My apologies to Eily Beadell and Nell Tollerton!

I started by making a stream/small river, about 45m wide in scale (including banks). A bigger river will be a later project, maybe next summer.

For today, I first took stock of what sheet styrene I had left, which was just going to be enough: . You can see the trusty Olfa cutter there – one of the greatest wargaming terrain/wargaming scenery-making tools you can own.

Next, I had to make two sets of measurements. First, I had to make sure that the lengths I was cutting would fit comfortably in their intended receptacle and then second I had to make sure the river was the right width. These were done by 1) measuring cut lengths against the box that will hold them and 2) using a based infantry team for width. An infantry team is on a 40mm base, which is 40m on the wargaming table. If they cross at a ford, where they can Walk (not Wade), they should be able to get over in one turn. Both of those measurements are being made here: . Ah yes, the A3 Reflex copy paper box. I’d be very inconvenienced without them! They hold my hills, my trees, my buildings, my roads and very soon, my rivers.

Where possible, I used offcuts and previously-cut pieces as templates or “cookie-cutters” to speed up cutting: In that photo, I’m about to use an off-cut from the perfect straight edge to do the cutting for the other bank of the river piece, which is then snapped off as a complete piece. Then that completed whole piece can be laid on the sheet styrene, cut around and snapped off as a second seperate but complete piece! Etc., etc.

As well as straight pieces of different lengths, I made a narrow man-made ford section, a natural ford section, a Y-intersection, curving sections and ‘wobbly’ sections as well as a section that opens into a small swamp or bog before becoming a stream/river again: . Those two at the bottom – the left is meant to be a separate swamp or bog, the right will become a large pond or small/medium lake.

Last, check once again they fit in your receptacle: .

That’s it for today. Tomorrow I’ll get another tube of caulk.

VJ: I don’t mind becoming the first kinetic-revolution and kinetic-evolution on earth’s universal ratification.

I’ll gladly accept it in doing so in preparations with project felicia500 and anticynicism for the next 500 years in order to instigate ogc.101.gpc to become a success of this case of duty: 176.

Battlefield Accessories is a local wargames terrain/wargames scenery manufacturer producing mostly for the 1/72 & 1/76 scales.

Having already made up ‘BA14 Ruined Building Pack Size 3′ last year, I picked up ‘BA16 Ruined Building: Spare Wall Pack’ this year at our Open Day this year, for which the contents are 4 x4″ & 4 x 2.5″ Walls.

Since I still have so much 1mm sheet styrene lying around, it would supply the bases/floors for two of these buildings. I also decided one would be undamaged and one damaged.

The logs piled against the walls are real trigs that I found during walks around the neighbourhood, that are already dried out. Providing one uses a fine, sharp saw, they become very suitable 1/72 scale logs.

The moss effect almost entirely covering one wall on each building is ultrafine leftover flock that I originally purchased to represent duckweed on ponds. I’m now using it for modelling moss growing on walls.

The other green effect, looking like veins or cracks but fluffy is an attempt to model vines or creepers growing up and spreading their branches out along the wall. I’m fairly pleased with the final result.

The burnt effect is model railroad coal and some 50% Black Ink spattered beyond it to show where flame spread but didn’t consume the wood.

Now that these are finished, it really is time to get cracking with some Nikolas Lloyd caulk waterways!

5.- Planes Personales de Retiro (PPR’s)

Este tipo de planes nacen de los incentivos fiscales que el gobierno ofrece para complementar las jubilaciones. Son cuentas individuales que reciben y administran tus recursos, mismos que te serán entregados cuando llegues a los 65 años, o en caso de invalidez o incapacidad. Estos planes únicamente los ofrecen instituciones financieras autorizadas por el SAT, entre ellas algunas aseguradoras, el beneficio para los contribuyentes es doble; por un lado haces deducible tu ahorro y por otro, cuentas con más dinero para disfrutar de una jubilación digna.

Si bien esta alternativa ofrece un gran beneficio en cuanto a disminución de impuestos también implica una buena administración y los servicios de un contador para hacer correctamente tus declaraciones; aún después de haberte jubilado.

La oferta hoy es variada ya que también encuentras PPRs en fondos de inversión; te comento los correspondientes a seguros y que conozco a detalle:

Seguros Monterrey New York Life ofrece su plan Imagina Ser +, que a través de su fondo te da el respaldo de un seguro de vida y al mismo tiempo te permite ahorrar, deduciendo impuestos de tus  aportaciones y obteniendo atractivos rendimientos para que al llegar a la edad de 65 años, recibas tu ahorro en un solo pago o en ingresos mensuales de por vida con importantes beneficios fiscales.

La ventaja de éste plan es que deduces completamente tus aportaciones de acuerdo a los topes establecidos en la Ley del Impuesto Sobre la Renta, ésta ventaja tienen como consecuencia que en caso de fallecimiento será necesario que los beneficiarios acumulen a sus ingresos gravables el monto recibido (considera que la aseguradora está obligada a aplicar la “retención” que marca la Ley); en caso de invalidez, incapacidad se entregará al titular el dinero resultante de aplicar el cargo por cancelación estipulado en la póliza y el plan se dará por terminado. Existen mecanismos para disminuir estos impactos sin embargo ese es su funcionamiento.

Por su parte GNP ofrece Consolida bajo un esquema muy similar al seguro de retiro, el cual en la prima que se paga contempla un pago destinado al ahorro y otro a la protección, es por ello que sólo una parte del pago es deducible. Esta situación tiene sus ventajas ya que en caso de fallecimiento la indemnización que reciban tus beneficiarios será libre de impuestos; en caso de invalidez e incapacidad se entregará al titular la indemnización contratada y gozará de la protección del seguro de vida. Y si contrataste la cobertura de Exención de pago de primas por Invalidez total y permanente, quedarás perdonado del pago de primas de protección y de ahorro para el retiro, obteniendo año tras año las facturas que podrás hacer deducibles.

Elige es una opción muy flexible, parte de un seguro de vida y te da la opción de hacer aportaciones  de acuerdo a tus necesidades de deducciones ya que aprovecha el estimulo fiscal del artículo 218 (con tope de $152,000 al año) y la deducibilidad del articulo 109 (10% del ingreso con tope de 5 SMG del área geográfica). Sin duda una opción muy interesante pues te libera de obligatoriedad de pago al fondo de retiro y de acuerdo a tus necesidades contables del ejercicio eliges a donde canalizas tus recursos.

En ambos casos el ahorro que se haya destinado al fondo de retiro recibirá el tratamiento fiscal correspondiente.

Este tipo de planes resultan interesantes a personas que requieren disminuir su carga fiscal a través de deducciones autorizadas y que no cuentan con un plan de retiro o su plan no les brinda el ingreso que requerirán.

Te recuerdo que si éste es tu caso y deseas aprovechar los beneficios fiscales para pagar menos impuestos en tu próxima Declaración Anual, debes contratar y pagar antes de que finalice el año. Por cada $1 peso que destines a tu fondo de retiro ahorrarás 28¢ ó 30¢  centavos por concepto de Impuesto Sobre la Renta.

¿Es tu caso?, contáctame para profundizar y brindarte mis sugerencias, mi cuenta de correo es info@protectum.biz o a través de Twitter @AgenteSeguros

A medium-sized township somewhere on the Eastern Front…the Eastern Front in Spring 1945, that is. Two reconnaissance forces clash somewhere in or near Germany.

There was a moderate south-easterly wind blowing.

We decided to play lengthways for this game, as our AFVs could all move at very good speeds and Peter wanted me to see just how that translated onto the table.

I had a company comprised of many different AFVs – 234/2 Pumas, a 234/3 Stummel, 222s and Lynxs. Peter’s Soviet force had a high percentage of Lend-Lease vehicles – M3A1s, M3 half-tracks as well as T-70s.

FIRST TURN:

Both sides moved. My 234/2 Pumas moved at 1/2 their maximum permitted speed, so they could shoot at the T-70s they saw on the main road on the other side of town.

The Pumas hit, but at that range their shells could never penetrate, so the shells bounced off.

SECOND TURN:

More movement. The T-70’s guns can’t reach my Pumas, so my Pumas take advantage of the situation, opening fire and causing one T-70 to be Tracked.

THIRD TURN:

Now AFVs from both sides were racing across the table top.

Peter was right – these recon AFVs really could fly, and having the roads helped this aspect of the game too.

The T-70s are now in range and fire a salvo at the opposing 234/2s but with no success. The 234/2s return fire, getting a Stun result on one of T-70s and  immobilising the other.

FOURTH TURN:

With AFVs sited by both forces, I needed all my 6 ‘pips’ to split my forces up. All jockeyed for cover or to present their heavily-armoured fronts to their opponents.

Down in the south-east of the town, my Lynxs came under solid fire from the Lend-Lease M3A1s, causing one Lynx crew to panic and bail out.

To the north, the 234/2 Pumas both immobilise the already immobilised T-70 and destroy its gun too – Peter rules that it is effectively destroyed as it can do nothing else.

FIFTH TURN:

I order all my German forces to slow right down. Firing at half speed affects their aim (not surprisingly) so now they are to only move 5cm each or less. My rolling for shooting goes downhill though – I roll far too high all of a sudden so my strategy is for naught.

The Russian infantry whom had been tank-riding and dismounted back in Turn Two, hurl Molotov cocktails from their concealed positions in the railway station at the Pumas. Peter rolls the top result possible – Puma #2 is destroyed!

I make a Morale Check for the whole Company…a Shaken result. Not so good.

SIXTH TURN:

My toughest platoon on the table – my 234/2 Pumas – must Withdraw. ‘Withdraw’ means reverse 5cm but can still Shoot…I just cannot go forward under any circumstances.

This turn there was much death. Peter’s  BA-10 platoon are all effectively Tracked and so they Bail Out. My Puma platoon leader is killed. 

I roll an 8 for my Morale Check. With adjustments, the final result is 0 – my remaining Puma must Retreat – but since enemy forces are so close, it’s forced to Surrender to those nearby enemy forces.

At this stage, I declared the Germans had lost. The Russians were bloodied – the most bloodied this year – but I didn’t have enough remaining firepower to break them.

An interesting game – assembling, painting and getting a whole 6 vehicle 234/2 Puma platoon reay for a re-match is an appealing way to spend the upcoming Christmas break.

Magnets. Lindsey. Yoga. Heart. Open. Arthur. Potluck. Confused. Love. Alright.

I decided to check how many bases I could fit inside that Faller house this morning – I was confident of getting one 40mm x 40mm base in, but hoped for two. Picking up a base, it was only slightly too big…but I figured Peter would rule in my favour. I picked up the Hasegawa Kattenkrad to look more at scale…and realised that my 1/72 scale troops would have to stoop to get in the door…and then kneel down to look out of the windows!

I looked at the box, hoping to ascertain what was going on with this size anomly. Nothing. Said ‘HO’ scale. Should be OK.

Then the penny dropped. HO, not ‘HO/OO’, as the small Airfix AFVs and troops of my youth were! ‘All about scales” over at The Miniatures Page confirmed my mistake…this house was actually 1/87 scale. Drat!

Still 4 weeks of Spring left, but today is the second day of over 30 degrees…in fact, looking at the MelbinYewni real time temperature graph, today got to just over 34! This means it’s time to think about doing lots of wargames terrain / wargames scenery, as there will be the heat to cure and dry everything thoroughly and promptly.

I’ve made a start: the three telegraph posts from an old ESCI Diorama Accessories set have been assembled, based and given some lumpy earth around their bases…ready now for painting.

I finished off a platoon of PaK 36 anti-tank guns with crews, plus that ICM Krupp truck, so that they wouldn’t bother me and so that “Operation Barbarossa” next year will be a reality. The PaK 36s are from Fujimi, the crews are the one worthwhile figure from the Fujimi set the gun comes in, a chap from the  Revell  Fallschirmjägers and one of the two ESCI / Italeri Sd. Kfz. 251/1 crew. Photos: .

Some more comments about the ICM Krupp L2H143 Kfz 70 kit…it turns out pretty well and looks great painted. I opted to have the MG 34 on a pintle mount in the rear tray option, to fit in with the Kubelwagen Type 82 which also had pintle-mounted MG34. I don’t like the decals that ICM provided for this kit, though. There is too much excess clear decal surrounding the rear number plate, and even drybrushing with Kommando Khaki as a coat of dust didn’t help…in fact it made it worse and drew attention to the excess. There was also far too much excess on the front number plate – which is meant to wrap around a front bumper bar which is probably only a milimetre wide. Stupid! It wrapped but wouldn’t glue. I know some modellers add a special glue under any decal they apply, but I don’t have that glue and don’t think it should be necessary. The front number plate decal’s glue didn’t hold and so the whole thing popped off during drybrushing. A shame. Sorry ICM, sorry Roden, but I’m not having much luck with your decals.

Now, Fujimi’s product is meant to be 1/76 scale, but it isn’t. Let me clarify…the house probably is, but the figures and PaK gun supplied with it are definitely 1/72 scale or even larger…possibly even 1/70 scale! Anyway, only one figure from that product is worth using with the anti-tank gun because the others are even worsely sculpted and moulded than the figures Hasegawa provide with their WWII AFVs. Hence why each PaK 36 base I’ve done has figures from other manufacturers to make up the two-man crews that Panzerfaust: Armored Fist requires.

Lastly – a couple of Battlefield Accessories wall sections (enough to make two simple houses) have been assembled and are being painted, along with a Faller German, Austrian or Swiss log cabin that I bought at a model railroad shop.

Oh, and there’s a Wespe and that other Kubelwagen still in Tankoberg…but I’m feeling the time is nigh to make a caulk creek / stream following the laws laid down by Nikolas Lloyd.

I don’t know whether to love this song, or to be absolutely terrified by it. It is technically genius; taking an already amazing song and then completely transforming it into something very, very, very different.
Whenever I hear this now, I just laugh hysterically. Maybe it’s because the singer tries to switch from screaming to singing like a woman very quickly and – by the sound of it – takes it very seriously. Or maybe it’s because as I’ve said before, it is so ridiculous. You would never get Kelis covering a screamo song. So any variation on that is nigh-on unthinkable.
I do believe that this song is something worth listening to, even though the majority will probably never listen to it again. And it’s understandable. But I’m sure Kelis would be proud. And that is all that matters.

Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SCpmv37_g4
Follow: http://www.twitter.com/hallojoe

The first two of what will end up being a platoon of six Pumas are done. I even numbered them ‘1″ and “2″:

As you can see, I went for both a dust coat but also a bit of dirty water and some mud splashed around on them. #2 has some rather unusual stowage on its rear deck – a case of 120mm mortar shells plus two boxes of  81mm mortar shells (left over from my Pegasus Hobbies mortars). I chose a while ago to give my AFVs plenty of interesting and unusual stowage courtesy of Scott Nicholas, whose own collection of 1/72 & 1/76 WWII Germans for Panzerfaust: Armoured Fist set extremely high standards for me in terms of painting, detail and stowage.

Now here they are together:

Do please note the rear jerrycans with the white painted crosses on them – I felt that if these guys were doing deep recon, they may well want to take plenty of drinking water with them.

I’ve really enjoyed putting these Hasegawa kits together. Yes, they involve lots of parts and lots of stages but the final product is trouble-free and looks very accurate. Even the wheels, which I thought I might do incorrectly, came out perfectly. I know some people don’t like the tyres on these kits, but as a wagamer I’m not fussed by them.  Looking at those photos from Sd Kfz 234/2 by Francisco Javier Cabeza & Carlos Martín and then comparing them to Hasegawa – certainly, they don’t have the newest and deepest tread on them, but why should they? Why not have them well-worn?

I’m putting the finishing touches to a crewman for their 234/3 kit which should be finished by next weekend. It’s taken more time because of the detail for the crewman and the fiddliness of the gun – but it too has turned out well. It’ll get more paint and extras than these Pumas – you’ll have to wait to see exactly what more and what extra!

Cistothorus platentis   Troglodyte à bec court  /  Sedge Wren  

A vulnerable species in Québec, the Sedge Wren nests in humid prairies, freshwater marshes and peat bogs in south-western Québec. In the winter, it is found near American coastlines and it can be located in New Mexico. Its diet is made up of various insects and spiders that it captures in the foliage of trees. The Sedge Wren is 10 to 11 cm in length.

Espèce vulnérable au Québec, le troglodyte à bec court niche dans les prés humides, les marais d’eau douce et les tourbières du sud-ouest du Québec. En hiver, on le retrouve près des côtes américaines et il peut être localisé au Nouveau-Mexique. Son régime alimentaire se compose d’insectes variés et d’araignées qu’il capture dans le feuillage des arbres. Le troglodyte à bec court mesure entre 10 et 11 cm de longueur.

Le tétras du Canada est un oiseau sédentaire de la forêt boréale du Québec et de la forêt acadienne des Maritimes. Tout aussi présent en Alaska et dans les autres provinces canadiennes, il se nourrit selon les saisons, variant ainsi son alimentation. En été, il savoure des fruits, des champignons, des insectes et des plantes vertes alors qu’en hiver, il consomme des aiguilles et des bourgeons de conifères. La longueur du tétras du Canada varie entre 38 et 43 cm.

Musée de la civilisation,
collection du Séminaire de Québec,
The Birds of America,
John James Audubon,
176/1993.34777

___________

Columba leucocephala  Pigeon à couronne blanche  /  White-crowned Pigeon  

The White-crowned Pigeon is one of the largest pigeons of its species. Originating from the Florida Everglades and Keys, it winters mainly in the West Indies but can also be seen in the Bahamas, in the Caribbean, north of Panama and along the Central American coast. A fruit-eater, the White-crowned Pigeon is threatened by several factors: hurricanes, predation in its nests, poaching, and human settlement development. Its length is 34 cm.

Le pigeon à couronne blanche est l’un des plus gros pigeons de son espèce. Originaire des Everglades et des Keys de la Floride, il hiverne surtout aux Antilles mais peut être remarqué aux Bahamas, aux Caraïbes, au nord de Panama et sur les côtes de l’Amérique Centrale. Frugivore, le pigeon à couronne blanche est menacé par plusieurs facteurs : ouragan, prédation des nids, braconnage et développement humain. Sa longueur est de 34 cm.

Musée de la civilisation,
collection du Séminaire de Québec,
The Birds of America,
John James Audubon,
177/1993.34778

___________

Full article and photos: http://www.mcq.org/audubon/catalogue/audubon_001.html

Over at Paul’s “Plastic Warriors” (1/72 & 1/76 scale) blog, he’s shown off some conversions of Sd.Kfz 251/1s into Sd.Kfz 251/2s.

This is something I intend to do with some Italeri 251cs and leftover mortars from my Pegasus German Mortar Teams boxes that I used for my infantry. Glad to see that my idea is a good one!

The 250/3 is assembled – another Tankoberg production. Apart from those one-piece vinyl tracks, it was quick and straightforward (and twice those tracks have detached themselves from their glue and required more gluing and clamping…I sprayed the finished unit with more Chaos Black to hopefully seal and fix those tracks, as I’ve heard the same tactic used by another modeller (sparying one-piece tracks with spraycan products to fix/set them)). Even the overhead aerial arrangement turned out not to be so difficult or fiddly, holding and keeping a good shape.

My problem with it is that I then tried to position one of the three crew figures supplied in its cabin…and failed. He was far too big. I already had my suspicions when I looked at the bench for the radio operators in the cabin and decided it was a bit undersized, but now I’ve confirmed it. I’m not sure what scale the vehicle itself is – maybe 1/76? Maybe even a bit smaller? The crew figures are definitely 1/72.  A funker doing his job and using that bench would be sitting with his chin resting on his knees, it’s so low.The MG looks 1/72…perhaps it’s certain parts of the kit where, for simplicity, they made decisions that some features would be smaller? Thus,  the MG is 1/72 but the cabin is 1/80 or something?

This means I’m not going to put crew figures (there are three supplied with this Italeri kit) in it at all. Yay, I’ve got three figures as spares. Boo, I like open-top vehicles to have some crew figure/s involved – otherwise, on the wargames table, it looks like all these empty, crew-less vehicles are moving around under remote control.

(P)review: A Tradition I do not Mean to Break
Londonist, July 9, 2009 5:15 PM

A Tradition I do not Mean to Break is an exhibition you should not mean to skip. Featuring new moving image works by David Blandy, Tereza Bušková and Henry Coombes, the exhibition explores cultural subjects near and dear to these three artists’ hearts. Blandy’s Mississipi minstrel film, Crossroads draws viewers in with serene imagery. Coombes ignites imaginations with his erotically charged period drama about English landscape and animal painter, Sir Edwin Henry Landseer. And, Bušková? Well, her film and photography of Slavic Easter rituals, (cockerel beheading ceremonies and whatnot) simply mesmerize.

READ THE COMPLETE REVIEW: 
(P)review: A Tradition I do not Mean to Break

As I got closer to finishing the SdKfz 7/1, I commenced work on two command Tigers. They are the same Revell kit as before, except this time I had plenty of experience in assembling them (and knowing where to stop and do steps in a different order, as well as drill out the holes ahead of time) to draw upon.

This time, the track sag is a lot better…it looks a bit more natural then the previous four, where everything felt too angular. Instead of straight lines and sharp angles, the result was closer to a lazy curve, which is what I wanted.

The Doug Chaltry Technique was completed pretty quickly…I had two evening shifts the previous week and we had some warm weather too, so all those ink coats were done two each day rather than singly. I’d like to mention that the Eastern Express tracks that I used on the SdKfz 7/1 took the Doug Chaltry Technique wonderfully – so much so that if I see any more cheap at Swap-n-Sells, I’ll be buying them just to keep the tracks for when I have vinyl tracks to replace! (Yes, I do have kits yet to do with vinyl tracks, so stay tuned).

I don’t have star aerials to put on these two tanks. A colleague and fellow member of NWA has star aerials on his command vehicles and they look fantastic. I don’t have any and can’t think of any way to effectively kitbash them at this scale…I’d welcome advice if you, good readers, do. I’m just going to give them a second shorter aerial mounted through the roof of the turret.

Speaking of Nunawading Wargames Association, we had one of our two annual Sale Nights on Friday. I picked up (after cleaning and assessing them today): 50-odd conifers in 6mm-15mm scale, which will be perfect for my 15mm other wargaming interest; 10 conifers that will be ok for 1:72/1:76 and eight ready-made plastic kit trees. I’m not sure if they are Woodland Scenics Tree Armatures or an imitation. Either way, they are certainly very old and have been exposed to a lot of heat over their lifetimes, as the plastic has become pretty brittle and I snapped off lots of finer twigs and branches just trying to clean them up and get them ready for undercoating. There are enough major boughs and sturdy branches to proceed – I threw away the trees that didn’t survive the cleaning process.

The tree kits we perhaps the best buy of the night (for me), as now I have an excuse to make some trees in Autumn colours. I’ll probably go with Woodland Scenics for them, although if I can be impressed enough by Heki then I may explore that path just for this project. If my experimenting is successful, then I may decide to do more Autumn trees…

La nave del colorete Sava llegó a los confines del Universo. Lo cual suena a un lugar parecido a La Matanza, o más allá del Camino del Buen Aire, ponele. Pero no, esto es más lejos. Quizá la suma de todas las vidas de las vidas que hubieron y  habrán sobre la tierra multiplicado por doscientos mil y agregale un cuarto más de flautitas. Así, algo así.

Recordó unos versos “…puedes buscar por tierra, puedes buscar por aire…”. Sonrió. Ya su radio no captaba onda alguna. Ya estaba más allá. El había buscado y había encontrado. Las indicaciones de Aintain eran correctas. Ante sus ojos, el comienzo de Todo, el Centro del Universo, el Punto que no se mueve, que no tiene dimensión ni ocupa lugar.

Pensó. Válgame el viaje este desde la nada. Desde la inercia de piedra fría en vacío hasta virus contagiado, insignificancia, negación de la gravedad luego y conciencia más tarde, constructor del juego, delantero de área, goleador indiscutido. No hay trono después de todo, ni Dios de blanca barba, ni constructor alguno, ni consejo de héroes, ni centauros, ni mujeres con cabeza de halcón, ni…

- ¡Put ta, pensé que iban a estar los mayas acá! – dijo irónico en voz alta.

El lugar bien podría haber sido una esquina de Villa Madero, en La Matanza o una parada del ciento setenta y seis donde ruta ocho pareciera perderse para siempre. El silencio ocupaba el lugar desvaneciéndose no en ruido sino en Nada. Lentamente detuvo la nave y apagó el motor. Se sacó el casco y descendió. Con los brazos en jarra observó el paisaje. Un palo de madera corroído por el clima había dejado sobrevivir los tres números del colectivo azul tierra, sucio. En algún momento deben dejar de pasar los autos por ruta ocho, las gentes, refugiarse en sus casas, los perros, dejar de ladrar, los pájaros carroñeros, dormir, los semáforos, dejar de funcionar, los baches, existir sin más objeto que existir, la bruma, disolverse, el olor del río, dessignificar, la tierra, ocupar lo que ya no se usa, la piedra, erosionarse, el sol, quemar todo vestigio; todo, comprimirse nuevamente, desexistir.

Inmóvil, el Colo.

[Download] [10.1 MB] [00:33:30]
Hosted by: Grant Brunner & Marty Keefe

Warning: There are, indeed, sound issues with this episode. Your regularly scheduled TWR will return next week.

Grant’s Topics 

• Movies Without A Monday: Closer, Once, Boogie Nights

Marty’s Topics

• Bluebrickery: The Explosion 
• Weekend Galavanting
• That’s some sweet bud…

Podcast of the Week

• The Film Vault

Wikipedia Article of the Week

• Maniac Mansion 
• PowerPC

Plugs

• GrantBrunner.com
• Macgasm Forum
• They Said Server Closet
• MEK Photos

A fortnight back, Peter and I went to NWA for a game of Panzerfaust: Iron Fist. Here’s what happened:

First thing was to set up a map for an Encounter scenario. The map agreed upon was thus:

Just a road with some hills, copses, a burnt-out forest (impassible terrain for vehicles – see earlier posts for its construction) some thickets and good grassland. A roll of the dice resulted in there being No Wind for the duration of the game. I asked that we play lengthways, rather than the traditional widthways. Since I was fielding Jagdpanthers, Peter agreed to this…even so, there was some concern that it might take too many rounds before enough tanks were in effective range to decide the outcome of the game.

I was playing with 5345 Points Value (much higher than normal) – 4 Jagdpanthers, 6 Tiger Is, 4 StuGs – that comprised one ad-hoc company. Peter had three tank companies.

TURN ONE: The objective was to reach the exact centre of the board.

Peter reckons he’s stumped about deployment, but I’m not. Any plan is better than no plan! My Tigers will take the left flank, the Jagdpanthers the copse on the right flank, and the StuGs will hold the middle (but just hold it…they can’t expect to kill much).

The StuGs and Jagdpanthers advanced to or through woods, depending on their proximity to same  . The Tigers stayed in the woods and opened fire on the IS-2s that appeared opposite them. There was one hit but it bounced off an IS-2 hull.

TURN TWO: I continued to cautiously move the StuGs and Jagdpanthers forward. Another Tiger scored a hit but to no effect. The Russians moved the bulk of their threatened IS-2s to hull-down positions while three returned fire, knocking out Tiger #22. I tested Morale – all OK.

TURN THREE: Now I aggressively pushed my StuGs and Jagdpanthers forward, trying to get them into optimum firing positions. The Tigers moved cautiously. A company of T-34-85s now made their presence known, emerging from behind a wood. The IS-2s hit a second Tiger, destroying its main gun (the mighty 88mm). To protect his comrades, that Tiger laid down a smokescreen with his smoke launchers.

TURN FOUR: The Jagdpanthers finally reached their firing position, from where they could gain a little concealment and kill the ISU-152s opposite them. The StuGs knew they had to fire a smokescreen to block the LOS (line of sight) of the ISU-152s, so they swivelled and loaded smoke shells. The Tigers moved to a better position to try to deal with the superior IS-2s. An ISU-152 killed a StuG, but the remaining StuGs successfully laid down a smokescreen .

TURN FIVE: Battle was now truly joined. Both sides manouvered extensively, jockeying for position.

The ISU-152s and Jagdpanthers opened up on eachother, with one Jagdpanther lost for two knocked-out ISU-152s. A second Jagdpanther was tracked. The Russian Morale Check was passed OK.

The StuG platoon command vehicle was immobilised. This was bad, but there was no need for me to test the whole platoon’s Morale, just that of the command vehicle itself.

TURN SIX: The Jagdpanthers swivelled to shoot up IS-2s and T-34-85s . StuGs that could advance did so and the Tigers stayed obscured by trees while they advanced.

The Jagdpanthers then experienced a savage exchange – two more were lost, including the platoon command vehicle. I checked the survivors’ Morale – Shaken. I tested the whole Company – OK.

TURN SEVEN: With more IS-2s killed, the Tigers came back into the action. My lone Jagdpanther was Shaken – so he simply held his position and fired, since he was not being forced to flee or surrender. He killed a T-34-85 platoon command vehicle , and that platoon became Shaken. Trying to get revenge, the T-34-85s returned fire and hit the Jagdpanther, but to no effect.

The Stalins killed another Tiger, but I rolled a strong Morale check of 11 – Fine! I was still in the game!

TURN EIGHT: Where the T-34-85s failed in killing that lone operational Jagdpanther, the ISU-152s succeeded. I tested my whole Company – a 9 – Fine. Then the IS-2s killed my Company Command Tiger – and that was the end of the game.

RESULTS Not only did the Russians put a lot of my vehicles out of action, they got closer to the objective than I did. I got to see the killing power of IS-2s, ISU-152s and Jagdpanthers in action…those Jagdpanthers are deadly, even at long range.

I was disappointed by my Tigers vs. those IS-2s…but this was a historical outcome, the Tiger was outclassed and outgunned by the IS-2, even the early IS-2s.

Tip for the game? Use my smokescreens earlier!

All photos are over at my Flickr account.

…and then it was suddenly finished. Here is the basic view, of the assembled kit in its undercoat of Chaos Black:

I took that photo on the angle so that you can see the driver’s side rear-view mirrors, which are actually etched brass pieces.

Here is the view from above:

Yes, the detail is extremely good. You can see that on the bonnet, and with the grilles on the back half of the chassis. How all that very fine detail will come out with more paint on it…well, I worry. I think that very fine detail will be lost.

Final photo – with the AA gun set up on the back:

Why did I commence this post with “..and then it was suddenly finished”? All weekend I had been preparing myself for the very fiddly job of trying to glue on the very fine and tiny (and hence, impractical) etched brass pieces to support the AA gun shield, which I knew was going to be time-consuming and I would get glue all over my fingers, onto my clothes and possibly even across doorknobs and fittings of my house. When I had girded my loins and picked up the sprue cutter to cut off the gun shield and make a start, I found (after fifteen solid minutes of checking, re-checking and re-re-checking) that no gun shield is supplied.

If you remember, I’d bought two boxes of this kit. No gun shield on either set of sprues, so it’s not as if I’d lost it.

After all searching confirmed this, I joyously realised that all that hoopla had been neatly removed! All I had to do was apply what remaining etched brass bits there were (the etched brass bits is mostly the last stages of assembly) and I was done. On went the number plates, the towing hooks and the rearview mirrors (yes, even they are etched brass and IN TWO PIECES – you have to assemble them and that’s a pain) and it was finished. Done. A giant boil lanced and all pus extracted.

Painting it will be fairly easy – I’ll just go with Dark Yellow with a mild green cammo scheme. I’m thinking of drybrushing those grilles to preserve the fine detail as much as is possible.

To sum up this kit so far -1) they aren’t kidding on the box when they say for ages 14 & over, and 2) Henk of Holland’s comment about AMC: ” Warning !!! The AMC plastic kits are poor and the passing of the parts is not correct. It is not easy to see on the instructionsheet on which place you have to glue the parts. Some parts need a lot of reworking. For me are this kits not adviced for a starter, but more for advanced modellers with expierence in scratchbuilding. The kits are too expensieve for the quality“.

MAC’s kits are not poor quality, they are very precise with lots of detail. I did have some issues with parts correctly fitting, hence the need for scalpel and file work to make them fit. The instruction sheet – I’ve talked a lot about this, I’ll show you what’s wrong specifically in another post. MAC kits certainly are for advanced modellers – which I don’t think I am. Tread carefully and slowly, and check everything first before applying any glue.

Call me sometime. At the moment I answer and we are connected, we’ll each photograph what we’re looking at. So, if you are draped over your divan, photograph the ceiling. If I’m beachcombing, I’ll photograph the horizon. Then we can chat, and later our landscapes can commune in fantasy panorama.

If you don’t have a camera, just describe it to me in a rectangle.