KenR : HMS Icarus and the U-744 (60 Points)

 Hopefully I will be able to sneak this one in under the wire, a bit of photo etch rage on the Destroyer stopped me posting earlier, and people say this is a relaxing hobby !

This post is for two models who meet in the photograph above as they did in real life on the 6th March 1944.

HMS Icarus was an I Class Destroyer built in 1937 and is typical of the 4 x 4.7 inch single turret arrangement of most early British Destroyer. The ship is built from a HMS Ilex 1/700 kit from IBG Models, I've just changed the pennant number on the sides and rear of the ship to the I03 of Icarus.

As you can see from the pictures the model comes with a lot of photo etch and I have to admit some of it ended up in the bin, handrails I have got the hang of (I do love how they look) but the complex bending of some parts around complicated features led to a lot of breakages, never mind the swearing.

The pendants amongst you may realise I've glued the central AA platform on backwards, I know I have but I'd finished everything before I realised and as far as I was concerned I'd passed the point of no return !

I wanted a HMS Icarus as she was present at the 2nd Battle of Narvik (a potential future demo game) as well as being one of the Destroyers escorting Hood and POW on the chase for the Bismark. She also came in handy for this post and an action towards the end of the war.

Sticking with my previous scoring I have gone for 40 pts.

The second vessel in this post is a surfaced U Boat, this is a Hobby Boss kit in 1/700 scale of a Type VIIC Submarine. I've ditched the bottom part of the hull and put it on a sea base to fit in with the other ships I have. I've added a few deck crew from my 1/700 Eduard Set to give the model a bit of life. I gave the crew a wash with Army Painter dull tone, although I liked the look of the German Destroyer I did with the crew a lot, I felt some of the crew were a bit bright, so I experimented with dulling down the crew on this vessel and perfer these more, so I will give the Destroyer crew a wash later. 

Points wise I've gone for 20, its on a 15 x 4 base opposed to the 22 x 6 of the Destroyer, so I've just halved the number of points.

The two vessels met in March 1944, on only her second Patrol U-744 was chased by a number of ships including Icarus for 21 hours, eventually being forces to the surface following a depth charge run by the British Ship. The U Boat was boarded and a number of important documents recovered however a number of these were lost whilst being transferred to the Icarus, the submarine was taken under tow but that too failed and the U Boat was subsequently scuttled.

For the Naval Project I have Ark Royal nearly complete and Prinz Eugen ready to prime, so that will probably be it, although I may sneak in a Destroyer or two before the end, but that might be a stretch especially if we are loosing a couple of days. I have some 10mm Malburian to post but I will do a round up post for them at Challenge End. Oh, there's the matter of some Italian Wars Spanish too !

Another pair of stunning ships Ken.  It sounds like it's a good thing that the Icarus wasn't the ship selected for the live tweet build!  It's been a few weeks since we've had a photo etched parts rant from you, so I had figured you'd slain that beast.  I guess not.

Anyway, HMS Icarus looks great and suitably grimy.  Maybe the rough North Atlantic weather washed off some of the fragile photo etched bits.  Not the most auspicious of names however, the RN did love to troll Greek mythology for names regardless of how inappropriate they might be.  I remember my dad teasing a fellow officer for having served on HMS Hesperus (did the wreck occur on your watch?) and there was once an HMS Charon serving as a hospital ship.

Also love the chopped down U boat.

KenR - 1/700 WW2 HMCS Huron - Go Canada ! (40 points)

 

This week I have actually painted some 28mm Spanish Italian Wars, I've completed the Sword and Buckler section of my debut Colunela but I will hang on and do a big reveal when the whole unit is hopefully finished, so I'm afraid its more ships !

I was a bit naughty posting a picture of this ship before it appeared on here, but I was chatting elsewhere with someone about how little monetary value is placed on the work of wargames painters, that got me thinking. How long would it actually take me to complete this model, from the Box to the Table. Normally I have 2 or 3 ships on the go so although I've built a few, I didn't know how much time one took.

So on Friday I did a live tweetathon (also on Facebook) starting at 10.00 with an unopened kit and a piece of MDF. It turned out that I failed to complete the ship by 18.15 when Mrs YG called me in for my tea. I went back later that night and put the finishing touches on it. In total (with unpaid meal breaks) it took me 9 hours. So if we say the kit and consumables are £20, minimum UK wage is £10.42 that would put the "value" of this model at roughly £115. Now don't forget that's minimum wage, not a 40 years of experience wage. Now its a long time since I was involved in Commission but is £115 for an off the shelf ship, I don't think so but then I'm not buying ! If you want to see the post follow @yarkshiregamer on Twitter or on Facebook and check out the various stages

Anyway, back to the Challenge, HMCS Huron was a Tribal Class Destroyer in the service of the Royal Canadian Navy and is my little nod to the Canadian Wargamers I have had the pleasure to interact with over the years, Curt of course who has graced my Podcast and dedicated his time to this wonderful event each year. James and Mike from the wonderful Canadian Wargamer Podcast and people like Barnaby Ore who has always been supportive of Yarkshire Gamer.

Guys if you are ever in the UK, I will organise a game for you to take command of this ship. I have always had a soft spot for Canada, as a young child I met one of my Grandads uncles who had emigrated to Regina, Saskatchewan before WW2. We used to write to each other and I would revel in the tales of his life in Canada, I still have 6 Canadian Dollars he sent me back in the late 1970s. Sadly I lost touch with that branch of the family when he past on.

I've claimed my usual 40 points (no extra points for crew this week :-) which we now know is worth 9 hours of my time ! The kit is from Trumpeter, I hope to post up a second post later today as well so hopefully I'll see you later.

Fine work on a fine ship Ken.  You are a madman to attempt this on a day long marathon.  Detailed parts (I assume with the standard photo etched bits), wonderful sea base and great looking weathering over Western Approaches Cammo.

But I am still wanting to see some @#$%&* Italian Wars!

I may take you up on that offer, but my UK family lives in Hampshire so it will be a bit of a trek up to the wilds of the Yarkshire moors.

From PaulSS: Last of the WWII Germans -- 85 pts

This week I finished off the last of the stuff I have in hand for the German force for O'Group, I've now got enough American and German troops painted for a medium sized game and I hope to get at least one game in before everything gets packed up for the move back to Wisconsin at the end of the month.

The final troops in the Victrix German Infantry and Heavy Weapons were completed adding several more sections of infantry, a couple of machine guns, commanders anti-tank and patrol markers. although looking at the photos some of them could use a spray of matt varnish.

I picked up enough sabot trays from Warbases  for all eighteen American and German infantry platoons, but I've only included a couple of shots here, once you've seen one movement tray you have seen them all!

An order from Pendraken sorted out some heavier infantry support for the Germans, a pair of leIG18 7.5cm infantry guns.

And a pair of PaK38 5cm anti-tank guns.

I also made a small order to Red3 as they have some nice defences suitable for our Normandy games. I picked up a pair of Tobruk machine gun positions.

And a pack of sandbagged positions to represent dug in infantry.

Lastly Pendraken also furnished some armoured support for the Germans, a Tiger I will be a formidable opponent for the Shermans.

A pair of StuGIIIG complete the collection.

60 12mm infantry and crews, four 12mm guns, three 12mm vehicles and a one point each claim for the Tobruks and defences will be 83 points added to my total, and I've passed the target I set myself with days to spare!

Squirrel Duel Tally: 4 (40K Kroot, Gaslands, WW2 US, WW2 German)

Another finished project apparently!  Fine looking Germans for you Normandy Paul, they every bit as nice as your prior units.  The sabot bases may look alike, but they look great.  It's also nice to see you field the workhorse support units like the 5cm ATGs and the StuGs.   I am looking forward to seeing AAR of your O  Group games.  O Group was a bit of a bust with our gaming group, but that's another story...

Wisconsin?!?  Are you taking travel advice from that tosser in Love Actually?  But seriously, good luck on your move back across the pond. 

From RossM: Romans, Spartans and a Skeleton (60 points)

 It's getting late for scribbling and scratching on the paper, not long to go now so time to show some more painted figures. 

This entry, my fifth in this Challenge,  has more Romans from Corvus Belli and Essex, Spartan cavalry from Xyston and a retro Citadel skeleton. 

In reverse order then, the skeleton from the Second Citadel Compendium in 1984, this was one of the first miniatures that I bought back in the day. This is the same figure, cleaned down to the base metal using cellulose thinners and repainted for your viewing today. 

If you follow the link above you will see the others of this motley crue. Over this year I hope to paint them all again and the release them to a gaming table at some point after all they can only die again.  

Next are the Spartan cavalry from Xyston. Never the strong point of a Spartan army, cavalry does however have it's uses so here they are. The slight shine is due the picture being sans matte varnish; a school boy error that will be rectified shortly. 

As always with Xyston figures, very nicely sculpted and cleanly cast. 

Lastly, for this post are a few more Early Imperial Romans. The legionnaires from Corvus Belli - the original metal casts - and supporting saggitarii from Essex Miniatures. 

The shield transfers are from Little Big Men and really bring the unit together. 

The double depth basing on a 40mm front is for use in ADLG and works well aesthetically as well as providing a more realistic look that the standard single rank on 40 x 15mm. 

There will be Romans in the next two weeks with the last legionnaires, auxilia and cavalry alea joining the finishing line for the 19th. 

So, how does this tally for the Challenge? 

1 x 28mm infantry figure: 5 points

3 x 15mm cavalry figures: 12 points

20 x 15mm infantry figures: 40 points

For a total of 57 points, taking the Challenge total so far to 118 (23.6%) with another 110 points nearing completion. Not the full amount however, it will see the Romans finished for now. 

Cheers for now

Cool mix of figures Ross.  Really like seeing the veteran Skelly come back to life (sort of).  Fine work on the ancients too.  Spartan overly does have it uses, scouting, flank protection, being something to thow away so as to give the phalanx another turn.  According to Xenophon, they hired Mercenary Cavalry which could be of better quality than the citizen cavalry.

I am rounding you up to 60 points.

From PaulSS: Gaslands "La Troca" and a load of tires -- 25pts

 

More Gaslands madness this week with more additins to the Gaslands collection, you probably only need at most four or five vehicles to play thsigame, but sourcing Hot Wheels cars and then kitting them out for combat is great fun.

Victoria bought me this Hot Wheels 1950 Chevrolet 3100 lowrider "La Troca" and I wanted to do a rather simple build on this. It was kitted out with exhaust, hub spinners and hood exhaust pipes and then a massive secondary exhaust all sourced from Etsy 3D prints. I wanted it dirty off-white, so the main colour is Contrast Skeleton Horde.

Another Etsy buy was a set of ten sections of 3D printed tires/tyres, three in the form of piles, six as tire walls and the last a flaming tire fire.

One 20mm vehicle and I think 1pt each is good for the tire sections will add another 25 pts to the ongoing total.

Squirrel Duel Tally: 4 (40K Kroot, Gaslands, 12mm WW2 US, 12mm WW2 German)

Another fine looking jalopy to park in your Gaslands garage Paul.  La Took looks every bit the part.  Also really liking the tire scenic bits.

From MattT Finished Khwarazmian Army [ 90 points ]

Finishing these last two units of medium cavalry means that I have completed my Khwarazmian Army for Basic Impetus. Of course I am already thinking about other units I could add to enable me to make and play other Army Lists. 

The medium Cav are from the Gripping Beast Armies of Islam range, Flag from LBMS

Here's a couple of photos of the completed army. Medium Cav and Elephant at the rear. Light Cav screen to the front.

Always a great feeling finishing a project and I'm really happy how they came out. Bright and colourful with a strong coherent basing scheme to tie them together. Lets hope they perform on the table top.

8 x 28mm cav @ 10 points each = 80 points

Congrats on finishing this project Matt (finished project, now there's an oxymoron), the end army look just wonderful.  It's been great following your work on these Khwarazmians over the challenge.  While your new medium Cavalry are lovely, it's the finished army that really catches the eye.  Kudos on the consistently fine base work across all elements, it really ties the unit together.  I've thrown in a few points for the casework and meeting the elusive goal of a finished project.