VBCW Air Wars

[leadboy]

A couple of bits of news (well, news to me, anyway) for VBCW air wargames -

(1). the Too Fat Lardies WW1 air wargaming set of rules, "Algernon Pulls it Off!", has been made available free (with the permission of the Lardies) by the Storm of Steel podcast site. "Algernon" has been strangely unavailable for years, and can be crossed with the still very much available "Bag the Hun" for interwar/VBCW air gaming;

(2). Warlord has entered into a commercial tie up with Airfix to produce a "Battle of Britain" boxed set with 4 x 1/72 planes (2 x Spitfires, 2 x Bf109), the "Blood Red Skies" rules (probably a 'lite' version) and seemingly all the 'gubbins' necessary to play the rules. Although this retails at an RRP of £69 ( ), Warlord seem to be selling it themselves on Ebay for only £19( )

I've put up a blogpost about it all, including shots of a couple of my VBCW "air fleets" created during lockdown:

http://hereford1938avbcwtng.blogspot.com/2022/02/air-war-herefordshire-algernon-pulls-it.html

[commissarmoody]

Nice!

[leadboy]

Thanks, Commissar. The Communist Air Force will be doing battle in due course!

http://hereford1938avbcwtng.blogspot.com/2021/01/lifting-off-out-of-lockdown-reds.html

[commissarmoody]

Yes good, the skies belong to the workers.

[Moriarty]

There is a rumour that the Japanese carrier 'Hosho' will be making a (little known) world tour during 1938 . . .

[Roo]

Coast of Wales included?

[Moriarty]

‘S entirely possible . . .

[FramFramson]

The Japanese ARE noted for their extensive Waleing operations... 

[Moriarty]

Oooooh! I see what you did there :-)

[Doug ex-em4]

Gentlemen, I’ve just got a pack of the "cheep" planes on order to assist in the attack on (and defence of) Borsetshire once the rag-tag bunch of lefties massing on the border get themselves sorted out.

I have a serious and vital technical question. What did you use for cockpit canopies in your characterful conversions?

Thanks

Doug

[Fitz]

It's been a while since I've done any interwar stuff, but I thought I'd sort out some air support for them.

Some time ago I designed a 1:144 scale digital model of the Hawker Hart in Blender, and from time to time I have another go at 3d printing it.

The silver one on the left is printed in FDM on my Ender 3; the STL for that one is split longitudinally and the model is printed in two halves. The resulting print is okay, but as usual with FDM the surface texture is quite striated, I end up with a lot of little nubbins where supports rest, and the struts and undercarriage are really quite rough. It will do as a wargames model, but I crave something smoother.

However, I've had very little success when it comes to printing aircraft in resin, like the one on the right. This one was also cut in half, but fore and aft this time.

Part of the issue is that resin isn't all that dimensionally stable, and warping in the curing process is fairly common. But the recurring problem, again and again, is deformation of one or more wing-tips. Even when I've supported both sides completely symmetrically, I'll often get one side failing to print properly. In the case of this print, the profile of the whole port side is screwy, and I honestly have no idea why.

I'm trying another print right now with the front half of the plane in a different orientation, but to be honest I'm getting a bit pessimistic.

[Edit, from next day]

Success at last!

I had a couple of breakages when the supports came off (one of the wing struts, and the undercarriage) but they glued back together okay with some raw resin, cured with a UV flashlight.

There is a little bit of sanding to be done where support nubbins exist, but it's the best result so far.

I'll print one more, and paint one in the silver peace-time livery and the other in the dark earth/dark green it would have been repainted in if it had to go to war.

[Roo]

Not seen the planes in the flesh Soug but the coolest one half pilot models work well in the 1/48 scale.  Somewhere,  belief on LAF, I have seen somebody constructing cockpits…

[Moriarty]

Gentlemen, I’ve just got a pack of the "cheep" planes on order to assist in the attack on (and defence of) Borsetshire once the rag-tag bunch of lefties massing on the border get themselves sorted out.

I have a serious and vital technical question. What did you use for cockpit canopies in your characterful conversions?

Thanks

Doug

It used to be a former, clear plastic packaging, and heat? Apparently Hannants will sell them to you in a variety of scales, assuming you have an ide. of what aircraft type has the most suitable canopy shape.

[FramFramson]

Incidentally, those toy colourful planes, combined with all the hue and cry for aircraft by so many factions, look like another market opportunity for S.H.O.D.D.Y. 

[Moriarty]

Never dare a fool :-)