Anvil Industries Regiments

I got some bits from the Regiments line at Anvil Industries. These really great folks offer a system of interchangable parts (heads, arms, legs, weapins, torsos, accessories) you can use to construct miniatures of a modern, near-future, or even 40k type. The pieces are very finely sculpted and cast in resin. Stylisticly they are similar to the GW style, or Foundry perhaps; weapons tend to be oversized though. What intriqued me was the well developed line of female parts, having a daughter that plays, I'm always on the look out fr female minis that aren't grossly sexist. Anvil offers a line of very comoetent looking females. definitely goung to get more of these.

I Made a Desk

I. Made. A. Desk.

My project this break was to finish up reorganizing the front room. That means filling the gap between my book cases. Measurements were made, got the shelf pieces cut at Karma Home Center, and then cut the structural members myself with an X-Acto saw and mitre box. Flats are varnished, and the supports are painted the same black as the shelving units.

It fits in perfectly. And the shelves are spaced just right for game books and the bass speaker.

28mm Civilian Vehicles, Part VI: Mega Bloks

Part six of a continuing effort to document scale-appropriate toy cars for 28mm gaming. In this post we take a look at Lego-type building kits from Mega Bloks, part of their Need For Speed license. The smaller kits, featuring a key-launcher and ~1/55 scale car consisting of a chassis, two 90 degree bend pieces, two doors, a front end, a back end, a roof/pillars/glass piece, and a sun roof or 3-piece police lightbar. The chassis was a standard piece to all, and as such wheelbase is identical (although tread is not due to various sizes spacers on the hubs), as such I've included length as a dimension in determining scale.

Somewhere I have the '11 McLaren MP4-12C kit as well, but I haven't determined which box it's in to measure and photograph - I will include it in a later revision to this post.

(28mm figures from the Northstar "Fistful of Kung-fu" and Copplestone Castings "Future Wars" ranges provided for scale)

2009 Audi R8 Coupé 5.2 FSI quattro
Scale: 1/52 (L: 4435/99.8; WB: 2650/48.0; W: 1904/34.4)
Line: Mega Bloks Need For Speed
Imprint: "Need For Speed / Mega Bloks"

2008 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (C6)
Scale: 1/55 (L: 4460/81.8; WB: 2685/48.0; W: 1928/36.1)
Line: Mega Bloks Need For Speed
Imprint: "Need For Speed / Mega Bloks"

2010 Chevrolet Camaro (5th generation)
Scale: 1/58 (L: 4840/80.1; WB: 2852/48.0; W: 1920/33.7)
Line: Mega Bloks Need For Speed
Imprint: "Need For Speed / Mega Bloks"

2007 Porsche 911 GT3 (997)
Scale: 1/51 (L: 4427/83.5; WB: 2355/48.0; W: 1808/34.8)
Line: Mega Bloks Need For Speed
Imprint: "Need For Speed / Mega Bloks"

1969 Ford Mustang (custom)
Scale: 1/55 (L: 4762/83.6; WB: 2743/48.0; W: 1821/36.1)
Line: Mega Bloks Need For Speed
Imprint: "Need For Speed / Mega Bloks"

28mm Civilian Vehicles, Part V: more Siku

Part five of a continuing effort to document scale-appropriate toy cars for 28mm gaming. In this post we return to German manufacturer, Siku. Siku cars are usually imprinted with engine and performance statistics; these have been omitted from the profiles in the interest of brevity.

(28mm figures from the Northstar "Fistful of Kung-fu" and Copplestone Castings "Future Wars" ranges provided for scale)

2010 Volkswagen T5 Transporter
Scale: 1/58 (WB: 3000/50.6; W: 1904/33.2)
Line: Siku Super Series
Imprint: "1070 / 1338"
Note: while the van pictured is a kombi, a panel van version is also available.

2006 Dodge Charger
Scale: 1/58 (WB: 3048/52.7; W: 1890/32.6)
Line: Siku Super Series
Imprint: "Dodge Charger / 1435"

2003 Porsche Cayenne (9PA)
Scale: 1/58 (WB: 2855/48.4; W: 1928/33.3)
Line: Siku Super Series
Imprint: "Porsche Cayenne Turbo / 1062"

1980 Mercedes-Benz SEC (C126)
Scale: 1/58 (WB: 2850/47.2; W: 1828/32.4)
Line: Siku Super Series
Imprint: "Mercedes Benz 500SEC / 1052"

2008 Toyota Land Cruiser (J200)
Scale: 1/55 (WB: 2850/51.1; W: 1970/36.0)
Line: Siku Super Series
Imprint: "Toyota Land Cruiser V8 / 1440"

Siku Hurricane
Scale: N/A (WB: 51.4; W: 37.8)
Line: Siku Super Series
Imprint: "Siku Hurricane / 0878"
Note: an original model by Siku, boasting a 7320cc 10 cylinder engine producing 760PS, 559pkW, and 8970U/min - top speed is 321km/h.

28mm Civilian Vehicles, Part IV: Majorette

Part four of a continuing effort to document scale-appropriate toy cars for 28mm gaming. In this post we take a look at models from Majorette, another European manufacturer making many cars with a nominal scale of ~1/55. Newer offerings tend to run closer to 1/64 except for compact and subcompact cars, however older Majorettes tended to be larger and many mid-size cars can be had as well.

(28mm figures from the Northstar "Fistful of Kung-fu" and Copplestone Castings "Future Wars" ranges provided for scale)

2007 Renault Twingo II
Scale: 1/55 (WB: 2365/42.5; W: 1655/30.1)
Line: Majorette
Imprint: "Twingo / Ech: 1/64 / Ref: 206B"

2010 Honda CR-Z (ZF1)
Scale: 1/54 (WB: 2435/44.6; W: 1740/32.7)
Line: Majorette
Imprint: "Honda CRZ / Ech: 1/55 / Ref: 220B"

2008 Renault Scénic III
Scale: 1/58 (WB: 2700/46.5; W: 1844/32.1)
Line: Siku Super Series
Imprint: "Renault Scenic / Ech: 1/64 / Ref: 221F"

2009 BMW Z4 (E89)
Scale: 1/56 (WB: 2496/44.4; W: 1790/32.3)
Line: Majorette
Imprint: "BMW X4 Roadster / Ech: 1/56 / Ref: 244F"

2007 Fiat 500
Scale: 1/55 (WB: 2300/41.8; W: 1627/29.5)
Line: Majorette
Imprint: "Fiat 500 / Ech: 1/55 / Ref: 286C"

1979 Toyota HiLux Third Generation (N30)
Scale: 1/55 (WB: 2585/45.1; W: 1610/30.9)
Line: Majorette
Imprint: "Toyota Pick-up / Ech. 1/56 / No 292"

28mm Civilian Vehicles, Part III: Jada

Part three of an ongoing attempt to catalogue scale-appropriate toy cars for 28mm gaming. Today's selection is from Jada, who make many ~1/55 scale vehicles, mostly sold as 1/64 scale vehicles.

(28mm figures from the Northstar "Fistful of Kung-fu" and Copplestone Castings "Future Wars" ranges provided for scale)

2011 Nissan GT-R (R35)
Scale: 1/54 (WB: 2780/49.4; W: 1902/51.5)
Line: Jada Fast & Furious 1/55
Imprint: "2009 Nissan GTR / Scale 1/55"

2011 Dodge Challenger SRT-8 (off-road)
Scale: 1/57 (WB: 2950/50.9; W: 1920/34.4)
Line: Jada Fast & Furious 1/55
Imprint:"Dodge Challenger SRT8 / Scale 1/55)

1967 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 (off-road)
Scale: 1/54 (WB: 2743/51.6; W: 1842/33.9)
Line: Jada Fast & Furious 1/55
Imprint: "1967 Chevy Camaro / Scale 1/55"

1970 Dodge Charger (off-road)
Scale: 1/58 (WB: 3000/49.0; W: 1950/36.2)
Line: Jada Fast & Furious 1/55
Imprint: "1970 Dodge Charger / Scale 1/55"

1970 Plymouth Road Runner 440 6-Barrel
Scale: 1/57 (WB: 2946/50.3; W: 1941/34.8)
Line: Jada Fast & Furious 1/55
Imprint: "1970 Plymouth Road Runner / Scale 1/55"

1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS396 Hardtop Coupe
Scale: 1/57 (WB: 2845/49.8; W: 1915/34.3)
Line: Jada Fast & Furious 1/55
Imprint: "1970 Chevy Chevelle SS / Scale 1/55"

28mm Modern Military Vehicles, Part I

A selection of the 28mm modern military vehicles that I've collected (with Copplestone Castings "Future Wars" miniature for scale):

Mitsubishi Type 73 1/2t truck (Kyosho - 1/57)
Revised 1996 "Pajero" model.

Ford M151A2 MUTT (Kyosho - 1/57)
A later model than the version used during the Vietnam War, but the closest in this scale I'm likely to find. The camouflage version is hideous and will need repainted in NATO 3-color camouflage.

General Dynamics M1A1 Abrams tank (Kyosho - 1/60)
Part of the iDriver Pocket Armour series... it can be driven remotely using the bluetooth function of your phone.

Norinco Type 59 (No brand - 1/50)
Larger than most vehicles I use, but because the T-54/55 family of tanks are so small (there was a height maximum for crews) I think it mixes well enough... the length, hull deck height and turret hatches are similar in size to the 1/60 M1A1; the tracks are actually the spares from that model.

Amaraz BTR-80 (No brand - 1/55)
Great size and very cheap.

From L-R: Mitsubishi Type 73 (Kyosho - 1/57), Volkswagen Type 181 (Matchbox - 1/58), Ford M151A1 (Kyosho - 1/57), and Willy's MB (Matchbos - 1/55)