Locomotives & War (Angola, WWII & Yogoslavia) - by Carlos Briz

(Class 11 1-4-1 locomotive - Benguela Railways)

The colonial war in Angola lasted more than 10 years (1961-1974). Unlike Portuguese Guinea and Mozambique, this particular TO was more or less stable by the time of the 25th April Revolution in Portugal (also called the Carnation Revolution, in 1974), that ended the authoritarian dictatorship known as the "Estado Novo".

Both sides in this war indulged in a few terrible atrocities against civilians.

(Class 440 locomotive - Indian National Railways)

Carlos sure knows how to put the elephants to good use in his dios.

As you can see, there is nothing like a couple of good old elephants to push a railroad car to it's proper place!

(Class D-37 locomotive - Yugoslav State Railways)

The Chinook is a heavy lift helicopter that no self-respected army can do without - except those that cannot afford them...

BT

Locomotives & War (Boer and Franco-Prussian Wars) - by Carlos Briz

(Class 2-2-0 locomotive)

And here you have them: two more elegant dios from our friend Carlos, with their painting still fresh.

The Boer guerrilla fighters sure knew how make an ambush.

The British regulars had a very hard time catching up with the Boer guerrillas in the Second Boer War (1899-1902), during the guerrilla phase. 

This conflict showed (once again...) that there is only one method to win against an insurgency: utter ruthlessness.

(Class Bournonais 0-3-0 locomotive)

On the other hand, the Franco-Prussian war (from July 1870 to May 1871) was a perfect example of how things can go terribly wrong in a short time, when the general plan is not well prepared - remember that it was France that declared war on Prussia.

The German superiority in tactics, training and materiel took an awful toll on the French armies.

BT

KURSK 1943 - AMBUSH BLITZ CAMPAIGN 2012

Breaking News ------------

BT secret services discovered the best kept secret of 2011, the next year theme for Ambush Blitz Campaign - that´s right folks - first hand - we are going to have Russians against Germans - the place of the event .... Espinho, the date .....September 8th.

BT spies have discovered the building up of german and russians forces and the beginning of their troop movements. The Russians anticipating the long-expected attack began first, preparing their defenses, massing forces, starting with the HQ´s, Anti-aircraft positions and moving infantry.

Top Secret - Here are the evidences gathered by our field agents:



HQ - Zis M1 saloon car from Pithead, and

 Russian officers from Pendraken





Bren carrier and Soviet tank riders from WGS





76mm AA gun, M31 by Pendraken



These AA guns seem fearful, pointing and looking at the sky in search of the dreaded Stukas and junkers 88.

Stay tunned for more secret news - By the way you are all invited to appear next year in Espinho.

Best regards

JMM

Paper Artwork in 1/144 scale - by Mário Laranja(4)

Here you have it again: another wonderful scratchbuilt 1/144 model in PAPER - a treat that only the Brigada Tripeira blog followers have acess to.

This is another Zis 6, fresh from the drawing board.

JP could take a hint from Mário's photographic skills...

JP - why don't you learn how to take a picture, dude?

As you can see, there are more from where this Zis 6 came from - one of a kind each one of them!

Bring'em on Mário!

BT

Paper Artwork in 1/144 scale - by Mário Laranja(3)

Here we have another easy-to-do, do-it-yourself, outstanding PAPER model, from Mário Laranja.

I just don't understand how so many people out there is spending so much cash on metal and plastic models, when you can follow Mário's example and produce your own models using PAPER.

The other advantage of this option is that this material is fully recyclable.

This way, you wouldn't have to lose sleep at night anymore, wondering if the all plastic models you have been buying in the last few years are among the main causes for the global warming problem!

This time Mário sends us a Zis 6 conversion fielding one of the best multiple rocket launchers of WWII: 

The fearsome Katyusha

This weapon's ability to deliver a huge amount of ordenance in a short period of time was second to none during this period.

This factor, coupled with it's psychological effect, made many hardenend Landsers lose their grip in battle.

Keep'em coming Mário!

BT

Paper Artwork in 1/144 scale - by Mário Laranja(2)

Here we have another undeniable proof that human skill and imagination know no boundaries!

And this time the perfect example of this is provided by our friend Mário, with this series of outstanding miniature models made from PAPER, starting with the Russian ZIS 6.

To start with, you need to go back to the drawing board, sketch and divide the parts...

and the rest is really simple: you just assemble them together and this is the result!

And as you can see, it does not even cost much to do it all - just 50 cents!

This sounds so easy that even I will give it a try.

This Zis 6 looks really fine.

If we're lucky, maybe Mário will send us more goodies like this in the next few days.

Remember to stay tunned to the Brigada Tripeira world wide modelling channel!

BT

Sino-Japanese War & Locomotives - by Carlos Briz

(Class 4-6-2 locomotive - China National Railways)

Our friend Carlos surprises us again, with yet another brand new, state-of-the-art dio!

This guy is not human...

Carlos included in this dio a few CV's 33 - CV stands for carro veloce that translates as fast car.

After 1938 this vehicle was redesignated L3/33 and a later model (L3/35) was sent to Russia with the Italian expeditionary corps, during WWII, were it was thoroughly chewed up by the Russian armoured forces.

BT

Ford Truck 1/25 Scale - by Mário Laranja

And here we have another groundbreaking moment, modelling wise!

This is a scratchbuilt model, made by our good friend Mário Laranja, from Algarve.

I will personally garantee a serious prize in any of you guys guesses in what material this outstanding model is made of!

Ok, don't bother. 

I already know that nobody believes me and no guessing would be made (by any other than JMM, that is, since this guy never misses an oportunity to guess his way around...) by our loyal followers.

The material this fine model is made of is simply PAPER!

Great job Mário!

(just don't leave the model near a fireplace...not that you would need one in Algarve, for sure)

BT

Yugoslavia & French-Indochina Wars and locomotives - by Carlos Briz

(Class D66 locomotive - Yugoslav State Railways)

No small talk this time, just a couple of hardcore dios!

Enjoy!

(Class D51 1-4-1 locomotive - ex-Japan National Railways)

BT

WWII Locomotives & War Series nº 36 - by Carlos Briz

(Class BR 52 locomotive - German State Railways)

What is this? Two more brand new, state-of-the-art, fresh painted, fine and outstanding dios?

This is a perfect example of how nowadays politicians talk the talk.

I just wished those same politicians could learn to walk the walk, once in a while...

This armoured tank hunter just needed an enemy tank to be gentle enough to place itself in its sights.

(Supply Train - United States Navy)

This Pacific navy yard makes a perfect example of the dimension of the USA industrial power.

The "Conversion" mouvement turned a civilian-oriented industry into the "Arsenal of Democracy" in just a few years, with decisive effects for the outcome of the whole war.

BT