China - Progress

A short post today showing off some of the progress I have made on my Sino-Japanese War aircraft. 

For the Curtiss Hawk IIIs, they are mostly painted and some now have decals applied (using Sieben Schwaben Spiele Decals and Flight Deck Decals). I love the Chinese Nationalist roundel and plane number over the dark green. I will admit, I did cheat on the tail colors as I could not see trying to include thirteen alternating white and blue stripes at 1/285 scale. I think I still captured the feel by only using seven stripes. 

The pair of Model 281 Boeings are also mostly painted, but then somehow I snapped a landing gear from one, which really is not making me happy. So I need to order a replacement and start fresh. Arrrgh. 

For the Japanese the A5Ms have a coat of aluminium. I could not decide on what the base color should be, seeing so many variations on the A5M, from a golden hue to light gray (which I think really should be metal) dark green. However, seemingly the A5M came from the factory in 1937-38 in a natural metal finish, so there we have it. I still have details to add but did add natural steel to the ailerons and engine.

The schemes for the D1A also varied somewhat, ranging the natural metal to light gray to dark green. I decided to take the easy way out to have the D1As match their A5M escorts. This means the Japanese are in natural metal while the Chinese are all sporting dark green. Two very distinctive and different schemes to grace the tabletop. I still have details to paint on the D1As.

These planes will be used for the Melee Over the Mausoleum scenario that one can found on the Downloads page.

Melee Over the Mausoleum

I have added another scenario to the Downloads page, this one dealing with an event that took place on this date, eighty-eight years ago, during the Sino-Japanese War. The scenario (entitled Melee Over the Mausoleum) is a scaled down version of the historical event, and features such interesting Japanese aircraft as the A5M fighter (later known to the Allies as Claude) and D1A dive bomber (Susie), facing off against Chinese piloted and U. S. supplied Model 68 Hawk IIIs and Boeing Model 281s (the export version of the P-26 Peashooter). The historical event also had several E8N floatplanes (Dave) and a pair of CR.32s, but as I cannot source the floatplanes from my favorite retailers (Flight Deck Decals or Table Top Flights) I have not included them in the scenario. I may, in the future, utilize some proxy floatplanes, like Petes, that will perform double duty.

Because of the slowness of the pre-World War II aircraft, I have changed the speed bands to make a more playable scenario. To that end, here are the ratings:

Works in Progress

As I become older I find that painting is actually becoming a bit of a calming release for me. Oh sure, my wife will tell you that on occasion she hears me spout out an expletive from the den as I fiddle with getting a decal in place or paint canopy frames, but overall I am starting to enjoy painting my own planes. Now, that being said, I am only working on simple schemes - more complex brushwork will still be sent off to Miscellaneous Miniatures or I-94, but of late, after having some success with 1/144 Great War planes last year, I have been working on a few 1/285 scale aircraft with some success and not a lot of swearing.

Before I forget, I do have an update from Kevin at MiscMinis on some commissioned work he is doing for me - here are the nearly finished Americans for an Aleutians scenario. 

Okay, now here are a few I have been working on.

The above are all Flight Deck prints. At the bottom are a Curtiss Hawk III and a P-26 (known as the Model 281 in Chinese service), painted in the base color for China in 1937. They need another coat of green, and I will need to add details such as tires, engine, and the tail stripes (the white is in place but needs another coat before adding the blue), and then Chinese roundels.

In the middle are the beginnings of my Wake Atoll collection. I decided that 1/600 is just too fiddly for my fingers to handle, so have transitioned into 1/285. The Wildcats and Buffaloes are complete, other than decals. Then I will need to start collecting a variety of Japanese aircraft. 

The top row are gap fillers. While I have a decent Korean War collection and can host numerous scenarios, I needed to buy more planes to run games involving the Yak-9P and the Shooting Star. The blue on the Yak is probably a hair too dark, but I like how it will stand out on the tabletop. The F-80, after priming, has a base coat of Vallejo aluminium which really looks great. Both of these types need details painted in, and then decals.