Back from the dead!

Hello folks! Rumors of my death were much exaggerated etc. Just life was a little busy over the summer what with teaching NYC kids about nature and only having internet access 1 day a week etc. But I have no excuse for the absence after the 21st of August :P
I got back to Aber mid-September time and have been busy since. But I have done some modelling things! Not many though admittedly...
I got around to finishing painting some of my Dystopian Wars Russian Coalition stuff in the week before Freshers. Frigates, Gunships and a Repair Cruiser!

As a result of Student Loan I splurged on yet more DW stuff, which it will be way too long before I complete! The Australian Fleet Box and the Britannian & Russian expansion boxes. Having played with all them I love them all. Spartan sure can pump out some crazy designs- a giant underwater submarine chainsaw  (Britannian Vengeance) and a battleship with a drill like what they used for the Channel Tunnel as its prow (Russian Khatanga)? Yes Please! Aussies are less wacky but probably my favourite looking fleet, and they play incredibly solid too- I actually won a game with them; me winning a game being something of an oddity!

KoB Dominion Class Support Cruiser

KoB Vengeance Class Submarine

RC Khatanga Class Ice Breaker

RC Tiksi Class Support Cruiser

Nikel Class Heavy Frigate

Aussies, Brits & Ruskies assemble!

I also got a pretty damn rare Ma.K kit- a Zionel Westen 1/76 Sand Stalker.

Not the best quality I've ever seen if I'm frank; I had bits from a Revell M48 & a UniModel SU-100 lying around so I decided to do some mods.
The big gun is from the SU-100 kit which has some T-34 bits mixed in on the sprues so I nabbed that, along with a ventilation thingy & periscope.
The block on the rear (some miscellany from the M48 kit) was originally in my thinking for the bigger guns recoil, as in the Sherman Firefly, but now I'm thinking just move the radio into there to clear out the turret. The insets in the indents on either side are the rear radiator from the M48 cut down the middle.

I did a burst of activity before Uni started requiring actual attention and I think this will be my main project when I do hobby stuff. 

Some other stuff I've been doing is the actual SU-100 were some of the Sand Stalker bits came from- a pretty mundane project but a nice kit which shouldn't take too much effort to finish off- and some Dystopian Legions stuff which isn't by best work and not really worth putting up. Maybe after I've based them.

UniModel 1/76 SU-100. A nice little kit, which is a little further along than this pic, having been covered in a uniform green mix.

More updates hopefully soon!

Lots of Dystopian

Since my last post I've made pretty reasonable progress on my Russians for Dystopian Wars, as well as getting & painting some Battlecruisers for my Britannians. So without further ado, I present to you the results...

Another shot of a Suvorov Cruiser, which have all been painted in this scheme now.

 The Tunguska Class Large Skyship; a magnificent addition to my Russian Fleet, it's essentially a flying battleship. Not shown in this shot is a very detailed & sizable underside.

 The Borodino Class Battleship, all painted up.

One of the Britannian Lord Hood Class Battlecruisers. The annoying thing about taking photos of miniatures is all the little faults which you hadn't noticed show up in a very unpleasant way :P

I also just today received a Britannian starter box for Dystopian Legions, along with some Tankettes.

The full contents of the box- along with the models it includes the rulebook, a faction stat sheet, game cards, dice & a measuring stick. All in all some nice additions. The rulebook, despite being a booklet, seems pretty high quality.

From left to right: Sergeant, Flame Specialist, Lieutenant, Captain Smethington II

 Line Infantry. I really like the posing on these guys.

Sky Hussars. These guys also come with resin steam plumes to attach to their jetpacks, which is pretty cool.

Looking at the price of the box (£42) I thought it was pretty pricey. However, that works out at £3 a model, without figuring in the rulebook etc which is pretty reasonable. The models themselves are pretty good- significantly bigger than 40K stuff, more 30mm than 28mm. The detailing isn't up to the same standard as Dystopian Wars stuff and some of the models have a lot of flash. All in all though they're nice, uncluttered and as I've said the posing is full of character. I'm going to have fun with these guys- next time I should have finished one of the Tankettes to show off.

Before I go, I want to show off a toy I got. 3A make some very nice, bit very pricey, designer toys. I already had a World War Robot portable figure- a Bertie Mk. 3- and with Christmas money I couldn't resist getting another. This time I got a Caesar, which I love because of the arm shield and the assault rifle he has. If you have some money to waste, WWR stuff is the best.

With my Bertie.

One last thing- I got some 1/35 Gustavs for Ma.K, so expect some word on them in the next update, along with Legions stuff (probably a Tankette).