Review: Artizan Designs - Grey Wolves U-Boat Crew

 Grey Wolves

Northstar Miniatures sell 28mm Artizan Designs metal models on their website. There is a 'Thrilling Tales' section of Pulp Fiction and generally Interesting Characters. They come either as single figures or in packs.

Two of those packs, available for £8.50 each are U-Boat crewmen, entitled 'Grey Wolves'. They include: a captain with binoculars, a petty officer with Schmeisser SMG, two crewmen with SMGs, and a Spandau team.

These are great figures, full of character. In size, they match Warlord Bolt Action minis pretty much exactly.

I envisage using them: as a defenders of Berlin '45 Naval section, a Sea Lion Patrol Scenario section, Very British Civil War, 7TV, and in pulp fiction skirmish games generally that are set in the interwar and WWII eras.

Highly recommended.

You can buy them here.

Dr Who, Bolt Action, VBCW - A Mitford Gal

One of the Mitford Gals shown with her BMW Sports (in patriotic Red, White and Black), her dog spot, and her current squeeze, Hauptmann Von Klot.

This is an out of production Revell 1:48 kit that is still widely available, from their aircraft accessories range. The Hauptmann is from their Luftwaffe ground crew accessory range.

Suitable for Dr Who or, at a pinch, Bolt Action or VBCW - very tall, the Mitford Gals.

Medway Club's VBCW Xmas Charity Game

Spode's Blackshort Legion (aka your humble scribe) have kidnapped father Xmas from Maidstone's John Lewis aqnd have him hostage at Little Wimpington as part of their demands of a British Bicycle for every British Worker and the railway gauge to be widened so sheep can stand sideways in the waggons.

Spode's WWI artillery piece, liberated from the Royal Engineers Museum, threatens a suspicious looking milk float who identifies himself as 'Ernie, the fastest milkman in the south'.

Unfortunately, the umpire ruled that Spode's air support has frozen up and is unserviceable - boo, hiss.

The Maidstone BUF block the road to Little Wimpington in support of The Blackshorts.

The Post Office Socialist Militia are tasked to storm Little Wimpington and rescue Father Xmas but they first have to hold a meeting to discuss terms and conditions.

Nazi Paratroops unexpectedly drop in to Little Wimpington to take Father Xmas into protective custody, sparking a firefight with Spode's chaps.

Then an armed unit of the Met Police Special Branch infiltrate the village and open fire on everybody.

Then it turns out that Father Xmas has magical allies from the North Pole who ride a self track laying train. This umpire is barmy!

Then up pop killer penguins and snowmen: this is getting tricky.

An armed squad of Kent Police arrive in Little Wimpington and start a jurisdiction dispute with the Met.

Apparently there's been an escape from the local Zoo.

A flying Anglian Mechanised Column.

The Nazi Stormtroopers capture Father Xmas and march him out of the village, protected by air support: Goering's breeding programme has obviously gone well.

Many thanks to Graham, fourth from left, and Mik, fifth from left, for such a memorable evening.

We raised more than £150 for the Royal British Legion.

VBCW - Temporary Airfield on the Village Green

Spode's Blackshorts have 'liberated' two Silver Wings and flown them to an airfield that they have set up on the green of the Kent village of Puckleberry.

Stormflyer Goring, late Flight-Lieutenant Goring of His Majesty's RAF (very late since the affair of  the missing mess funds), stands guard in case any peasant revolutionaries of the Watt Tyler Front are in the offing.

From right to left is a Fairy Flycatcher, a carrier plane as you can see from the reinforced undercarriage, and a much more potent Hawker Fury. If you imagine the top wing of the Fury removed and retractable undercarriage fitted, you can see how Hawker developed the Hurricane so quickly.

These are old 1:48 models that I bought cheap, prebuilt off eBay, and tarted up a bit.

They'll be no holding Spode now that he has air support.

Pip, pip, old bean.

Anuvva Freikorps Officer

Another Copplestone figure.

It's not well known but Guderian, who was a complete shit in many ways, was a Feikorps officer in the Baltic: not something you will find much about in his memoirs.

VBCW Militia - Sloppy Jalopy

Panzerkaput's excelent VBCW site has alerted me to some wonderful militia troops for VBCW.

Like me, you probably associate Sloppy Jalopy with, ah, sloppy jalopies but they do these as well for the giveaway price of £15. The miner's pack above apparently even has a choice of heads - miners hat or otherwise.

Two six section militia chaps from the village cricket team: also for £15.


Ace.

VBCW Spode's Blackshorts - Mechanised Platoon

I have finished a 12 unit army of Spodes Blackshorts: mechanised platoon.

Spode, Viscount of Sidcup and would be dictator of Britain, is able to acquire the very best equipment from Mosley's BUF. To whit:

Command Section: Strike Leader Egbert 'Eggy' Phipps-Prinkle with standard bearer, radio-man, and Jaguar command vehicle.

Three Storm Sections each of: Storm Leader with Tommy Gun, VB grenade launcher, bren-gun team and four riflemen.

Support Weapons: Two inch mortar, and bren-gun team.

Artillery: 18 pdr medium howitzer with bren-gun armed van serving as a prime mover.

Open-Topped armoured lorry with fire ports to lift a storm section.

Improvised armoured car with bren-gun.

Vickers 6 ton light tank armed with a 3pdr light howitzer and a coaxial mg.

Hornet medium C tank armed with a 6pdr naval medium anti-tank gun, various mgs and the platoon mascot spot.

I think you will agree that these will present a fearsome challenge to the Chatham Soviet

VBCW - Militant Wing of the Woman's Institute

The Woman's Institute in the village of Little Dimpling in the Wold has its own militia commanded by Brigadier Mrs Daut Paulker, wife of Colonel Daut-Paulker.

Here she is shown with an infantry section led by Mrs Jackson, the local publican's wife, who has acquired a Tommy Gun. Local Church Schoolteacher, Mrs Fotheringay has the Lewis gun with the librarian, Miss Peabody carrying the reloads.

Mrs Dault Paulkers's daughter Hetty is driving the Colonel's Crossley while her boyfriend, Sebastian 'Woofy' Winkerton who is just down from Oxford mans a Vickers that he borrowed from the University Combined Cadet Force.

This particular patrol was a response to the rumour that the Watt Tyler Brigade of Anarchist Agricultural Workers intended to raid the village and steal the Colonel's prize pig.

Models by Blind Beggar.

VBCW, Back of Beyond Crossley Truck

This is a Corgi diecast that I have titivated up a bit for VBCW, Russian Civil War, or any Back of Beyond game.

I have just added an Empress 28mm driver.

The fore cab soft-top comes off to show the driver.

And the back!

This is a real Crossley.

Here's one turned into an armoured car.

IHMN VBCW Steam Tractor

Paid a visit to Hertfordshire the other day and came across this wonderful steam tractor outside the Fighting Cocks Pub

Just the thing for your Very British Civil War or IHMN Army to pull their artillery pieces around.

Review of Warlord Games Renault FT - 17, Bolt Action VBCW

The FT - 17 is one of Warlord's more recent kits and it shows. The attention to detail and crispness of the resin modelling is excellent. Everything fitted unambiguously together using lugs and there was almost no flash to clean up.

The kit consists of four resin sections: hull, turret, and left/right tracks. Added to this are a metal gun: you get a choice of two, the MG or the light canon, and the metal rear unditching plate which comes in two sections.

I painted it in original French colours.

The FT 17 was the first tank to adopt the universal tank layout of engine at rear, tracks to the side, and main gun in a rotating turret on top of the hull. As such it was a milestone.

FT-17s fought in WWI, the Russian Civil War, Polish-Soviet War,  various Chinese conflicts, Spanish Civil War, Winter War, WWII (on the western and eastern fronts), Franco-Thai War, Turkish war of Independence and the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

It is not out of place in any inter-war campaign including VBCW.

About 2,750 were produced, which prior to WWII was a big production run.

I think I may get another.

Highly recommended.

Review Warbase VBCW Crossley Tender

This is Warbase lasercut kit of a Crossley Motors tender from WWI and the interwar period with an Empress driver.

I found this kit much easier to make than the armoured lorry, possibly because I am now used to how they go together, possibly because I read the assembly instructions this time, or maybe because the vehicle is very square, which suits the material.

This is a diecast metal model of the same truck with an Empress civilian driver added.

 The weird headlights on the Warbase kit are actually not a bad likeness.

The two models together.

This is photo of the real thing in the Shuttleworth Collection.

Converters might be interested in this Crossley armoured car at Bovingdon.

Review, Warbase Lancia Triota Armoured Lorry

Warbase Lancia Triota

Warbase is another of the lasercut wood model kit manufacturers that have sprung up in recent years, often offering versions of the more unusual vehicles not covered by the major companies. That makes them eminently suitable for lesser gamed periods such as WWI or Inter-War.

The kit consists of wood and cardboard and is very fiddly. Slender pieces of wood such as the axles break easily during the assembly process, although the finished model is robust.

The kit is 1:56 so is a little on the small side against modern 28mm figs. The Pig Iron model shown above is only an average 28mm.

It comes without assembly instructions but Warbase email pdfs to the buyer. Mine got lost for various reasons and I assembled this model without instructions - which was probably an error. Warbase emailed replacements to me within 24 hours of asking, which is excellent customer service.

I used a solvent-based cellulose primer and Citadel textured paint to add mud. The wooden sections are heavily grooved making details of the armour, door handles etc stand out against the paint.

Laser cut models are starting to approach the limit of what is possible with this material. They are great at large flat squarish geometric structures like buildings but more questionable for small weight bearing or rounded components - hence cardboard.

I recommend this kit despite some reservations because (i) it is excellent value for money, (ii) an unusual vehicle and (iii) the finished product looks good and does the job. It's just the sort of vehicle you want for the paramilitary conflicts of the interwar years. But be prepared for a modelling challenge.

Below are some images of the real thing as used in Ireland (sources from various internet pages).

RUC Lancia

A good shot showing the vehicle size against a soldier.

Being used as an IFV or patrol waggon.

Used as an armoured shield by a field gun crew bombarding a rebel-held building.

Review, Sarissa Open Lorrry (51)

The completed model

When finished the Sarissa Lorry is not too bad as a backdrop terrain piece for any conflict set between about 1914 to 1945 including Russia and other isolated places.

The finished model is also  robust and light so easy to store.

But that ends the good news and the rest is downhill.

Clock the awful steering wheel and the way the bonnet is made from stuck together layers. It is impossible to get those into line without a great deal more patience than the average wargamer is likely to enjoy. The rear had one of those tow bars you find on toy train sets. OK it's easy enough to snip off but the whole kit has a Noddy-Toytown feel.

The plans

Not the easiest model I have ever put together, the tiny chassis pieces and axles are very difficult to get off the sprue without fracture.

Including Empress driver

Scaling is another issue. I painted up a driver from Empress to go in the cab. Hmmm!  Empress models tend to be on the small size for 28 mm but they're not that small.

Empress driver in 1:43 diecast

To make the point here is an Empress model in a 1:43 (28mm nominally covers about 1:56 to 1:48) diecast model. 

Regretfully I can't recommend this model not even at its low price of £7.50. Spend more and get a resin lorry from one of the many  ranges from other manufacturers, notably Bolt Action, Sloppy Jalopy, Shattered Empires.

Homage to Catalonia by Artizan

This wonderful Artizan (North Star) figure features Eric Arthur Blair, better known by the pen-name George Orwell, who fought in the Spanish Civil War for the POUM Militia.

POUM were an anarcho-syndicalist political group  which was attacked by the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party. Blair got out of Catalonia one jump ahead of Stalin's thugs of the NKVD.

He recorded his experiences in Homage to Catalonia, one of the greatest novels in the English language.

The Anarcho-Syndicalist flag.

Eric Blair