Little Tanks & Tiny People

Oops, it’s already August and this is only my third post of the year… In my defence, I’ve been rather busy starting a new job back in April, finishing my PhD in June and starting a new hobby of learning how to fly gliders. While I did do a fair bit of hobbying this year, I haven’t gotten ‘round to posting about it. So, here is a quick post of three more Dutch Aircraft. First up is a Spitfire Mk. V of 322 (Dutch) Sqn. RAF with the markings of Jan Leendert Plesman. After the war, 322 Sqn. would become the first squadron of the newly formed RNLAF. The kit is by Airfix and the markings were cut and assembled from an aftermarket decal sheet for the RAF New Zealand squadrons. Up second is a Gloster Meteor F. Mk.4 of 324 Sqn. stationed at Leeuwarden AB c. 1950. The kit is by Special Hobby and was built as is. The aircraft is very tail heavy and the instructions do not mention that you should weigh down the nose. So, having already closed up the hull and finding out that she would not stand up...

Inspired by a trip earlier this year to the Aviodrome aviation museum in Lelystad, I’ve been working on two Dutch warbirds. Both were designed during the Interbellum and saw action during the German invasion of May 1940. Sadly, original aircraft of these types no longer exist, at least not in the Netherlands. Not that long ago, however, a beautiful full-scale reproduction of the Fokker D.21 took to the skies for the first time in about 80 years.  Fokker G.1   Being such niche aircraft, none of the large companies make model kits for them. Luckily, however, smaller companies have stepped up. The Fokker D.21 is by PM Model and the G.1 by MikroMir. Both are in scale 1:72. The D.21 is a very simple kit with few parts, that went together reasonably well with some filling and sanding. There was very little in the way of panel line detailing, though, so I’ve tried to paint these on by hand. Another shot of the G.1   The G.1, on the other hand, was an absolute nightmare. I’ve r...

I already teased in  my 2024 roundup that I was working on an Athenian hoplite army. I’m now a fair way into what will be my largest army to date. I’ve finished 48 hoplites, 12 archers, 12 slingers and 8 cavalry, for a total of 80 figures. I’ve still got another pack of 48 hoplites to go, but I think I may take a little breather and paint something else for a little bit. All figures are from Victrix. Assembly is rather complex, with each figure consisting of a separate body, head, arms, shield, spear and sword. Just assembling the hoplites took four or five hobby sessions. These hoplites are from the older Victrix kit. I really like the sculpts, but there could have been a bit more variety in the head sculpts. I would also have liked some more heads with Corinthian helmets. Both of these problems are solved in the new kit, however. I did pick up a spare sprue from the new kit on Ebay, just to add in some alternative head sculpts. Spikey phalanx! Shield transfers are from Little ...

I have been neglecting this blog for a little bit. Because I didnt't stop painting I now have a bit of a backlog. To start the new year with a clean slate I’ll quickly summarise what I’ve been up to the past months. Firstly, I’ve finished my Cyberpunk-themed Sisters of Battle army (pics of the full army to follow). I also made this silly F-16 Egg plane by Hasegawa. The kit happens to come with Dutch markings, but I thought the roundel was a bit too big and didn’t look right. I happened to have a set of RNLAF roundels in varying sizes, so I used those instead. I also scratchbuilt three wooden buildings for a Rohan-themed gaming board. They would also fit pretty well with an Early Medieval/Viking board. The walls of the buildings are made of packaging foam, covered in strips of card and coffee stirrers. I made the roofs out of some scrap bits of plywood and covered them in strips of towel to look like thatching. I’ve also been painting up an Athenian hoplite army. I’ve worked my wa...

I've painted up some more Cyberpunk Sisters of Battle. Most are duplicates of the ones I did before , so I'll just show the new ones. First up is Saint Celestine, or Saint Cyberine if you prefer. Saint Cyberine Canoness Sister Superior and Sister with Heavy Flamer Another 13 Cyber Sisters still to go...

From olive drab back to purple. I’ve finished the tanks for my growing cyberpunk Sisters of Battle army , who I have named the Sisters of Synth. Land Raider I thought the retro look of the Horus Heresy range would fit well with my cyberpunk theme, so I picked up a Land Raider as the transport for the Command unit. I thought about picking up two Rhinos from the range as well, but that would set me back another 70-80 Euros. I remembered, however, that I still had two old S.O.B. Rhinos laying around. So I opted for stripping them back to bare plastic and repainting them. I also removed some of the more gothic-looking details like purity seals and relics. Painting was really fun, but I think I’ll skip on edge highlighting for a little while… Rhino 1 Nearly identical Rhino 2 Base: Royal Purple 70.810 Lines: Light Turquoise 70.840 and Magenta Fluorescent 69.056 over Pink 70.958 Panel lining: Heavy Blue 72.143 Highlights: Pink 70.958 Bolter: Bright Orange 70.851 Metal: Gunmetal ...