Major Ballsup's Hobby Shed

Over the last few weeks I've added some more French Foreign Legion paratroopers to the Algerian War project.  I took advantage of Elhiem’s pre-Salute sale to fill the gaps in my collection with some supporting troops.  With a couple of exceptions of figures that I didn’t want I think I have the whole range now. First up is this medical party.  These figures add such a nice element of narrative that within days of finishing them off I had based a game around them ( AAR here ).   I added some support in the form of this pair of snipers and a recoilless rifle gunner. And finally the Legion got some heavier support in the form of a 81mm mortar team and a .30 cal medium machine gun team. It may be something like 12 years ago since I painted the first batch of these, before the days where I kept notes.  I tried to match the colours as well as I could but they are a bit different.  I had real trouble trying to match the green of their berets, but when they’re...

I finished off these figures at the end of May.  Four are painted as ALN fellaghas for the Algerian War and one is a Viet-Minh - I'm sure you can guess which.  Apologies for the photos I just couldn't seem to get them right.   They are actually US Marine Raiders Command from Battlezone Miniatures , Sgt Major Miniatures sculpts.  I picked up this pack and some German Panzer-Grenadiers from Steve at Salute.  Whether in person or over email Steve's service is second to none.  Top bloke.   The US Marine Raiders range has proved invaluable and I've used all of the packs in my ALN force.  Those figures in this range that are sculpted as Filipinos with obvious Asian features or clothing I've finished as Viet-Minh for my First Indo-China War project.  As no one makes any specific figures for the  ALN (or for the Algerian War at all come to that) I've had to really look into things and improvise throughout this project.  I think th...

I finished off the two 1/72nd scale French helicopters last week, a Piasecki  H-21 and a Sikorsky H-34.   These are both Amercom Collection diecast and plastic pre-built models from the Helicopters magazine series.  I got these off  eBay at the start of 2022 from a local seller, we did a deal on the pair and I picked them up which saved a lot on postage which was nice. First off the Piasecki H-21C.  These helicopters made a real difference when they became available to the French in Algeria.  Their capability to take 20 men meant whole platoons could be transported quickly.   My favourite is the Sikorsky H-34.  These were used in a variety of roles.  Most famously they were armed with various machine guns and light cannons and used as gunships.  The French in Algeria were the true pioneers of helicopter warfare.   When I got them, the H-21 was in USAF camouflage and the H-34 in French Marine colours. I ...

It's been another busy hobby month, so it's another long update.  I finished a number of units, made some terrain and got a game in.   Completed This month I have mainly been working on Warmaster Revolution.  I've set myself the target of completing both the 10mm Chaos Dwarf and Ogre Kingdoms armies before Salute in April.  I've been cracking on with these and have completed the following:   A regiment of Gnoblars for the Ogre Kingdoms army.  The third and final regiment of Chaos Dwarf Axemen .    A regiment of Hobgoblin Wolf riders . A regiment of Bull Centaurs . A pair of Hobgoblin Bolt Throwers . I also threw together a few more scatter pieces for  Mediterranean/Algeria games.  Dead simple to make, I already had the bases cut out from when I made the first batch , I just collected a few more stones from a car park on a day out.  These will also do well for a Post-Apocalyptic wasteland project I'm starting on....

I finished off the final batch of ALN fighters for the Algerian War project this week.  It's been three months since I did the last batch. Three are Battlezone Miniatures (ex. Sgt, Major): 1 rifle-grenadier, coming from the USMC 1943-44 Rifle Squad pack: a greatcoated rifle-grenadier, from the late war US Army Support pack; and the bazooka team no.2, from the US Airborne support pack.  I replaced their M1 helmeted heads with the last few spare heads wearing caps I had.  With the exception of the head swaps they didn't need any further work to make very passable ALN mujahedeen, fitting very well with the rest of the platoon I've built up this year. The other four figures are Newline Designs Jaidia Warriors from their Sudan Mahdist range.  They do well enough for the fighter from a less well equipped unit without making any changes.  Although they haven't got the customary hood, the garments they're wearing are good enough djellabas. These were nice and quick...

A successful week of hobby activity.  I'm taking The Yarkshire Gamer's advice and "not fcking about just getting it done". Gaming I played another game of Burrows and Badgers.  Read the AAR  here .  Painting/modelling   I finished the rocky scatter terrain pieces for use in Algeria and Mediterranean games.  To see more have a look here . I did a quick conversion job on an Old West shack for my B & B game.  I wanted it to look a bit more "oldy, worldy" so settled on a turf roof.  This was a bit of old brown flannel (washcloth) cut to slightly bigger than the roof to allow for a slight overhang.  I brushed Dulux grass green emulsion over this but was careful to allow some of the brown to still show through.  I added highlights using increasing  amounts of Dulux matched to Iraqui Sand to the green.  I didn't even stick it down as it balanced on the roof well enough (well for most of the game it did).  Rough and ready...

Around the same time that I started making the rocky hills I started fiddling about with some scatter pieces.  Very much inspired by an article on the excellent Steven's Balagan website I set to work. The first stage was to assemble the material.  I wanted the bases to be very thin but also strong.  I also wanted them to be irregularly shaped so precut MDF bases were automatically ruled out.  EVA foam was not going to be sturdy enough and I have noticed that this does have a tendency to curl up.  A delve through the bits bag produced a sheet of 1mm thick plastic card.  Perfect for the job.  Using just household scissors I cut out a whole load of irregular shapes for bases. I went through my tin of stones and selected some that I thought looked good.  When I placed them on the bases they looked a bit feeble.  A scout round the garden and flower pots produced some better ones as did a walk along the paths through our local woods.  I trie...