Collectair La-5

Collectair La-5

Collectair La-5 

Raiden Miniatures La-5FN 

A couple of potential scenarios for the Continuation War project feature the Lavochkin La-5 as opposition for the Curtiss Hawk-75 fighters of LeLv32. In late 1943 - early 1944 the Soviets introduced the La-5 which then ran rings around the virtually obsolete Hawks, at which point the Bf-109G began to re-equip the Finnish frontline squadrons. 

I already have eight 1/285th scale Raiden Miniatures La-5FN fighters painted up in the late war grey and blue grey camouflage, so I've acquired some 1/300th La-5's from the Scotia Collectair range to see what they're like. These arrived in very swift order but I was away, so have only just opened the package to check them out.

I'm really quite impressed with the detail and look of the models , although they are less chunky and clearly lighter in comparison to the Raiden version, regardless of the scale difference. I may need about twenty if them, depending on the scenario, so the price tag is also a very significant bonus!

Mount Edgecombe Battery

Polhawn Fort

A family wedding in Cornwall just happened to be located at one of Mr Palmerston's eponymous fortifications, a small battery enfilading Whitsand Bay. I've always wanted to visit this one but now I have had the chance to get up close. It's a wedding venue but used to be a private property, so inaccessible when I was a kid. Not as impressive as some but worth a look nonetheless, especially the drawbridge mechanism.

Flight Testing

I was a bit worried that the flight stand prototype I constructed the other day wouldn't be able to hold on to larger aircraft models, so I cleaned up and magnet based a Scotia Collectair DB-3 bomber to test it out. The DB-3 is the largest aircraft I'll be using for the Continuation War project and, as you can see, it is absolutely stable with no wobbling or falling off, even when held upside down. Job's a good'un!

Bag the Hun Scenario C - Crazy Ivan

This is a bit different, so I'm almost certain to include it in the final cut for the Continuation War Lard Mag article. I've devised what I think are interesting tweaks for the card deck, as well as some special rules to give the eponymous Soviet fighter pilot at least a fighting chance of defending the bombers from the Finnish patrol. This one will definitely require some play testing but I reckon it will result in an exciting game, if only for Lt. Ivanov!

Soviet Paint Shades

I thought it would be handy to avoid any farting about and get some correct camouflage paint shades for the Soviet aircraft, most of which will be in an early war scheme. I will supplement this set with some Vallejo colours but I think most of what I need is included, which means I can start painting sooner rather than later.

Bag the Hun Scenario B (+) - Bomber Bounce

I did some tweaking of the previous scenario to create an alternative version, swapping the low level floatplane action for some medium level bomber interception, with the DB-3 medium bombers replacing the MBR-2 floatplanes. This is not to say I won't consider including both scenarios in the mix, but I'll need to add some distinctive elements to both to avoid it being too repetitive. I have some ideas for this already but it's all a bit sketchy at the moment.

Jiggery-Pokery

I was using a painting jig that I knocked together for my 1/600th scale projects, using an offcut of MDF and panel pins, but realised it was just too small, so I've boshed together a new one designed for 1/300th scale. This has 60mm flat head nails on to which the magnet based models can be attached, with an area left clear at the front as a sort of shelf for useful tools, glue and models. It's pretty big but sits on top of my workbench without any problems. Jobs a good'un!

Bag the Hun Scenario - Bomber Bounce

I've been looking for a decent bomber interception scenario to include in the Lard Mag selection but without much luck, as LLv 32 was not often involved in this sort of thing. However, I have found one potential scenario in which a schwarm of Hawk 75 fighters 'bounced' a flight of three DB-3F medium bombers of 1AP and shot them all down. The DB-3's were the later model, subsequently retitled as the Il-4, but I have a soft spot for the earlier version, so I'll be using those in the scenario set up. I also already have three of them in the leadpile, so why not kill two birds with one stone? 

Here's an after action report by 2nd Lt Alapuro of 2/LLv 32:

‘Whilst patrolling in the Petäjän-mäki area, I spotted three DBs heading north. I attacked one from above and behind in a shallow bank. I quickly silenced the gunner, and the bomber’s port engine began to trail black smoke. Due to my higher speed, I had to pull up and pass it. I curved back around again and fired continuously at the starboard engine until it caught fire. The DB then slipped into a cloud. I banked away to the south, waiting for the aircraft to pass through it, but when the DB did not reappear I flew towards Lem-paala, where I saw a burning aircraft in a swamp southwest of Rahonjärvi.’

A very straightforward set up but, with the addition of some clouds and a few special tweaks to make it more interesting, I think it could be worth a write up?

Bag the Hun 1/300th Revival

As my pre-dreadnought painting was going nowhere, I've decided to shelve it for now and concentrate on the Bag the Hun Continuation War project instead (I really need to come up with a better title for it!) It's my other big project for this year, after the Napoleonic naval fleets, and is aimed at an article for the Lard Mag, so I need to get cracking.

In another switch, I've also decided to go back to my roots and use 1/300th scale models instead of 1/600th scale, mainly as I already have most of what I need, but also due to my declining eyesight, which makes painting very small things harder even with a magnifier. I started Bag the Hun gaming way back in 2004 (!) with the first edition, using Raiden Miniatures in the slightly larger 1/285th scale.

This time, however, I'm using Scotia Collectair models in the main, as they are inexpensive and reasonably detailed, although less chunky than Raiden Miniatures and not as nice as the now defunct Museum Miniatures range. The Soviets will be assembled and painted first including I-153, I-16 and MiG-3 fighters for starters. After that I'll tackle the Finnish Hawk 75, Brewster Buffaloes and a handful of Hurricanes.

Tally Ho!

Flight Stand Fettling

I had a crack at a prototype flight stand for 1/300th scale planes, based on the method I use for 1/600th scale. This consists of a 50mm flat head nail, a 30mm x 3mm MDF hex, a thinner 30mm x 2mm MDF hex for added stability and a two cell 7mm dice frame. The two dice are blue for altitude and red, yellow, green or white for aircraft identification. The Scotia MiG-3 has a 4mm x 2mm magnet glued underneath to attach it to the stand. It's only undercoated in Halfords camouflage matt green at the moment but will be painted to match my hex cloth. Total cost about 30p excluding the magnet, so very cheap. Not too bad?

Magnet Madness

I've ordered some larger 4mm x 2mm round magnets to experiment with, the aim being to see if they are strong enough for 1/300th scale aircraft to attach securely to flat head nails. The idea is to move from permanently mounted models to magnet based ones, very much in the same way that I base and store my 1/600th scale planes. It's going to be interesting to see how well this works as a scaled up version of my usual basing for air warfare wargaming.

Beriev MBR-2 in Bag the Hun

There are no ratings for the Beriev MBR-2 in the Bag the Hun rules, so here's what I have worked out using the guidelines and some basic background research. Apparently these things were both fairly manoeuvrable and robust but tended to catch fire easily due to their wooden construction and unarmoured fuel tanks, not helped by having an exposed and vulnerable engine mounting on the centreline of the wing!

Anyway, here are the all important numbers:

SPD 3

MAN 2

ALT 4

ROC 1

ROB 4*

SIZ 3

FF: 1 / 1 / 1 / 1

They were nicknamed 'Cow Barns' by the crews, which I think is a fair assessment.

Scenario B: Barn Dance

Here's the next scenario for the Bag the Hun Continuation War project, something a little bit different but designed for ease of play. Not that it's a walkover for the Finns as they will have to make some careful tactical decisions if they are to shoot down all three of the 'Cow Barns'.  The addition of bogeys would make this easier, which is why I've made that an optional extra.

Bag the Hun Basing Bosh

     

Now that I have at least one scenario to play test for the Continuation War project, it's about time to get started on the aircraft. I'm still not decided if I should go for the quick and cheap option of 1/600th scale or the slower but more detailed option of 1/300th. Both scales have their merits, with 1/600th taking less time to paint but a bit more fiddly and lacking in visual interest,  while 1/300th looks more impressive on the table but at the expense of time to paint up to a decent standard. 

There's also the knotty question of basing. I have a tried and tested method for 1/600th scale but, in the past, I've based my 1/300th scale aircraft on Raiden Miniatures resin and metal flight stands, which are now not in production. I'm thinking of making permanently mounted models on scratch built MDF and panel pin bases but perhaps magnet basing on nails might be a better, more flexible option. 

I think I need to do some experimental bases to see what would work in the most efficient and effective way...

Scenario A: Fifteen Minute Fisticuffs

I had some spare time this afternoon so used it to draft the first scenario for the Bag the Hun Continuation War article. This will probably be bumped further along the sequence but it's a good one to kick off the project and a good basis fur some club playtesting, with four players being an ideal set up. I'll do some tweaks to the initial draft once I've run it as a game but I think it's pretty solid as it is.