Hobby Off Run...

After work today I swung by Hobby Off. Basically it's a big second hand shop for all kinds of hobby stuff... games, musical instruments, stereo and computer components, cards, figures, models, trains, toys everything.

I hit the 1/72 scale WW2 aircraft models, and came away with these for ¥630 each. the Thunderbolt will be painted up as an RAF Thunderbolt Mk II to support a future Chindit force in Bolt Action. The P39 and P40 will be painted up as early war USAAF support for my US Platoon in North Africa and the Pacific.

I also picked up another Kotobukiya MSG attack helicopter drone (not pictured) and this gigantic MS Gundam MSN-04 Sazabi in approximately 1/60 scale I believe. You can see it dwarfing those TAG Marines on the 80mm round. Not sure when or where I will be using it... but I have a 28mm scale giant robot now....

I do have a couple 1/48 scale mecha models that remain unbuilt, and a number of LBX kits that stand about 1/3rd as high. The LBXs are a bit too small to make believable cockpits spaces in the torsos... i will probably use them as Sentinel-like robots instead.

Or maybe once a month...

January was a pretty quiet month hobby wise.

I did decide to get into Bolt Action - mostly because of Facebook conversations with my friends back in the States; particularly Lee (the man behind CIA games, and an annoyingly good professional miniature painter).

So last month I took advantage of a free shipping and free model deal at warlord Games - indeed because of the efficiency of Royal Mail's international delivery - I often seek out distributors in the UK over US and even Australia based ones.

The Warlord stuff (D-Day Firefight Starter set and the Italeri produced M4 Sherman Medium Tank in 1/56) came along rather quickly. The starter set included 20 US infantry, 12 German infantry, 1 Hanomag halftrack in 1/56, a smaller format version of the basic rules, plastic ruined farmhouse terrain piece, 10 D6s and 10 order dice (five each of black and olive).

I got busy building a US BAR gunner and soon confirmed that the Warlord produced minis are not to my taste. I had expected that, and already had an order in for seven packs of Artizan US infantry figures, as well as an order in for applicable Vallejo model color paints from Volks in Osaka. Interestingly, despite being ordered on the same day, the Artizan shipment from the UK beat the Sagawa transport shipment from a shop 4 hours away by car. I love Royal Mail.

Writing off the plastic infantry is a bit of a waste, but given the two vehicles and dice and book... i think I would have spent more on them separately (20 for a PDF of the rules (the cheapest version), 20 for the M4, 17 for the Hanomag, 16 for the farmhouse, and about 10 for the dice... so 83 pounds total for the 70 I spent) so I have no compulsions about sending them off to the parts bin or more likely gifting them to a friend who would use them. Also, although I like the Italeri kits... future vehicles will probably be Rubicon... they are just cheaper and I think a shade nicer.

Now, with figures and materials in hand... I've decided to set the goal of having my American reinforced platoon table ready for my trip back to the States in August to table against Lee - who's notoriously unlucky with dice - heheheheheh.

In other news, I am waiting for the sealant to set on the first 6 painted minis of 2016, and the new house. I'll post them when I get the bases finished.

Happy New Year 2K16!

My New Year's resolution is to post more often... twice a month is my minimum goal.

So to start off 2K16 here is what I've been putzing with:

base: Hot Wheels Mid-Scale (1/50) 1959 Chevrolet Impala.

rear wheels: the front axle from a Fastlane haul truck (those giant mining dump trucks).
front wheels: axel from a "Mars Attacks" truck from Mantic.

scale mini: Wargames Foundry

The haul truck wheels are hollow, so there will be some filling or plating with plasticard. I'd like to do a bladed front bumper, and a pintle mount or turret. Windows will be armored over, and I'm leaning toward a rusty rat-rod type paint scheme. The back bumper is also pretty high, so I might sling two oil drums under the boot.

De-Mekton-i-fied.

Mekton Zero Kickstarter refund from R. Talsorian Games received and promptly spent on Copplestone minis. Should have done that in the first place.

Mekton Zero - Support Revoked

Lisa Pondsmith sent an email to backers offering a full refund of their Kickstarter pledge yesterday.

I jumped at the chance. Sent my request in as soon as I got home.

Honestly I wan't invested much in this Kickstarter (unlike Dust Tactics) - I greatly reduced my initial pledge during the Kickstarter because it was not managed, what I would call, well.

Here we are over two years latter - I've received nothing of what was supposed to be delivered in December of 2013. No dice. No pdf. No book. Apparently trying to use an outdated edition of Quark has caused them to be unable to deliver on the prime product for two years. Communication has been a fiasco... it was delegated to a small succession of backers, none of whom were consistent, and who had nothing to say from the Pondsmiths. No mention of what was delaying the book for over 18 months. R. Talsorian didn't take control of communication for as long. There have been no updates on the miniatures or other supporting products. I might add that the info on Cyberpunk 2077 has been as nonexistent these two past years; perhaps the idea is not a dark future game, but a dark present one?

I've been an R. Talsorian customer for most of my life. For years I ONLY played Interlock games (there were even Star Trek conversion I made for Interlock and Fuzion). I own every edition of Mekton and Cyberpunk. Every single one. Indeed I am missing only one Cyberpunk 2020 supplement.

I wish them luck - that they can get their act together. But I will never patronize that company again.

Modern Armor for "Tanks!" by Armourfast

Playing "Tanks!" by Armourfast with my daughter, the only problem is Armourfast kits are rare, and thus expensive in Japan, so we are using Arii, Tamiya, and Academy motorized 1/48 scale tanks.

I think that's cool, but they are all post-WW2 designs; so here we have some modern tank stats for "Tanks!" that I whipped up.

M48A2 - Armour 4 - Gun 5 - Speed 3 - Range 4/6
M48A3 - Armour 4 - Gun 5 - Speed 4 - Range 4/6

T55 - Armour 4 - Gun 5 - Speed 4 - Range 4/6

M60A1 - Armour 4 - Gun 5 - Speed 3 - Range 4/6

M60A2 - Armour 4 - Gun 5 - Speed 3 - Range 3/4 (cannon; missile range 4/6)

T72 - Armour 5 - Gun 5 - Speed 4 - Range 4 - Range 4/6

Type 74 - Armour 4 - Gun 5 - Speed 4 - Range 4/6

M1 - Armour 5 - Gun 5 - Speed 5 - Range 4/6

M1A1 - Armour 5 - Gun 6 - Speed 5 - Range 4/6

Type 90 - Armour 5 - Gun 6 - Speed 5 - Range 4/6

Type 10 - Armour 5 - Gun 6 - Speed 5 - Range 4/6

(Roughly) 28mm Scale Tram and Bendy Bus

So I stopped at Toys-R-Us today on the way home from Kanazawa. Came across two roughly game scale vehicles in the FastLane isle. 

First up is the Mercedes-Benz Bendy Bus. I's about 58mm wide and 75mm to the roof... I think it looks a bit big, but if I re-size the wheels down a bit, I think it will ride at a better height and mesh much better with the 1/50 scale cars and 1/48 armor I use. Have to do something about the slight jackknife at the joint too,,, perhaps some weights.



Next up is the City Tram, it is a bit larger... about 80mm to the roof, but only 50mm wide. The doors are big, but perhaps if I mod it just a bit as a Subway/El and use a platform... There are some good game size trains in japan, but each car runs twice what this whole thing cost.

Both toys are shown with a larger 28mm Copplestone Castings trooper standing alongside, and a true 28mm EM4 (ex-Grenadier FW) trooper in the doorway. both are on plastic Reaper bases, and still fit in the doorways, which is a nice thing.