Steel Penguins braying

[Steel Penguin]

more grey, one hull has all its grey on and ive started the second, ive also started to get the grey on the engines.
a Empress carl gustav team together and based, ( the gunner was easy its a one peice figure, the 2nd is body + arms so they need the pin holes drilled then superglued in)
and started oner of the empress cheiftain tanks,  body filed and the 2 track run / wheel parts are together,  by the check they fit dry, then slodge a bead of filler in where they dont , then superglue into where they do to hold everything together. and glue the exaust box to the back of the body in the pre made resesion .

still getting somewhere, im not certain where, but ( to quote Lee Marvin) " ill be on my way"   

[Steel Penguin]

another CG team nearly together,  more grey, more filler, and drilled out the hole to glue the main gun to the turret 4 gradually increasing drill bit sizes, thank Bob its resin its easy enough to hand drill,  move a pile of box's to get to some of the dental tools, and found a part from another kit that i thought id lost 

is that mojo i see upon the horizon 

[Steel Penguin]

cg team done, a dismounted crew man done ( the mag for the sterling SMG had to be stuck on ) and 2 officers / snr NCO with radioman done, one as a twin figure base  one as 2 seperate figures, and a prone trooper ( not one of my fav poses as they cant be based to match the rest of the figures )

i may have to think  abought undercoating them, the problem is the moment i do that they are no longer " shiney" and if im not carefull my warmaes magpie brain will be pulled elsewhere. 

[Steel Penguin]

another radio team done and a standing / walking GPMG team so another 4 figures preped    and then a light problem...  the remaing sets i have are crew served weapons with prone / kneeling crew, ( MILAN, 81mm mortar, GPMG SF)   i think i need 13 bases for them i went looking  and cant find any 40mm round bases, so cut a quick card template to start, and realised its too small, i then went up through 50, to 60mm dia circles, and evan the cheap ones i can find will be £1 each, and then have to arrive.  ive got all the scrap MDF that i had from the buildings ive done over the last few years, time to get cutting ( urgh).  Than ill have to arrange each one to get the look right    mins diaramas for each one.  maybe ordering that many Milans and mortars wasnt such a smart idea, oh well  shrug.

[Steel Penguin]

Mrs SP comes through for me,  a pack of 50,  60mm * 2mm thick wood circles £10 so 20p each,  nice 

[Steel Penguin]

got a GPMG 2 man gun team cleaned up, as both are prone they will go on one of the rounds, i have to leave them loose till ive painted them or i wont be able got get brush into undercuts, got the grey onto the other 2 engine pods for the Tau stuff and some more grey onto the main body of the 2nd tank, and started assembling one of the Empress Cheiftains a bit more, main gun into turett, cages on, hatches on, so things are going well. 

[NARSES2]

Mrs SP comes through for me,  a pack of 50,  60mm * 2mm thick wood circles £10 so 20p each,  nice 

Good price mate 

[Steel Penguin]

Narses  Mrs SP has gotten quite good at serching amazon and simaler to get "odd" requests,  one fun one was / is a new O ring to go on the bobbin winder of her hand cranked Jones sewing machine, its still a bit of an ongoing as we want to get it perfect as the current one still just works, and once we removed it its going to crack / crumble, so theres no going back.
in modeling things a 2 man 7.62 Bren team are cleaned up and sorted and im adding the metal parts on to the tank, for a wargames peice, there is a suprising amount of detail on it    and of corse, more grey   its one of the problems with the scheme, its a lot of work till suddenly.... done!
( edit to change & to 7 )

[NARSES2]

Narses  Mrs SP has gotten quite good at serching amazon and simaler to get "odd" requests,  one fun one was / is a new O ring to go on the bobbin winder of her hand cranked Jones sewing machine, its still a bit of an ongoing as we want to get it perfect as the current one still just works, and once we removed it its going to crack / crumble, so theres no going back.

You got a good 'un there mate 

[Steel Penguin]

  indeed 
we've been to the model club at Womborne this afternoon, chewed the fat a bit, and i think i may have shocked a couple, i took my Tau army for Warhammer, its all done in Berlin block style ( Evan the infantry ) so en mass it really pops.  and there are plenty of everything.

[Steel Penguin]

one of the empress chieftains is ready for undercoating, the side skirts are still off, but thats to ensure a good spray, and they are handed and almost click into place as is, its quite an easy build and has a suprising amount of detail for a wargames model.  Ive had a rattle in my 1:48 bits box and found some jerry cans to add, and some of the rolls and bags will go in the turret baskets. realy enjoyed it so far 
the second one is out and getting done as well.  i feel quite good at getting things together.

[Steel Penguin]

more of the second tank together, made a good hand at it tonight as weve been tinternet less for an hour or two,  i belive people may have had to ( gasp) talk to each other 

still more fun than it has been so progress is made 

[Steel Penguin]

I find myself wishing to put a word ( or three) of praise down here.
I recently bought 3 Empress miniatures 1:50 FV432 apcs,  nice resin / white metal wargame kits,  yesterday Mrs SP got a phone call from them,  seems that the packer had a load of bits left over after sending out a few orders, so they are trying to track down who to send them too,  I also received an e-mail asking the same,  I've replied after checking so they should be sending them out,  The part in question is the wire / bar light protector from the front light...   
Knowing how hard it can be getting missing parts replaced from " mainstream" model company's,  the actions of a small company like this is rather hartwarming 

[Steel Penguin]

and the second Chieftains done, sat waiting for undercoat now    I've got the third out of storage and will probably start tomorrow.  rather enjoying doing this, as the lessons of the first kit are ready applicable to 2 and 3  .

[NARSES2]

Knowing how hard it can be getting missing parts replaced from " mainstream" model company's,  the actions of a small company like this is rather hartwarming 

Absolutely so, glad you had such good service