Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Random Musings

I think many Flames of War bloggers and fans are suffering through withdrawals with the Battlefront forums down for maintenance. The message says they are switching over to a new system. I hope so. Recently, the Forum has been very slow, requiring me to hit the REFRESH button several times before getting to a post I want to read.

Nevsky has arrived!! Thanks GeekEGuy for the paint job. He did great work. I invite all of you to visit his Blog (see blog list on right). It was almost a tragic comedy due to an address mix-up. Luckily, a very nice lady and a hunch on Saturday rescued Nevsky from US Post Office limbo. He's sitting inside the curio cabinet in the living room. A small 15mm tank surrounded by She Who Must Be Obeyed's collection of angels and fine ceremics. =o)

I took a second look at the BA-64's and they aren't total disasters. Certainly good enough to plop onto a gaming table and push around.

Today I ordered rare earth magnets from http://www.amazingmagnets.com/

GeekEGuy put magnets on Nevsky and they work great! He was kind enough to provide a link and instructions. Battlefront has a section on rare earth magnets to connect the turret and the hull. Look in Modeling under the Hobby section.

I also ordered another batch of 4 M4A2's. I'm keeping the orders small because I don't have the time to sit and build 8 or 16 models at once.

On the 11.Pz.Dv front, I've heard from the Master Painter and he has promised to get the bulk of them done by early August. I'm very excited with the development. I do have preliminary pictures of a couple of tanks, but they aren't complete so I won't post them until they are done.

The new Africa book looks fantastic! I am an Ostfront guy. I'm afraid if I buy the book I'll want to start on a desert army. Ugh.

I also have an idea for a Late Late War German unit. It will have to work for 2 years or so. I say 2 years because Battlefront needs to work through Market Garden and then the Bulge before it delves into Gotterdamerung (Berlin). The idea has a force composed of Reluctant Veterans Germans just trying to survive the war and protect what they can of their Homeland from the Soviet onslaught.

I like the Panther in the PanzerKanone box set. It'll make for a great CiC or 2iC or Platoon Leader.

I subscribed to WI. My first issue is to be 261. Yesterday I received the free kit - PaK43 88mm. It arrived within a week of subscribing. Good job Battlefront USA!

Finally, the LGS has moved to a new (bigger?) shop. It's still close to me. I'll need to convince She Who Must Be Obeyed and visit the guys for a couple of hours tomorrow.

Peace, out.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Kapitan V I Nevsky

Check out GeekEGuy's work (his blog in linked to the right of this blog).

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Doesn't he look great?

I am reconsidering how much I am going to paint of the 1st Mechanized Corps from 1944 Bagration. I might have GeekEGuy do up the ISU-122 unit.

My thoughts have changed after the BA-64 fiasco. I used the Magic Dip, forgot to wipe off the bottom of the wheels so they stuck to the cardboard! I am fortunate the wheels didn't snap off. The BA-64's are passable. If I do commission a work, then I might have them redone because they will pale in comparison to the rest of the painted force.

It's a big day for my nephew. He made it. Congrats Class of 2009!

Friday, June 5, 2009

Carrying Case

Now that I am building an army and expect another one to be included in the future, I thought it was time to find a carrying case.

The Flames of War Forum has a good discussion about carrying cases:

http://www.flamesofwar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=126&forumid=6&postid=446539&view=topic

I also met the folks of Battleform at the GAMA 2009 convention in Las Vegas. Nice people with a great and customizable carrying case. They will cut out the foam to your specifications.

http://www.battlefoam.com/

After reading the forum post, I took a trip to WalMart and found a Plano case. I knew right away it would work. Check it out.

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Notice the 3 plastic trays that slide out.

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Top opens and provides a spot for paints, brushes or gaming dice. Large bases of infantry and vehicles can go here too.

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Blurry picture of a tank. Foam from the blister packs provides a cushion.

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I can get anywhere from 12 to 15 vehicles in each tray. The Lend Lease army has 25 vehicles, while 11 PD has 15 vehicles. I think the Plano case will be able to hold all of them plus infantry.