LAF Post: Quest for the 1/144th ARL-44

Hey Internet,

I posted a plea for help locating an obscure model on the Lead Adventure Forum, and thought I'd copy it up on the blog too, in the off chance that a kind soul might see it here. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hey LAF, 

I have rather odd request. I've been doing some google-fu detective work trying to hunt down a particular, illusive model in 1/144th scale - a French ARL-44. (https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.co.uk&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http://www.geocities.jp/nokaze36/sub0144.html&usg=ALkJrhjB7sGt8zExcekdlplmcvlE97nI4g)

I understand that a Japanese company called "Fairy Planning" or "Fairy Kikaku" produces a very nice kit, however I have been unsuccessful in tracking down anywhere that sells them. 

This site (http://henk.fox3000.com/fairey.htm) leads me to belive that 'Fairy Planning' might only sell within Japan itself, but I can't be sure of this. 

So, I was wondering if there was anyone in our little LAF community that might be able to help me out? 

If they do only sell within Japan, might anyone act as a middleman for me? or could someone who speaks the language pass on any details about the company that I've missed?

Failing all that, does anyone know anywhere else that makes a ARL-44 kit in 1/144th?

Thanks for any help,

MM.

* * *

What is an "ARL-44"? and why would you go to such bother to try and get one? I hear you ask.

The ARL-44 was France's first indigenous heavy tank design following their occupation by Nazi Germany.

It was designed in secret during the occupation by a group of bravely defiant engineers, with the idea that once France had been liberated they would need modern and powerful weapons to take the fight back to the enemy.

Due to this wholly unique development cycle, the tank turned out as the strange lovechild of a Char B and a Royal Tiger - taking the obsolete suspension from the former and the turret and armour configuration of the latter.



Arriving too late to contribute to the downfall of the Nazis, the ARL served in the postwar French military throughout the dawn of the Cold War -serving alongside a colourful mix of Panther and Sherman tanks and American armoured cars.



MM.

***

22-03-2015 Update: I have contacted the good folks at HobbyLink Japan, and they have since added this exact kit to their catalogue. Go them.

MM.

6mm Russian Artillery: SAU-122 "Gvozdika"

Hey Internet,

Just a little update - three 6mm scale SAU-122 "Gvozdika" self propelled guns.

I'm not sure where these models are from - I got them second hand from a friend - but they are quite ropey sculpts with hardly any surface detail. I painted them to match my other Federation stuff. Given the lack of detail it didn't exactly take long.

With these done, I think I have must have about all I need for my Russian Federation forces for both my 'Kaiju' Savage Worlds project and for Cold War Commander.

MM.

The Lead Tally - 2014

Acquired: +31       Painted: +8          Total: -23

Tokyo was not built in a day

Hey all,

This week I've made a start on a small city. Not a big start by any means, just three buildings, but a start all the same. After a little bit of experimenting with wibbly-wobbly paper buildings, I decided that it would be better to just bite the bullet and make my city out of good 'ol resin. However, this is going to cost a bucket-load, so I'm going to chip away on this project a little bit at a time with the plan to make a decent 3'x3' urban layout by the end of the year.

The two smaller buildings are by Scotia and the larger one is by Battletech.

I make a point of not doing 'bad reviews' on this blog out of common courtesy, but recently I ordered a fair few Scotia buildings, after being impressed by their low price and decent looking quality. However, when I got them I was less than pleased. Most of them were not terrible models, but were terribly cast, with nasty flash obscuring their detail, and the bottoms on many of them being 'hollow', as if they had not quite pored enough resin into the mold when they were being cast.

In fact, for the first time ever, I asked for my money back for a few of the buildings that were so bad that I just couldn't see any way of using them!

In a similar trend, the Battletech building was also badly cast, with the same 'hollow bottom' problem that the Scotia buildings had. I've had some Battletech buildings before (that I irritatingly got rid of a few months ago, before starting this project) that were superbly cast with almost nothing in the way of air-bubbles or flash.

I did not buy either variety of building direct from the manufacturer, and what with the bad castings, I am more than a little suspicious that they might be poor quality re-casts, rather than the genuine articles....

In better news, I also painted up a Federation 'Long-Track' AT-T mobile radar recently. Its a GHQ model, and as with everything I've had from them recently, its nothing less than a miniature work of art.

Better luck next time, eh?

MM.

Type-74 Tanks (GHQ)

Hey Internet,

I've done a thing again.

This time its a few NPCs for my 'Monster Movie' games - a couple of 'Type-74' tanks, the mainstay of the Japanese Self Defence Force's armoured corps.

The models are actually AMX-30s (French MBTs), but they look sort of like a Japanese 'Type-74' tanks - well, at least close enough for me not to care. All the important elements are there; the boxy Infa-Red spotlight to the left of the main gun, the rounded turret and the basic dimensions all match the '74 quite well.

These models are by GHQ, and like just about everything that company makes they are nothing less than tiny works of art. The detail on these things is fantastic, easily equal too or better than that on many of my 15mm tanks.

Annoyingly, two of the copulas are missing machine-guns because they were not cast properly. I'm sure that no one would have noticed the missing square-millimetre if I hadn't mentioned it, but its really bugging me that these models are anything less than perfect.

Mobile Base Command

Hey Internet,

I've not been feeling all-too-hot for the last two weeks, so I've not been getting much done on the hobby front. I actually painted these a few weeks back, but never got round to posting them.

This is 'Mobile Base Command' - a state of-the-art mobile command post belonging to the Self-Defence forces. Packed with high-ranking military personnel and the worlds leading monsterologists, it can drive precariously close to the front line to provide command and scientific support, as well as added jeopardy.

In 'Savage Worlds' Mobile Base Command has some good command effects to help keep his allies in the fight, as well as a jury-rigged 'Sonic Beam' weapon that can be fired from the radar dish to confound and confuse rampaging Kaiju.

The model is a Battletech one, although I cannot recall it's name. Its a very nice casting, but the sculpt itself is a little weird - the details are sharp, but the basic shapes are sort of wonky.

I cant remember what these little thingies are called - they are modern American transports of some kind. The models are by Heroics & Ross, and while not the best sculpts in the world I think they look kind of all-right.

1:285th Modern T-80 Company

Hey Internet,

After painting those Dwarfs I lost a great deal of my enthusiasm for Of Gods and Mortals. I'm not sure quite why - perhaps I let the project balloon so much that it was too daunting to start chipping away at again, or perhaps I just got bored of chain-mail. Either way, since none of my gaming-friends are anywhere near having a force ready to play a game against, I've allowed myself to be sidetracked my a new project for a while. Just until I get a 'second wind' for my Norse Warhost.

In fact, this isn't a new project at all, but rather one that I started about five years ago andnever got around to finishing - a big 1:285th/6mm Scale 'Giant Japanese-Inspired Monsters vs City' participation game.

One side controls the Humans, with each player taking on the roll of either a Commander of the Self-Defence forces or the pilot of a Mobile Suit/Eva/Mecha. Players on the other side take the roll of 'the monster of the week' - be they giant radioactive dinosaurs, space-monsters or the doomsday machines created by evil scientists.

Anyway, here is my first contribution to the project - an Armoured Company of the Russian Federation. The models are 6mm scale T-80 tanks, although I cannot remember from which manufacturer they are from. I think its either 'Heroics and Ros' or 'Scotia', but don't quote me on that. Whoever made these tanks, they are quite nice. The reactive armour in particular is well defined and takes to painting well. I've painted them using a simple combination of dry-brushing, edge highlighting and inks. Nothing fancy, but I think they look all-right.

I've got a bunch of other Russian/Soviet stuff lined up and ready to go on the painting table, so hopefully I should be able to also use these tanks for games of Cold War Commander.



Like 'um?

MM.

Cold War Commander Soviets: Part 3

Hey internet,

This is my hundredth post. Go me!

I had rather intended to bash away at my little Cold War Soviet project a bit at a time, but then I went back to work and was tied up for a month. So much for plans. Instead I've spent this weekend getting the whole lot done. 

Bar a pair of ‘Command Bases’ the force is now completed….until I decide that I need more tanks.

A Platoon of Four T-62s.  

A BDRM anti-tank Platoon. A Command vehicle and a pair armed with ‘Spandrel’ ATGMs.

And finally Six Squads of Mechanised Infantry and their APCs.

Also, the whole lot have magnetic bases, so I can store them in an old tin. 

MM.

Cold War Commander Soviets: Part 2

Hey Internets,

I thought that Id pop up a little update on my Cold War Commander stuff showing what I got done today.

I got three BTR-80s painted up. They still need basing and varnishing, but that is only a very small amount of work, so I count them as being done. These are very nice models from Minifigs, and aside from the pain of gluing the 8 wheels on to each one of them, they are lovely little things.



This, for those that are interested, is my jam jar of Black Ink.

Why a jam jar, you may ask? Because the pots that the stuff comes in are crap, and the lid exploded, so I needed a nice airtight container to put it in. Its surprisingly handy to use - its real easy to get just the right amount on ink on your brush by rubbing it on the inside of the jar.

I also finished putting together my four T-62s. Minifigs again. They went together without any trouble, and are nice models overall. I'm sure they will look the part after a nice paint job. Lots of fiddly lights and windows for me to paint. Not sure why, but painting the glass effects is proving to be my favourite part of doing these models.



And here is a picture of everything that Ive done to date;



So Far...
3 T-10m
3 BTR-80
Total: 6 Units

MM.

Cold War Commander - First Bits

Hey Internet,

Third post tonight. Yeah.

I managed to get the first few bits of my Cold War Commander force finished tonight. My small but incredibly heavy box from 'Minifigs' turned up this-morning and I spent a bit of time this afternoon cutting bases out of plasticard the easy way (grumbles!), cleaning flash off stuff and glueing my fingers to models.



I did some painting too. A few days ago I got some Japanese 1/144th scale models from Hong Kong. Got them on Ebay cheapy-cheap. For the cost they are very nice in honesty. They are nasty rubbery plastic, but the details are ok, and most importantly no one makes a model of a T-10 in metal.



I got them based up and sprayed, then game them a good lick of paint. They are a simple four-stage directional drybrush followed by a nice sloshing of black ink from my jam jar of black hat black wash. Not kidding. The ink is good, but the pots they sell it is are craptacular, so when the top shattered, I put the stuff in a jam jar. After that dryed, I just painted the mallet covering and the lights and sights and finished off with a bit of matt varnish to fend off the shinyness of the wash.



I know they are boring soviet green, but they kind of have to be. I think its quite a nice shade of green - nice and bright - much better than the green I did for my Flames of War Soviets. Bases just need flocking, think I'll go for a darn good scattering of a flock and staic grass mix to make them look at home on the green fields of Europe.



I also put some stuff together. It was rather a time consuming process, lots of bits with a fair bit of flash, plenty of mold lines to remove and stuff. I also had to cut out the bases. The models are nice after you put a little work into them, very chunky and gratifying. My only issue would be that the road wheels on the BTMRs are separate and as such required the filing down of eight wheels worth of mold lines and flash, before starting the arduous process of attaching them to the hull. Cant help but feel that it would have been better to have cast it as a single piece  but perhaps that just wasn't possible from a production point of view. Not a biggie, just means that it takes a good 45 mins to put each one together.



The T-62s are very nice models. No problems whatsoever with these, apart from the usual need to hack out the flash between the road-wheels with a scalpel. That's just a problem with most tanks though.

I'll probably have a bash at painting at least one of these two Formations tomorrow. Will post up again when I do.

MM.

What I painted today...

Hey Internet

I did a little painting today.

First up, a unit of five BA-10m Heavy Armoured Cars for my Flames of War force. Ive had these models for years, but they were in dire need of a repaint.

Also, I’ve got the first phase of my 12mm Terrain project finished – all of the buildings that I own in this scale are now painted.

MM.

The Start of a Town

Hey Internet,

I fancied doing a little painting today, so I dragged out some old Pendraken buildings (12mm/1:144th Scale) and gave them a lick of paint. I've had the things for years, so its about time they got a good covering.



This is just the first lot, I've got another ten or so on the sidelines waiting for their own treatment. I'm trying to paint them as 'modern' buildings, located in Africa, or Eastern Europe perhaps. I'm not sure yet.

MM.

Something a little different

This is sort of the first model in a new project.

A rusty improvised armoured car. 1/144th Scale, so only about 15mm long.

MM.