Monday 18 September 2017

Somewhere in Belgium

This is the finished Airfix (Dapol) village although I confess I think it is probably ‘somewhere in Surbiton’ rather than Belgium. These kits were of course devised for use with model railways and their original designers may have been horrified if they discovered they became the focus of so many large scale battles during the 60s and 70s.

I actually only ever possessed one cottage and La-Haye-Saint model back then so I’ve enjoyed making these up to provide real estate for my Hinton Hunt’s. The only remaining kit I have to make (eventually) is the windmill which I will be using to provide the emperor with a suitable command post.

These scenic items have been long overdue and I now feel I have enough buildings, trees and hills etc. to properly populate a 6’ x 4’ table.

11 comments:

lewisgunner said...

Any more and it will be a hirse and musket version of Stalingrad' My Emperor' Wellington still holds the Tractor Factory' said Oudinot....'Senarmont, bring forward my 12 pounders', replied the petit caporal......'..we were ll give themna whiff of grapeshot.'

May I suggest that your next project is some field fortifications and a couple meeting re battalions of Russians to put them in? There are some nice plastic sets on Ebay.

Cheers
Roy

Stryker said...

Roy, I'll bear it in mind!

Wellington Man said...

The collection couldn't possibly be considered complete without the Sheriff of Nottingham's castle, Ian!

The Good Soldier Svjek said...

Those thatched houses were used by me for everything fro WW2 through to the ACW

Stryker said...

WM - I had the Roman fort (and possibly even Fort Sahara) but never the Sheriff of Nottingham's castle. Hmm, now you've got me thinking...

Vintage Wargaming said...

There were some excellent articles by Terry Wise in Airfix Magazine and Annual on making a Medieval Town and a larger Foreign Legion fort using multiple Fort Sahara, Sheriffs Castle, and Roman Fort sets, but the results would all have too large a footprint for you I'm afraid. Inspirational though. (You can find the Fort Sahara article on Vintage Wargaming - I thought I had also put up the Medieval Towns articles as well but maybe I scanned them but forgot to post them, or didn't label them).

Mark Dudley said...

My favourite was the US Cavalry fort.

I was influenced by the picture of one in Don Featherstone book on Wargaming Campaign with Spencer Smith plastic figures.

MSFoy said...

Looks marvellous. I also had an Airfix mock-tudor pub on my railway layout circa 1959 - I painted it so badly that I sulked, and put it on the layout with the worst side against the wall. I think one of those would be OK for Wellington's HQ in Waterloo village. Do Dapol do the full series?

Stryker said...

Tony the pub is still available together with quite a few useful bits and pieces (including Stephenson's Rocket for Victorian imagi-nations!)
https://www.dapol.co.uk/shop/model-accessories/self-assembly-oo-kits

MSFoy said...

So it is - I had a look - hey, that was a bit of a nostalgia trip - I also used to have the semi-detached house and the 1930s shop - I'd forgotten - not suitable for horse & musket scenery. What Dapol should *really* do is reissue the old Merit trees!

caveadsum1471 said...

Nice, I like the church and keep meaning to pick it up when I'm in a railway model shop , I've still got the Roman fort which has seen Stirling service down the years!
Best Iain