Lauranian Air Force - Yet more problems!

I managed to get hold of some more of the same model aircraft for the planned Lauranian Air Force but I am still having problems when I try to undercoat them.

This time I used a spray can of acrylic undercoat from a manufacturer whose products I have used before. I cleaned the models by washing them in a mild solution of soapy water to make sure there was no oil or other residue on the surface, and when they were thoroughly dry I sprayed the top of the models. I then left the paint to dry before turning them over.

This time the plastic did not react with the paint ... but the paint that was already on the models had begun to crackle and bubble during the drying process. This suggests that the original paint is probably cellulose-based. It should not have reacted to the acrylic paint - which is fairly inert - but has done.

So it is back to the drawing board for a third attempt!

Trying a new method of painting figures - more images

The images on my previous entry were a bit too sepia in colour due to my use of artificial lighting, so I have replaced them with photographs taken using natural light. At the same time I took individual front and back photos of each of the figure poses.

Trying a new method of painting figures - the results

As promised, here are some pictures of my newly-painted World War II US Army figures. They are 15mm scale figures manufactured by Essex Miniatures.

I think that they are of a reasonable wargames standard, and I will persist with this 'new' method for the time being. The next figures will be 20mm and the undercoat will be light grey and not white as I think that this will work better with the slightly larger figures.

Trying a new method of painting figures

Because of the problems I had with the model aircraft I had intended to paint for the Lauranian Air Force I was left without a short-tem wargames project to work on. I therefore decided to try out a painting technique I have not used before.

Basically the technique involves undercoating the figure with white paint, then washing the figure with the basic topcoat colour, picking out the detail, and then giving the figure a coat of ink (in this case GW's Sepia Ink).

I tried the technique on some 15mm World War II American figures and I must admit that they don't look too bad. The wash means that the figures are not too dark - a common problem with smaller figures - and the ink picks out the detail that the wash has missed. It also covers over some of the painting inaccuracies that are due to my lack of skill and basic clumsiness.

I am now basing the figures, and when they are finished I hope to add some pictures of them to this blog.

Shock! Horror! - The Lauranian Air Force is wiped out before it can even fly!

I decided to spay the aircraft models I was going to use for the Lauranian Air Force with a matt undercoat before I painted them ... big mistake! I used a brand new spray can that I bought specially for the purpose, and began by spraying the bottom sides of the models. I let the paint dry for a couple of hours and then returned to do the top side. As I picked the first model up to turn it over the top wing fell off ... as did the top wings of all the other models! The interplane struts, which I thought were metal, turned out to be plastic, and the spray paint had reacted with the plastic, causing it to become brittle and to break. The models are now pretty useless as they are, and will need a lot of work to repair the damage.

On reading the spray can instructions I cannot find any warning not to use the paint on plastics, but either I was very unlucky and bought a contaminated batch or the plastic is of a type that reacts with some chemical (probably the solvent) in the paint.

So it is back to the drawing board for the moment with regard to my Lauranian project.

War surplus aircraft - the Lauranian Air Force takes shape!

The first batch of war-surplus aircraft has just been delivered to Laurania. Once repainted these will form the backbone of the country's new air force.

The aircraft are four ex-Royal Air Force single-seater fighters ...

... and two ex-United States Army Air Force two-seater trainers.

It is intended that all the aircraft will have bomb racks fitted so that they can also attack ground targets.

FIMO ships

Some years ago I constructed a set of ships for my colonial wargames using FIMO. This material comes ready-coloured, and when baked at the right temperature in an oven it welds itself together. It is thus possible to make models that don't need painting.

The following model is a light cruiser.

These are two coastal passenger ships.

This is a coastal gunboat based on the so-called 'flat iron' gunboats used by the Royal Navy. They carried a heavy gun armament and were very manoeuvrable, but were also very slow.

A model of a conventional inshore gunboat armed with light guns and a ram.

Native sailing craft. Their wide decks make them ideal cargo carriers.

I hope to use some or all of this models in my forthcoming Laurania campaign.

Problems with my images - solved!

It took me longer than expected, but I have just managed to upload all the missing images to the relevant entries on my blog.

Now I can spend some time trying to get on with my latest project.

Long live Laurania!

Problems with my images

Due to a problem with my computer - the wireless link to my broadband connection 'broke' as I was working with my Picasa Web Album - I managed to delete all the images I had added to my blog entries.

I am in the process of restoring these images as and when I can, and hope to have them all back in place by this time tomorrow.

Laurania - My next wargames project

Now that the Summer is well and truly over, I have begun to have a big sort out of various wargame ‘project’ ideas that have been around for a time but which have not come to fruition.

Part of this has taken the form of a sort out in my wargames room (or toy room as my wife likes to call it). During this I found all sorts of bits and bobs that I had forgotten that I had … well not quite so much forgotten as mislaid in the rather confused storage ‘system’ that I use.

Amongst these bits and bobs were some ships that I built some years ago for my 15mm Colonial wargames as well as some pre-painted ‘toy’ biplanes. I began thinking about how I could use them in a game … and then remembered my ideas for a campaign set in Laurania during the 1920s/1930s. Laurania is an imagi-nation created by none other than Sir Winston Churchill. It was the setting for SAVROLA - A TALE OF REVOLUTION IN LAURANIA, his only novel.

Having read the book many times I was able to deduce some facts about the country, and I used these to create a map and a background history up until just after World War I.

I have therefore decided to resurrect this project as a background for more play-tests of my RED FLAGS AND IRON CROSSES (TARRED AND FEATHERSTONED) rules. They will need to be slightly modified to suit the period, but there will not need to be any substantial re-writes before the play-tests begin ... just a few more bits and pieces to buy, build, and paint!

Long live Laurania!