The Plastic Soldier Company - Credit Where Credit Is Due.

Hey Internet,

Just a quick one to give some credit where it is due. 

Yesterday afternoon I placed an order with the Plastic Soldier Company, and at midday today it arrived though my postbox!

PSC was having a 'Black Friday' 25% off sale, so I picked myself up a SCW Armoured Car for my WWII Polish Resistance. Better still, the PSC only charge 10% of the total order value for postage.

Delivery in under 24-hours for £.50...

Not Bad PSC, Not Bad.

MM.

Pax Britannica - The Cannon and Artillery-Men [5]

* * *

"At Byfleet we came upon an Inn, but it was deserted."

"Is everybody dead?"

"Not everybody. Look! Six cannons with gunners standing by."

"It's bows and arrows against the lightning. They haven't seen the Heat Ray yet."

- The Artillery-Man and the Fighting Machine, 
Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds 

* * *

Hey Internet, 

Today we have the last of my 'Martian Empires' British figures - four guns, with gunners standing by.

With my enthusiasm for this project somewhat ebbing, these guys took much longer than they should have to get done - about 3 weeks from start to finish. 

That said, they were nowhere near as painful as the Infantry were. The castings required far less 'clean up', and with no rifles or webbing they painted up rather quickly. 

One oddity is the gunner 'pulling the lanyard'. This figure is supposed to have a turnpike, but for some reason the tool is far too short, being about 2mm off the 'ground'. Given that it would have looked rather strange to have a gunner just sort of holding a stick on each base (and with me being unwilling to bore-out and convert the bloody things myself) I opted to fashion them into 'lanyard pullers'.

I mean, yeah, I know that even a heavy gun's lanyard would be scarcely over an inch thick, and these guys look like they are pulling on a 3" Naval Rope, but - bah! - it was either that or leave them off all-together and have two man gun teams, which would have looked even worse.

With these done, I have only to paint the Expeditionary Force's armoured support and this project will be at an end. Well, at least for the time being.

***

The Lead Tally - 2014

Acquired: +91       Painted: +126          Total: +35

Miniature Mo'Vember 2014 - Week 1

Hey Internet,

Here is my first week entry for Miniature Movember, a 15mm Scale WW2 Russian Cossack Officer.



The point of all this is to raise a little money for a good cause, so please Click Here To Donate a few quid.

MM.

***

The Lead Tally - 2014

Acquired: +91       Painted: +107          Total: +16
***

Miniature Movember 2014 - Now open for donations!

Hey All,

This is just a quick update. I'm now running my local wargames club's Miniature Mo'Vember campaign.

It's dead simple - the Club has its own Mo'Vember account and team, and will be posting people's painted miniatures up on it for everyone to see.

This of course means that we can now take donations and they will go directly to the Mo'Vember Charity.

CLICK HERE to take a look at the Mo'Vember Miniatures so far, and perhaps to pop a few pennies in the bucket.

Pax Britannica - Command Stand [4]

Hey Internet,

This week we have what should be the last of the British Riflemen. One of the stands is the Commander of the force, and features an Officer and Flag bearer.

click to enlarge

The Officer was a pig of a model to 'clean up'. It had the some of the worst flash I've ever seen on a model. All of the castings of this 'pose' are just as bad - if I hadn't got these figures off a friend, I'd have asked in strong terms for some replacements!

That said, with more than a little effort with a set of needle files he's ended up looking pretty all-right. He even has a bright white Pith on to mark him out.

The 'Flag Bearer' is a conversion - I snipped and ground away the rifle of a standard infantryman and replaced it with a shortened steel spear. Black Hat do do a British Standard Bearer figure as part of the Martian Empires range, but the flagpole/lance is cast in white metal and so thin that a stiff breeze would destroy it, and despite my best efforts I couldn't find a way to substitute it for one made of stronger stuff. I think it looks rather neat considering. Oh! - and the flag is printed; I'm not nearly that good a painter.

This is the last of the 'basic infantry' for this project, and to be honest it fills me with joy to type those words. They have been absolute pigs to get done; I mean, I did enjoy doing it and all, but I'd have liked it a whole lot more if they had been cast better to start with.

I think that I've ended up with a decent 'finished product', but the pain it took to get them done has left me to glaring at them spitefully now they are done.

Eh!....do you like them?

Four guns, with gunners, and I'm done with bloody Martian Empires! Hurrah!

MM.

***

The Lead Tally - 2014

Acquired: +91       Painted: +106          Total: +15

200th Post!

Hey Internet,

Just realised that the last post on here was my 200th!

Fancy that, eh!

Mr.Marx