I Had No Idea I Wanted Finnish Horses

And now I am getting some. :) Check out these masters done up by Gavin Tyler over at Baker Company. They are one of the many stretch goals making up his Winter War Kickstarter.

If you are reading this, help spread the word! Daddy needs a new field kitchen...

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1030835091/winter-war-wargaming-miniatures

Off Track Already: Kickstarting the Winter War

I know, I know. Just last week I pledged to focus on AWI for a bit. Even ordered a bunch of Perry stuff from Architects of War that arrived with its usual amazing speed and quality.

Now here I am backing a Kickstarter project for the first time on Winter War figs! When I should be buying Fife and Drum stuff! Ach!

But, you may have seen Winter War games posted here before. Actual games! I have been pleased with my Finns and Russians from Battle Honours, but it never hurts to expand, does it? So when I saw these new sculpts from Baker Company, I jumped. Plus the whole stretch target thing is very intriguing. And a mini of Simo Häyhä to boot? I'm in!

You can see more here. If you are at all interested, please sign up. I want a T-26. :)

Now, to get around to ordering those GAZ trucks from Force of Arms...

Aces at Indy

I love it when two areas of hobby interest intersect, in this case, the Indy 500 and aviation. I have posted before about the exploits of American Eddie Rickenbacker and Frenchman George Boillot, both pilots in WW1 and drivers at Indy. But what about WW2?

There are a few examples, but one I was reading about today concerns one Ray Crawford. Though his racing career is somewhat non-distinguished (with finishes of 23rd, 29th and 23rd in three Indy starts in the late 1950s), he is apparently the only WW2 fighter ace who also raced at Indy. He recorded six victories in P-38s over North Africa in 1943.

Crawford was so skilled as a fighter pilot that he was brought back to the states as a test pilot. He and another pilot were taking turns flying the jet powered Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star prototype near the end of the war out of Burbank. On one of Crawford's turns he was ready to go up when there was a mechanical problem that made him bring the plane back so he lost his turn. After the problem was corrected the other pilot took the plane up only to suffer an engine flameout and was killed just after takeoff. The other pilot was Richard Bong who is better known as America's leading fighter ace with (at least) 40 confirmed victories in the Pacific.

Crawford died in Los Angeles in 1996.

Race car drivers and fighter pilots. Both require a special kind of crazy!

AWI It Is... For Now

While putting the finishing bits on my Saga forces (Saxons and Vikings - I really need to do the bases and take photos!), I placed an order for more minis. Yes, more.

I am making my first foray into plastics and decided to try the Perry AWI British. My erstwhile AWI opponent has done a box of these and says they are great. My main focus has been on the Americans, with some French, and I have just a handful of British. (Hey, that's been HIS side!) But it never hurts to have a small enemy force on hand, I suppose. I also ordered some French artillery, which I have none of.

Plus between Fife and Drum, and the new King's Mountain Miniatures, the AWI seems to be in a golden age at the moment. I should take advantage, and probably order some of those too!

A Project Too Far?

So I started looking at all of the in-progress projects on the bench last night, and quite frankly was horrified. Just on the partially painted miniatures front, I see:

1. Several planes for CY6 (some just need clear coat and magnets)
2. Some AWI British grenadiers that have been waiting forever to get finished
3. A handful of Vikings and Saxons to finish off the initial Saga bands
4. A WW2 British squad
5. A WW2 German squad
6. Some WWI British cavalry and French zouaves
7. An ACW Union regiment
8. Some Liberators 15mm figs
9. A couple of leagues for Pulp Alley (One Canadian mounties, the other some dastardly Russians)
10. A couple of Napoleonic naval ships
11. A few 1/4800 WW2 ships
12. Some small scale Colonial Vipers and Cylon Raiders for a CY6 variant

And that doesn't even count the 3 or 4 Indy cars in state of partial assembly, or the slot car project! Or the Hornet project, or ....

But lest all hope seem lost, I have managed to finish a few projects. Among them is this New France Settler's Cabin from 4Ground. These things are spectacular! I have since ordered a few more 4Ground products, and hope to post some more about them. Easy to assemble, no paint required, enough detail to be interesting but not fiddly. I think the wood material really captures the feel of the FIW period. (Oh, I didn't mention that project yet, did I? Ack!)

We Tried, But It's Time

Sorry, I know I have only just come back to the blog, but already I need to take a side track. Today we had to say goodbye to our faithful little beagle, Abby. Or, Abby Dog, as the girls called her.

Knowing it was the right thing to do doesn't make it easier.

We adopted her from a shelter - Last Chance Rescue (sounds ominous, no?) - in May 2006. They told us she was three, but we suspect she was older. The vet estimated she is more like 13, maybe even 14.

She always was a quiet, timid dog. Never barked, unusual for a beagle. She was jumpy and would get scared a lot, but would also cozy up to us on the couch. She felt safe with us, I guess. We tried our best to give her a happier life and bring her out of her shell. She never played, but did love going for walks - and chasing rabbits. Darndest thing, for as odd as she was, when she would get on trail, it was like she was a real dog.

She hadn't been good for a long time, and had a history of urinary infections. She made a lot of messes, and was confined to quarters a lot. But she still seemed happy to get up and go out in the morning. We knew the end was coming, but I wanted a clear sign she was ready. Saturday, we got it. I went to let her out, and she had made a holy mess, and could hardly get up. Then she could hardly walk, and wouldn't eat. She sort of stumbled around all weekend and stared aimlessly. There was nothing there.

Sunday, she did get a small spark and broke into a bag of treats left on the floor, and ate the while bag. We didn't care. Then Sunday night the girls wanted her to sleep in their room, so we let her.

Then I made the call first thing Monday morning.

If you couldn't tell, that's Abby on the right, with her "cousin" Indy. OK, technically it's Independence since she was born on July 4, but since my sister is also a race fan, Indy works. Abby is wearing her Target Ganassi Racing scarf I bought her at the Speedway. :)

She wasn't very smart, and could be a pain, but she was our dumb, defective beagle, and we will miss her.

Hot Enough Fer Ya?

First: He lives! Yes, it's been a while, but here I am.

Second: I return with a joke about this summer weather, Michigan U.P. style...

Toivu: "Boy, I sure wish it would snow."
Raino: "No way, eh. It's too hot to shovel!"

I'm here all week folks...

But yes, it is the weather that is partially responsible for my return. It's been so miserably hot and humid, it's best to just spend time inside. Kind of like winter. And what does one do then? Paint!

So after a few months hiatus, I actually sat down and worked on a few CY6 planes last night and earlier today. With any luck, I'll even take some photos soon.

So what's been going on since our last interaction? A few highlights:

1. Work. Especially in May, it got nutty.
2. Family stuff. Somehow May and June always get busy with family stuff. This year was no exception. Mother's Day, Father's Day, birthdays, graduations... only so much can get crammed into a weekend. Oh, and now my parents are selling their house.
3. Indy. Yup, went again, 33rd time. Awesome, as usual. Then actually went back with the family to Indianapolis a few weeks later for a weekend getaway.
4. Camping. Got the camper out for the first time in two years and took it on a long weekend. Amazingly, other than needing new valve stems for the tires, everything else still worked!
5. Gardening/yard. Always time consuming in spring and early summer.
6. Hobby stuff. OK, what you care about. Alas, not much. I set up the slot car track and ran a few cars around. Had a couple model rocket launches. Worked a small bit on some 1/25 Indy cars. But gaming wise, next to nothing. Well, that's not entirely true. I bought some minis in there that who knows when I will get to paint! Future posts shall deal with those.

For now, good seeing everyone again. I'll try to do better!