Blog silence is due to a couple of factors - work continues to be an unremitting drain on time and energy which reflects in little progress at the weekends; sadly retirement is still 1-2 years away....
Secondly, more practically, my elderly laptop gave up the ghost and was stuck in a failure to boot mode. Even when it did start it was slow and unreliable. Last weekend saw it eventually leave me unable to update the blog.
So, this is a test on the new Chromebook, which takes a little getting used to....
The musings are micro in both senses of the word; it's a short post and one concerned with the new obsession and project waiting in the wings which has been slowly bankrupting me.....😔
Previous posts have revealed my obsession with Operation Crusader in 1941 and desire to build up forces to refight it. The blog shows my 20mm / 1:72 / 1:76 attempts at modelling. The plan was to refight the campaign at an operational scale using the old GDW "double -blind" 8th Army : Operation Crusader boardgame with my mate Shaun, this would be at a distance via email with me fighting the actual encounters.
Sadly, reality collided with these plans as I realised I would somehow have to make do with a space of 2' x 3' and however much I tried, that big armour was going to take up a lot of space, especially depthwise...
Various ideas sprang to mind. I have a lot of 15mm / 1:100 stuff in the pile of shame that has yet to see the light of day let alone paint. 1:144 was attractive, the Anschluss stuff being lovely BUT the ranges are nowhere near complete, especially for the Italians and comparable manufacturers are not meeting the gaps yet. 1:200? Reasonable ranges but old and some models were very crude....
This brought me around to micro scale; be that the UK 1:300 or US 1:285. I have a difficult relationship with these scales. Way back when GHQ had a UK manufacturer - New Hope Design based in Rothbury Northumberland, I bought some Arab-Israeli tanks but TBH never got on with them and had little attachment when briefly gaming with them.
So, it took a lot of thought and planning and various false starts before I eventually took the plunge. But who to use? In the end after much thought I went with 1:285 and GHQ - of course there is no UK distributor or stockist anymore. With some trepidation I ordered direct from the USA using one of the sales to reduce the postage.
I have to say the service is excellent and faster than some UK manufacturers. I also picked up stuff from eBay and ends of lines from previous stockists. I have also bought some bits from Heroics & Ros, 3D prints from Butlers Models, 2D6 Wargaming and Bacchus. Some of the second hand stuff from eBay is I think CnC models, although advertised as GHQ.
After the shock at how small they were came the realisation that different manufacturers had a different idea of scale. I spent some time trying to establish what figures were comparable and which were not. My main search was for suitable command figures for HQs.
From L to R Bacchus, "New Heroics & Ros, 2D6 Wargaming and GHQ top the old style and bottom the new
Test of different format photo
Top JPEG, bottom png - which format works best?
Vehicles are problematic if collecting from different manufacturers, some more than others...
Mk VI lights and Universal carriers - L GHQ R 2D6 Miniatures
Top down view
The 3D prints were very impressive and while pricey were still cheaper than GHQ
L GHQ R Butler's Printed Models
Some however showed the issues around scale...
Crusader I from CnC(?) advertised as GHQ and Butlers
Some such as Bacchus seem to use a completely different scale all their own...
Dorchester ACV L Bacchus R Butlers
Compared to GHQ
Very noticeable with small vehicles....
GHQ in packet Bacchus loose
I have made a start in cleaning up and priming; I have concluded the Crusader I obtained second hand are probably CnC as the gun barrels are impossibly thin (photos on GHQ website look more detailed with sturdier barrels). I was going to spray undercoat but chickened out as I was worried it may go on too thick, so I brush primed with dilute Vallejo white.
What will be 22 Armoured Brigade - 3 models to a 50mm square base representing a regiment / battalion
HQ squadron will be 1-2 models on a round base - the insanity beginning to creep in, I have added a CO figure and open hatch....
4th Armoured Brigade in Honeys
On cleaning up, I noticed some subtle differences between what were all advertised second hand as GHQ; I suspect the two on the left are GHQ and the one on the right CnC as it is slightly smaller with less detail
As before, a GHQ figure was chopped in half to provide a CO and foil provided the hatch. I was tempted to add .30 cal MGs as these are such a noticeable feature, but have resisted.....I note baggage doesn't feature on micro models; again going down that path madness lies.....
Lots more to clean and prime, let alone paint.....there are also 1:600 aircraft which look even fiddlier!
I haven't abandoned the 15mm Caesar in Gaul; I'm down to the odd bits and pieces and a lot of basing. Motivation and gloomy weather are delaying that at present.
