(Temporary Backup) Ticket inspectors, you’ve gotta hand it to them...

Happy Easter everyone!

I worked on my trains yesterday. I’ve been procrastinating. I’ve lost track (sorry) of how long these trains have been sitting station 

Using Renedra sand bags, I built up a little fortification for the machine gunners.

I built them up slowly and they are removable. 

Finished look.

And a view from the front.

I’m going to use specially mounted MGs for the train so it’ll fit better.

Hope everyone is staying safe.

WWII French Farmhouse Part 2

Well, it’s completed. I finished it on Sunday.

Oathmark Dwarf Champion for scale.

Picture of the front. I just need a name for the store. I’m thinking the Farmer’s wife sells excess produce, dairy  and baked goods inside. I want a funny name but nothing too risqué.

I’m thinking the farmer’s name is Jim Appel (je m’appelle, get it, get it?)

Picture of the rear. I might put down a few more droplets of wash here and there. I was also thinking about putting some cobblestones and straw down inside the archway...

But for now I’m calling it done. Pretty happy with how this one turned out.

WWII French Farmhouse

I’ve been bitten pretty hard lately by the Chain of Command bug.

Ive has paratroop forces for Britain, USA and Germany for quite some time as well as an MDF large farmhouse from Sarissa Precision.

I primed it beige and used Citadel Contrast for the stone work. I brushed on some green wash for weathering and smeared it with my finger.

I wasn’t happy with how this looked so decided to try again.

I got out some trusty spackle and mixed in some water until it was like toothpaste.

I then dabbed it on the surfaces to create a stucco look.

As the building was already assembled, it was difficult to get it consistent around the windows.

Today, with the beautiful weather, I used a medium brown spray paint to lightly dust the exterior walls.

I then used a lighter brown to dry brush the walls, which added depth.

Next I started to paint the windows and doors in white.

I have to finish the sign and the remaining windows and doors. I also have to pick out the stones along the bottom in grey and around the archway.

I’ll probably add some wash down some of the walls to look like dirt and grime.

Here are some  pictures of the progress.

Self Isolation

This is a weird time. I was home sick all of last week. Thankfully it was just the Flu. What a weird thing to same. Just the flu.

The 26th Anniversary of Hotlead was also scheduled to take place Mar 20-22 in Stratford, Ontario. It was cancelled by the organizer prior to the Federal Govt restricting the size of get-togethers.

I’m suuuper bummed out it was cancelled, however, it was the right thing to do! And when it comes to Hotlead, I cannot be trusted to do the right thing. It is my favourite time of the year.

So I spent some time assembling some backlog items.

Two Sarissa Precision MDF Flatbed Wagons were assembled. But I somehow forgot to snap any pictures. I have three more pieces left to build to complete my train.

I enjoyed the minimal amount of pieces. I have some Renedra sandbags, I'll be using to build some removable fortifications to each of the flat wagons. A Machine Gun or Field Gun and crew will sit behind them.

What I disliked was the finicky-ness of assembling the undercarriage.  But they are £7.50. It is what it is.

On Sunday, while enjoying the beautiful sunshine, I managed to prime my Oathmark Dwarf Heavy Infantry with Army Painter Plate Mail Metal.

I haven’t primed anything in a while but this can was absolutely amazing. Maybe sitting in my basement for 2+ years is the trick! It went on so smoothly and seemed to get into all the crevices nicely.

These guys are going to paint up so quickly! I’m pumped. I only need to pick out the skin, hair and weapon hafts. Maybe add some brass or gold bits for variations.

I also thought I’d show the progress on my existing Dwarves and Goblins.

The blue ones are Dwarves and the red are Goblins. Both come from the Oathmark line of plastic figures.


All that's left is to do the bases.

Building Terrain - Large Farmhouse

Bit of a break since the last post. I built the Sarissa Precision Large Farmhouse sometime last week but finally got around to talking some pictures. 

On to the review. Another nice flat pack piece of kit. Three (or four, oops it's been a while) sheets of 2mm MDF and a sheet of 1mm card.

Again a nicely laid out diagram and exploded diagram for easy installation.

The kit went together pretty easy. I read a review that stated the floors and roof have little tabs (that clip it all together) that are a pain but I didn't find it a pain. It separates quite easily.

Finished. Looks pretty good.

With the roof off. Just two separate rooms.

With the second floor off. One large room, one small room and an overhang.

All three pieces separately.

I really enjoy Sarissa Precision kits and look forward to getting many more. The 1mm card pieces were fiddly. Especially the archways.

Building Terrain - Western Wagon

I managed to find some time to put together the Sarissa Precision MDF Western Wagon. It comes flat packed and is really quite a small package.

Now onto my mini review:

Inside is a 1 page instruction manual with the overall picture (above) and the exploded diagram (below)

The kit comes on one single sheet of 2mm MDF.

I noticed that all the little punch out pieces are excellent for battlefield debris/bricks etc .

One view of wagon. There is also a long piece of MDF that attaches to the bar pictured between the front wheels. As I'm not going to attach this wagon to any animals I'm not attaching the bar. Forgive my wagon ignorance.

Reverse side

All in all, another easy kit by Sarissa. No real fiddly pieces. The lack of details inside the wagon is irrelevant as I plan to have hay in wagon bed.

Building Terrain - Barn

Yesterday, I received my order from Sarissa Precision.

Today I thought I'd tackle the Dark Ages barn which will be an old barn in the corner of a walled farm somewhere in Normandy in 1944.

I must say these are my first MDF kits so I'm excited.

The barn comes with a single sheet of paper which includes the overall picture (above) and an exploded schematic (below).

There were also two small sheets of 2mm MDF with all the pieces.

A quick confession: I really dislike the initial smell but it goes away.

The barn pieces punched out fairly simply. I was worried about the front supports/beams but all in all, the barn went together very quickly.

Front angle - the exterior has detailing but alas, the interior is rather plain..

Rear angle - I really like the barred windows at the back. A bit fiddly getting the pieces out. When assembling these kits, a knife is a must.

The roof and walls are separate. I'll probably put a large hay bale or something on one side that a sniper can hide behind.

All built! Still a long way from being "done". 

Need to detail the roof, build a hay bale, and paint this sucker. 

This kit went together really fast and easy. It took less than 10 minutes to put together.

With Warlord American Airborne Pathfinder for scale.

Sarissa Precision

I put in an order to Sarissa Precision on Aug 20th. I ordered the Large Farm from their NW Europe range, a medieval barn, a wagon from their Western range, 1 set of weapons team bases, 1 artillery base and 7 sets of custom weapons team bases in a pill shape instead of circular.

Five days is all it took to arrive. 

As I don't have a real wargaming space, I need a table that can be put away but can stay set up as a dedicated wargaming table if required. I found a 34" square, foldable card table today for $24.99 at Canadian Tire (1/2 off Yay!). My plan is to build a 4'x4' box top that can sit on top and be deep enough that a lid/table surface can go on preserving a game underneath.

But what of my hiatus? I'm still hurt but having a neighbour who is an outstanding physiotherapist means I walk next door for treatment 2x daily which has resulted in (knock on wood) rapid progress.