Blood Red Skies

Last Christmas I was lucky enough to receive Blood Red Skies Battle of Britain starter set. I was able to set it up and play it straight out of the box which is a bonus in the winter when spray priming models is out of the question. I had some grand games with it and sent for some decals with a view to painting the little planes.

Well, I got them painted a few weeks ago when the weather warmed up and I got them into action today.

I have long been interested in the Battle of Britain and have re-read Len Deightons book for some background.

Here are my Spitfires.

And the Messerschmitts. When we were kids running around with our toy guns and tin helmets someone would yell "Messerschmitt!" and we'd all dive for cover. Happy days!.

A Spit gets a shot in.

Now the boot is on the other foot!.

A bit of a furball.

But it soon opened up.

Blood Red Skies is a superb game and I reckon it is Andy Chambers' best work.

Stay safe!, now I'm off to shoot some bombers down.

1/72nd Aircraft Models

A month or so ago my wife and I went shopping at the Metrocentre in Gateshead. I steered us into WH Smith which has a modest range of models from which I impulse bought a Revell 1/72nd Spitfire Vb. I bought a starter kit as I haven't got the proper paints.
I really enjoyed making it and painting it although there were some problems to deal with such as misaligned decals and my own mistakes. It was of course made as a wargames model with no internals and a painted canopy.

I enjoyed it so much that I bought an Airfix Focke Wulf for a good price on E-bay and built and painted it today using some of the paints from the Revell kit.

 Here's the Spitfire, I built the clipped wing version.

 And todays little project.

 Another view of the Spit.

 The spiral on the prop was done with very shaky hands but it's as good as I could ever manage.

 A dogfight double.

 Some of my older 1/72nd planes painted with blue canopies.

 Bf 109 and a MiG 3.

 Typhoon.

 It's the old Airfix Typhoon kit.

 And a Revell ex Hasegawa Mitchell bomber.

 I got it very cheap several years ago.

 I didn't realise that this version served in the Pacific till after I built it and I have no ground forces for that theatre. Ah well, someday maybe but it has on occasion strafed and bombed the Germans.

Not quite a dogfight double.

I might treat myself to another sometime...

More aeroplane goodness.

I'm still obsessed with this game, I was on holiday last week and did some repaints...

 I painted these two P39 Airacobras into Lend-Lease versions.

 I got the decals from Old Glory UK.

 The Bf109 Wingmen got an early war scheme.

 A brace of Mustangs joined the RAF.

 Although the models have panel lines like trenches the use of Klear/ Future allowed the decals to snuggle down pretty well.

 I painted out the incorrect Stars and Bars on the starboard wing top and ditto underneath.

 I apologise if the swastika offends anyone, most offensive IMHO are my hand painted Finnish Hakaristi on the plane in the background.

 More swastikas.

 I repainted two of my Tonys to differentiate them on the table.

 The freehanded tail marking isn't perfect but it'll do for me.

 I added some camo to my Italians.

 With a big yellow cowling for the Saetta.

 Here are some 100 point flights, starting with the Russians.

 Chinese with AVG Flying Tigers.

 Japanese, a Zero ace and a pair of Oscars.

 Germans at 99 points.

 Brits to take on the above.

 My Wildcat flight.

 Probably my favourite flight build. The Italians always give an entertaining game.

 One of the best things about this game is the ball joint on the models stand.

 The plane can climb.

 Bank.

 Or dive and it makes the game feel like it's in 3D.

 I haven't played any other wargame since October but I do fancy a change, I might have a game tomorrow. I'm not sure what to dig out of the cupboard yet.

After three days I fell off the wagon!.

Three days after my last post, No more planes, I spotted the Bandits High starter set for only £9.99 and I succumbed. Six more planes. Weak, I am so weak.

Oh well.

I never said I was perfect.

No more planes!.

I decided that enough is enough when it comes to my Axis and Allies Air Force Miniatures collection. After I spent some Christmas money on two more boosters which contain random models I ended up with one Soviet plane and one Italian.

I decided to buy some singles to give me two flights of three Soviet and three Italian aircraft and make that the finish.

Forty two models in total.

 I laid them all out.

 I was well and truly hooked.

 My Italian flight in the foreground.

 My Russians in the middle.

 Chinese with Flying Tigers.

 I have too many Mustangs and some will be repainted, maybe in RAF colours.

I love this game and have been playing it exclusively since October, it plays well solo and is quick to set up and put away.

My last purchase for it however will be some decals to repaint some of them, but definitely NO MORE PLANES!.