Reinforcements and Musings

I just received my miniatures from Pico armor. I really like Pico Armor miniature. They seem to be always be clean casts and have very little flash and have crisp look to them. This time it seems something changed. Two of the packs that I received were 3d prints instead of metal miniatures. That was a surprise that I wish they would have mentioned on the website when I ordered. I ordered some Gloster Gladiatoers, Lysanders, Ju-52s and some G.50s. Of these, the Gladiators and G.50s were 3d prints that still had their supports attached.

Appologies for the horrible picture. But you can clearly see that the 3d prints are still on their supports. This is always the hardest part with 3d prints is removing the supports without damaging the model. For a biplane, I was really hoping for a cast metal model. I will see what I have to do.

From Raiden miniatures, I ordered some old FightsOn! items. I picked up a pack of damage indicators. They are basically black and white pipe cleaners. Still, I like them.

Also from Raiden and FightsOn!, I grabbed a table edge indicator for showing where the sun is. These are simple hexes. Not 100% necesary but they are interesting.

I am considering ordering their pacific airfield model as well. It is a shame that many of the old FIghtsOn! items are no longer available. They had 1/600 scale bailed out pilots. That would have been fun markers to litter across the table. At this point, I am waiting on the shipment of my Tumbling Dice order. I ordered a flak position and some Ro.37s from them. They are on their way. This should give me all the aircraft I need for North Africa. The only thing I may want is some additional German bombers (Do17z or Ju88A). I have a pack of German bombers that are unpainted that I need to paint up still.

A friend is lazer cutting some additional dice holders for my aircraft stands. Thus far, I am really happy with the samples that he sent me. Here is a sample one.

He is printing a whole sheet of these for me that should give me more than enough to work with.

Musings.....

I started looking at my miniatures for Operation Barbarossa. I am thinking of playing through my Ustilug campaign as a solo campaign and possibly updating it to Chain of Command 2. In doing that, I have started looking at what it would take to get a few East Front airgames in. The Soviets have a very interesting mix of aircraft. There were biplanes as well as more modern fighters. For the Germans, the Bf109E-7 was very common. I just happen to have 8 unpainted Bf109 models in my miniature tray. I also have Ju87 dive bombers that are unpainted. So I already have a start. I read an article that when the Italians showed up on the Eastern Front, the aircraft that they sent were still painted for the desert. This would take me into the Fall of 1941 for the campaign. I really would only need to purchase some Russian aircraft. I would be looking to paint up models for use over the Ukraine. This would bring in the possibility of having some Romanian aircraft as well. Once my current desert air campaign is over, I may look into starting an East Front Campaign.