Chris' Minature Wargaming

Thanksgiving Offerings

2011-11-22T06:36:00.005-07:00

First of all, I'd like to say thank you to all of you who follow and/or comment on my blog. I appreciate all of you. And, as we have recently passed Vetran's/Armistice Day, a big thank you to all the service men and women who have served, both past and present.

Now for some projects I've completed over the last couple of months.

Here is my unit of Army Red dismounted hussars. From the waist up they are Prince August Hussars. From the waist down they are of my own construction.

These are the Bavarian Horse Artillery. They were built in the same manner as the hussars above (originally as Army Red Horse Artillery). A head swap from the busby to a Bavarian helmet completed the conversion. The range finder is made from aluminum tubing and 18 guage floral wire.

Here is the Bavarian Field Artillery. They are made from a Dutkin's Berdan sharpshooter (ACW) figure. They have the same head as the Horse Artillery above.

This gun was in a box of stuff my wife picked up at the auction.Originally, it had a spring and a detachable muzzle half of the barrel (which was missing). I cut off the hook that held the barrel in place and pulled out the original spring (You can still see the retaining rod in the breech view). I cut a slot into the breech then added a new spring and plunger. The barrel extention is a brass tube.

Here's a motorcycle that I scratch built out of aluminum tubing.The wheels are also aluminum tubing that I found at the hobby store pre-bent and cut into a circle of the correct size. The motor is made from a couple of different sized dowels, the one for the cylinder is wrapped in light floral wire. The rider is the standard rider/driver that I use for most all of my vehicles.

This is a modification to the cycle above. The sidecar is made from cardstock and mattboard, with a putty seat, floral wire to attach it to the bike, and another aluminium tube wheel. the spoke pattern was cut from Patrick's machinegun cart and glued to a mattboard insert. The machinegun is made from aluminium tube and a shaped and puttied piece of a popcicle stick. The battle damage to the sidecar was due to a certian poodle that likes to chew on things when I'm not looking. The Michinegunner is my standard gunner.

My Army Black has four machineguns; two for the infantry and two for the cavalry.To transport the infantry guns I used Patrick's dog carts. Here I took the body of a dog cart, added wagon wheels and made new shafts from a clothes hanger. The horse is a plastic cavalry horse.

These are limbers for Army Black's artillery. The limber is a plastic ACW model. the gun is one I converted from a plastic (possibly Whitworth) ACW cannon. The horses are ones I converted from a metal AWI horse that was missing the head and tail. The head and tail come from a wounded horse in the ACW cavalry package that contains the horse used with the MG cart.

Here are some more Army Red staff officers. The left figure is a spin casted Army Red General available from TVAG. The other two have a generic body I recently sculpted with newly sculpted Army Red heads.

For Army Cornflower Blue's staff I have a redesign of the Grand Duchess of Garolstein and the Army Horizon Blue's General painted as a Bavarian. The new Grand Duchess has considerably more eye-appeal than the earlier version. I will field both versions as a mother / daughter combo.

This is part of the Army Black Signal Corps. The plan is to have one pair of signalers per command staff. I'm figuring on 7 pairs (4 brigades, a division, CnC, and observation corps). They have the generic body used in the Army Red photos above. To that I've added an Army Black fatigue capped head.

While you've seen the machinegun and gunner before, the loader is new. He is made from the sniper figure. I had to patch up the hole in his right shoulder, add an arm, and head.

This is the Ford 3 ton tank from Fiddlersgreen. I think it's a nice model and now I'm anxious to get my Army Red, White, and Blue painted so they can take the field.

This is another Fiddlersgreen model. It's the LK II, a prototyle german light tank. It was also used by the Swedes for years after the Great War.

That's it for now. Have a wonderful holiday season and a productive winter quarters.

Making Trees

2011-11-04T07:49:00.004-06:00

In my last post I was making Normandy type hedgerows out of foam rubber. The foliage used to decorate the mounds was made from painted ground up foam scraps. In fact, I had so much extra foliage that I decided to make trees with the stuff.

The illustrations above shows some of the supplies and tools needed for this project. Here is a complete supply list:

1 - Cheap wire clothes hanger ( I get these with my laundered shirts from the cleaner)
1 - Computer CD (Finally, a use for that Peter Frampton boxed set I got for Chritmas)
2 to 4 - Brown pipe cleaners (this depends on the height of the trunk)
Mat Board
Tape (Pictured is a roll of floral wrapping tape, but masking tape will work fine)
Colored fiberfil (this is used for the bulk of the tree's foliage)
Colored ground foam (this is for the textured folige)
Paint - geen or brown
Hot glue and applicator
Spray adhesive
Wire cutters
Sissors (unless you are using a tearable tape)

Below are the steps for creating a tree:

1. Cut four equal lengths of wire from the hanger (they do not have to be exact).
2. Bend about 1/2 inch of the wire back against itself. (this is to keep you from impaling yourself on the tree should you step on it or fall on it)
3. Bend the other end to a 90 degree angle about an inch to 1.5 inches from the end.
4. Reprat steps 2 and 3 for the other three wires.

5. Bind the wires together along the long segment with the tape.
6. Position the bends about 90 degrees from each other. This forms the roots of the tree and keeps it from falling over.

7. Starting with the roots, wrap the wires with the pipe cleaner. I work from the end of one root, across to the opposite root. I cut off the excess pipe cleaner and use the remainder to wrap the trunk. The entire trunk does not need to be wrapped, it just needs enough wrapping so that the wires do not show under the folieage.

8. Cut a circle from the mat board to fill the hole in the CD.

9. Tape the mat board circle into place on what will be the underside of the base.

10. Using the hot glue, stick the tree trunk to the CD. (I really don't have a boxed set of Peter Framton CDs. I use leftover CDs from my work)

11. Take some of the fiberfil and stretch it out and mold it into "tree-like" shapes.

12. Apply hot glue to the upper part of the tree trunk and carefully (so as not to burn yourself) stick the fiberfil to the glue.

13. Spray the fiberfil with the spray adheasive.

14. Cover the fiberfil with the ground foam foliage.

15. Gently shake off the excess foliage. You can reapply the adheasive and foliage until you get the desired coverage.

16. Give the base a coat of green or brown paint (if I did own a boxed set of Peter Frampton CDs, I would use them for tree bases though).

17. Decorate the base with stones, twigs, and flocking. Do whatever you do to the bases of your soldiers.

If you have problems with excessive foliage loss, get a old spray bottle and fill it with watered down white glue. Spray the foliage with the thinned glue and let dry.

This completes the tree. It is now ready for the table, floor, or where ever you wargame.

Building Bocage

2011-10-23T19:29:00.001-06:00

Again, it's been several months since I've updated the blog. In that time, I've mainly been employed with sculpting new figures. In my spare time I'd scan the internet looking for items of interest. One item I found was a World War II treatise on fighting in the bocage of Normandy. The article was produced by the U.S. Army and in it was a cross section drawing of the "typical" hedgerow. This set me to wondering how I could build this type of terrain cheaply. As any trip to the hobby store would show, building even a small amount of bocage could become a costly affair.

Other finds on the internet gave me the idea of how to construct bocage cheaply, in the quantity that I needed. It's those ideas that I am going to share in this entry.

Supply List:

2" thick foam rubber
Brown chenille (pipe cleaners)
Lichen
Contact Cement
Cheap Laytex House paint
Green and Brown acrylic paint (hobby paint, the cheapest you can find)
1" foam paint brushs
Rubber gloves

Equipment
Sissors
Blender
Mixing bucket

Notes on supplies - Laytex house paint is the same as acrylic hobby paint.You can get cheap house paint by looking for mis-tints. These are paints that were improperly mixed. They are usually sold for 1/2 price or less. Try to find the lightest color they have.

The hobby paint will be mixed with the house paint to color the foam rubber for foliage. Hobby paint has a high amount of pigment in it. Mixing it with the house paint will extend the color and still give a vibrant color to the foliage.

Steps to create a hedgerow:
1. Cut the foam rubber into 2"x2"x6" to 12" sections

2. Cut the foam blocks into a rough mound shape. Save the scraps, they will be used to create foliage later.

3. At this point you can insert the pipe cleaner into the foam that will be used to form trees. Poke two closely spaced holes through the foam, from the top of the mound through the base. Thread each end of a pipe cleaner through the holes from the base side so that the ends stick up through the mound.

If desired, you can wait until the mound is finished then insert a finished tree.

4. Put some brown acrylic paint into a container and thin it with water. I thinned mine to the consistancy of water. You can leave it thicker if you desire.

5. Paint the mound sections lightly with the thinned brown paint. Don't try to cover the foam uniformly. Leaving a motled surface will help camoflague the mound.

Next, create the foliage

6. Cut up the scrap foam into small pieces.

7. In the mixing bucket, pour in some of the house paint and some green acrylic paint. My mixing bucket is about 5.5" round (a bigger container would be nice) and I filled it maybe 2" deep with paint. I used a 4 oz. bottle of green paint, which I then filled with water, shook up to get the last of the paint from the bottle, and added that to the mixture. You'll want the paint for the foliage much thicker than that for the mounds.

8. Put a handful of the foam nuggets into the paint and knead so the the foam is thuroughly saturated with paint. Tip: use a pair of long rubber gloves so that you don't end up with green wrists.

9. Wring out the painted foam with your hands and set it aside. I covered my work table with the plastic my laundered shirts come in so that I didn't paint my table.

10. Continue painting the foam until you run out of paint in your bucket. Then in a box, mix the painted foam with approximately the same amout of unpainted foam. Knead these together until all the foam is a uniform color. All of the foam in the above picture was painted with the paint mixture described in step 7.

11. Spread the painted foam out on the table and let it dry. This will take about a week.

(Notice that I also colored some fiber-fil in the same manner. This will be used to make trees in my next post.)

12. After the foam nuggets are dry, throw a small handful into the blender and grind it up. I use a slow speed and pulse the blender. Repeat the process until all the foam nuggets are ground up.

13. Take the contact cement and paint the top side of the mound. Toss the coated mound into the box of foliage and press the foliage onto the mound. I use disposable gloves for this. Your mounds will come out like those pictured below.

These next steps show how to finish the hedge when the tree trunks are already inserted into the mound.

14. If you haven't already, twist the ends of the pipe cleaner together with a couple of turns.

15. Lay a small piece of lichen across the twist.

16. Give the pipe cleaner another couple of twists. Lay in another piece of lichen. Note: you don have to twist the pipe cleaner tightly around the lichen. In fact, if you do, you risk tearing up the lichen.

Also, vary the direction of the pipe cleaner ends for each twist. This will give the tree a rounder appearance.

17. Continue adding the lichen until you get close to the end of the pipe cleaner.

18. To finish the tree, I take a longish piece of lichen and thread the pipe cleaner through one end of it then duoble over the pipe cleaner. I do the same thing to the other end of that piece of lichen with the other pipe cleaner end.

19. Finish the rest of the trees on the mound in a similar manner.

Trees that are inserted after the base is completed are built in a similar manner.

20. Fold a pipe cleaner in half and twist up about 2.5" of the folded end.

21. Twist in the lichen as described above.

22. Poke a hole through the mound and insert a tree.

23. Continue inserting trees until the mound is finished.

Below are some pictures of the finished hedge.

THe King of Bavaria and Other Things

2011-07-19T14:04:00.000-06:00

Over the past few months I've been busy with work and some fun stuff to the point that I let updating the blog slide a bit. So here's the latest on the troop build up.

First is King Ludwig II of Bavaria, based on a portrait I found on the internet.

The body is the Prince August Classic Toy Soldier standing at attention. The sash is a piece of cardstock glued into place with white glue. The head, necklace, and medals are made from Kneadatite (green stuff). The cording and shoulder scales are made from lead thread that I picked up at the local fly fishing store. THe helmet I liberated from my Army Black commander figure.

Here is my Army Black/Cornflower Blue cavalry brigade command. The horses are the usual cheap plastic ones I have most of my troops mounted on. The riders are from the Dutkin's Civil War General mold. The heads are (from left to right): the standing staff officer sold through TVAG, the Dutkin's French Chevau-Leger Napoleonic cavalryman, and the Dutkin's German WW1 infantry to which I added the eagle plate. The maps were hand drawn by myself on regular printer paper.

Since the King can now take the field, I figured he would need a bodyguard. For the riders I used the Dutkin's British Horseguards figure with the Dutkin's French Chevau-Leger Napoleonic cavalryman head. Because this figure is casted with the saddle, I modified a horse figure I had and made a mold of it to reproduce the mounts you see.

Here are my Army Black/Cornflower Blue Dragoons. The heads you 'll recognize from above. THe bodies are my own design.

Here are my Army Black Machinegunners. The Gun and the gunner are of my own design. The original gun is made from brass tubing, styrene rods and sheet, balsa wood, and Kneadatite. I made a mold of the original to make the duplicates. THe gunner is a modified version of my rider/driver figure. He's made with seperate arms and head.

This is my Army Red Kettle Drummer. He's a stock Prince August figure (I've had the mold for over 3 years and finally got around to making the stock figure). I have used this figure (or parts of it) for both Army Red and Army Black Hussars as well as my Horse Artillery. The paint job is my own design, so any relation to a drummer of an actual unit is accidental. This figure weighs well over 1/2 a pound, mostly in the horse. This is why I'm using cheap plastic horses.

New Figures For Both Armies

2011-04-16T10:28:00.000-06:00

In the last month I have had a chance to finish up a number of units that I had started. So, here they are.

These are Army Black hussars. The bodies are Prince August hussars. The heads are of my own design.

Next, are Army Red Lancers. The bodies are my own design. I used them for my Army Black Ulans. The heads are Prince August classic toy soldier foriegn service helmets. The lance pennents and heads are paper. the lance heads were coated in super glue to stiffen them.

Here are the Bavarian "King Ludwig II Leib Grenadiers". These are figures of my own design, as is their flag.

These are Army Red Engineers. The two walking figures use the same body as used on the Bavarian Grenadiers. The two standing bodies are the staff officer available from TVAG. All four have the Prince August head with the foreign service helmet. I added the whiskers.

The truck is a paper model I found on the web as a line drawing, which I scaled and colorized. The boxes in the back of the truck are available from TVAG as well.

Finally, these are the Army Cerise figures which I sculpted. They are painted in early Russo-Japanese War uniforms.

More New Toys

2011-03-15T12:29:00.013-06:00

Over the recent months I've added a number of new things to my collection. Here are some photos and descriptions of my latest.

The photos above are of my 1st Army Black Ulans. The horses are plastic Americana (as are all my cavalry mounts). The rider is an original sclupt made by myself. The dolly I used was one of the riders from the bag of horses. The master is a headless body which I then encased in OOMOO silicone mold making compound. I then cut open the mold, removed the master, and casted 12 bodies in white metal. The heads are my Army Black Dragoon heads. The color scheme came from "Schiffer's - The Kaiser's Army in Color". I found a pdf of this book on the web for free.

Here is my 1st Recon Squadron for Army Red, The left photo shows the ground crew and their vehicle. The Truck is an Ertl 1917 Ford Delivery Van coin bank.I may get around to filling in the slot in the top someday. The placard on the side of the truck was printed on plain paper then attached with white glue. The two crewmen are made from the Prince August Traditional Toy Soldier mold. I filed dow the coat tails a bit then puttied them up to make the coveralls. I modified a Prince August head to add the driver's cap. The airplane is a Bleriot from Fiddlers Green. I built the engine from dowel and wire, cut the prop from a sheet of acetate, and scratch built the pilot inthe cockpit. The running pilot is the one I made and is available from TVAG.

Here is a firing Light Cannon that I have started. The carriage comes from a plastic ACW Napoleon field piece. The barrel is nested brass tubing. I used my Dremel with a cutting wheel to make the slot in the barrel. Also, in the slotted area, there is balsawood filler. This is slotted as well, to allow the safety pin to move freely. The balsa ends about 1/8" from the muzzle end of the slot. This makes a stop for the projectile dropped down the barrel.

To mount the Pin into the carriage, I drilled a hole in the carriage for the pin to pass through.I bent the pin open slightly, passed it through the hole, and stuck the pointy end into the axle. The carriage is hollow, so I filled the cavity with putty to hold the shaft of the pin in place. The remaining parts are made from styrene, balsa, and floral wire.

This gun fires much farther at a flat trajectory than it does at a high angle. I assume this has to do with the greater force and speed generated near the clasp than further down on the shank.

This is an air rocket launcher. Here is the supply list for making it:
1 3"x6"x1/8" piece of plywood
4 3"x3" craft foam
1 3"x5" craft foam
1 baby nasal aspirator
1 bendable drinking straw
1 wire clothes hanger
1 sheet of paper
1 bag 1/4" wooden screw hole plugs
contact cement
white glue
duct tape

First, I cut the end off the aspirator (which I will now refer to as the bellows)(don't worry, I used a new one) to leave a 1/4" diameter hole. I then cut hole in each of the 4 3" squares of craft foam. This is to make a cradle for the bellows. I glued the four pieces of foam into a stack with the contact cement. I then glued the stack of foam on to one end of the plywood.

Next, I placed the bellows into the foam cradle. I glued the remaining strip of craft foam over the top of the bellows and on to the foam cradle using contact cement. This arrangement was not as secure as I wanted, so I covered the bellows assembly with duct tape.

I cut a length of clothes hanger wire and formed a "U" shaped staple, which I placed over the nozzle of the bellows and inserted into the plywood. This is to hold the nozzle in place. Insert the short end of the straw into the bellows. I put another "U" shaped staple made of clothes hanger wire To hold the straw in place.

I bent a loop into another length of the hanger wire to make the elevation support. This was slipped over the end of the straw and stuck into holes drilled into the base. The straw was then cut down to match the length of the base.

For the rockets, I cut the paper into 3/4" x 6" strips. I wrapped one strip around a 1/4" dowel, applying white glue to the outside of the strip. When dry, I slipped the paper tube off of the dowel. I then applied some white glue to the end of the tube and inserted a wooden screw hole plug to make the head of the rocket. I painted the rocket yeoolw with a red head.

To shoot the rocket, just hit the bellows with your hand. It works best if the launcher is placed on a hard surface. I my test firings I was reaching ranges over 20' with little side to side drift.

Sniper and New Army Black Troops

2011-01-30T20:13:00.000-07:00

I've been busy this winter, with work and hobby stuff. So, I finally got around to taking a few pictures of my new toys.

Here is one of my snipers, this one for Army Black.

These are my new Shutzen battalion. These are original sculpts which I molded then cast. The arms an head is cast seperately.

Here is the Bavarian Grenadier Band. The bodies are Prince August marching bodies, the arms are from anothe mold set, and the heads are my original sculpts. The drums were drawn on the computer, printed then glued to a wooden core.

More Paper Models and Castings

2010-10-17T21:46:00.000-06:00

In the attempt to outfit my armies to the hilt, I have continued to design and build paper models for my transport. Below are my latest.

This is the large Army Red staff car. It is based on a 1906 Rolls Royce. The driver is one of my originals with a Prince August head. I added the whiskers.

Here is an Army Red armoured car. It's based on the WWI Rolls Royce armoured car. The machine gun is a plastic (BMC?) model. The spoked wheels are made by wrapping sewing thread around a mattboard tire core. I then glued the printed exterior over the core. The thread is untreated, but still quite strong enough to support the model and then some.

This is the Army Red C-in-C. He is based on a photo of Lord Kitchener.

This is the Army Horizon Blue C-in-C. He is based on a photo of Field Marshall Joffre.

This is the Army Black C-in-C. He is not based on any historical person. He is more an operetic interpretation.

This is the surgeon, featured in previous posts. All of the above figures were casted in resin. I have since found that casting in white metal is an easier and more consistant material to work with.

Paper Models and Original Castings

2010-08-29T09:46:00.000-06:00

In an effort to complete my armies as inexpensively as possible, I have begun to look at card models for some of my vehicles. To that end, I began my internet search for free card models. I found a number that I think I can use. The first was labeled "Antique Truck". This was a black and white line drawing which I colored using a very old software (Photo Studio from the mid-1990's). I used acetate for the windscreen and rear window.

In this color scheme, this truck is for Army Red. I have painted the driver to be part of the Engineer Corps. The driver's body is one of my original sculptures, cast in resin. The arms and head came from my Prince August Traditional Toy Soldier mold.

The next car came from a Japanese language site with hundreds of card models. The "Old Time" cars were designed to fit on a single sheet of paper, and were, therefore not to scale.

Using my trusty CAD program, I traced over the original model, broke up the pieces to make it easier to assemble, and designed new wheels. I then saved the line drawing as a JPEG and colored it with "Paint". The car below is based on an 1908 Opel Doctor's Car.

The passengers are castings of my own original sitting body with my german dragoon head added. The arms came from my Prince August molds. I see this little two seater as my Army Black Scout Car.

Looking around, I haven't seen any figures for riding/driving in the vehicles used in the game. I've had about as much luck looking for support and command staff. I have made some original sculptures of figures for this purpose and also aquired a mold making kit for reproducing these figures.

The figures below are my first castings. Most did not come out of the mold in the condition pictured. Air bubbles had to be filled and missing parts had to be replaced.

These first three are Staff members for my Army Black. The left figure is wearing a Jeagers Shako, the center figure has a field cap, and the right figure has the grenadier's mitre. The body is my generic Staff Officer. The center figure has the original head (turned slightly from the original pose). The other two heads come from a set of 4 I did for different Army Black troop types.

This final figure is the "Grand Duchess of Gerolstein". She is based on a painting of the actress that portrayed the duchess in Offenbach's time. Unfortunately, I could not do that lovely lady's face justice with my meager talents. However, I think she'll make a respectable "hanger on" for my Army Black.

The drivers pictured above round out the first four molds I was able to produce with this mold making kit. I am currently refining my casting techniques to produce better castings. With the next kit, I hope to produce my three army commanders; Army Red, Army Black, and Army Horizon Blue.

Heliograph Team and Caisson

2010-08-25T12:23:00.000-06:00

In my continuing endeavor to complete my Army Red Division, I have added two more elements, heliograph teams and caissons.

The first is a group of 4 heliograph teams (one of which is pictured below). Each team is made up of 3 members, the figures being standard Prince August castings. To these I added the tunic pockets. The pockets are made of plain paper, white glued to the figure. I then primed and painted the figure, which will keep the pockets permanently in place.

I scratch built the heliograph from styrene rods, sheet styrene, floral wire and Kneadatite. The legs are made from the rods. I used a paper hole punch to make the mirrors out of the sheet styrene, and arms for the mirrors are the floral wire. The Kneadatite holds the mirror assembly to the legs.

The caisson was cobbled together using parts from three plastic limbers. The caisson itself uses the axle tree from one limber, which was lengthened with popsicle sticks and sheet styrene. To this a second ammo box was added. The third (complete) limber is used to tow the caisson.

New for Army Red and Army Black

2010-08-02T20:18:00.000-06:00

Recently I posted my proposed Division organization for Army Red to the FLW website. I am also working on a division for Army Black (which I hope to post its organization soon). At this point I have most of the combat units completed ( I still have some Army Black combat troops to finish) and I'm am now mainly working on the support troops.

To that end, I've built the following units: The Bavarian Gard Du Corps for Army Black and Artillery Support and Commissary for Army Red.

Here is the Bavarian Gard Du Corps. They were made from the body of the Dutkin's British Horse Guards and the head of a Dutkin's French Napoleonic Chevau-Leger. My only complaint is that the head was a little big for the body.

This is my Army Red Field Artillery command. The rules do not specify a battery command, but I needed someone to hold their flag. I scratch built the rangefinder from styrene rods for the legs, aluminum tubing for the sight and some green putty. The figures are Prince August traditional toy soldiers. The left and right figures stock, with minor modification to the arms. The sighter Was bent at the waist to look through the scope.

Finally, I have my to staffers for the echelon. Again, these are standard Prince August soldiers. The modification to these was the hat. I clipped off the "overhang" on the soft cap and filed it smooth to make the cap.

Building An Echelon

2010-07-13T05:45:00.000-06:00

As my armies are nearing their full compliment of soldiers, I've figured it was time to start on the support units. To that end, I've started building the large support features; the Echelons and the Hospitals. Here, I will explain how I constructed Army Black's echelon.

Step 1 - I marked the locations of the frames, drilled the holes, and mounted the frames. The main frame is made from clothes hanger. The cross frames are floral wire.

Step 2 - Flock the base. I flocked the inside of the tent as well.

Step 3 - Mark the paper for the tent back. I used textured paper. I repeated the process for each side.

Step 4 - Apply glue to the flaps and wrap them around the frame. Stretch the paper as tight as possible. Do the front and back.

Step 5 - The vertical tabs for the tent sides are attached to the inside of the front and back walls. I started with the vertical tab on the front wall. I then attached the horizontal tabs from front to back and finally the back vertical tab was attached. Repeat the process for the other side.

Step 6 - Glue boxes inside the tent. I found the large boxes at the juniorgeneral.com. The smaller boxes are prototypes from the Virtual Armchair General. I placed the boxes before putting on the roof because its easier than trying to stack them through the door. I stacked them in a "U" shaped pattern around the door so I didn't have to build tons of boxes.

Step 7 - Mark and cut out the roof. The roof is then glued on. The tabs for the roof are glued to the outside of the tent so they should be made as small as possible.

This completes the tent.

The flag pole is made from a clothes hanger. I used a peice of brass tubing to hold the flagpole. this allows the flagpole to be removed for storage. The barrels came from the hobby store. The labels are from Patrick at TVAG, as are the other boxes and the flags.

Here are the finished products:
Army Black Echelon

Army Red Echelon

New Figures for The Next Skype Game

2010-06-09T07:50:00.001-06:00

The next Skype FLW game will have close to a division on each side. To meet this goal, I've had to do a lot of work to get troops together. Here are the results of my labors:

First is the Army Red Field Artillery. These are Prince August castings with modified arms.

These are Prince Attila's Own Leib Grenadiers. They are from a Dutkins WW1 German Infantry mold. This figure is considerably larger that a 54mm and larger than the other WW1 Genman infantry mold I have from them.

These are my Bavarian Jagers. They were made from the Dutkin's American Civil War sharpshooter mold with a head swap from the Dutkin's WW1 German Infantry mold. I then added the crest with Kneadatite.

Here is my Army Black artillery crew. They are made from the same castings as the Jagers above. However, for these guys I just filed the helmet spike down into a ball and gave them new hands and tools.

Finally, this is my Army Black mounted officer. The body is a Dutkin's American Civil War officer and the head is also from a Dutkin's mold. I added the epaulettes and whiskers with Kneadatite. The telescope is made from aluminum and plastic tube. The horse is a cheap plastic one, I believe made by Amaricana.

All of the flags used were created by Patrick Wilson as were the buildings seen in the background. These are, or will be available through The Virtual Armchair General. The backdrops were hand painted by myself on cardboard boxes that I opened up to lay flat. To use the backdrops, I tucked the bottom flaps under my table covering and proped them up with chairs. Each panel is about 20" tall and 5' long. This seems to be tall enough to hide most of the clutter in my game room during a Skype game while still allowing me to reach over the backdrop to move figures.

Update to the War of 1912 cmpaign

2010-05-25T16:32:00.001-06:00

I finally got back to do a little work on the campaign game. To that end, I have created this map of the campaign area. I am thinking that there might be four campaign moves per year. so I need to detrimine the movement rates based on the regions of the map.

Army Commands

2010-04-03T07:19:00.000-06:00

As I am gearing up for a special game I notice a major deficency in my armies, namely I have no command figures. For my game, I only need one brigade command group for each side. The Army Red command group will be riding in a car. The driver and seated general are made from Americana Civil War cavalry figures. The runner is a standard Prince August figure. I have also made foot figures if they dismount.

The Army Black staff is on foot. These are also Prince August figures, but with heads from my Dutkin's WW1 German mold.

My forces are now ready for the game.

Army Black

2010-02-10T19:52:00.002-07:00

I figure that I'll probably be playing FLW in some sort of solo fashion, so I will need two armies. I have made good progress on my Army Red already, so I decided to start on an opponent. I selected Army Black as my second army. I chose them for two reasons, first they are a good enemy for any other army. Secondly, I wanted to try out the Dutkin molds and the WW1 German Advancing looked like a good figure.

I've completed two units so far. The first I painted as regular Prussians in the 1890's color scheme.

I know they don't have the right collar for the 1890's but hey, this is Army Black. For the next unit, I went to the cigarette cards I posted to the FLW Group to create a Bavarian style unit. I clipped the spike on the helmet then added the woolen crest.

Specialty Figures - Nurse and Surgeon, Part 2

2010-02-10T07:39:00.001-07:00

After completing the nurse, I purchased a mold making starter kit so that I could reproduce the lady. The kit, by Alumilite, had a smaller amount of mold making material than I expected, however there was just enough to get the nurse encased.

I used a large medicine bottle for the mold form, which presented only a minor problem in extracting the mold (the bottle did not survive). From the mold, I got eight passable castings. Unfortunately, I did not do a very good job at cutting the mold open, so it failed after the eight figure was removed. I was also somewhat dissapointed in this particular mold material which has a low tear strength. However, on the plus size, the eight figures only cost about $3.75 each to produce. On the down side, I did have some repair work to do as a result of lost details due to air bubbles. These occured mainly in the area of the apron string's bow.

Below is a photo of four of the painted nurses:

(click on the picture to see the full image)

Thanks to Patrick Wilson for the use of his prototype "Funny Little Cottage" as a backdrop (sorry I didn't have the front step in place). I used a little green stuff to repair apron bows. All in all, I am pleased with the results.

I have also finished sculpting the Surgeon. The finished master is shown below.

I hope to make a new mold of both figures soon.

Specialty Figures - Nurse and Surgeon

2010-01-20T20:03:00.002-07:00

Because FLW allows for a medical staff and I don't have any figures for this, I thought that it would be a good place to start. My plan is to make a master sculpt of a nurse and a surgeon, then reproduce these in resin or liquid plastic. For my Army Red, I figure I will need four nurses and two surgeons.

Day 1 - I start with the body of a Prince August Traditional Toy Soldier standing at attention.

Using some filler putty, I build up the apron of the surgeon and the dress of the nurse.

After that hardens, I apply the detail putty over the filler.

The results of the first day's work are shown below.

Day 2 - I gave each of the figures a head. These also came from the Prince August Traditional Toy Soldier. I cut off the hat and filed down the details so that I could add my own. This is where the process slows down. If you try to do too much at once, you end up messing something up.

Day 3 - I have added details to the heads.

Day 4 - At this point I'm focusing on the nurse. I've finished the face and begun the hat.

Day 5 - I've finished the nurse.

In the next installment, I'll finish the surgeon and make a mold.

Building a Spring Firing Cannon

2010-01-04T13:52:00.000-07:00

In this entry, I will illustrate the steps I followed to make a cheap plastic cannon into a matchstick shoot artillery piece suitable for an FLW game.

I actually started with two cheap plastic models. The grey, “Civil War” cannon is the model that was actually converted. I used the spring and plunger from the green model (this green cannon would be perfect for playing FLW in 28mm on a tabletop. Since I have 5 more of them, I may fix them to fire better and use them that way.). Aside from the Gun model, spring, and plunger, I needed a 2 ¾” piece of 3/16” brass tubing, super glue, and some epoxy putty. For tools, I used some wire cutters, a hobby knife, and the dental picks I use for sculpting.

Step 1 – Remove the old barrel.

I used the wire cutters to clip away the original barrel, saving the breech and trunnions. With the hobby knife, I cut away any other excess plastic to smooth out a spot for the new barrel. This method of barrel removal works well for soft plastic models. Because this model was a semi-hard plastic, it cracked at the breech end. I will fix the crack with super glue and epoxy putty.

Step 2 – Glue on the new barrel.

As the title of this step implies, I super glue the brass tube on to the trunnion/breech piece.

Step 3 – Fill in the gaps.

Using the epoxy putty, I filled in the gaps between the trunnion/breech piece and the barrel. I also built new bands over the barrel at the breech and trunnions.

Step 4 - Drill a hole in the breech.

I drilled a hole through the breech into the barrel. The end of the plunger will pass through this hole.

Step 5 – Insert the spring and plunger.

I dropped the spring and plunger down the muzzle end of the barrel. By jiggling the barrel and pushing on the plunger with a skewer, I was able to get the plunger end through the breech hole. I then bent the plunger end 90 degrees to form the handle.

The cannon is now ready to be painted, put back on the carriage, and used in a game. If you do not have access to a ready-made spring and plunger, these can be made or acquired from other sources. For the plunger, I use a wire coat hanger. Clip off a straight section of the hanger and build up one end of this. I use nested aluminum tubing in 1/8” long segments which I super glue then epoxy putty in place. For a spring I use two springs from retractable ball point pens stacked one on top of the other. I’ve found that this works better than a single ball point pen spring. If you do you the ball point pen spring, you will need a slightly larger diameter tube for the barrel.

Current Projects

2009-12-29T19:18:00.000-07:00

I am currently working on several projects for the game "Funny Little Wars" by Padre Paul Wright. The game is based on "Little Wars" by H. G. Wells. In this blog I will chronicle 5 projects connected with this game. These are:

The construction of specialty figures
The construction of fighting vehicles
The construction of buildings and other terrain
The conversion of non-firing artillery peices into matchstick firing cannon
The development of a campaign which moves the War of 1812 to 1912.

Project Overviews:
Specialty Figures - I am currently working on a surgeon and nurse figure which I hope to be able to reproduce in plastic. These figures use the Prince August Traditional Toy Soldier figure standing at attention as a dolly.

Fighting Vehicles- I found a free paper model of a German Ehrhardt armored car in 1/72 which I am scaling up to 1/32 scale. This model will be made of cardstock. I will paint the details on the model as opposed to texturing the drawing and printing the details.

Buildings and Terrain - For Christmas, I recieved a software package for designing model railroad buildings. I have created several building fronts which I plan to use to create a sizeable urban area for an FLW scenario.

Artillery Conversion - I can not afford to buy expensive Britian's guns on Ebay. However, I have several cheap plastic ones. I will demonstrate my method of converting these into firing cannon.

The War of 1912 Campaign - The idea for this campaign came about after I found some pictures of various States (and City) Militia units on the internet. I liked the uniforms and wanted to find a way to incorperate them into the game. I have some of the background material and map work done so far.

In order to keep things straight, I'll use the headings above before each entry. And so to start....

The War of 1912 Campaign
It's 1912. War rages in Europe. Brittanium attempts to regain the New World colonies it lost almost thirty years before. The Iberian colonies are left mainly to their own devices due the European conflict. This allowed the fledgling Texican Republic to break away from the colony Mehicoe a few years earlier. Meanwhile, in the northwest of the continent, colonists and traders from Nevskia are pushing westward and southward toward lands claimed by Brittanium, Americus, and Iberia.

The War of 1912 pits small armies of various nations against each other in an attempt to gain new tracts of open country or protect the claims they currently have. Americus has a small national army but numerous independent States militias with this rag-tag bunch they hope to stave off attack and prove themselves worthy of being counted on par with the nations of Europe. For Brittanium, the problem is getting their highly trained forces to the theater of operations. They must also be on the lookout for the Gaulic and Cisalpine Republic forces from the West Indies and discontented Gauls in Brittanium’s Mount Royale colony. The Iberia Army has only meager forces to fend off the land hungry Texican filibusters. Nevskia has an opportunity to grab large chunks of the west, but their eye is on seemingly easy pickings of Iberia’s colony on the west coast. Gaul and The Cisalpine Republic are mainly sideline players that could come in if the situation arises. There is also the opportunity for small actions, island hopping in the Caribbean. Finally, there are the Bronze tribes, aboriginal peoples that can fight for any side and against anyone, including other tribes.

This is an alternate history campaign that moves the geo-political situation of 1812 to the technological year of 1912. The focus is on the conflict in North America between Great Britain (Brittanium) and The United States of America (Americus). The causes of the war involved trade restrictions with Gaul and its vassals, the forced inscription of Americus citizens into the Brittanium military, and the opportunity for Americus to get some cheap land while Brittanium is occupied in Europe. It has been expanded to include other nations, so that a wide variety of opponents are available.

Numerous liberties are taken with the political, social, and technological elements of the game. For example the Texican Republic(Texas) would not come into being until many years after the war. The transportation networks are related to those in place during the American Civil War. The uniforms used for the Americus militias are taken from a series of cigarette cards from the turn of the 19th century. Other aspect of the game are taken from the Indian wars of the 1870’s and 1880’s.

Gazetteer

Brittanium– The preeminent naval power. Prosecuting the continental war in Europe has taxed the manpower reserves of the home country which may have resulted in the questionable impressments of some Americus citizens.

Army – Use the standard Army Red list.

Americus – A young nation, itching to enter the international stage. The situation with Brittaniumhas presented them the opportunity to do just that. In fact, they would like to control as much of the continent as possible. To this end, Americus can and will find a cause to claim additional territory, even that claimed by other nations.

Americus currently has an alliance with Gaul, However, with Brittanium’s control of the seas, this doesn’t amount to much.

Army – Use the standard Army Red, White, and Blue list.

Iberia – Iberia is in dire straits due to the European war. It has been over-run by Gauland is currently engaged in a guerilla war against the occupying troops. The government is in exile and can offer no support to its American colonies.

Army – Use the standard Army Red/Gold list.

Gaul – Born from the ideals of the Americus revolution, Gaul has had to fight Europe for its very existence. Once secure, it continued to fight Europe to extend its glory. The Emperor is the master of the European landscape and would be the master of more, if not for the mighty Brittanium Navy and the tenacity of the Brittanium Army.

In the American theater, Gaul is a sideline player. It is able to pursue a small war in the Caribbean islands with modest forces that elude the blockade. But other than that, they can only hope that the American war will substantially distract Brittanium and the Emperor can complete his conquest of Europe.

Cisalpine Republic – This not always willing ally of Gaul also has some interest in the Caribbean islands. Their meager holdings here are kept alive by the smuggling efforts of the Red, White, and Blues.

Army – Use the standard Army Purple list.

Portucale – Aside from Nevskia, Portucale is the only independent nation in Europe. They remain independent mainly through the efforts of Brittanium and its military forces. Its alliance with Brittanium has yielded them a benefit. It has been able to keep its colonies relatively secure.

Army – Use the standard Army Red/Gold list.

Nevskia – Up till now, Nevskia has made great inroads into the Pacific Northwest at the great expense and misery of the Bronze Tribes of the region. However, how that Gaul has turned its gaze to the east, The Nevskian general staff has all but forgotten its colonies in the far off land. This does not mean that the Nevskian colonials have given up on expansion, however. These Nevskian Robber Barons are hoping to exploit the problems suffered by Iberia and expand to the warmer climates to the south. Their eastward expansion has also run them afoul of Brittanium and Americus.

Army – Use the standard Army Dark Green list.

Texican Republic- Americus migrants invaded a large tract of the Mehicoe colony of Iberia. They then promised to be good citizens of the colony and promptly revolted to form their own nation. In the process, they claimed a portion of the territory that Americus bought from Gaul 9 years earlier.

Army –

The Empire of San Luna– Don Julian Alvarado once acquired aide from Brittanium to engage in military operations in Mehicoe while Iberia was briefly allied to Gaul. Owing to extreme megalomania and a generally unbalanced mind, Don Julian declared himself “El Supremo” and used the supplies he got from Brittanium to capture the southern end of Mehicoe even though Iberia had turned against the Gauls.

El Supremo will now do everything in his power to maintain control of his empire. His troops are poorly trained and equipped (the supplies he acquired are limited). Woe betide the officer whose troops retire.

Army-

Mount Royale – The population of this colony were originally from Gaul. It is believed by Americus that the Gaulic part of the population would like to be out from under the control of Brittanium. However, at this time there is no sign of this.

Army – Use the Army Red, White, and Blue list. Regulars will be organized and equipped like Army Red troops.

Alieska – Entrepreneurs from Country created the Alieska as a trading venture. With a ruthlessness unmatched even by the early Iberia Conquistadores they have exploited the native tribesmen of the region to the limits of their civilizations endurance.

The Promyshlenniki are the leaders of the private armies that Country Dark Green has gobbling up all the territory that they can. Their forces consist of a small core of regular troops. The rest are native levies.

Army –

Canadium – This is the main holding of Brittanium in North America. Canadium firmly supports its home country and will defend its territory against all invaders. The leaders of the colony are not above hiring Bronze Tribe war parties to harass the Americus settlements.

Army – Use the standard Army Red list.

Americus Territories - These lands are sparsely populated by Americus settlers but contain a large number of the Bronze Tribes. The northern territories are a hotbed of activity in the war because they lay along side an area in dispute. The armies of the territories are made up primarily of militia units, with occasional regulars.

Army –

Mehicoe –

Army-

Bronze Tribes – These are the indigenous people of the Americas. They have been constantly pushed off of their lands since the first European settlers arrived. In this conflict, as in the past, Bronze warriors have been hired and armed by the warring parties to bolster their troops.

Army –

Disputed Areas – Areas claimed by two are more countries are considered In Dispute. These areas will contain some settlers from each of the nations involved along with the Bronze Tribes of the area. Tensions will be high in areas where the settlers from different countries are in close proximity. The armies in these areas will have the colonial organization of their country of origin.

Islands that change hands often – The islands of the Caribbean have been contested for centuries. Now there are four main players in the region, Brittanium, Gaul, Iberia, and Cisalpine Republic. In this disease ridden part of the world, national alliances are only observed in the dry season, when the regulars sail in to war for a time. For the rest of the year, colonials battle amongst themselves for supremacy, all the while smugglers from Americus make money selling contraband to the highest bidder.