Molds, track and loco

A number of chaps have expressed interest in the way I'm setting-up a narrow-gauge railway for my Colonial campaign. I thought I'd share some pictures of the beginnings. 

These are the molds I made for the track and locomotive driving wheels, with four of the six wheels cast. As you can see from the top-right mold the track normally has ballast and terrain either side when fully-molded. In this instance I want to make a short bridge or culvert which won't need the effects so I cast only the rails and sleepers/ties.   

The casting's smokestack was too short for a narrow-gauge locomotive so I cut off the flare at the top and extended the stack with a length of brass tube and a bead. The footplate and the beginnings of the rear coal box are made of basswood, plastic card and L-section strut.  

The driver is a Eureka VSF miniature. Footplate space is limited but two crew figures will fit without the 'slotta' bases. I'm debating whether to make a removable canopy for the footplate which some prototypes had.

The underside of the casting is rougher than I'd like, but it'll still work for the drive wheel mounting. In future I won't fill the mold so high, and will build the mounting from plastic strut instead. I'll drill the centers of the wheels and pin them in place for added strength. The drive rods will be [-section plastic strut. Rolling stock is farther down the road. More pictures as the project develops.   
  

Locomotive and track

It's been a busy couple of weeks getting the garden ready for winter, plus I'm writing a new novel and copy-editing a previous work. I haven't had much opportunity to do modeling or gaming, but I have cast a few more sections of one meter narrow-gauge railway. I've also managed to take a mold from an old toy locomotive, a casting from which forms the beginnings of the rolling stock needed for the Ukraziland & Gwundaland Light Railway. 

In railway terms the toy represents an 0-6-0 tank engine. The casting I took from it is shown above. I'll build a cab capable of taking one or two figures, add buffers, tender/coal box, a few pipes and lanterns etc. and make it a 0-6-0 maid-of-all-work. If that goes well, I'll build another as an improvised armored locomotive for a military train. Wagons and carriages and so on will follow.

I'm not sure yet which color to make the loco. It appears most engines in colonial service tended to be utilitarian black, which I find boring. I suppose I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Hmm. Bridges! Now there's an idea... 
 

AVBCW Solo

My wife and I had a blast at Archon last weekend, meeting old friends and making new ones. Being on back-to-back panels through the weekend made it difficult to see much of the dealers' room and some events, but we got to see the art show and our friend, artist Paul Daley, creator of the upcoming Tempest at Hazard graphic novel. More on that at a later date.

We're back home, and I'll be busy with a couple of new novels, one of which is under contract. That means deadlines to meet, so gaming will have to be as-and-when again. I did grab the chance yesterday to play out a solo VBCW game using Went the Day Well rules and my 10mm collection. 
 
The blurb.

1938: Following the crisis that split the nation, the town of Great Yarmouth declared itself a free port, with a heavily Socialist influence in its governance. The BUF government promptly declared it to be in a state of rebellion against the Crown and has instituted a rather ineffective distant blockade. Ineffective or not, it has led to a shortage of food and supplies in the town, one which the town council is determined to resolved.

Intelligence has indicated farm produce has been stockpiled in various places across the Flegg area north and west of the town by the Flegg Island Fencibles, a body of local defense militia. Although they have declared neutrality in the civil war, they are conservative in outlook and not very sympathetic to their urban neighbours. They have demanded a high price for the produce, one which the town cannot afford to pay on a continuing basis. 
  
A platoon of newly-formed Socialist militia has therefor been directed to stage a raid on the nearest identified stockpile, located in a number of barns and sheds near the village of Mautby. They will be accompanied by two lorries to carry the captured supplies, and the town's current prized military possession, an Austin armoured car. One of the militia sections is from the Boudicca Battalion of the Socialist Women's Alliance, led by local firebrand Vera Bryant.

A view from the Socialists' line of advance. The red chips indicate potential sites of Flegg Fencible resistance. The two barns containing the produce are located top-left.

 Austin AC scouting out in front, and feeling rather nervous about it.

 The infantry advance to check out the council houses.

 With determined step the SWA arrives!

 The trucks and a dense wave of sea-mist arrive just as first contact is made. Local Defence Militia lurk behind the hedge.

 They attempt a charge, thinking the mist will hide them, but it clears at just the wrong moment. Fire from the SWA forces them to ground. The Austin fails to hit anything.

 

 "Enough of this nonsense!" cries Vera, and leads her women on a ferocious charge that sees the Flegg men off the premises.

Trouble hits the Socialists' left as another LDV section ambushes them. In spite of taking casualties, the men of Flegg stand their ground and send the militia into a frantic retreat. On the other road the Austin has made it to the farm entrance and comes under fire from a Vickers MG located in the dormer window. Vera leads the way across the field to the right in a move to outflank the farm.

End game. The Austin's twin turret MGs riddles the Vickers position and it falls silent. Vera has outflanked the farm and crosses the road on the blind side. The remaining LDV decide discretion is the better part of valour, and retire from the field.  

Keeping track

Not much happening on the gaming front, since my commission work segued seamlessly into preparations for Archon 37 this weekend. I did get the chance to go to a local railway modeling show last Saturday where I picked up a useful pack of second-hand N-scale track to go with my 10mm VBCW. 

The track at top along with two print-off paper buildings.

The lower sections of track are destined for use in my Colonial gaming. I made them from a length of HO-scale track by cutting a short section out of the middle of the sleepers/ties, gluing the two pieces back together onto thick card stock before adding ballast and track-side terrain. I then made a silicon mold from it so I have a composite of track and terrain immediately adjacent. The pieces are cast from resin. In 25/28mm they are close enough to the 1 meter narrow gauge railway popular in some British and European colonies during that era. Rolling stock will follow, once I figure out a few details.    

Postponement

An unexpected commission means I'll be unable to spare time to game this week, and possibly next. In the meantime here's a photo of the Darkest Africa casualty figures I recently cast from resin. They're glossy with the first coat of varnish at this stage, but the final coat of matt varnish will kill the shine.

 L-R, two askaris, two natives, British army.

Casualties of war

My new casualty figures mold is working - sort of. 

From left to right: Two natives, British, two askaris.

The first batch came out okay - they're the white chaps at the bottom of the photo. Those on top are the next. That strange gelatinous pale yellow is down to a moment's inattention while mixing the resin. It came out with the consistency of toffee. Ho hum. It'll paint up fine once it sets.

With luck and a following wind I'll be able to play the next Darkest Africa game tomorrow or Monday. Watch this space...   
 

A little bit of sculpting

My planned Darkest Africa game is set for sometime in the next few days. Since I've been dissatisfied with the limited poses on my casualty figures I made a few more using Sculpey. I'm certainly not the greatest figure sculptor in the world, but these figures are meant to be more representational than specific.

I added a new British and native figure apiece and two askaris. They'll serve as Belgian Force Publique, but will be used for other askari types. I might add another couple of native poses for the sake of variety. The heads and arms are left over from a Wargames Factory Zulu pack and will be added once the Sculpey has baked.  

Five years on the lead pile...

...but finally painted. Here's a group of armed natives, freshly painted and based, ready for the next foray into Darkest Africa sometime this week. I have an idea for a slightly different take on the usual game pattern for this. I'll see how it pans out. 

The pale cove at the back is a Ral Partha (I think) ghost figurine, bought over thirty years ago and only just painted and based. This poor old thing really has been kicking about the lead pile. I found it when we moved, kind of took pity on it and finished it, and it'll go into the cast of characters for a dungeon bash one of these days.

In other news, I hope to get a solo game of AVBCW sometime soon too, using the Went the Day Well rules set from Solway Crafts and Miniatures. It'll be the first outing for my British Civil War collection, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out. 


 

RIP Donald Featherstone

The hobby was left the poorer yesterday at the passing of Donald Featherstone, 1918 - 2013. 

Donald Feathestone and the late Peter Gilder

I remember as a boy haunting the local library in search of his titles on the shelves. His rules were simple enough for me to grasp, yet gave great games with all the flavour of the periods they represented. In later years I bought a number of his books for my own collection, and they sit, much treasured, on my shelves today. His narrative approach to Colonial games is one I admire and try to emulate in my own gaming. A veteran of the Western Desert campaigns in WW2, he lived to see the golden age our hobby now enjoys. RIP, Don, and thank you. 

Martini-Henry Grenade launcher?

I've had a busy couple of days painting the kitchen, getting rid of the horrible 'neutral' beige color left by the house flippers. It was the same color as dishwater and just about as cheery. I know why realtors insist on such tricks to sell a house, but I don't care for 'em. In between times I'm getting ready for the Archon art show the beginning of next month, so gaming has to take a back seat for a while.

Anyways...

My friend Paul Daly alerted me to an interesting gadget which surfaced in the hoary atmosphere of World War One. It's a grenade launcher based on the venerable Martini-Henry rifle. Designated the Blanch-Chevallier Grenade Discharger, it trialed with the British army around 1916, although it didn't see action. Here's a photo of the beast...

...and find the full article here.

I can certainly picture it in use by the army in a VSF setting. One of these issued to each section would give an attacker pause for thought.