build review Sash and Saber 40mm ACW dio sets

Hi guys
A mate of mine (trailape at http://trailape.blogspot.com/) has asked if I would paint up a couple of 40mm ACW dio sets, so I thought I would do a build review for anyone interested in these products in the future, the 2 sets arrived in the post yesterday. I have an interest in the ACW but haven't ventured into this era before.

First look- I am doing 2 dio sets, I received 26 figures, including 9 casualties, 2 officers, 2 ensigns, 1 gun, a bag with some loose muscats and odds and sod's, 3 trees, and 2 resin bases.the figures are of a very good wargaming quality, but with more mould lines (mostly very faint) than I would like, they have some nice poses and really give the feel of the era, the gun has a lot of small pieces, but looks good. the trees are soft metal and have bare limbs, the bases are nice but have a lot of small air bubbles, her are a couple of photos of what the kits should look like when finished.

And some photos of the figures, not good photos but the light was going down

a night of firsts

Hi guys, this was my first (and only so far) cage fight, in an organization called X-agon, it was about 18 months ago at the Forum night club at fox studio's Sydney, there was a large crowd of a couple thousand, it was also my first professional fight (all my kickboxing and other martial arts tournaments were amateur) with a purse of $500, not bad for 4 minutes work, it was supposed to be a 3X5 minute round fight with UFC rules, for those who don't know, punches, back fists, elbows, knees and kicks allowed to the head and body, kicks and knees allowed to the legs, all forms of take downs and throws allowed except spear tackles, on the ground all submissions and chokes allowed except small joint manipulation (toes and fingers) punches and elbow allowed on the ground but knees only to the body of a ground opponent.

Well the fight was a battle of 2 halves the first couple of minutes I was able to dominate the stand up effectively, landing some punishing leg kicks and knees to the body and head, cutting him above the eye brow, I had prepared for a kickboxing apponent (as that was the info I had been given) however he turned out the be a grappler with strong BJJ, we ended up on the ground and his superior grappling skills were evident, after being on my back and being punched and elbowed for 1 1/2 minutes I managed to escape from his side mount and ended up turtled up, he delivered a knee to the side of my head in this position (which is illegal) that stunned me for several seconds then pulled off a sweet arm bar, I wont take anything away from him though his ground game was superior and he deserved the win, so it was back to the drawing board and more work on grappling for me.

Hats 1/72 M-10

Hi guys, this is Hats 1/72 M-10, anyone who is familiar with the Hat fast build war gaming kits knows that they are generally good in shape and proportion and are a good start for conversions or for those who like to do a lot of detailing from scratch, but lack detail, the Hat M-10 has no internal turret detail at all, in fact the turret has a floor that shouldn't be there, I have cut the turret floor away, and scratch built the internal hull and turret detail and gun breach, using stretched sprue, plasticard, foil and wire, I also built most of exterior detail (lights, tools, stowage racks etc) from scratch, I replaced all the running gear and tracks with Italeri Sherman ones, I might have to re paint this kit, I made it a very long time ago and am not happy with the paint job (too monotone). All markings are hand painted. 6/10

Build review-Rodens 1/72 Fokker DVIIF (late) no.031

Hi guys
I have just finished my second WWI fighter plane model and decided I would write a build review, this may be helpful for others who are starting out in this area of interest, be aware when reading this that my knowledge of models until now is pretty extensive but concentrated on WWII armor, I have only built a couple of WWII aircraft 20 odd years ago as a kid and I have never written a review like this before.

To start off, I have Rodens 1/72 Fokker DVIIF (late) no.031 I chose Herman Goering's ride as its the only WWI option.

the Good-The Kit

the Kit comes in a box made from very thin cardboard, and opens at the ends, it has a nice picture of Herman Goering's white plane on the front, and a little portrait of Herman in the top left (this is handy as I built his ride so may use this picture on the mounting base)on the back it has painting and decal options for his plane. inside are 4 sprues of lite grey plastic with 61 parts but you only use 47 of these, so there will be some for the spare parts box. the parts are nicely moulded, nice detail with some flash. There is a 4 page instruction leaflet with pretty clear instructions, and 1 decal sheet with 5 decal options- Herman Goering white ride, Lithuanian 1920s in silver,Netherlands 1920s in Olive drab, Red army 1922 in olive drab, and a Ukrainian 1919 in US dark green, I'm impressed so far.

The bad-The build

My first WWI fighter kit was Revels Fokker DrI which went together pretty well with little fuss,this kit however did not go together so well, the 2 fuselage halves did not meet well and required a bit of putty on the underside, the bottom wing comes as one piece, this does not fit, it needs to be cut in the middle and leaves a 2mm wide whole in the undercarriage which needs filling, the engine didn't fit in the space provided and required a lot of trimming and cutting to get it in, the top wing was a bit of a nightmare to attach, all the struts closest the fuselage didn't line up with the locating holes, all locating holes need drilling out for any of the lugs to fit. The instructions have no mention of the guideline placement. I used stretched sprue for the guidelines. It was a little labour intensive to construct but I often like a challenging model.

the ugly-The painting

I painted the pilot(he was a converted Revel pilot)cockpit, engine and undercoated the exterior of the fuselage before assembly, I completed the assembly only leaving the prop and guns separate, covered the cockpit/pilot and exposed engine with bluetac then undercoated the whole plane white, I hand brushed the white base coat with GW acrylic and painted the details with Vallejo paints. Sprayed the whole model with a gloss coat and left to dry. The decals are nice, in register and very thin, I did have some problems with the decals breaking while applying but overcame this with patience, another gloss coat to seal the decals then onto the weathering, this is where my previous experience with WWII modelling became a negative, I tried to keep the weathering very light but on a white plane it still came out over done (not a problem with armor, as tanks drive around in mud and dust all day) The Prop was painted with Vallejo desert sand, wood grain was added with a dark brown and the whole thing given a coat of vallejo wood grain, a final dull coat spray and the separate parts assembled, I have yet to find some clear mounting stands so have bluetaced the plane to a pencil for the photo's.

Conclusion

Even though the kit had a few problems in the build, it makes a nice representation of a Fokker DVIIF, its not a kit to give to a kid/inexperienced modeller just starting in the hobby, but experienced modellers will work through the problems, recommended for experienced modellers interested in WWI aviation.

12th Bavarian line regt

Hi guys, this i the 12th Bavarian line regt, have mixed some Fantissin marching figures amongst the usual ABs, they have more of a march attack pose but fit in nicely, second figure from the left in the first photo is from Fantassin.

Revell's 1/72 Pz IVH

Hi guys, this is Revell's 1/72 Pz IVH, its a beautiful and accurate kit, the best available at the time 9/10 , I haven't seen Dragons in person yet but I think that may just have the edge on this one, like most of Revell's offerings I didn't have to do much detailing to this kit, the cammo is done with pastels and the figures are from Prieser, it shouldn't have the white hatches, live and learn.

1st company Apothecary "The Emperors Light"

Hi guys, this is the Apothecary for 1st company of "The Emperors Light"

Rodens 1/72 SdKfz 233

H guys, Rodens 1/72 SdKfz 233, a nice little kit, except Rodens choice of plastic which is too soft for my liking, brush guards are made from wire, figures are Prieser, cammo done with pastels, if I was to do this kit again I would replace the moulded on tools on the nose, with new ones 8/10

15mm ABs 3rd Dragoons Guards

Hi guys, AB Dragoons painted up as 3rd Dragoons Guards for my peninsula army, these are the usual Great AB figures. Not much to say really, picts speak for themselves. 9/10

1st Viadal comp

Hi Guys, this was my first Viadal comp in 2007(Viadal=Full contact mixed martial arts, stand up fighting and grappling on the ground allowed, but no punches, knees or elbows to the head), it was a hard fought fight, my opponent was tough and had a longer reach, it ended in a win by KO after 2 min of the first round, the last photo is me and my training partners (the Baldies), Jamie and Srbo, great guys, and excellent Martial artists, we're the baldies by default, an act of nature rather than fashion sense. I'd rather be called, those good looking guys with long flowing hair, butthe Baldies will have to do. the Baldies will have to do.