Monday, August 19, 2013

More on Jono's World...

It is amazing sometimes how, in the middle of a project, it begins to accumulate stuff almost of its own accord.
 To begin with: a couple of vehicles and a little something else from 'A fist full of plastic' Brian.  Over-scale for his own projects, they are slightly under-scale for mine - which means, of course, they are just right.  The TEXACO label has to come off, as you'd expect, and the vehicles will be painted some sort of military colour-
 I was thinking of putting a tilt on the flat-bed truck and removing or disguising the crane.  I've changed my mind.  It will be left as is, a supply vehicle, with the crane handily in place.  Very inventive, these Raesharn. The dozer blade will most likely be attached to a cardboard scratchbuilt bulldozer, and attached to an Engineer platoon.
 Meanwhile, the search has been ongoing for aircraft.  I thought the Disney 'Planes' merchandising might supply suitable war birds, but what I have been able to find in that line are too small.  However, I did find these.

Made in China (isn't everything these days?), they are obviously modelled  on the WW2 Spitfire, and come as simple kits in about 1:72 scale.  About 10 pieces, including a 'friction' motor, clip together, and a small screw holds the motor in place and the whole kit together.  The thing comes with its own little (Phillips) screwdriver as well (I now have 4 of these).  The colours are the tan and green and the green and yellow as shown above. There are no decals. Still, at $4 the time, they seem to me a snip.
A Flight from 147 "Pandion" Squadron.
 These are toys, but with a certain something.  I painted the spinners and rudders red, added the White on red roundels (still tossing up whether to add a sable device within the white circle), and the numbers on the fuselage.  Mathematicians among you might discern a pattern in the numbering.
147 Sqn again.  The near aircraft obviously slipped
through the Chinese quality control.
 To outline the details I washed overall with Nuln Oil, wiping off the surplus before it dried.  Although it adds a grimy effect to the whole, methought that it gave the aircraft more character somehow.
A flight from 63 "Falco" Fighter Squadron.
In certain cases, Flights will stand in for  entire Squadrons.










The green guys I haven't outlined, though I probably will around the yellow patches.  I find the added red and white details - though simply painted on - have a very handsome effect on these green aircraft.
This is the packaging the aircraft came in.
 You can see that at age 62, I fall very much
 within the target demographic
 for this product.
 On a whole different level, friend Brian also shoveled my way some magazines.    The Military Modelling ones I already had, but I'm glad he did, for, flicking through one of them, I found this (see infra): 
Beaver Bug Light Armoured Cars under production.
 Scanning the page onto a picture file, I resized the thing from 1:35 scale to 1:48 and printed it to provide a template for the parts shown.  Five little Beaver Bug armoured cars are now in production for the Army of Kiivar.  Most will be armed with a light cannon and a co-axial machine gun. At least one will have twin-MGs instead, I think.
The Navies of Sideon IV
Reorganising and relocating my stuff, I've rehoused my Jono's World navies into one box.  At the top is the exiguous Kiivar Navy; in the middle the colourful Navy of Saabia; and the sinister yellow and dark grey belong to the Raesharn Imperial Kriegsmarine.  At the top right hand corner are landing craft, a few aeroplanes, and several merchant vessels.

An example of the kind of foliage that one finds on Sideon IV,
especially in the regions of Kiivar and Omez.
 On a more general note, here's a box of Jono's World trees, hacked from an abandoned artificial Christmas tree.  I was originally cutting them off a stalk at a time, but I have discovered that with a bit of effort I can cut them nearer the stem for larger trees with actual branches.  
A generic pond, lake or mere.
Not specifically designed for the Jono's World project,
I thought a pic appropriate anyhow...


12 comments:

  1. I especially love the navies, bloody lovely.

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    1. They took a while to build, but quite fun, really. I'm still (ostensibly) working on the aircraft. As each Aircraft Carrier accommodates 4 'flights' (stands/squadrons), and there are 8 carriers all up, I need 32 flights, each of which has a 'vic' of 3 aircraft. Ninety-six aeroplanes to build - and that's just the naval air force...

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  2. I love everything about this project, (except that your original partner bailed). Keep it coming!

    I agree with Francis Lee, when are we going to see the fleets in action?

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    1. I'm still thinking about rule sets. I'm hoping that with the warmer weather come the spring, some action will be seen...
      I still have the Battle of Jasper Roads to do...

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    2. There is a 1 page pre-WWI set from Wargaming Misc that I have had a whole lot of fun using as a Sci-Fi set.
      I could send/link you a copy, and there is a simple online emulator to try it out.

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    3. I'm interested already. I have a few other naval sets I'll try out as well. I'm thinking, though, that I might end up just going for a 'one brain cell' set of my own devising. :-)

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  3. A powerful post Ion! Spendid looking navy here, and the Spitfires have come up trumps with the work yo have put into them.

    Does Lord Beaverbrook know you are mass producing his wheeled ronsons?

    I am really impressed with the TM Bedford as well, whoever gets that truck for their army is in big trouble!

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    1. TM standing for Target Max, you reckon? I'm thinking, though, that these vehicles will stand in for POL, ammo and food supply services for both armies, though I daresay they can as well be the subjects of convoy/partisan scenarios.

      The Spitfires, by the way, came from the Warehouse. I don't know whether there's a warehouse store in your neck of the woods. As toys - kits for very junior modellers - they aren't for everyone, I guess. But I'm aiming for a certain 'toyishness' with my Jono's World project...

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  4. A lot of interesting things going on in Jono's world. I like the wash and detailing in the planes.

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    1. Jono's World has certainly taken a life of its own! I just hope it doesn't get completely out of hand... :-)

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  5. The planes and the navies are really impressive, great looking armies!

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    1. It's all coming along gradually. A bit more work on vehicles for the armies seems to be next on the agenda. I'm wondering how to acquire horses (or similar) for draught animals...

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