Trench terrain

Managed to get a terrain project nearly finished! This was a prototype trench section, I intend to do more to fit the length of a six foot table. Using principles from my favorite terrain building book, the now sadly out of print How to build wargames terrain by GW, I attempted to use bits of domestic waste for the build.

The starting point was hard board packing from a furniture box. I then used polystyrene packing glued to that base to form a rough outline of the trench. These were then cut back at a slight angle. Sections of corrugated sheet Slaters plastikard were glued in to form the revetment. Plastikard angle sections were then glued on top to restrain the sheets. The polystyrene was then covered in polyfilla. The front facing side of the trench had Renedra sandbags glued in to form a parapet. Using card robbed from a cornflakes packet, I cut them it into thin strips and glued it into the bottom of the trench to simulate duck boards. The model was then coated in sand gravel mix and PVA to fix it. Painted and inked in acrylic paints.

Very happy how the trench turned out, this can be used for WW1, WW2 and possibly Cold War Warsaw Pact trenches. Now to build five more sections and some gun pits!

1st Corps Medium Mark A Whippet Tank

This model was a recent buy at Salute 2017 from the boys at 1st Corps. Their WW1 range of vehicles is full of character, having previously bought their Thornycroft Truck.  The Medium Mark A Whippet tank is no different, showing the 1st Corps unique sculpting style. The resin casting required no cleaning up and the Hotchkiss Machine guns were easy to fit to the drilled out recesses in the ball mounts. 

The tank was painted in Vallejo 'Soviet Uniform' green, washed in Army Painter 'Strong Tone' and dry brushed with some minor rust streaks added to some rivet heads. The tracks were painted in GW 'Bolt Gun Grey' silver and weathered with Tamiya vehicle mud. 

Assembled and painted kit

 Front End

 Side

 Rear

Top

HLBSC Armoured Train

For a long while I have been after the Honourable Lead Boiler Suit Company's WW1 Austro Hungarian Armoured Train which came on the market in the early 00's when playing 1920s Back of Beyond was a fashionable thing to do.

Long since out of production, last year I was lucky to be able to pick up the locomotive and an infantry/maxim car off ebay. Some email correspondence with the ever helpful Richard at the HLSBC whilst purchasing some re-releases of the HLSBC WW1 German Storm Troop range, meant he agreed to cast up some artillery cars and another infantry/maxim cars!

The Wagons are for the best part single part resin castings for the superstructure and chassis, with little preparation needed. The wheels and buffers are cast pewter alloy and require a little cleaning up before fitting. The Artillery car comes with a pose-able turret and choice of field gun barrels, I opted for the Russian 76mm M1902 gun. The locomotive has a slightly more complex wheel arrangement and the chimney and boiler dome are resin.

The train is accurate to it the real life version and compares favorably (Landships Website), although it looks to be 25mm scale vs 28mm, although I am not that fussy. The kits could be improved a little with the addition of some metal maxim gun barrels and couplings for the wagons (as per Company B's trains) as well as connecting rods for the locomotive, although this would be rather irritating to assemble! The kit is value for money and HLBSC are by far the best company to deal with in the business, being very receptive, helpful and dispatch very quickly. A very good product delivered by an excellent service.

My train was painted in Vallejo 'London Grey', washed in Army painter 'Strong tone' with rust streaks added to rivet heads and cantrel lines. The train was dry brushed to weather it. Buffers were finished in GW 'Chain Mail' silver.

76mm 1902 Model Field gun artillery car.

Infantry / Maxim Car

Armoured Locomotive

The completed Armoured Train