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Miniatures Adventure => The Great War => Topic started by: Svennn on May 06, 2008, 06:13:07 PM

Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Svennn on May 06, 2008, 06:13:07 PM
Fantastic weekend allround for me. Took Friday off also making a four day break. In addition to covering about fifty miles walking the dogs, having the wifes sisters kids overnight, some gardening and shopping I also managed to finish two more teams for the LPL and my first batch of Brits which I envisage in Africa but also China.
(http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w198/svennnthedhnut/outside016.jpg)
(http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w198/svennnthedhnut/outside020.jpg)
(http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w198/svennnthedhnut/outside022.jpg)
(http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w198/svennnthedhnut/outside028.jpg)
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Plynkes on May 06, 2008, 06:21:13 PM
That's the ticket! Top notch.

(Not being a gun-nut I made the same mistake you have with my initial batch of Lee-Enfields. I ain't going back to change them but I'll know better for the next batch!  :) )
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Svennn on May 06, 2008, 06:25:53 PM
are you referring to my fetish for putting brass barrel rings? :oops:

It just breaks up the area and looks prettier to me. I know its wrong.

I hope its this 'cos if it aint theres more inaccuracies :roll:
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Plynkes on May 06, 2008, 06:27:54 PM
No. The upper visible part of the barrel on a Lee Enfield, unlike most rifles, is wood, not metal:

(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/Plynkes/leeenfield.jpg)

I cringe whenever I look at my KAR and Tropical Brits. But like I said, I can't be bothered to change them. At least I'm in good company.  :)
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Svennn on May 06, 2008, 06:31:24 PM
fantastic - I never knew that. Metal barrells look better :wink: but they would have been a lot easier and quicker to paint wood :roll:

Thats two of us, so how many more members can we recruit to the incorrect Lee Enfield club then?
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Prof.Witchheimer on May 06, 2008, 06:32:36 PM
yeah, that's stuff we like, looks gorgeous.

didn't know that with wooden part of the Lee Enfield. Now think about all that numerous Lee Enfields I've painted wrong  :roll:
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: PeteMurray on May 06, 2008, 06:41:51 PM
I have incorrect Lee-Enfields, but I'm claiming they're Canadians with indigenously-manufactured rifles. :mrgreen:

Awesome work, Svenn!
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Plynkes on May 06, 2008, 06:51:58 PM
The much-maligned Ross?

(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/Plynkes/ross.jpg)

Also has a partly-wooden upper section. You don't get out of the club that easy. :)


By the way, Svennn, who's the kneeling chap with the white tache? (the one with the rifle, rather than binoculars bloke) Don't recognize him, but he's full of character. He's not a Brigade fellow like the others is he? I don't believe I've seen him before.

Battle Honours, perhaps? His SMLE looks like the one on my Lawrence of Arabia.
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Aaron on May 06, 2008, 07:07:25 PM
I probably would have done the same thing if I didn't own one. Beautiful job on those Brits. The blue-grey shirt really jazzes up the bland khaki kit!
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: General M@yhem on May 06, 2008, 07:21:05 PM
Quote from: "Svennn the DH Nut"
fantastic - I never knew that. Metal barrells look better :wink: but they would have been a lot easier and quicker to paint wood :roll:

Thats two of us, so how many more members can we recruit to the incorrect Lee Enfield club then?


Consider me a member. :)
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: PeteMurray on May 06, 2008, 07:24:14 PM
Quote from: "Plynkes"
The much-maligned Ross?


Hank McBride won't shut up with how great the Ross is as a sniper rifle in "A Rifleman Goes To War." I had no idea it had was ever maligned.
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Plynkes on May 06, 2008, 07:27:46 PM
I have heard tales of Canadian soldiers throwing the things away in France. Has a reputation for being extremely unreliable. Whether this reputation is justified or not is something you have to ask somebody who knows more about the subject than me.


Snipers treat their rifles like they are their favourite mistress. Ordinary soldiers do not. That I think is the difference. It was one of those pieces of equipment that was fine on a firing range (and an excellent rifle for a marksman), but proved an extremely delicate flower in the face of Flanders mud.
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Aaron on May 06, 2008, 07:31:16 PM
I could be wrong, but I seem to recall reading something about the problems with the Ross having more to do with troops not keeping mud out of the receiver than with the actual rifle.

Err..somehow I missed Plnkes second paragraph! :oops:
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Wirelizard on May 06, 2008, 07:38:40 PM
Quote from: "Plynkes"
I have heard tales of Canadian soldiers throwing the things away in France. Has a reputation for being extremely unreliable. Whether this reputation is justified or not is something you have to ask somebody who knows more about the subject than me.


Apparently the Ross was very accurate, but also very finicky - prone to jamming & failing if it wasn't kept religiously clean. Imagine how easy it is to keep a rifle perfectly clean in the trenches of the Western Front, and you'll realize why the more robust British Lee-Enfield was so much more popular!

Canadian snipers, on the other hand, apparently used the Ross as a sniper rifle all the way through to the end of the Korean War.

Wikipedia has a pretty good article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_rifle).
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: PeteMurray on May 06, 2008, 07:40:48 PM
Huh. Interesting. McBride is kind of a curmudgeon*, and so keeping a finicky rifle spotlessly clean in a trench is kind of what I'd expect him to do.

EDIT: Wikipedia has an eerily detailed section on firearms.

*: This is a generous way of stating it. There are parts of his books where he comes across as a sociopath.
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Svennn on May 06, 2008, 08:05:25 PM
Plynkes - they are all Brigade. Can't remember which pack he came in though.
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Plynkes on May 06, 2008, 08:11:27 PM
How queer. I've never seen the kneeling chaps with rifles before. I could do with some of those, as both sets of rules I use for the Great War require more men to an MG team than companies ever give you in their MG packs. Chaps kneeling with rifles usually fit in very nicely with gun crews to that end.

It isn't from any of the packs I know of. A mystery then.
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Plynkes on May 06, 2008, 08:14:53 PM
Quote from: "Aaron"
Err..somehow I missed Plnkes second paragraph! :oops:


That's because it was an edit. I was typing it just as you were typing your post. I must have hit 'submit' a fraction of a second before you did, as the "Last edited by Plynkes... Edited 1 time in total" thing didn't come up.
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Aaron on May 06, 2008, 08:19:45 PM
Ah, now I don't feel like such an ass!

The Enfield is an undeniably rugged creature. I lugged mine along through a lot of Pennsylvania mud and snow chasing deer and it never let me down.
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Will Bailie on May 06, 2008, 08:19:51 PM
Rather than quote myself, I'll point you to this page where I go on (and on, and on) about the Ross Rifle:

http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=132097

Basically, a fine target rifle, useful for a hunter or a sniper, who have the luxury of carefully lining up each shot, but about as useful as a club when you have every German in the world running at you full tilt.  As soon as you are in a situation where you need to get a lot of rounds down range, the Ross is likely to jam - which is possibly the worst time for that to happen.

I used to paint my SMLE with metal on the top of the barrel, but I've since been enlightened.
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Helen on May 06, 2008, 10:28:16 PM
Really nice work 8)

BG Brits and KAR are lovely figures to work with. Poly I've a spare unpainted BG Brit kneeling figure if you want it - I've plenty painted.

Its easy to miss not painting the extra wood on 303s especially if you have been painted mauser rifles  :o

Even a newbie at painting and with my knowledge even I've made a mistake on Soviet rifles too  :oops: (call it a blonde moment!)
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Bullshott on May 06, 2008, 10:42:48 PM
Nice painting.

Can I join the 'I Painted My Lee Enfield Rifles Wrong Club'? I made excatly the same mistake on my BG brits and KAR - and I'm about to change them now!!!
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Plynkes on May 06, 2008, 10:45:31 PM
Helen, that's very kind of you. I'll take you up on that offer if I may. PM me if you no longer have my address, is that okay?

Next time I see one of those Ostafrika mugs at a militaria show (like the one I got for Alex) it's yours. It's only fair, as you keep sending me nice things. :)

Out of curiosity, which pack does that kneeling chap come in, should I decide I need some more?
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Helen on May 06, 2008, 11:03:02 PM
Quote from: "Plynkes"
Helen, that's very kind of you. I'll take you up on that offer if I may. PM me if you no longer have my address, is that okay?

Next time I see one of those Ostafrika mugs at a militaria show (like the one I got for Alex) it's yours. It's only fair, as you keep sending me nice things. :)

Out of curiosity, which pack does that kneeling chap come in, should I decide I need some more?


Hi Poly,

Thanks, I still have your address so I'll send it this week. If there is anything else just PM me and I'll see what I've in the spare recruiting inventory 8)

The kneeling figure was in the second pack of advancing Brit figures. If you just ask Lon I'm sure he will accomodate your request for additional kneeling figures.

Actually, whilst I do have a love for Africa a nice Austro-Hungarian mug would be even nicer  8)
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Plynkes on May 07, 2008, 12:02:12 AM
Thanks. Second pack, eh? That explains it. No pic of that one on the site, and I would never have guessed that kneeling fellow would have come in an "advancing" pack.

Austro-Hungarian, eh? Haven't seen one of those around here. Saw one advertised in the States (Kuk Navy, it was, perfect for Otto). But the postage was a killer, which I didn't quite get. I seem to be able to send small stuff like that all over the world for not much money, why can't companies? Anyway, I'll keep me eyes peeled.  :)
Title: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Helen on May 07, 2008, 12:07:16 AM
Quote from: "Plynkes"
Thanks. Second pack, eh? That explains it. No pic of that one on the site, and I would never have guessed that kneeling fellow would have come in an "advancing" pack.

Austro-Hungarian, eh? Haven't seen one of those around here. Saw one advertised in the States (Kuk Navy, it was, perfect for Otto). But the postage was a killer, which I didn't quite get. I seem to be able to send small stuff like that all over the world for not much money, why can't companies? Anyway, I'll keep me eyes peeled.  :)


Thanks Poly 8)

Yep you would'nt have figured a kneeling pose in an advancing pack :o
Title: Re: The Brits have arrived
Post by: Poliorketes on May 09, 2008, 02:34:05 PM
Nice painting.

Can I join the 'I Painted My Lee Enfield Rifles Wrong Club'? I made excatly the same mistake on my BG brits and KAR - and I'm about to change them now!!!
Me to.

Great paintjobs, btw.