Islands (in the sun?)

I acquired two sets of islands from Irongate Scenary at the Wirral Warboot. Although I was tempted to make them look more fancy I decided on keeping them robust enough to cope with normal game/club usage.

I may make another set with a more mediterranean colouring when I get the chance and inclination.

Bamboo clumps for the jungle

Most likely for Vietnam games (link), but also for South East Asia in WW2. I was struck by the look of some clumps another wargamer had made and had to copy them.

I have not made the clumps quite as thick and also not bothered to paint the stalks darker, but they give a good general effect.

Gates

A quick update with the gates I created and 3D printed, the support posts are just matchsticks but I think they will fit in nicely with either hedges or fences that I have previously created.

Wadis and Depressions

I've created a number of shapes that will enable me to create either wadis (dried up river beds) or depressions, both of which are common features of arid ladscapes such as North Africa.

This was my first use of foamex rather than hardboard as the base material and it was quite sucessful, so I will be getting more to be able to make area shapes

After playing one of the Rapid Fire Reloaded Crete scenarios I have realised I will need some extra straight sections so I have got started on four 300mm lengths.

Reworked Mediterranean hills

As part of my terrain rationalisation I have cut down a number of the hills I created for Sicily back in 2015 to ensure they fit in my normal storage boxes and also to flatten the tops.

Typically the paint and flock colours have varied from the originals, seems odd as the paint and flock are the same batches I used, and the hills have not been exposed to much sunlight.

Hopefully I can still use them if I re-run the Lentine 1943 game, but the cover provided by the hills will not be as obvious as it was.

Replacement fences

My old fences have seen good service over the years but they are now past it (by my current standards). So I've created a new batch out of large lolly sticks, matchsticks and an old rattan blind.

Still need a few more gates, the ones I used were MDF, but I will 3D print some more.

The whole batch

Lets not be defensive

A stack of eastern european fences have just been finished. Based on wide "lolly" sticks and using an old rattan blind
The vehicles are a couple of Fabbri diecast BA64s that I have got around to repainting.

Some terrain at last - Vines

After my failure to make hardly any of the terrain I intended last year I thought I had better start with my long planned extra vines.
I made three according to my original design copied from a ZTT original (on the left) but changed over to using plant prunings for the rest.
The difference is more apparent in the work in progress picture, the JTT copies use thin twisted copper wire.
The originals were made for the Sicily game back in 2015 (link) and these double the amount I have.

Cactus patches

Although I have some of the Pegasus cactii I was tempted by these cactii that I found on ebay as they were a good match for Agave and other similar cactii.

I had to paint them to remove the bright plastic effect and I've added a figure for scale

Link to ebay sellers

Kurgans

In the background of my last post you would have seen a couple of mounds, these are Kurgans, burial mounds typically found on the Russian steppes. They appear in the Battleground terrain generator so I decided to make a couple.
They are quite simple construction, just some insulation foam on an old CD, I added an entrance so it was obvious what they were.

Another river to cross?

Only 4 years late - the bridge across the river for the Korsun pocket game for Gauntlet 2016. It had been debatable whether the river and potential bridge would be needed and in the event they weren't.


My original plan was for a single span but that seemed too wide, so I added a central support, hopefully it reflects the extemporised bridges used on the astern Front in WW2


I alo created a couple of additional ramps so I could bridge narrower rivers.


Just need the narrower rivers now!

Airfield buildings

I have had these a while, I picked them up on ebay to use for the planned Crisis point game, but when that was cancelled due to lockdown I put them to one side.


After assembly I felt disappointed by the appearance especially the Nissan huts and almost gave up, but I persevered

The Nissan huts were a basic frame that looked nothing like the originals and the side windows are appalling so I gave up using them, To give the correct appearance I clad them in corrugated card recycled from wine boxes, thanks to Steve A for that tip.

The Control tower is the best but I had to make all the levels accessible and added the railings around the viewing platform


The hanger is a very monolithic structure, I think a double roof would have looked far better and the entrance is not wide enough to get any 1/72 aircraft inside


One of the original pictures from ebay, I still have the "radar" but I won't be using it.

On the right tracks?

Well, not quite. I've completed some more bits of railway track as I found that what I had for the Lentini big game (link) was not flexible enough to cover other wargames uses, especially as I still had plenty of spare track.

I needed more curved and straight track, but I found that the straight track didn't fit the Hornby foam ballast, so I has to use foamcore board instead with one side stripped and textured to try and create something similar to the original used on the curved track


It seemed to turn out OK, after I crushed the track into the foamcore.

Thanks to Don McH for he original idea

Setting the scene - Italian telegraph posts

I picked up a set of laser cut Italian telegraph posts from my mate Simon R at Recon. These have now been painted up ready for use in Sicily. Not displayed on the right coloured cloth


A bit more like they would appear in use

Palm trees and off to Battleground

A family reunion has luckily occurred just at the right time for me to squeeze in a visit to the Battleground show at Stockton tomorrow. Meanwhile I have based up the small palm trees for the club.

The Sugarcraft trees were donated my Pete and I just glued them into insulation foam and then applied my usual desert texturing.

Club shrubbery

Another batch of terrain for Deeside Defenders - a very mixed bag of bits, suitable for jungle, etc.

Club trees

A slight diversion, as I volunteered to base up some trees for my local club Deeside Defenders. Not the nicest of trees but quite robust so they should cope with the rough usage they'll get at the club.

Middle-east buildings

Last items finished in August were a couple of new buildings from Red Vectors/Pendraken to replace an old pair I sold.

Quite large structures, quite suitable for the major Government buildings, but quite plain on the backs.

belated buildings for Market Garden.

These buildings from Timecast turned up too late for the game, and I wasn't sure about the size. They have now been painted and I'm still not convinced. They are sold as 18/20mm, I've displayed them with my 20mm figures.

Arnhem cottages, the front door is 15mm high by 5mm, definitely undersize.


Foy house & barn, the house door is 18mm x 11mm so the close to the advertised scale. The small barn doors are 20mm x 7mm so the right height, but too narrow




The overall height/bulk of the Arnhem church is fine, but the main door is only 22mm x 14mm. The back door is 18mm x 8mm.




They are very heavy, and attempting to dry-brush the brickwork is a pain as it is so fine. Because they are not critical to any game, I'll probably copy them and then sell them to a more appreciative home.

Terrain for market Garden - part 3

Another batch completed and it was actually in use last weekend. It comprised more canals including bends, some road junctions and a pair of canal bridges.


Here's some close ups of the bridges, scratch built from Balsa.