VSF WIP

Acronyms. Where would we be without 'em?

Good evening,

Just a quick update, term is as busy as ever (I get me an interactive white board on Wednesday!)...

I have been, from time to time, applying paint to some Esci Colonial Brits (over a thin coat of PVA - these are going to be used as skirmish figures, unlike my other plastics which are based for massed game systems, so I'm making some extra effort to keep the paint on the figures. I'll probably use a spray on varnish to finish them off).

Being VSF, I have also pulled together a couple of Steam Powered Rocketeers...



The rocket packs are garden watering system parts/connectors that have had their middle cut out and the ends glued back together. I've just attached them to their backs with a generous helping of PVA. They are atop GW flying bases.

They'll be painted red and blue, just like the others.

I'm hoping that a thin wash of Badab Black and then a subsequent highlight will work with these fellows. (The wash worked well for the Kiwis, but it did leave them a bit dark. Good for WW2, but I wants me Victorians bright 'n shiny!)

'Till next time,

Nick

Kiwi Crossfire Company Completed

Good afternoon,

Horah for the school holidays. As well as getting my VSF elements painted up, I managed to finish my Kiwi Crossfire Company.


The boys themselves...


...had been done for a while. These holidays I managed to complete their support weapons.


First up, we have the machine guns.




These are from the Esci WW2 British Infantry set (which I have another box of, as produced by Airfix. Go figure.) The good old Vickers gun.

Next, we have the heavy hitters.


The 2 inch knee mortars...




...the 3 inch mortar...




...and their spotters...



...which are all from the HaT WW2 British Mortar set.

Quite cool wee figures these, 'specially the spotters which I've based on 30mm by 30mm squares. The rest are on 40mm by 40mm's. I know the rules state that they should be on smaller bases, but I just think they look better thusly. Not so squished with three figures, where as the smaller bases with two figures looked too sparsely populated.

Basing them thus also means I can use them for pretty much any other WW2 massed battle game as well, should the desire take me. I'm quite keen to try out Blitzkrieg Commander (Lite) and Command Decision 4 - Test of Battle, for a different WW2 flavour. Seeing as I'm an ancients gamer. All this WW2 stuff's new to me.

The paper buildings in the background are 15mm samples from Paper Terrain. These are cool. You get an damaged building with an undamaged shell that fits neatly on top. Great idea. I printed the PDF @ 150% for 20mm. Black and white, as it had to be printed on A3 on the photocopier at work, and I didn't want to chew through my colour allowance - I ran out half way through last term as it was! Should I ever get the money, I'd love to get the European Town for $US 50.00. And I quote...

Need more than just a small village for your game table? Our Town Pack # 1 includes 10 larger town buildings plus walls, fences, sheds and accessories like signs and a fountain.

Like most PaperTerrain products, the buildings all come with an intact version which lifts off to reveal a 'destroyed' version underneath. The kit can be ordered with grey roofs or red roofs.

So many toys, so little money...

Cheers,

Nick

Gatling Gun

Good afternoon,

Along with my VSF Steam Generated Zappy Gun, I also completed one of HaT's Colonial Gatling Guns.


Andy is currently flocking it for me, as he did my tank and as he is doing with my Steam Zappy Gun.

I attached it on a 60mm by 40mm DBx base, and will use it as a Shooter for HOTT, or as a, well, Gatling Gun for G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T., or what ever VSF skirmish rules I decide to use.



G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. is D20 (of which I only have four), and unit-card-activation-based, which is just another (minor) thing to sort out...still, they appear a bit simpler than the Space 1899 Soldier's Companion that I'm considering as an alternative, and these reports that I have just found here do look rather cool...so...

Nick

Steam Tank Finished

Good evening,

Thanks to Andy's stirling flocking and the judicious application of more bear stuffing my VSF British Steam Tank is now complete.




(The 'steam' was greatly inspired by this...)


Nick

VSF Steam Powered Zappy Gun

Good afternoon,

Well, after a couple of afternoons pottering around (yay, school holidays!), I've just dropped off my Steam Powered Zappy Gun for Andy to flock for me (kind chap that he is). So, just before I popped out...





It's worked out really well. One thing I would like to change is the way I've connected the cables to the generator. Basically, I chopped them too short. Works well as is, but upon further reflection it would have looked even better had I left the wires long and had glued them coiled on the base. Ah well.

Oh, and I deliberately left the braiding on the officer black (undercoat as it happens), as per this...


...and this very helpful page here.

And so, I can class it as a General's element - either Magician or Artillery for HOTT - or just plain a Contraption in G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. If I ever get round to actually playing a game now I have the rules.



Nick

VSF Steam Generated Zappy Gun

Good evening,

As the term is winding down I decided to take some time out of school prep yesterday afternoon to work on a steam powered electricity generator...


...to power my HOTT VSF Zappy Artillery piece.



As per this...



Suffice it to say, it's not done yet!

The gun itself is the carriage from the HaT Gatling Gun that I plonked in my Steam Tank, with a connector from an old PC power supply and a tooth pick (!). I know the 'barrel' is pointing pretty high, but I figured that the 'zap' is actually bounced off a passing cloud to hit targets behind the enemy's front line!

The generator is a capacitor from said power supply, along with a couple of coils all sitting atop the carriages from the Gardiner Guns with which I adorned Andy's/my Air Boat. Suitably strengthened with a couple of tooth picks.

Once I've applied a bit of paint, I'll stick them down to the base, trim those wires and connect the zapper to the generator.

I've also put aside five figures (a signaler, two officers, the Boffin himself and a faithful manservant to do all of the actual work!), but I'm not sure if they'll all fit! I may have to prize them off their painting bases to see what will and won't fit - no point in painting stuff I ain't gonna use now is there? Lord knows I game with enough plastic without paint, it would be a crime to paint something and then not use it!

I'll class it as a HOTT Magician General. (After all, HOTT magicians are essentially artillery piecies that can shoot over intervening interruptions).

You know those Boffins - they can work magic! And the Brass does like to be seen to be taking an interest in these new fangled contraptions...

Nick

Crossfire Kiwis

Good afternoon,

Well, I've just discovered washes. Citadel's Devlan Mud, to be precise. Andy Gorman suggested that it would be a quick way to paint up some Esci WW2 Brits (as Kiwis - they were all using the same equipment, after all), and low and behold, so it has proven to be!





In fact, these figures are probably the quickest I have ever been able to apply paint to. Having only 6 colours also helped. Well, 7 if you count the Dark Flesh that I applied to the second platoon before applying the Bronzed Flesh.

1. Citadel Chaos Black undercoat


2. Vallejo Dark Flesh


3. Vallejo English Uniform using a very heavy dry brush (actually, a lightly applied wet brush)


4. Vallejo Middlestone for the webbing


5. Vallejo Beasty Brown for the weapon furniture and water bottles


6. Vallejo Olive Grey for the helmets and Piat guns


7. Vallejo Chainmail Silver for the, well, silver bits


8. Citadel Bronzed Flesh highlight


9. Heavy wash of Citadel Devlan Mud


10. Highlight/Dry brush of the English Uniform and Middlestone respectively

...and Bob's your uncle. (Well, Brian's my uncle...it's just a turn of phrase...how do you turn a phrase?)

Andy helped me with the first platoon (three bases - 9 figures) in one evening last week, and I completed a further 9 of the boys yesterday and based them this morning. For me, that's lightning quick!

(They definitely needed those final highlights, they were looking quite dark without it).

For WW2, I'm pretty sure this is the way to go. For figures where I want a nice bright finish (like my VSF) I'm probably going to stick to my layered approach...mind you, a combination of a bright highlight over the wash...yeah, that might work...

Speaking of VSF, I'm thinking of getting hold of G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. for some skirmishing using my Airboat, Steam Tank and upcoming Electric Artillery and Steam Buggy Rider HOTT elements. Can you use Airboats in G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T.?

Nick

Air Boat Kinda Done

Good afternoon,

Well, I've pasted the Gardiner Guns and crew atop Andy's Air Boat, and they look the biz.




It's a bit hard to see from this last photo (the camera's macro setting focused on the nearest Gardiner gun, rather than the whole 'vignette'), but the loader is one of the navy Gardiner crewmen with his arms replaced with the ones from the HaT Colonial Artillery loader, as inspired by S. M. Manix's contribution to HaT's Everything Toy Soldier page.

I also replaced an arm on the other main gun crewman, though the effect isn't a lot different to what he had originally.

Eventually I may put a solid railing/fence around the Gardiner guns, and I'll paste the officer with the telescope (once I've figured out how to do the braids on his jacket) on top by the ladder. Or on the bow. But I think closer to the bridge would make more sense, from a command perspective. In the meantime I'm happy enough to put it away.

Sweet, another thing down, now to work on my Late War Kiwis...oh, and that VSF steam driven magician artillery thingie I've got in mind, since I've got those spare gun carriages from the Gardiner and Gatling guns. A bit like this...



...with one carriage for the steam driven electricity generator and one for the electricity driven shooty thing, courtesy of a mad boffin type - hence the magician classification.

Nick

Steam Tank Update

Good morning,

Well, it's school holiday, so I've finally had some time to apply some paint to my Steam Tank. And yahoo! It's pretty much done!



As you can see, I chose to replicate the paint scheme that Andy applied to his (now my - yay!) Air Boat to try to give it more of a navy feel. I simply carefully applied some window masking tape, and mostly it worked quite well. The smoke is just some bear stuffing! Once it's based, I'm thinking of putting some down by the running gear.

Now for some closeups...







All in all, I'm really pleased with the silly little thing!

Next step, get Andy to base it for me to match the rest of his donated VSF army, and continue work on the Gardiner guns and crews.

Yay for school holidays!

Nick