BK-2 Soviet Riverine Gunboat in 28mm from Barrage Miniatures

The harbour is under expansion and there will of course be more space for ships and boats. This one, the BK-2 Soviet Riverine Gunboat from Barrage Miniatures, is a welcome addition to the fleet that is already crowding the waters in the present harbour. The one under construction will be 6’x4’ compared to the present 3’x3’, so there is certainly a need for more vessels.

In the kit you’ll find the one-piece hull, a turret and also an insert for the open cockpit (seats and a machine-gun mount) and a heavy machine-gun. I skipped the latter two parts as I wanted space enough for a miniature to stand in the cockpit.

The hull needed a tiny bit of green-stuff to fill a couple of small bubbles but otherwise everything was great.

I painted with a brownish green colour, stippled on different metal colours and gave it several different washes to make it look well used.

Brimstone – Hell Vermin

I’m waiting for the second and last shipment from the Shadows of Brimstone kickstarter and as we’re playing and enjoying the game I decided to buy the two enemy packs that has been released and are not part of the kickstarter – Hell Vermin and Swamp Slugs of Jargono.

The Hell Vermins are the first to be finished and you’ll see the slugs soonish.

In each pack you’ll get:

- Three vermins on 40mm bases (I used transparent bases from Sally 4th).

- A reference sheet and a rules sheet/painting guide

- Threat cards for the game

Each vermin is in two parts on a sprue, essentially left and right sides. A bit of cleaning, but easy to do. No problem gluing them together but there will be a gap that at least I found it necessary to fill with green stuff.  

The problem is the lack of details on these minis. What is supposed to be fur is rather flat, teeth has no structure at all etc. These are simply not very good sculpts, unfortunately, but they seem to be good monsters to have in the game.

Painting (Vallejo paints unless otherwise noted)

Well, first off, I totally ignored the painting guide as I simply didn’t find it at all interesting

Skin – 859 Black Red, drybrushed 985 Hull Red and finally 804 Beige Red

Tail – as skin + drybrushed 944 Old Rose

Fur – as skin + thin stripes painted with 981 Orange Brown

Mouth, ears and wounds – 944 Old Rose. Army Painter Dark Tone wash on inner parts och mouth to simulate depth.

Spines, teeth and claws – 825 German Camo Pale Brown and teeth individually painted with 034 Bone White

Eyes – 953 Flat Yellow and pupils by black pen.

They won’t win any prizes but I think they will look okay on the game-tiles.

Mercs Recon – Eu, Inc

A long time ago I backed the Mercs: Recon kickstarter. Everything dragged out and the first shipment was more than a year late when it arrived this February. By that time my interest had waned and even though I built a couple of the multipart resin figures I didn’t paint them. They just stood there on the painting table.

The EU, Inc team from Mercs: Recon - Counter Threat

The other week I looked at them, unpacked the player boards with illustrations of the uniforms and decided to do something about this. If I’m ever going to get these painted it will have to be very basic and easy paintjobs.

Shock trooper and Sergeant

Said and done. I decided to start with the five-man EU, Inc faction team from the Counter Threat box, and the obvious thing with them is the characteristic blue colours on their gear. As every faction have their characteristic colours I decided to keep that as an identifier and then go approximately after the illustrations.

Medic and Analyst

Paints used for EU, Inc personnel

Black – black drybrushed with Vallejo 868 Dark Sea Green

Blue – 899 Dark Prussia Blue highlighted with 965 Prussia Blue

Yellow border on shoulder armour – 953 Flat Yellow

Metal – 863 Gunmetal Grey and an Army Painter Dark Tone wash

Goggles – 52 Silver

Leader

Preparation and painting done during two evenings and they turned out decent enough. Just another five-man team and ten guards and we’re ready for a test-game.

A trip to Arsenalen – The Swedish Tank Museum - Part 1 AFVs in Swedish use, WWII and before

I took my youngest son on a trip to Arsenalen- the Swedish tank museum last summer and I thought the pics I took there could be of interest. 
First time I’ve been there, strangely enough, as it is only a 50 minute drive from me.
I took a lot of pictures, as you could expect.
Due to the amount of photos I have decided to split this into four posts and they will be posted now and then within the next couple of weeks. Hope you like them.

Part 1 - AFVs in Swedish use, WWII and before - this post
Part 2 - AFVs in Swedish use, post WWII
Part 3 - softskins and guns in Swedish use
Part 4 - Foreign vehicles
I did miss a couple of vehicles, but that is a good reason for you to visit the museum :-)

Let's go inside, then.

A view from the top floor down on the WWII vehicles

A German LK II. 10 bought in 1922 and they served in the Swedish army under the name Strv  M/21. Some still served in 1939. (Strv = Stridsvagn = tank)

A Carden-Loyd Mk V, or Strv m/Carden-Loyd. Two bought for evaluation.

 Durned, I didn't take pics of the Renault NC 27 (Strv fm/28). Bought for trials and it seems to be the only one preserved in the world.

This is Landsverk L-30, or Strv fm/31. One built in 1931 for trials. Strange vehicle.

Landsverk L-170, or Pbil fm/29. Only one made as it was to expensive and too heavy. Armed with a 37mm gun and two machine guns. (Pbil = Pansarbil = Armoured car) 

A Czech CKD or Strv m/37. 48 bought in 37-39 and it is armed with two 8mm MGs.

Pbil m/31, an armoured lorry, armed with two machineguns/cannon and machinegun/from 1942 a 20mm automatic cannon and machinegun. You can see a sideshot in the pic before this one. 

Pbil M40 Lynx from Landsverk. A surprisingly modern-looking armoured car made between 1939 and 41. Armed with a 20mm  automatic cannon and 3 8mm machine guns. It had four-wheel steering and one driver in each end so it could drive top speed in both directions. A total of 30 made and in service until 1958.

L-60-S III or Strv m/40L from Landsverk. 100 were made between 1941 and 42. Armed with a 37mm gun and two 8mm machineguns. 20 were sold the the Dominican Republic in 1956 and saw action against US marines in 1965.

Strv m/42 by Landsverk. The only heavy tank in use by Sweden during WWII and produced between 1943 and  -45. 282 made and armed with a 75mm gun and two 8mm MGs. 

Scania-Vabis F11-0 or Tgb m/42. 300 made in 1942 to -46 and due to its looks it was called Likkistan (the coffin). They later became known as the KP-bil/KP-truck and was used by Swedish UN-troops in Congo and Cyprus. They were retired in 2005 after 60 years of service! I remember them well from my time in the army in the mid 80s. I didn't have to ride in them, though, and I'm glad for that :-) (Tgb = Terrängbil = terrain car)

Landsverk L60 or Strv m/38 built in 1938-39. Armed with a 37mm gun this was the first Swedish tank that could engage enemy tanks, and remained the only one with that capability until 1941. Only 16 built.

SAV m/43 made by Scania-Vabis. 18 made in 44-45 with a further 18 made in 46-47. Initially armed with a 75mm gun and later upgraded to 105mm. Used until 1973. (SAV = Stormartillerivagn = assault gun ) 

In 1939 Sweden ordered 90 TNH tanks from Czechoslovakia but with the German occupation they were confiscated and used by the Germans as PzKpfw 38(t) Ausf  S. 220 were licence-built in Sweden as Strv m/41 from 1942 to -44.

That's it for part one.

Finally, A warm welcome to new follower Phil Curran, with no blog I could find.