The Blog of Michael T. Murphy and his lifelong obsession with "little army men" and their imaginary glory, miniature wargaming, and other things...

Thursday, November 26, 2009

OG Building Preps and Bongolesian Armor Ready for Action!

Okay, it's been a bit since I've given a decent update, so I guess I'll go ahead and post these pics and what I've been up to recently.
I've a hodgepode of projects right now; Painting Pulp Figs, to working on Bongolesian stuff (still), to doing some scratchbuilding, and now I've started painted an OG 28mm scale Pirate Village building...
These buildings are made out of a hardened foam, and sadly enough, OG doesn't sell them anymore. They are really nice, (but they have a lot of flash).
I was originally worried about priming it, since I usually use good old Wally World Primer and the idea of seeing the primer react with my foam and seeing my building become a lump of goo was not too appealing, but my lads at TMP said it was pretty much okay, so I thought I would give it a shot.
Here's the building, before cleaning and priming: (CLICK ON PIC FOR LARGER PICS)

The front of the building here. It's got a good amount of detail and the roofs are removable.

And another shot of the front and side of the building...

The back of the building.

The side with the flashy window...more on this later...

The "worn brick wall" side...

The inside of the building.

As you can see it's pretty plain and ready to be painted or modified to a gamers content.
I first cleaned off the flash and gave it a good scrubbing with hot water and gritty dish soap to get the oils of the foam, etc, off of it. It took a bit to dry, before it was ready for priming.
I applied appprox 3 light coats of primer. The first one seemed to merely change the color. It took the other two before I felt convinced that enough had gone on to actually have the building "Primed"....

The front primed. Detail shows up very well.

As does the back...

The "flashy window". I had forgotten to cut this out before priming. I'll have to go back and fix that during work.

Roof off, showing the inside.
So that is where I am at with this building right now. I'm looking at doing it in a off white stucco pattern for the outside, and the inside will be base coated burnt umber, (which seems to be good for a lot of things), and highlighted with lighter browns and tans... More to come on this project.
While working on buildings I thought I would go ahead and show off the current Bongolesian Presidential Palace that is under construction...

From these shots you can see the platform for the balcony, the entrance ways and the front windows. You will notice that the corners are left blank. That is where the two large towers are going to be...More on this as construction continues...
And finally...
The NDF Armor is DONE!!!!
Grrr....readers will notice what looks like white "stuff" on the vehicles...sadly enough, this is what Armory Sealer does to everything I have ever used it on. It collects in folds and turns into a white "ick"...looks like sand or something....bleah...

T-55's of 3rd Bongolesian Armored (The Mighty Elephants) and 4th Bongolesian Armored (The Rhinos) sit waiting for the word to move out.
T-62's of the Presidential Guard. Higher quality tanks always ready to make sure that the Army Officers remain loyal to the President-For-Life.
And just to make sure that enemy planes don't decide to make life hard for the tanks...NDF ADA assets...



The ZSU23-4 is assigned to the Presidential Guard and provides air support to the Guard when they are in military support operations, or when the President is travelling across the country in a military style convoy. When not in this mission role, it can be used for low level Air Defense of the Presidential Palace and other important Govt. buildings in Sudekia, as well as using it's highly effective quad rapid fire 23mm guns as crowd control in case of civil unrest.
The ZSU 57-2 supports Bongolesian NDF forces in the role of tactical ADA assets, and infantry direct fire support. It's twin 57mm guns can wreck havoc on enemy defensive fortifications, troops and soft armor targets.
And here's a pic of yours truly taken by my lady as I arrange my armor for a nice photo.... ( which comes next!)

The business end of the Bongolesian National Defense Forces Armored Fighting Forces.
From front to rear and left to right:
1st Recon Sqd: "Roaring Cheetahs"
2nd Recon Sqd: "Condors"
1st Bongolesian Armored: "The Fighting Jujus" (PT-76's)
2nd Bongolesian Armored: "The Golden Lions" (T-34/76's)
3rd Bongolesian Armored: "The Mighty Elephants (T-55's)
4th Bongolesian Armored: "The Rhinos" (T-55's)
MT-12 100mm AT Gun with M3 Halftrack Mover AT Assets
ZSU-57-2 ADA Assets
4 Truck Medium Section
4 Truck Light/Medium Truck Section
4 Truck Heavy Section
And that dear reader is all that I have for you on this Thanksgiving Day....
Hope you enjoyed it, and hope your day of Thanksgiving is a good one for you and your family.
Comments are appreciated.
More to come, (naturally)...

Sunday, November 22, 2009

An ugly realization...

Today I have on my table approx. 250 15mm figs, half a dozen 28mm Bob Murch Pulp Figs, and 6 T-80's needing to be painted...I have three buildings to finish, 1 coastal trawler, 1 tramp steamer, and then...THEN I can work on my MEU...

I shall never die....

Monday, November 16, 2009

GRRRRR! A NON-GAMING RELATED POST!!!

Sorry for the gripe folks, but just had YET "another issue" with "The school that has no clue"...(Westlake Public School, Indianapolis Indiana)...

This occurred ON MY STREET!

Nov 16th 2010.
I’m on the phone when I happen to just glance out the front window. Across the street from me is Westlake Public School, It’s an Elementary School, and has people in and out of it all day.
Today I looked out the window and my eyes caught something…

(Take a look at the pics and see what I saw…)



YEPS…The American Flag is flying UPSIDE DOWN!

Immediately I ran over to the school, and asked the Secretary “What’s the Problem?”
Her answer was “I dunno. You tell me.”
“Well…” I said. “You’re flying the American Flag upside down, which is a symbol for distress.”

She nodded and rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah. They put it up upside down this morning, and didn’t pay attention to it. We’re trying to get someone to come and fix it.”

It seems that the lanyards are secured in a metal locked box (visible on the pole), and only a “certain few” (Principal, etc..), are allowed to have the key to open it.

What made me concerned is the fact that if they put it up “This morning”, why (at 12:30) in the day, is it STILL this way?!?!…

So folks, the question I have to ask you, (and you ask yourselves)…
IF OUR SCHOOL OFFICIALS CAN’T BE “BOTHERED” TO TAKE A MOMENT TO CHECK TO SEE IF THE FLAG OF THEIR COUNTRY IS FLYING CORRECTLY IN FRONT OF THEIR SCHOOL, THEN WHY ARE WE AS PARENTS, TRUSTING THESE FOLKS WITH OUR CHILDRENS EDUCATIONAL WELL BEING?!?!?”