"The Wrenched Boys"

* * * 

They sleep below the hillside

In earthen cots

'The Wrenched Boys'

But when they rise

Look upon their sullen faces; 

So dismal; unwashed, tear-streaked

For a Frenchman killed their father

And mourning, they wait to cry 

Their leaden tears in revenge.  

* * *

Hey Internet,

This time around, I present 'The Wrenched Boys'; a pair of 'retractable' gun cupolas.

The models are of a particularly nice type of turret that helped make up the Maginot Line back in the 1930's. They had the novel feature of being able to be lowered down into their concrete pits as a further protective measure, so that only their well-armoured roofs were exposed to enemy shells.

I've done a fair bit of rambling around old European military sites in my time, and always thought the things looked really rather 'cute' for fortifications. 'Alien Squad Leader' allows me to take some defective turrets as part of my Human Colonial force, so I took the opportunity to add a few to my collection.

I got these models a few months ago from "Last Man Last Bullet", and are really rather nice. The company makes a number of different WW2 era fortification works - and interestingly, they've chosen to duplicate the lion's share of their range in 6mm, 10mm, 15mm, 20mm and 28mm scales. And its not a matter of 3D printing each item re-sized either; they're casts from a traditional master.

Initially, I painted these up in no time at all using the same colours that I've been using for my British Armour. They looked good, but were quite boring - they looked like green bobbins on little grey coasters. So, I went at them with a little weathering.

I justify the totally-over-the-top amount of rust on account of their twofold 'pop-up' nature - I can quite imagine that, built in the mists of some Anglo-French war-scare, the plans for their subterranean drainage could have well fallen by the wayside, leaving them to stew in pits of groundwater whenever they are not in 'firing position'.

I also used some 'varnish weathering' effects on the roofs. It does not show very well in the photographs, but the idea is that they are sun-bleached compared to the rest of the turret facings.

Even the most Wreched Boys of the Empire 'll show those Frenchies what, eh?

MM.

His Majesties Land-Ship Minotaur

Hey Internet,

May I present His Majesties Land-Ship Minotaur.

* * *

Minotaur is the very image of the modern Land Destroyer - a novel fighting machine designed for the particular task of combating other Land-Ships. To the accomplishment of this new task every facet of the ship's design and equipage has been directed.

Forgoing the usual batteries of machine-guns and cannon, Minotaur's primary asset is her 3" high pressure gun of 55 calibres, who's 17lb shell is able to penetrate the protection of any known Land Ship currently operating in Europe or overseas.

Equally, she is protected with a sufficient thickness of plate to grant her practical immunity from rifle fire, and even from shells fired at all but the closest distances. This protection is granted by the hanging of 3" Harvy Steel plates about the hull and turret, reduced in thickness to 2" and 1" on the sides and rear of the hull respectively.

All of this comes at some expense however, for the thing displaces no less than 80 tons. Yet, by utilisation of modern advances in the field of electrical engineering it is able to keep pace with the advance. Her machinery consists of two electrical motors of new design, powered by an internal dynamo. This outfit is able to produce a constant locomotive force of six-hundred horse power, driving the whole assembly along at speeds approaching nine miles per hour, on level ground.

* * *

The model is a 1/100th (15mm) scale TOG II* tank produced by Battlefront/Flames of War. Its a reasonable offering from the company, though unlike their more recent kits it took some fitting and filling to get the parts to go together snugly. Makes for a fine finished piece though.

In terms of painting this peice was pretty standard, but for one respect. The huge flat surfaces of the hull gave me opertunity to experiment with some 'model railway' and 'large scale model' style varnish weathering techniques, which turned out okay.

The Minotaur decals are by Dom's Decals.

I have long been a great fan of the real-life version of this machine, having regularly visited Bovington Tank Museum as a boy and been awed by its sheer scale.

If your interested in the history of armoured development, then the TOG makes for good reading. A contemporary of the WWII Churchill and Valentine tanks, it was designed by the same men who designed the worlds first tanks during the Great War. Known themselves as "The Old Gang", their machine too adopted the jestful title, becoming known as the TOG.

Minotaur is soon to be pressed into service as part of my 15mm British Empire project, more of which I will be posting shortly.

Think she will do King Edward proud?

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

Pax Britannica - Re-basing [3]

Hey Internet,

Bit of a boring one this time. After feeling no small amount of discontentment with the final product of my recent labours, I decided to do a U-turn and re-base the whole lot.

This proved to be no fun at all. But its done now. And no figures were destroyed in the process.

As it turns out, 100x20mm bases are rather unique to 'All Quiet on the Martian Front', making it quite awkward to use figures based this way for other war games.

click to enlarge

After a rather obsessive and agonising period of soul searching and deep existential meditation, I decided to re-base them, four to a stand, on 40x40x2mm MDF (from Warbases). This makes them quite compatible with Alien Squad Leader, Future War Commander and Space 1889: The Soldiers Companion, as well as All Quiet On The Martian Front.

With a good number of guys at the gaming club interested in 15mm sci-fi, but totally uninterested in goofy Tripods, I hope that they might actually get to see a fair bit of use.

Plus, they make a much better firing line. Wouldn't be British if they couldn't do a good firing line.

***

The Lead Tally - 2014

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