The Black Battlefleet

 

I have a tatty old ex-library copy of this excellent book but found this immaculate second hand copy in the local Oxfam bookshop today for only six quid. It is a very comprehensive survey of all of the mid-Victorian ironclads of the Royal Navy, set out in chronological order from HMS Warrior onwards including plans, profiles, lihographs and sketches, so invaluable for scratch building in particular. Brilliant! 

Knights of the Sky Eastern Front Club Game

Tumbling Dice Roland C.II

I used some cheapo decals from eBay for these, which are good enough in 1/600th scale to be passable but not as crisp as the usual sheets that I use from Flightdeckdecals or the old Doms Decals range. I think it's the heat but my painting isn't quite up to scratch at the moment either, although these three seems to have turned out okay. It's back to the French now, which are easier to paint and for which I have some proper decal sheets, so I'm hoping for better end results. 

Albert Ball VC 1/600th Nieuport 17

I finished off the decals on a Tumbling Dice Nieuport 17 (upper wing pinched from a Nieuport 11) and an Albatros CIII this afternoon, the former based on one of Albert Ball's scouts in mid-1916. This turned out okay but I think was less successful than my earlier Breguet XIV paint job, mainly due to the decals being a bit cramped. Tally Ho! 

Tumbling Dice Nieuport 24/27

This is one of the latest First World War French models from Paul at Tumbling Dice, originally listed as a Nieuport 28 but now in the catalogue as a Nieuport 24. It's clearly not a Nieuport 28 as the fuselage is too thick and the upper wing isn't rounded, but it's a good representation of a Nieuport 24, due to the much larger and rounded profile of the tail. It is also a good match for the last variant to see service from late 1917 onward, the Nieuport 27, which is what I'm going to use mine for when my order arrives. These will be painted as Aviation Militaire machines to escort my Breguet XIV light bombers. What a lovely little model it is too! 

Komar Fast Attack Missile Boats

I painted the 1/3000th Komar FAC models that I converted from Navwar Osa missile boats during the week. These are for my Indonesian navy fleet during the Konfrontasi conflict of the early 1960's, as they were quite possibly the most effective units on the Indonesian side. I think they cane out looking pretty good and not too far off the real thing? 

Upgraded Algy Manoeuvre Cheat Sheet

I've been busy over the last week so nothing has been achieved as far as painting goes, but I have been sorting out some resources for Algy games including an improved version of the manoeuvre charts from the rules. I've added a colour coding system for Easy. Hard and Tricky manoeuvres, as well as notes on pilot skill tests, climbing and diving, so a one stop shop for players to refer to. I've also corrected a couple of points and added a missing bit about losing altitude in a hard turn. It's a available to download from the Algy FB group if you are interested. 

Digger Dogfight Card Deck

I did a bit of editing on my card deck for the Digger Dogfight scenario that I ran at the club last night, adding some better graphics and a splash of additional colour. They are sized to fit into standard size card sleeves but you can always laminate them instead. They can be downloaded ftkm the Algernon Pulls It Off! FB group. Tally Ho! 

Digger Dogfight Club Game

A excellent game of Algernon Pulls It Off at the club this evening, with a scenario from the 2025 Lard Mag as the focus, putting the Australians of No.4 Squadron AFC against Jasta 18. The Australians lost one pilot killed but evened the score by shooting down one of the Jasta 18 scouts with catastrophic structural failure, with a second failing to recover from a uncontrollable spin at low level. The game clicked along at a nifty pace, despite starting a bit late which meant we didn't run through to the full ten turns. It was good fun and there was a lot of dogfighting action, which is just what you want for a club game. Tally Ho! 

1/3000th Scale Komar Conversion

After a top tip from David M. I had a crack at converting some Navwar Osa FAC models into something resembling a Komar FAC. This involved chopping off the aft section of the Osa then adding a new plastic card stern and missile rails, so nothing too complicated but still worthy off some colourful language. The end result is passable despite being aittle over length, so I might order some more of the Osa models to expand the Indonesian missile flotilla.