Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year!

 Another year is just about done, and I hope you all have a safe and happy one.

Just don’t over do the punch…

Here’s a few toys I’ve done, all ancients this time.

First up some Romans, mostly Airfix with new bingo chip shields. The originals went astray and I bought these guys sans scutum. I love those old Giant officer figures.

Next up is more Marx Madness. Captain Gallant figures manning Airfix Roman chariots as Persians, and some Persian cavalry from Giant knights.

And finally, a work in progress from a quarter century ago. Spartan hoplites from Marx Captain Gallant figures with plasticene shields, helmets and cloaks. The spears are florist wire and pop off if handled too much, so I made a special box just for them to be stored in. 

Well that’s it this time. Best wishes for the New Year!

Paper Tigers

 Well, not so much paper as cardboard. During Covid I did a lot of ordering from Amazon and I duly cut up the boxes for recycling. Then I thought it might be an opportunity to make some things out of this free bounty of cardboard. I made terrain, rivers, bridges and such, buildings and the like. But I got bored. So I was flipping through the “Marshall Cavendish History of World War 2” (in 25 volumes) and I had a hard look at the paintings of some of the equipment. They were accompanied by the dimensions, so I made a ship. Then some planes. Eventually I had a go at tanks. I had a look at my own 1/76 and 1/72 stock and soon realized that to flesh out the armies would be pretty costly . Models are $10 to $20 each now, or I’d have to go the 3d printer route. So I made blocky tanks in a smaller scale, roughly 1/100 or so. They went together quickly and I made several forces.

This is the start of my Italian forces. The M11 turrets are a failure, I have to find another solution.

And here are the tiny Tigers, and a lurking Panther:

I also made a roughly 1/72 Panther, just to see how it went together:

Not the prettiest, but doable just for gaming. I started in on some Panzer 3’s and 2’s:

Here’s an early Panzer 4 and a Nashorn:

I said earlier I had a go at some aircraft. No scale really, as I tried small aircraft but they don’t do well in cardboard. So these are roughly 1 inch to 10 feet. And round fusilages are tough in cardboard at this size, so I simply put a round wooden disk in front of the square motor.