I'm very busy at the moment, so busy in fact that I've not really had time to post much. I've got numerous projects at work and a new child in the house. By rights I ought not have the time to do anything for my self at all, but in fact I have both had the time and have put it to some use.
My plans for building an American civil war ironclad model have been shelved as its become unlikely that we will find a use for this model, and in lieu of such a purpose I have no inclination to spend time on it. Instead I've been building an armoured train model, out of card and wood scraps. A loco and four carriages are planned, two of which will be armoured gun carriages.
The locomotive, like all the rest still unfinished. Measuring 28cm in length, this is a mighty train, and possibly a tad too big. The general shape is good enough though, and the Soviets did build some pretty impressive armoured trains. This one still requires its smoke stack, and upper works (all armoured as well) and I may add an armoured MG nest on top of it.
The gun carriages, fore and aft, each identical and measuring 24cm in length and 7½cm in height, sans wheels. Each has two turrets bearing Soviet 76.2mm guns (Model-1927), and a central casemate with an observation cupola and two side mounted maxim guns. In addition each gun carriage has an additional four riflemen who can deploy to offer close protection should the train be stopped.
A small passenger carriage, measuring 20cm in length and 6 cm in height, sans wheels. Unarmoured. The roof comes off and this model can contain 10 infantry elements at its windows.The good thing about building models in card is, its fast, cheap, quite easy if you have good card, and with a good sharp scalpel, you can make quite satisfactory models. Mistakes are inevitable, but a prudent use of paint covers a multitude of errors. Best of all, they can be easily broken down and discarded if no longer needed.
Armoured trains were a big thing in the early twentieth century, especially in eastern Europe and Russia, and such a train will play an important part in a five part Rocketman campaign I'm planning called 'Extremis'.
4 comments:
I think this every time you do a model post. I'm seriously jealous of your modeling skills. Just the tactile fun of forming it, and playing with it and imagining it's surroundings and storyline would be good.
I'm pretty much an overgrown kid.
Aren't we all?
I love the process of building models, which is just as well as I am prone to starting and letting models lie half finished for months or even years before I finish them. Luckily the need to dinish models for the games means they do actually get finished.
Right now I have ten Rocketman games lined up for 2009 (two five game campaigns) so I have plenty of creative writing and model making to squeeze into the approx 2 hours of free time I have between my 'Dada duty' and bedtime.
According to my build list, I have to:
Draw a 28mm scale U boat schematic.
+ build a 'one time/throw away' tramp steamer model.
+ Finish painting some 20 Schwartzepfeile troops (German paratroopers)
+ Finish building the sea plane model
+ Finish various terrain features, including a jetty.
+ Finish building a bunker
+ Paint 30 Shadow troopers (German ww1 trench soldiers)
+ Build a crashed air craft model from the left overs of the two aircraft models I have bought to build my
+ Draw ground plans for a secret base with ground plan for an underground game.
+ Buy another Crossley RAF tender
+ Buy 10 British colonial troops, HMG’s and officers, and then paint them.
+ Build and paint 12 tanks and trucks.
+ Finish building an entire ruined town (at least ten buildings with additional walls and debris pieces).
+ Finish building and painting the armoured train
+ Draw the ground plans for Korsakov’s lair
That list doesn't include the surprises which I can't post in case the players read them
Very cool work !!! :)
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