Knights of the Sky Kitbash [6]

I finished the Roden Pfalz DIII yesterday but the weather knocked out the internet connection, so I couldn't post the pictures. In the end, it's turned out to be pretty robust despite my concerns about the flimsy struts and wobbly undercarriage. I'm happy with the end result and now have something a little different to deploy in the next Knights of the Sky game. I'm also a little less daunted by the Pegasus FK8 and DH5!

Toofatlardies Xmas Special 2013

 

This has just been released and I have an article for Bag the Hun 2 in it. It's based on a scenario that I wrote for the club and played tested a couple of months ago. If you like it, I'm thinking of doing some more for the Summer Special, based on the No185 Squadron Malta scenarios that I've written over the last couple of years or so.

Knights of the Sky Kitbash [5]

My daughter was sent home from school this morning feeling sick, so I got the job of looking after her all afternoon. This meant I had some time to crack on with the Pflaz DIII while she went to sleep on the sofa.

I've added the undercarriage, which is less flimsy than I thought it would be, added the engine exhaust stack and machine gun barrels, stuck on the tailskid and spray painted the tail to make it look less boring. I've also added the decals, which were a pain as they disintegrated and had to be replaced with spares from the bits box.

I now need to add the upper wing, interplane and cabane struts, which I'm not looking forward to at all. I also need to paint the pilot figure and squeeze him into the cockpit, which is always a tricky job to get right. It's a bit of a rush bodge job but it's good practice and will add an unusual fighter to the collection.

Knights of the Sky Kitbash [4]

A manic day but I have had some time to spend on the Pfalz DIII, although it's still looking pretty crude. I've struggled a bit with with the joint between the engine cowling and the fuselage, not to mention the Silver Grey finish to the surfaces. I think it's not too far off and I doubt anyone will notice. I now need to paint the upper wing undersides and the various fiddly bits such as exhaust stacks, tailskids, wheels and struts.

Stocking Fillers

After the WW1 aerial game sparked a lot of interest the other day, I thought it would be a good idea to give some of the new players a bit of encouragement to produce their own model planes. I have a massive stash of kits in the loft, many of which are duplicates or even quadruplicates, so I'm more than happy to donate a selection to the club as an early Xmas present.

I've sorted out a pile of kits that will be useful for 1917 into 1918, with an emphasis upon ease of construction and a limited number of bits. There are a couple of more complex or fiddly kits as well, just to add some challenge. I'm going to take this lot up the club on Tuesday so that the chaps can pick two or three to take home as stocking fillers.

Knights of the Sky Kitbash [3]

I made some progress with the Pfalz DIII this evening but it's looking pretty rough at the moment, so will need a lot of sanding and scraping to shape up. This is one of those kits where the instructions have been written by someone who hasn't actually put the thing together, so some bits don't fit and other parts fit badly. I'm a bit worried about the very flimsy struts and undercarriage but I'm hoping they'll go together without too many nightmares. I really should stick to good, old fashioned Airfix, Revell and Esci kits!

Knights of the Sky Kitbash [2]

I've chickened out of starting the Pegasus FK8 'Big Ack' kit, at least for the moment, as all that white metal and bendy strut sprue has given me the fear. Instead, I'll be building a more 'user friendly' Roden Pfalz DIII kit which I'd already undercoated ready for construction. I've made a good start on the wings and fuselage and hope to get some more done later this evening.

Black Powder Zulu!

This arrived in the post a few days ago but, due to work, I haven't had time to sit down and read it through yet. It's supposed to be a Xmas present but I'll have a sneaky flip through this weekend before it gets wrapped up and put under the tree. It looks stunning and is full of historical detail with a minimum of rules specific content, so it'll be useful for other rules as well as for Black Powder, which is handy as I also like the look of Chris Peers' Death in the Dark Continent' rules for this too. 

Knights of the Sky Kitbash [1]

As the WW1 aerial game went so well on Tuesday, I've set up another one for January 2014. This will be a late 1917 scenario and will, hopefully, feature one or two new aircraft from the kit pile. I'm thinking of starting on one this weekend, although I doubt I'll get anywhere near finishing it by the end of next week. I've finally finished the marking, sort of, so the next three or four days are relatively free. 

To make my life even more complicated, this will probably be a Pegasus limited run injection moulded kit, either an Armstrong Whitworth FK8 or a DH5. This will involve a lot of effing and blinding, as I try to cut various flimsy plastic strut lengths to size then attempt to get the whole thing to glue together without collapsing under it's own weight. 

...if it all goes pear shaped, I'll dig out a simple plastic kit and bash something together instead!

WW1 Aerial Multiplayer Game

We had a cracking game of Knights of the Sky this evening, with ten players contesting the skies over the Western Front in the Spring of 1917. The game made use of the club Hexon terrain for the first time and it worked really well, especially with the large number of players and planes involved. There were several new players as well, which injected some new enthusiasm into the game and helped to make it fun for everyone.

In the end it was a bit of a stalemate. I flew a Nieuport 17 whose French pilot, Capitane Crapaud, succeeded in shooting down one enemy Albatros before being forced to return to his airfield with some nasty structural damage. I subsequently returned with an RFC 'Harry Tate' which made a brief but hair raising flight over the frontlines.

Although at one point on fire and suffering some fuselage, wing and tail hits, Lt Twistleton-Twinkle and his rear gunner, Corporal Scrote, did give the Hun a good thrashing in true 'stiff upper lip' fashion. The twin Lewis gun mount and forward firing Vickers on the RE8 gave the Boche a nasty surprise, despite a few inconvenient jams at inopportune moments.

Good stuff!