First Output of 2024

 Wargaming effort has been a bit lacking so far this year - not a lot of painting and NO games, not even a solo. I have actually missed two games at my mate Julians, one last Friday when friends Nick and Karen came to dinner at our place and another one tomorrow for reasons that are too irritating to go into - and the first Sunday game we have scheduled at Barrys is not till 28 Jan - so I really must motivate myself to get some solo games in!

I have, however, not been totally idle in the last 11 days or so, and here is the fruit of my labours - more Blitzkrieg Germans - cos I didn't paint enough last year, did I?!

The Rubicon 1/56 (28mm) Flak 36/37 was a bit fiddly to put together, but has come out quite nicely.

It turns, the gun can change elevation, and the two folding parts of the base actually fold up as they should do!

You also get lots of crew and various detritus such as the officers tripod observation devices, as well as boxes of 88mm shells (both AT and AA versions - they look very similar to me)!

Oberst Klink from the Warlord metal Blitzkrieg support pack

Size comparison with one of the 88's crew - I think they are close enough?

Aggressive, Iron Cross wearing officer.

Forward Observation Officer - with map and field telephone.

A medic.

MG 34 in sustained fire mode ie an HMG.

An 80mm Granatwerfer 34.

I also built and painted the last of the three PzKfw III models I bought a couple of months back.

This is a command vehicle (the II marking on the turret) 

It is also a slightly upgraded version of the Ausfuhrung E version - as per below. (Hence the reason it is "the bosses" vehicle!) 

Finally, I realised these eight 20mm pack horses I bought mid last year for the SCW collection had been awaiting basing for about 6 months - so they are completed now too!

Thanks for dropping by and as Stew always says, double thanks if you leave a comment!

A Short Break For New Year

 When my wife came up to the painting desk in the garage in late Dec and initiated a conversation along these lines "Because you are such a wonderful husband and provide me with such a perfect lifestyle...." I naturally thought, "Shit, she has some job she wants me to do!" But no, she had got bored "hanging around doing nothing " after Christmas (I had not, obviously, because I was painting toy soldiers!) and booked us a couple of nights in a motel in New Plymouth on 1 and 2 Jan. So, we travelled down there on Mon 1 Jan, arriving about midday ,and did a few bush walks as well as visiting Pukekura Park to see the illuminations that are on for a couple of weeks - and quite impressive they were, too.

View from Mt Taranaki Visitor centre Day 1, Walk 1

I did remark to my wife "What were they doing mountaineering when they should have been in Europe fighting a war!"

Top of Mount Taranaki wreathed in clouds - an hour earlier, you could see all of it.

I recommend playing the video with sound on - it is quite ethereal....

Day 2, Walk 1

We had to do several "river" crossings - and, wonder of wonders, I did not fall in ONCE!

Crossing Number Two!

We had some decent rainfall in the days preceding New Year and the path was still pretty "damp" in places.

Can you spot the path/steps in the image above? We had trouble and we were standing on the track!

Spot the entry/exit of our walk?

Road walk back to where we parked the car

Day 2, Walk 2 very short one along riverside in town - a couple of nice views.

Bit of R n R afterwards!

Finally, as mentioned in my blog and on Marks own 1866 And All That, our good mate Mark had a bit of a cardiac scare on 1 Jan (while I was slogging up the lower slopes of Mt Taranaki!) and ended up here for over a week - he was discharged today I believe.

Mate Chris and I dropped in for a morale boosting visit (unlike Patton, we didn't assault any of the patients!). Northshore Hospital, in all its glory!

While we were away, Ruth and I watched Joanne Frogett in "Breathtaking" - a great reminder to all of us in New Zealand about what to total cluster the reaction to Covid was in the UK, and how fortunate we were here in this country - it should be compulsory viewing, particularly for all the nay sayers, anti vaxers and Ardern haters!