AK47 Patrol Boat [1]

I bought some excellent resin river boats from The Scene at Attack earlier in the year to use as AK47 riverine equivalents of trucks or APC's. I haven't done anything with them though, as I've been concentrating on the land based element of the project.

 http://thesceneuk.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=104&zenid=74688c40aeb6df9b27168a84aee210ee

However, I recently aquired an old diecast Dinky patrol boat that had seen better days and had already been stripped down to bare metal. It's a bit on the small side for 15mm but, with a bit of surgery and bodywork, could easily be scaled up to create a PBR style gunboat to accompany the smaller landing craft.

I suppose I could just buy a couple of Peter Pig PBR's but I'm intrigued by the scratchbuilding potential of the patrol boat, especially if I can repeat the process for one or two more. They're pretty cheap on Ebay if you go for the knackered ones, so I could end up with more, if the customising works out to be straightforward.

I'm thinking of removing the forward part of the wheelhouse then blanking off the aperture with a plastic card frontage. I can then add a Peter Pig AAA gun to the forward mount. The stern mounting will have to be turned into a hatch but I could mount an HMG there instead. I also have to do something about the top of the wheelhouse, as this is way out of scale.

There are loads of holes to be filled and details to be added but at least it will be a bit out of the ordinary. I'll aim to give it a bit of a Soviet style make-over as well, with a suitable paint job as a matter of course. It's a challenge, perhaps, but one that I think I'll enjoy getting to grips with!

AK47 Autumn Assault [24]

I felt much better this afternoon so decided to tackle another aircraft for the AK47 army. The Il-28 Beagle is a nice looking model but a bit big for low level ground attack missions. However, I already had a diecast Del Prado MiG 15 that I'd basecoated for another army, so dug it out and had a crack at painting it up for General Mpongo's fledgling airforce.

I added the camouflage pattern using the trusty Foundry Phlegm Green shade then mixed 50:50 Phlegm Green shade and mid coat to over paint the resulting pattern. I also highlighted the lighter areas with Phlegm Green, before painting the canopy in three stages of Foundry Sky Blue with white highlights. The whole thing was then given a Future gunge wash.

The decals were cut from a GW Warhammer 40K sheet then over painted with Citadel Blood Red. I touched up the canopy then over-sprayed everything in Army Painter matt varnish. To finish off, the canopy was then re-painted with GW Gloss 'Ardcoat (that's gloss varnish to you and me).

I'm pretty pleased with the end result, which only took about an hour or so to complete, although the canopy could be a bit better given a bit of time and effort. Job done!

AK47 Autumn Assault [23]

I finished the technicals last night but, thanks to the eye strain involved, ended up with a splitting headache this morning as a result. Here they are ready for deployment as the militia element of my AK47 army. As it's a dictatorship force, I only need one militia unit so that wraps up the army for the moment.

I'm classing the truck and landrover with rocket rails as RCL's, so the whole lot including the AA armed lorry equates to 90 points. I now have the casualty markers to paint up but will start to tackle the bases on the painted units first, as this is more of priority.

Coastal Warfare Ideas

You may remember the trials and tribulations I've had in the past with the my local club participation game. These are now dead and buried but I'm still wary of sticking my neck out on projects that end up being more of a headache than I initially anticipate. However, I still want to be involved and enjoy thinking up ideas for potential games or scenarios. 

The current club game, a 28mm ACW assasinate President Lincoln  skirmish, has it's final outing at Warfare  2011 in a couple of weeks time. I haven't been involved with it much, due to lack of time and workload, but I did help out with the running of the game at Attack! earlier in the year. It's a great little game and well worth a go if you're going to Warfare this year.

However, it's now time to think about the next game in the long running saga of Wessex Wargamers Winchester show games. I had thought about a 633 Squadron aerial game in 1/600th or 1/144th scale but the effort required to set this up would be massive, especially if the terrain construction and model making ended up entirely on my plate.

I'm now thinking about alternative options and have been exploring the potential for a coastal forces 'narrow seas' set up. These are usually 1/600 scale affairs but I'm thinking of scaling up for visual impact and for the sake of  something a bit out of the ordinary. At the moment, this means either a 1/350th scale WW2 or a 1/200th scale WW1 / RCW approach.

The first option would use White Ensign Miniatures MTB / MGB resin kits converted to waterline configuration, alongside Bronco Models injection moulded S-100 schnellboot. These look like lovely models with plenty of detail but, at the same time, relatively cheap and easy to build. WEM also produce a Flaklighter that might be usable.

https://www.whiteensignmodels.com/c/1350+Scale+Narrow+Seas+Kits/38/1/

http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/bro/kit_bro_5004.shtml

The set up would use the club hex terrain and be based on three or four vessels per side, keeping numbers to a minimum. I'm thinking of E-boat interception patrols off Holland or minelaying off the East coast convoy routes as the basis for the game scenario, so there would be little need to have hefty merchant ships involved.

The rules would be based on the Full Thrust system and have a big roleplaying element, even down to having players filling the roles of commander, torps / guns and engine room chief on individual boats. I've always wanted to do this, as it's the essence of coastal warfare actions unlike higher level naval engagements. The hex terrain would be used to simplify movement and firing, whilst the emphasis would be put on decision making, random events and damage management.

The second option would be to go for 1/200th scale and use Rod Langton's superb coastal forces models, of which I have a small selection already. The events prior to the raid on Kronstadt in 1919 would be a great basis for a 'skirmish' level game, involving night time penetration of the outer defences to drop off secret agents and torpedo a Soviet TB destoyer or light cruiser, for which I have a cheap 1/180th scale Chinese plastic kit. 

http://www.rodlangton.com/ww1/ships.htm

http://steelnavy.com/ZhengDeFuZhongShanCT.htm

The rules and approach would be similar to the WW2 game but with the added requirement for harbour defences, searchlights and underwater obstacles. The defences of Petrograd included a submerged breakwater that would tear out the hull of a CMB unless at full speed or high tide, making for an interesting game especially when stern launched torpedoes are involved.

I haven't discussed these ideas with anyone at the club yet but hope to get the chance to have a chat at some point soon. There's a very keen naval gamer in residence who I'm sure would help out with rules and scenarios but I'm not so sure about the other regulars, whose preference is for 28mm skirmish style games.

It's worth a try anyway?

AK47 Autumn Assault [22]

A little more progress on the militia technicals today, although it doesn't look like much to be honest. I've been playing around with the weathering on the trucks and have spent quite a bit of time trying to get the landrover looking right. I'm hoping to get everything finished off and spray varnished tomorrow.

AK47 Autumn Assault [21]

I found an hour or so this evening to wind down and start painting the militia techicals. I've played around with various bits of drybrushing and stippling with mixed results. I need to do some additonal tinkering before I wash the whole lot in gunge and paint in the details. I think they look OK thus far but definately need some more work.

Gunboat!

I've finished reading In Limbo: The Story of Stanley's Rear Column, which confirmed all my pre-conceptions about the Heart of Darkness. It was a very interesting read but not if you are easily disturbed by gratuitous flogging, cannibalism and psychotic derangement.

As you can imagine, I'm in need of a little light refreshment, so thought I'd delve into some colonial diplomacy with Brian Perrett's Gunboat: Small Ships at War. I've had this on the shelf for a while and, as the author is usually pretty reliable for a good read, I reckon I'm going to enjoy it a bit more than the previous book.

Saga

I've been ignoring this set of rules with extreme prejudice recently. They're very expensive, require even more expensive sets of dice and have a really cheesy front cover but, nonetheless, have a number of appealing angles.

They require only a handful of figures, of which I have in an embarrassing if not unhealthy abundance. They are, according to hearsay, very intuitive and quick to pick up. They also have lots of potential for some gratuitous historical background research, tapping into my long and mostly forgotten educational past.

I'm thinking of getting hold of a copy at Warfare in a few weeks time but may give in to temptation before then, assuming a good deal turns up. There are some chaps at the club who are interested and, as a result, this might be a project for 2012.

Oh dear.

General Mpongo's Motor Pool

I've been looking for a suitably Cold War era Soviet style command vehicle for the aforementioned General Mpongo. I thought I'd see if QRF had anything useful having failed to locate the spare Peter Pig GAZ jeep. I was pleased to find that they do a rather neat little GAZ 69 staff car which is perfect for the job. I may some sort of railings so that the genralissimo can stand in the back and drive up and down to review his assembled military forces.

I've also ordered a couple of tracked AT-T artillery tractors that I have no use for but which were too cool to resist. I think I'll use them as transport vehicles for some engineers or, more likely, as tows for my anti tank guns. They're possibly the funkiest vehicles imaginable but very suitable for an Eastern Bloc ad-hoc army surplus equipped African dictatorship, so I'm sure they'll fit in very nicely. 

AK47 Autumn Assault [20]

I switched tack to complete the painting on the army commander base this evening as I was a bit pushed for time. As you can see, I've finished General Mpongo and his bodyguard including, just in case, the ex-General Mpongo and his bodyguard casualty marker.

They're a bit shiny still as I haven't spray varnished them yet. I also need to texture and paint the bases. I might provide the General with a jeep or staff car to ride around in but I'll have to find something suitable. I think I've got a spare GAZ jeep somewhere but I can't remember which box it's in. I must be getting old?