Armored Rail Cruiser, "The Angry Dragon"

[WarlordFish]

I've been hard at work on my back of beyond projects, now smaller in size but larger in scope I've got several forces and factions in the works for some Fistful of Lead skirmish games. The first major completion is the admittedly neutral armored rail cruiser, "The Angry Dragon" Why is she neutral? Because she was sold by the Czechs to a local warlord who promptly lost it to a rival. Who in turn lost it to the Japanese, who lost it to the Nationalists, who lost it to another Warlord.. and since then it's been captured, and recaptured, and fought alongside every major player in my setting.

Thus, she is neutral, and carries no markings. Who currently owns it depends on whose manning and commanding it!

Second, what is an armored rail cruiser? Well it's an armored train for that thrifty warlord on a budget. She is entirely self propelled and self sufficient. Powered by two fiat gasoline engines, the rail cruiser does not necessarily need an armored locomotive and tender to move about, nor does she need the accompanying armored carriages. While those would be nice to have, some times the silver dollars are thin, and you have to make do with the ole beater with the heater, so to speak.

For your viewing pleasure and mine, The Angry Dragon.







A bit of a tease for my table is included. I'm not yet ready to post the larger scope of my project, but I will soon. The Province of Xiao Yú and it's cast of characters may amuse you, but I still need to do a bit of work first before I'm ready for that.

Find more on my fledgling blog. https://warlordfish.blogspot.com/

[OSHIROmodels]

Looks great 

[Grumpy Gnome]

Loving it! 👍

[has.been]

Has the feel of the period & looks suitably menacing.
Well done. Looking forward to more pictures from your B.of B.
Have you thought of giving it a flagpole, then you
could switch flags when it switches owners?

[marianas_gamer]

Excellent with very nice weathering!

[trev]

That look brilliant!  Lovely work.  Is it the Mad Bob Miniatures Zaamurets?

https://www.madbobminiatures.co.uk/product-page/zaamurets

How does it compare up close to the Copplestone figures? I was worried at 1/56 it would look a bit puny but it doesn't seem to against those cavalry.

Here's a pic with the crew standing next to it for scale.

[WarlordFish]

Yessir it is Mad Bob's Zaamurets!

And while it is kinda small, remember it's not the size that counts, it's how you use it.. er, I mean, it was in the pool, I mean! Uh!
But no, for real, it's not puny, but it is smaller. I honestly think that's a boon rather than a problem. It's big enough to look right at the scale and to dominate any infantry around it, but it's small enough to actually move and make use of my average size 4x6 table. I love and envy those huge multi car armored trains some of the mad lads on here have, with a full locomotive and tender, but they just seem to absolutely consume table space and I'd think one would need half an acre to actually get a chance to putter them around. 

That and it's price point is just right, especially for someone who wants a workable and good looking armored train without breaking the bank.

It looks good next to copplestone figures, but I also made a point to get the raised railroad instead of just plain track, both to give it a bit more bulk visually, as well as give my infantry some extra cover.



And thank you all to the rest! I did think about putting a flag pole on it somewhere, but I have 13/15 factions for this project, and only 6 have flags at the moment. Maybe in the future I'll add one, but for now and simplicities sake it suits me being unbranded. Ideally I'd like to eventually get a pair of Company B flat cars, the ones with the sandbags, and I want to add a flagpole and maybe a spotlight or something to one of those.

[FramFramson]

Just a slight alteration: An easier method of adding a flagpole would be to just drill a hole in an appropriate and perhaps inconspicuous location, which you could then inset flags into (perhaps on metal straight pins). Pop-in, pop-out, no fussing about swapping flags on poles, and no pole to be snapped off in storage.

[scotty]

That looks superb

[Dr Bogo]

Great work on that sir!

[fred]

What a great looking model!

I feel like the early tanks the inside would be a horrible mix of diesel and cordite fumes!

[Golgotha]

How can something be both gorgeous and monstrous at the same time, I am blown away - pun intended. Well done.

[bluewillow]

That is a superb piece!

Cheers
Matt

[Ultravanillasmurf]

That is some beast (and will require a generous loading gauge).

Just a slight alteration: An easier method of adding a flagpole would be to just drill a hole in an appropriate and perhaps inconspicuous location, which you could then inset flags into (perhaps on metal straight pins).

In addition, I would insert a suitable piece of brass tube to reinforce the hole. The tube becomes the base of the flagpole by having it extend beyond the hole.

[flatpack]

Lovely piece of work.
A great find for BoB.
Works really well with the figures.
We play lots of BoB games using FFOL, but we use the bigger battles rules set.
It works just great for BoB, and it means you can use extra units as you create them.
Keep up the good work old boy.