Military Modelling
With the outset of the Church Blog, I thought I would share a little of one of my hobbies, with the hope that others might reveal the many other talents within our fellowship.
I have been modelling since I were ‘nowt but a lad’, many years ago, and my man cave is becoming very cramped with a variety of figurines, aircraft, ships and finally tanks, which I got into in recent years.
I’m a member of the International Modelling Group on Facebook, where you get real inspiration from the exceptional models displayed from around the world, and I was particularly pleased when my 1/350th model of the Battleship King George 5th was chosen as the group’s monthly backdrop.
My aircraft are 1/48th scale that hang from my ceiling, and I’ve put up a picture of a JU52 which was interesting for me, as my father was captured during WW2 at the battle for the Island of Leros, which was invaded by German paratroops from 15 Fallschirm Kompanie Brandenburg, so a picture of a small diorama of my father’s regiment the Royal Irish Fusiliers at Rachi Ridge in Leros is included.
I have many hundreds of both 15mm & 25mm metal wargaming figurines finely painted from my Army days, comprising of a Roman Legion, Napoleonic British, French & Prussian Divisions, as well as a fine collection of 25mm French Napoleonic Guard.I’ve a small collection of 54mm metal figurines painted in oils, with my favourite being Private Hook the morning after the battle for Rorkes Drift, the site of which I have visited during my time in South Africa. Hookey was teetotal and not the bad guy depicted in the great film Zulu.
I’ve done a few ships; the KG5 already mentioned, as well as the German Battleship Bismark, and a couple of submarines, one of which was particularly interesting, the Japanese WW2 400 Sub that had three seaplanes on board; at the time, the biggest and most technically advanced in the world.
And finally my tanks; what a great subject these have been, with books and pictures available in depth, as well as techniques for weathering and getting the look of the real thing in action.
Hope you like the pictures and if you want a closer look at the real thing, give me a bell.
Stay Bright
Mike