 12MB panasonic camera) and in focus Emchas.

The only thing missing to complete the 1,750 force is Red Air Force IL-2 Sturmies and a squad of Spetsnaz.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Excel Army File - Mittlere Panzerkompanie

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Just a quick update.

I e-mailed my latest Excel army list creation - the Mittlere Panzerkompanie from the Eastern Front source book. I hope there aren't too many bugs in it.

It's a very complicated Excel sheet, with several IF functions to detect when you select the wrong unit for your force. The SS version of the Mittlere Panzerkompanie is limited in what types of platoons it is allowed to take and equipment. For example, an SS version can take Marder IIIM's as tank-hunters, but not Hornisse or Ferdinands.

Look for it soon on Hein's FOW army list website (see link to the bottom left of the blog).

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Big Project Announcement

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Announcing Barbarossa 2012!

Hey, that's the cover for the upcoming source book covering the Invasion of Poland and France 1940! What does that have to do with Operation Barbarossa or this so-called Barbarossa 2012? Nothing, really, except that it is the first, official EW source book to be released by Battlefront and the inspiration for the Barbarossa 2012 project.