Brick Roadway

As we approach Christmas time, it's time to go to Michael's to buy Christmas buildings and accessories.

This year one of the few items I liked was this mat.

Three feet long and a foot and a half wide, it's a big vinyl sheet.

Marx 60mm US Army troops on the brick pavement.

The bricks work very well for this scale.

It makes a great roadway or village square.

The sheet could be cut up to make narrow roads or custom cut to fit specific buildings or spaces.

Skull Island

While taking the dog to the groomer I visited my local Petsmart store and found this little gem.

It is a resin ornament for fish tanks. It was about ten dollars.

This very washed out photo was so cool I just had to post it too. It was a very hot, bright, sunny day when I took this photo. I like it. This could pass for a hand drawn image of what an adventure team might have to look for when they go searching for Skull Island and King Kong.

The real item on display in my back yard. It makes a very good ancient artifact.

The bottom is a sort of cave for the fish to swim into and out of, it goes all the way through the "mountain." Not a bad find for ten bucks. They have a couple other versions, check them out on line.

Christmas Village II

The Model Power 1/87th scale M47 Patton tank travels up the Christmas Village street. These buildings were only $1 each at my local Dollar Tree store. Look at the roof of each building and you can see black and gray patches that show where I painted over the white snow. I don't play snow wargames but I still wanted to use these buildings.

Look at the ground cover near the cafe table, I painted over the snow with a gray making it look like rock or asphalt. These buildings were pre painted and only required that I cover the snow to make them usable on the wargame table. They are also hollow so I can put troops inside.

This Revell WWII US Army figure on the roof looks over the edge to see the tank pass by below. Many of these buildings had flat parts on the roofs which are great for posing figures.

A couple infantry sneak around a corner, notice the black edges where I painted over the snow. I could also have flocked them wtih green like the solders bases, or even went with a brown ground cover. Buildings like this are great because they are cheap, durable, and allow me to spend time on other hobby tasks.

Many battles took place in urban areas, in WWII in Europe, many small villages were only a collection of a few small buildings. A few of these placed at a crossroads and you have an instant village. Your American or British forces can surround the village with armor and then send in the Infantry to dig out those few hold out Nazis. More fun for use than it was for them.

Bresica Miniatures & Odemars Berlin

Odemars Germans in Berlin set on new terrain by Bresica Miniatures.

Late in WWII the Germans authorized women to serve in combat on a voluntary basis. Since the Soviet Red Army was murdering and raping women in large numbers it was thought that women should have a right to defend themselves.

This small bunker is great for a small anti-tank gun or a heavy machine gun. As is typical for Bresica Miniatures the ground is a sort of step pattern that allows figures to be stood up as they approach or leave the position.

This small bunker has an open area to the side which is perfect for additional infantry support or for range finding.

Remember that Odemars are on sale, buy one for $10 or 10 Euros and get one free including shipping in North America and Europe. Boiteplastic@aol.com can be contacted for full details. Sale ends 2/15/09 so act soon.

Bresica Miniatures are available from Michigan Toy Soldier Company. They are high quality resin models and are sold painted and unpainted.

Monument to Dollar Tree

Around Christmas time and Easter, my local Dollar Tree store has little about 1/72nd scale buildings in a sort of ceramic material. They are pre-painted, often with "snow" and glitter in the snow. This set of statues monument was one of them I picked up for only a dollar each. The base and part of the statue was in white with some glitter on it. Using a stiff brush, I brushed off as much of the glitter as I could and then repainted them. The one on the left I repainted with a heavy black wash to represent ash, dirt, ruins, over painting all the snow part. The one of the right I repainted with green and then flocked the green for a more normal look. Having a little bit of green on the monument looks like the maintenance crew is a bit behind on the gardening.

It was a pretty nice monument, I think it says "Samuel Adams" on the front, but it is hard to read. He fits okay as someone who could be on a monument almost anywhere in the world in the last 200 years. This Revell US Army guy shows just how large the monument is, the smaller figures are a chunky 1/72nd size.

Just changing the base really makes a big difference in these to models. And the difference from when they had the snow on them is huge; they really looked like toys before.

Monuments like this can be found in town squares, cemeteries, parks, and in front of great public buildings everywhere. Here a HaT WWII German soldier directs the tour to another interesting location.

I try and visit my local Dollar Tree about once every month or so, just for little gems like this one. A similar monument from a model railroad store could easily be $20 or more. This one was basically pre-painted. I have done similar ones and repainted the stature figures in bronze for a different look. In the next few days I will post a few buildings I got at the same time.

New Terrain.

Michigan Toy Soldier carries a new line of 1/72nd scale terrain called Bresica Miniatures. They are made in the USA, right here in California, not too far from me.




Bresica Miniatures now makes a new line of 1/72nd scale terrain. It is cast in resin and sold both painted and unpainted.


Terrain items are suitable for the gunpowder era, and in this photo we see a group of Caesar WWII Germans taking position in a trench line.

More Caesar Germans entering a covered position.

Italeri 75mm gun position with Caesar Germans. Note the retaining wall holding up the dirt positions. That's a nice detail.

Another small anti-tank gun position. Again the Italeri PaK 40. These are some nice looking terrain pieces, and you can't have too much terrain. So check out the Michigan Toy Soldier Company website and buy some bunkers. http://www.michtoy.com/