Last week of the Winter War kickstarter

We are entering the last week of the Baker Company Winter War Kickstarter. 

When I signed up, this is what the basic deals got you. 

I pledged for the Border Assault set, meaning 1 Finnish and 1 Soviet platoon from the above charts for £120. Sounded like a fair deal at less the £2 a pop for metal minis and I was sure that there would be at least some stretch goals.

Painted Finns

Painted Soviets

Three weeks later, things have changed to say the least. We have unlocked a shed-load of stretch-goals. Compare the below list with the original list for an idea of how much stuff my £120 will get me now!

And there is more to come. Yesterday we unlocked Field Kitchens, but Gav has not had time to adjust the image I am using above. After that, a twin-turret T-26 and then a AA truck.

It is already one heck of a bargain and it will most likely get even better so stop wondering and jump onboard!

A nice giveaway from O'Leary and Hatt

It's giveaway time again.
Anne O'Leary is giving away bundles of nice stuff on her blog. The extra cool bit is that she is doing it in cooperation with scif-fi writer Patrick Hatt who is giving away one of his books. No word on if you can have it signed if you win, you'll just have to ask.

In Annes own words, to make it proper and offical:
"This give away is being sponsored in part by author Patrick Hatt. You can find Mr. Hatt's Amazon Writers Page at http://www.amazon.com/Pat-Hatt/e/B00AGFMYVC."

SAS Jeep WIP1 and a lovely Kickstarter

So, I have finished the Ford LRDG truck from Milicast, time for something new, and by new I mean of course a different type of LRDG vehicle!
I bought two SAS guys along with the Ford truck, but as they are designed for the Milicast SAS jeep, they don't fit in the truck and I had to use other crew. Yet again, friend Daniel to the rescue:an Academy Jeep from him will work just fine as an LRDG/SAS jeep. There really should be a few modifications made to the jeep for desert service such as cutting off some bars in the engine grille, but I can't be arsed to go all Dremel on it for the sake of correctness, it is a playing piece not a scale model.

Here is the jeep being built with the crew being tested. It turns out that the steering wheel does not fit with the driver in place and I had to build my own. I cut away the steering column and drilled a hole that will take a regular pin, pics of this to follow.

The jeep itself is finished, note the added condensator can or whatever it is called on the front, the spare wheel mounted on the side and the field-improvised Lewis gun mount for the passenger. Next I need to figure out if I mount the .50 cal I have planned as a fixed part or if I put it on a removable board like I have done with the load on the other vehicles. Making it a removable piece will make the vehicle more versatile, make the gun mount less prone to breakage and make fixing it if it breaks easier. I certainly lean that way.

Finally, I just have to mention the new Winter War in 28mm Kickstarter that Gav of Baker Company is running right now.
If, like me, you play CoC, you can get everything you could ever need for BOTH sides for £120, or go halfsies with friend and put in £60 each and get one side each.

Another giveaway link

Yet another giveaway. People out there are so nice. I need to do one myself, I just need to find an excuse.
Todays event is over at The Blog With No Name and has some very nice stuff indeed.
Me, I'm in it for the powder or the brushes. Or maybe the Leven stuff.

First few Perry Desert Rats minis

The Perry Desert Rats plastic set was given to me by friend and fellow gamer Laffe some before the summer. I have now painted two of the figures and have half a dozen more assembled and waiting. This really is a lovely set, crisp detail, easy assembly and human proportions, an all too rare thing in 28mm.

All the figures in the set come with the regular steel helmet, but there are also a number of alternate heads provided, some wearing the iconic smagh of the LRDG and some wearing the commando cold weather cap.

 My very first figure. 

My second figure from this set got the the wool cap meaning he will work fine as LRDG as they wore most anything, or can be used as a Commando for a raid game. No points for guessing who we plan to use as target for the coming raid games. Clue:his first name was Erwin.

And here they are together.

I have a third figure on the paint bench right now with a head from the Warlord Celts set. It looks a little too large, but that might get better with painting, we'll see.

Swedes in Congo- especially for Sapper Joe

Fellow blogger Sapper Joe is interested in the Congo conflict of the early 60's and as I have easy access to some stuff at the Army Museum in Stockholm, I offered to get him some pictures.
First an album containing some pictures of the two armoured cars parked outside. As I understand it neither of them served in Congo. The camouflaged one is a latter, improved version and the white one is simply one that was painted in UN colours for the Swedish Congo Veteran Association jubilee. However, they will give a very good idea of how the vehicles look. I have added a Coke can for size reference in many of the pictures of the white car. No captions since all the info I have is on the signs and they are in both English ad Swedish.
PK-bil

Second, an album with pics from the temporary display about the history of Swedish UN involvement. Here I have added some captions to explain where needed. Most pics are taken through the display case glass and are of varying quality. I have also taken a number of pics of weapons used by Swedish forces at the time, though I don't know if all were deployed in Congo.
Uniforms and weapons

I will keep digging around for Swedish sources and publish what useful information I can on the blog.