Product Review: 'Wings of War' Magnetic Gimbal Mounts

We've been playing a 'Wings of War' campaign lately and so I picked these magnetic gimbal mounts up from the Wings of War Aerodrome as I thought they were a brilliant little add-on for the game.

They're simply a ball bearing matched with a magnetic collar that fits between the existing stand and the aircraft model.

The assembly process is straightforward: first snip off the existing post at the bottom of the model and drill in a small hollow that will allow for the bearing to sit. Then put a drop of superglue in the hollow and place the bearing. Leave to cure.

Next assemble the stand and apply some superglue to the top of one of the posts. Then afix a magnetic collar to the post and allow to set-up.

So after about 5 minutes work you have a model that can depict it's tuns, climbs and dives (or, for me, impending crashes).

At $6.99 for a set of 10 these gimbal mounts provide a nice bit of added animation to the game - recommended!

From Tim: 28mm Front Rank British Command: William Carr Beresford

 

Back in February when I issued the Spring Thaw Napoleonic Painting Challenge my friend Tim said he would kick in as he was on the path to collecting a British force for 'Black Powder'. Well, Mr. Tim's a busy lad as you can see from his blog but he knew he had commited himself and so sends in this entry - probably the first of what will be a mad dash to the finish line.

Here we have a lovely British command stand made up of 28mm figures from Front Rank. I think the bald fellow is Carr Beresford who was basically Wellington's second-in-command for much of the Peninsular War. Beresford was instrumental in organizing and training the Portuguese army along British lines. In fact, by the end of the conflict in Spain almost a half of the 'British' army under Wellington was in fact Portuguese. The usually dour Wellington paid a rare compliment to the Portuguese in calling them 'The fighting cocks of the army' - they were very hard fighters and this combined with Beresford's administrative abilities made them a potent force.

Though they were painted just before the Challenge date I'm taking the liberty to poach some shots from Tim's blog to feature his excellent 42nd Highlanders.

Some poor wee jocks taking a 'dirt nap'.

... and another command stand.

I really like Tim's painting style. I actually reminds me of Paul's - very clean and distinct, with great choice of colour tones. Beautiful stuff, Tim! You're officially on the board!

From JohnM: 28mm Front Rank Riflemen and Victrix Commander

'He says I have to advance in line in front of those Cuirassiers. Get stuffed, I say. 
Oh well, here we go...'

Well, it didn't take John long to pick up my gauntlet and send in these boys to up his tally, taking the lead once again.  

Here we have 4 British Riflemen from Front Rank and a mounted Colonel from Victrix. John says the Rifle officer represents Mr. Bean, er, I mean Richard Sharpe while the mounted officer is the ill-fated Col. Umpteda of the KGL.

John is currently playing a solo-scenario depicting the French assault on La Haie Sainte - check out his blog to see how its unfolding.

From Curt: 28mm Perry 1er Regiment de Dragons

Some might remember that some of these boys were featured in a previous post last autumn back when they were a unit of 16 figures. Well, I've added another eight to bring them up to a stronger 24-man regiment in order to face-up to Greg's Austrian Dragoons.

The 1st Dragoons had a long and distinguished career that extended through the Revolutionary period, the Republic and the Empire - right up to Waterloo (where, oddly, they were converted to lancers). One of their more notable feats was during the early part of the 1805 campaign where at Wertingen they cut up the Austrian Kuer Albert Regiment Nr. 3, took 6 guns and forced a Hungarian grenadier battalion to surrender. A good day to be a French Dragoon apparently...

These are Perry plastics which are some of the best figures I've ever built and painted. Lack of weight aside I really can't recommend them enough.

Dragoon green is bit of a fiddly colour as its quite distinct from other greens, and either you have the right shade or it looks completely wrong. After trying to mix my own (epic fail) I finally threw in the towel and bought the Foundry set of Dragoon Green (70A-C).  Foundry's 'paint system' has each colour spread over three shades: a dark-tone, a mid-tone and a highlight. For the most part their paints work quite well, give good coverage and have a rich tone which I quite like. I find that they have a bit of a satin finish but this can be managed with a good matt spray.

There you have it, a regiment done and another 16 points tucked away for the Challenge. With these lads I've managed to slip by JohnM to take the lead - but for how long can I hold before someone catches up?

In Progress: 28mm Foundry 1er Regiment de Carabiniers (early uniform)

I've always admired the early uniform of the French Carabiniers with their plumed bearskins, buff trousers and long-tailed coats. Except for a few details, their uniform was very similar to the Grenadiers a Cheval of the Imperial Guard. Personally, I think these were some of the most elegant uniforms of the period.

Close to ten years ago I painted a unit of ten figures from Foundry but I thought I'd at least double it up so it would better conform to the big-battalion rules we're now using. I'm finding it interesting revisiting these figures, seeing how aspects of my painting style has changed over the years. I certainly had a steadier hand back then! Nonetheless the 'Old Warhorse' has learned a few tricks and I've noticed a few areas where I would now do it differently. So I'm touching up the original castings and slowly grinding out another group.

I'm also redoing the bases and groundwork to better blend in with the rest of the collection.

I did a slight conversion of a Foundry cavalry casualty, cut off a carabinier bearskin and drilled it out. I'll make a vignette in the second rank of a downed trooper with his horse (in the front rank) faithfully continuing on with the charge. 

   

I'll post an update when I get the unit completed (update: visit here to see the new full unit).