Blindés de Combat Magazine

Back in 2010-2013 I was talking about the Combat Tank Collection series (of 121 different models), and subsequently Altaya released a second magazine series Blindés de Combat which featured another 62 models, and a much greater variety of non-tank military models in 1/72 scale.

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Combat Tanks Collection NZ Update

The full running order for the de Argostini Combat Tanks Collection in New Zealand (see Combat Tanks Collection 1-7) has now been available for sometime (i.e. since mid-2012) – I thought it might be useful to quickly post it up here along with updated links to the forum (which moved during 2012). The series is expected to conclude in April (or possibly May) 2014 with 110 issues. The full listing of the running order for the issues is below (note it still appears that the model for issue 110, the final issue, has not been confirmed):

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Some Great New WWII Dragon Armor

DRA60599 - German SdKfz 231 8-rad on the Eastern Front 1941
DRA60599 - German SdKfz 231 8-rad on the Eastern Front 1941

Dragon Armor has announced in the last few weeks the release of several of their new models planned for the 2011-2012 period, as many will know the Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go and Type 97 Chi-Ha have both been released (there are now 2 colour schemes available for the former and 3 for the latter) along with the U.S. LVT-A(1) with 37mm gun turret, and various German light vehicles such as the SdKfz 222 Light Reconnaissance Car and SdKfz 251/22 Half-Track with PaK40 on board. Most recently has been the release of the Neubaufahrzeug from Panzerabteilung z.b.V.40 in Norway 1940. Now due in early 2012 are the German SdKfz 231 Heavy Reconnaissance Car in early war Panzer Grey (a much missed model from all ranges), and a British Infantry Tank Mk.IV Churchill Mk.III (the 6pdr version that served from Dieppe in 1942 until the end of the war in Italy and to a lesser extent in NWE.

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Najewitz Modellbau Buildings Arrive

Over the past 18 months I’ve regularly looked at the models buildings and wagons (and the Berlin Tram) by Najewitz Modellbau in Germany – they look fantastic in the photos and I’ve always been keen to take the plunge – however the description of the material has always had me a bit wary – the wagons & tram and some of the smaller scale buildings being laser cut Finnpappe which they describe as “…no word for it in English dictionary is a product made of ground wood pulp. To say it is cardboard is the wrong title for it. It´s more similar to MDF, quasi ‘MDF-light’.” However the larger 1/72nd and 28mm buildings are kitsets of a resin material, the type isn’t clearly specified on the website – but I took the plunge recently and ended up ordering a selection of the 1/72nd scale buildings…

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More 20mm Eastern Front Buildings

Following on from my order from Lancer Miniatures I previously posted about, as mentioned I had ordered buildings from several other manufacturers as well, and my order from Area 9 arrived a couple of days after the Lancer one. Area 9 is a comparatively new manufacturer that’s started up in 2010 – in fact I only stumbled over them a couple of months ago thanks to a post on the Crisis In Alcovia blog earlier this year! They have some very nice looking stuff, and in the 20mm range I couldn’t resist ordering one each of their three buildings, and an assortment of wooden paling fences…

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Some 20mm Eastern Front Buildings Arrive…

Lancer Miniatures Russian Railway Station
Lancer Miniatures 20mm Russian Railway Station

Right now my 20mm WW2 & Modern era buildings are rather bare on the ground – I have a couple of very nice larger 15mm TimeCast buildings (a Belgian Townhouse and a Petrol Station), and a 20mm bombed out German HQ Building from ESLO. Otherwise I have some plastic kits awaiting completion (Airfix Jungle Outpost & the 2 Italeri Farmhouse & Manor kits) and a 20mm resin Jungle Building from Frontline. So my existing Western Europe and new Eastern Europe theatre troops desperately need buildings for their games – not to mention long-term Mediterranean/North African and more Pacific/Burma stuff! Consequently I have been purchasing several new Western & Eastern European buildings from about 5 different manufacturers (i.e. Lancer, Area 9, Hovels, TST, Sentry) – and where possible have chosen to purchase them pre-painted to save time, and get some terrain (especially Eastern Front) usable as promptly as possible. The first of these to arrive are from Lancer Miniatures in the UK, which arrived promptly in NZ just 1 week after ordering.

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Custom Moulding: Replicate Your Scratchbuilds!

Fidelis Models USA

A friend just pointed out the following Model Distributor who offers a nice service casting custom models for people who supply an original master. They say “Send us your scratchbuilt master model and we will make an RTV (Room Temperature Vulcanizing) rubber mold of your model. We can then make approximately 75-100 copies of the master before the mold begins to deteriorate.” With a cost of as little as US$8 for each subsequent resin casting of the mould this could well be a fine option for those people wanting to churn out several dozen copies of an original figure or model – although the initial mould creation does cost around US$175. Check it out at the Fidelis Models Website…

Do You Know That General, Monsieur?

A posse of 28mm Napoleonic French Generals

Sometime (i.e. 2-3 years) ago I acquired several pre-painted 28mm French Generals on EBay – they were spur of the moment purchases put to one side for when I eventually got around to doing my 28mm French Napoleonic Army. As I am hoping to start work on that in the near future I thought I should work out what I actually have!  As a result I’m trying to identify these figures – both maker and what they are (e.g. are they personalities or just generic ‘Generals’ or even just Infantry/Cavalry Colonels or ADCs?) – so I’ve posted them here in the hope someone passing by may recognise them and be able to clarify for me what actual manufacturer’s figure they are…

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Selective Laser Sintering Armour

RPG Manufacturing Cromwell IV Model
RPG Manufacturing SLS invoked Cromwell IV Model

Reviewed in Battlegames No.25 and announced on TMP, RPG Manufacturing Limited are venturing into the Wargaming & Modelmaking arena, with the first of a new range of precision ‘1-piece’ castings that includes several variations on the Cromwell IV and Panzer IV ausf G & H. These models are made by fusing together progressive layers of nylon dust into a 3D model using a CO2 laser (a process called SLS – Selective Laser Sintering). This is somewhat similar (in general terms) to what existing 3D ‘Printers’ do and other similar processes (for example there was an episode in the most recent series of the U.S. show “Bones” that used this technique to recreate a human skeleton from 3D scans). In our case these models are designed in a CAD application, and then scaled to the desired scale (e.g. each RPG Cromwell & Panzer IV are available in 1:100, 1:72, 1:60, 1:56, and 1:48 scale – the models being identical except for their size).

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MMS Classic Models – Listing by Nation

MMS Cromwell VIII F Model
MMS Cromwell VIII F Model

One of the really great Model Manufacturers around is MMS Classic Models – they produce some really high quality World War 2 vehicles and guns for 20mm scale (I believe they are nominally very accurate 1/76th scale on par with Milicast and Cromwell – but don’t quote me on that). Anyway on their site they list all their packs numerically rather than by Nation or any other logical order – this drives me mad!

So I’ve done my own listing sorted by Nation and then logically within each Nation by type of pack.

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Friend or Foe Figures

Friend or Foe Figures Romanian Mountain Trooper
Friend or Foe Figures Romanian Mountain Trooper

Recently I’ve been looking at the Friend or Foe (FoF) figure range from Shell Hole Scenics. However there is a marked lack of photos to compare the figures. Enquires on the web such as at the 20mm Miniatures Yahoo Group generally just resulted in limited feedback and several enquires back about what the figures looked like! I have picked some up indirectly and got the following photos of them for comparison. As it seems the manufacturer has very limited photos on their website (although Peter at Battlescape the Australian distributor does have some) I thought I’d put these images up for the benefit of anyone interested.

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Combat Tanks Collection 1-7

Here are some photos of the models in the first few issues of the CTC Magazine. As I previously posted on the Auckland Wargaming Club Website the Combat Tanks Collection Magazine from the UK is now available here in NZ (having been available in Australia for sometime, and in a different format as the non-English Panzer Magazine in other countries)…

And you can subscribe on line or pick it up from most book stores. Each issue includes a 1/72nd Scale Die-Cast Model similar to those produced by Dragon Armor; Forces of Valor; and similar.

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