A Song of Fire and Ice

I purchased both the Boardgame and the Lannister/Stark Starter set several years ago, did a little bit of painting, then put it aside. Having recently watched the Series House of Dragons, and putting me into that frame of my, I brought out the figures and began painting again. The Club is actually going to try the Boardgame this Wednesday and so perhaps the figs will come into use.

Here is the Starks, (l-r) Catelyn, Robb, Grey Wind, and Sansa...

Greatjon Umber and some of his Berserkers...

The heart of the Stark forces, the Sworn Swords...

Finally, a few Outriders...

These represent the Stark miniatures found in the above mentioned Starter Set. Next up will be the Lannister.

9.April The Film and the Battle

 For anyone who has interest in WWII, this Danish film is a must see. The production includes authentic uniforms, weapons and tactics. You can watch bicycle troops armed with LMG and rifles try to stop an armored column consisting of Sdkfz 221s, a 223, PZ I and PzII! Later in film, you can see a M/C sidecar 20mm a/t gun hit a Pz II and so on. The story is the little known German invasion of Denmark in 1940, where the 'fighting' only lasted a few hours, some of which took place after the government itself surrendered (as also shown in film). It is well worth your time.

Great Escape Games has recently introduced their line of Danish troops, and it looks like it was taken right from the movie. You have infantry, motorcycles, dismounted m/c troops, and supporting weapons. The gang is going to recreate several of the movie scenes on our table in a couple of weeks, and some of the early figures have been completed. Please excuse the shiny effect of the photos, they are indeed matt-finish but I needed to use a flash...

This is Great Escape's Command Pack, with (l-r) Lojtnant, Batman, 2ndLojtnant, and NCO...

                                                                        Rifle Grenadiers...

                                                                            Sniper Team

                                                                        LMG Team

LMG Squad. These figures along with the LMG Team in previous photo. make up a Squad Pack...

The LMG Team with Tripod. This weapon features as highly important in the initial battle in the film...

Dismounted Motorcyclists will be up next...

The Bund: 1920s Shanghai

 Its been a long time since I've added to my Blog. I purchased ahistorical building in Victor Colorado which I've been working on, but thats another story. Reading a series of books written by Howard Turk inspired me to recreate Shanghai's famous Bund in 3D. Years ago, I produced a diorama in 2D that reached over 40 feet. For now I have recreated a total of seven of the 22 buildings located along the Whangpoo/Huangpu River.

Starting at the southern end of the Bund (near the French Concession of the early 20th Century), we see (from left to right) the McBain/Asia Building; the Shanghai Club (home to the famous Long Bar); Union Building; anf the NKK Building...

Closeups; McBain:

Shanghai Club:

the Union Building:

the NKK Building:

Moving north up to the heart of the Bund. (l-r) Bank of Taiwan; the North China Daily News Building; the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China; the Palace Hotel;

Again, some closeups. Bank of Taiwan and the North China Daily News:

Chartered Bank:

and finally (for now) the Palace Hotel:

To the right of the last photo you can see some of my 2D printouts of the various buildings architectural drawings I originally downloaded and sized to my chosen 28mm scale.