Mekura Bune

Last week I knocked up a new 1/1200 model for my Imjin War "At The Height of Battle" collection. This one was a Mekura Bune, a Japanese "fast attack craft", oar propelled with broadside mounted light cannon and large bamboo poles providing protection t the sides and overhead. I modelled this as a basic craft, then with banners added to see how that worked out. They came out OK and the banners worked, although they are quite fragile and several broke off. The shape isn't quite right (the roof should probably rise towards the stern) but for wargaming purposes they are quite acceptable

Finally I set the printer scale to 50%  and printed out a load in 1/2400 which I stuck on group bases. These are for use with my "Those Who Seek Death" fleet action rules which will be released this weekend. 

Again I tried these with and without banners. And again they are quite fragile and prone to damage but the 40mm square bases actually give them a bit more protection.  But as with their larger sisters they are quite OK for wargaming purposes.

Pumas at 50

Today there was a flypast around the southern half of the country to celebrate 50 years of the Puma helicopter being in service with the RAF. The formation was passing fairly close by so I popped out this afternoon to watch the flypast fly past. And a very nice sight it was. It was also quite sobering to think some of these aircraft are nearly as old as I am!

It was nice to see that there was a decent turnout just at the spot where I was near the Severn Bridge, nearly all with some connection to the Puma over the years whether on the RAF side or civilian side in supporting them. 

A Nice Weekend

 On the whole this has been a pretty good weekend. We moved all of Laura's stuff out of her flat at Bath Uni so she's home for the summer now. We introduced Domino to his new friend Herbert today and the two boys really hit it off - full on gallops around the field for ages :) It was lovely seeing them so happy together.

A good chat with Bob Blanchett in Australia on future plans for the NWS and other stuff, followed by painting up around 120 Chinese 13th century warships in 1/2400 - more on these later.

In the afternoon (once I'd enjoyed three rounds of BTCC from Snetterton) I ran a game of "Those Who Seek Death", my new Asian naval warfare fleet action rules. These are pretty much done now and the game was about testing some final tweaks on ship stats and checking exactly what info I needed on the QRS. Another game courtesy of 3D printing, all the models on table were designs I'd created and printed. The game was delayed a while by the presence of a sleepy Giant Military Cat (aka Scotty), but once he had wandered off to find some supper the game commenced, the Koreans doing a good job of holding off a Japanese fleet whilst their own supply convoy made it to reinforce their shore defences near Okpo.

The weekend topped off with some quality pony and alpaca time, then ciders on the patio, a lovely sunset and watching the bats fly round the house for a while. Now to bed and maybe some big news coming later next week.....

A Binding Resolution*

 I've not posted much recently but I've been busy. apart from a load of new ships for "Those Who Seek Death" I've printed off some badly-needed APC support for the UN troops in my AK47 collection. The first are a trio of Dutch YP-408s, a vehicle I've always liked - it would look fine in a science fiction film (and I might indeed print a few more for my 15mm sci fi collection).  The model is from the prolific Mike Bergman on Thingiverse.

The others are a trio of Swedish "White Elephant" M42 by RobC1956, again on Thingiverse. These are used in the Congo during the civil war so they'll go nicely with the Katangan M8s I worked on recently. I have another three printed which will end up in the ONU camouflage scheme used on combat operations (more M8s needed, this time for the UN, and some M3 Scout Cars too)

 

*Whenever I hear about the UN I am reminded of Tom Cruise's best role as Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder. Go on Youtube to see what I mean.....

 

INWarD V - 6th August - Warning Order

D'you hear there? This is advance warning that the 5th International Naval Wargaming Day, INWarD V, takes place on August 6th 2021, and with a weekend following on just behind that means its an International Naval Wargaming Weekend :)

INWarD is the day when naval wargamers all around the world celebrate the birth of Fred T Jane, father of naval wargaming, with games around the world - hopefully F2F where the present crisis allows. So get your thinking caps on, look to run a game or two on the day or over the weekend, recruit and convert a few of your land-based wargaming chums and post your BATREPs here, on your blog, your favourite wargaming website and elsewhere.

Those Who Seek Death (2)

 I'm a bit behind with my blogging just now for various reasons, so here is the first "catchup". I've finished my first fleets for "Those Who Seek Death" so I can at last get rid of the cardboard counters that I've used for the last year or so and play with some decent models :)

These are all 3D printed models in 1/2400 and are enough to give me 2 or three squadrons of "regular" ships with Ataka Bune for the Japanese and Panokseon for the Korean fleets plus four "great ships" - the rules treat large warships such as the O Atake Bune and special ships such as the Geobukseon in distinct ways. 

I also made up three stands of Junks to represent transports or civilian shipping, these might also form the kernel of some Chinese fleets in the future.

Now that I have these sorted I'm looking at another "print run" in a week or two that will just about double the number of Panokseon stands that I have, and will also introduce an earlier variety of Ataka Bune and the smaller Seki Bune.

"Those Who Seek Death......."

 Latest models out of the paint shop - a set of "proof of principle" bases representing Korean and Japanese ships for my Asian fleet action rules, "Those Who Seek Death" which are coming soon. I did all my playtesting with cardboard counters so its nice to have some 3d models now to use instead. The models are 3D prints scaled at around 1/2400 (but they may well be commercially available soon as part of MT Miniatures' 1/1200 range)

Anyway, I'm happy with these so I'll print up enough models to do another couple of dozen bases the next time I'm able.