WWII Locomotives & War Series nº 78 - by Carlos Briz

An recycling work from CB

Vehicles and figures - Minifigs

(Class BR 05 Locomotive - German State Railways)

Here you have it, another great dio from our friend CB!

This is a post-war dio, since there are already a lot of white flags flying around those buildings and stuff...

And what great buildings, by the way!

I've heard that this locomotive is a conversion, but nobody would have guessed that.

Great job CB!

Well, as some of you know I'm abroad right now, but nobody can stop me from working out in the best blog  of the world wide web!

BT

Battlegroup - WWII Tabletop Gaming Rules

Again, the Brigada Tripeira is testing a new WWII Company level set of rules.

The best rule book I ever seen, with a simple and instinctive playing mechanism.

Full of very nice painting miniatures, photos and a simple narrative but contextualized history covering the Battle of Kursk and the fighting carried out ​​in Normandy from D-Day until the defeat of the German Army in the Falaise pocket and the consequent withdrawal into the germany.

You can become a member of Battlegroup community by visiting the discussion group at Guild Forum with lots of After Action Reports, etc:

http://www.guildwargamers.com/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=303

The Iron Fist Publishing page with a download section.

http://ironfistpublishing.com/

Battlegroup Kursk & Overlord books, with the small but practical rule book.

Top Left miniature - Sd.Kfz. 10/4

Botton Right miniature - British Airborne 6pdr AT Gun

All miniatures from Forged in Battle

JF

O Xaveco Marroquino / The Moroccan Xavec

Front cover

O livro patrocinado pela Comissão Portuguesa de História Militar – 2008, escrito em português e francês, com 271 páginas, contem uma análise sobre as condições da época, a origem do termo e do navio, além do mais importante demonstrar os materiais e ferramentas usados, bem como a descrição da construção passo a passo do "xaveco marroquino" do sec. XVIII, à escala de 1/50.

A obra é da autoria de Carlos Montalvão, modelista naval de créditos firmados, com vários trabalhos efetuados para o Museu de Marinha Portuguesa.

O que para mim torna este livro único e importante de ressalvar é pela simples razão de uma obra deste gênero ser rara em Portugal.

Por este motivo os meus agradecimentos e reconhecimento ao autor e à CPHM.

  

The book sponsored by the Portuguese Commission of Military History - 2008, written in Portuguese and French, with 271 pages, contains an analysis of the conditions of the time, the origin of the term and the ship, also emphasizing the materials and tools used, as well as the description of the construction step by step of an XVIIIth Moroccan xebec, in 1/50 scale.

The book was written by Carlos Montalvão, a naval modeller with signed credits by countless work performed for the Portuguese Navy Museum.

For me what makes this book unique and important is the simple reason of a work of this kind is rare in Portugal.

Therefore my thanks to the author and CPHM. 

JMM

Cold War Locomotives & War - Honduras 1969

(Class 280 Steam Locomotive - El Salvador Railways)

Who could have guessed that the F4U Corsair would be around in the late sixties!

Well, that may not be such a big surprise after all, since throughout times outdated war materiel has always been the poor man tool-of-war.

An enemy locomotive is always a choice target, as you can notice in this dio, where this Salvadoran locomotive suffered the wrath of the Honduran troops.

This war between El Salvador and Honduras was also called the "Football War", due to the fact that the casus belli for this war was associated with the clashes that occured between supporters of the football teams of those two nations, during the qualification play-offs  for the 1970 World Cup.

This is another proof that football is the most important sport in the world!

Who has ever heard that bombs have been dropped or artillery has been fired, just because someone had lost a basketball or a baseball match?

BT

Cold War Locomotives & War - Thailand 1958

(Class Mikado 141 locomotive - Thailand State Railways)

Oh well, that Bearcat fighter crashed, but at least it did not burn!

The Bearcat fighter airplane did not exit the assembly line in time to make a contribution during WWII, but it sure went on to become a major asset for the US Navy and Marine Corps, during the conflicts that occurred afterwards.

Here we have another set of the batch of the one million plus palm trees that CB bought a while ago for less than a euro...

This post has been in our blog-production-line for a few weeks now and JF has been nagging me to place it for a long time, but only now was I able to do it.

Who knew I would end up acquiring some of the working habits that are caracteristic of the guys that work in public service...

BT

WWII Locomotives & War Series nº 77 - by Carlos Briz

Vehicles & Figures - Bend Sinister

Airplane - F-toys

(Class Ok1 locomotive - Polish State Railways)

Charge!

That's right, the Poles threw everything they had against the Germans in 1939, but to no avail.

Poland was one of the testing grounds for the Blitzkrieg, that brought a brand new concept to european battlefields, where raw courage was simply not enough to get things done.

A PZL.37 Bomber Brigade was deployed in improvised airfields, in country areas, to avoid being blown up while parked in the well known airfields.

The end result was they were blown up while flying...

The Polish light tank 7-TP was in many ways superior to the Panzers I and II, but there simply not enough of them to go around. 

And even if there were, the Poles did not have the proper armoured doctrine to handle them against the Germans, as the French (who had more and better armoured units than the Germans) would soon find out.

BT



Locomotives & War Series - Cold War - by Carlos Briz

From the beaches of Normandy, to the Cuban Missile Crisis!

Well, not quite, since that crisis only ocurred in October 1962, and this dio over here is dated from 1961...

The "crisis" CB wants to picture here was related to the ill-planned invasion of Cuba, that resulted in a major defeat of the invading force.

The Cubans did not mind mixing US airpower with Soviet armour in those days.

My guess is that those palm trees over there are remnants of the set CB received from a few months ago...

WWII Locomotives & War Series nº 76 - by Carlos Briz

Vehicles & Figures - Pendraken

SANTA is here!

Nope, this is not the Santa you are used to, that goes by the name of Claus. 

It's the other one, that goes by the name of Briz, the guy who brings us a modelling gift almost every week.

It's SANTA BRIZ!

Over here you have something that most of you has never seen before: a place where a railroad track starts right on the beach.

This dio over here has a landing craft for almost every taste.

These flat-bottomed vessels were widely used by the allied forces during WWII, mainly in the Pacific and during the last stages of the war, as a means of delivering large amounts of troops and hardware in ususpected places.

This is an AWSOME dio CB!

BT

WWII Locomotives & War Series nº 75 - by Carlos Briz

Big Bird - F-toys

Figures - Pendraken

(Class C50 locomotive - Japan National Railways)

How does he do it?

Forget the seaplane, forget the palm trees, forget the locomotive...

Just check out that emerald green ocean!

On a rainy day like this one, a guy sure misses taking a dip in a clear green/blue ocean.

This summer I'm planning a trip to Algarve to enjoy the great sea they have over there, and maybe even make a visit to our friend ML.

The H8K2 seaplane variant was code named "Emily", and it served in almost any job conceivable for a seaplane, from bombing to transport and recon. 

This is another top-notch dio CB!

BT



WWII lomocotives & War Series nº 74 - by Carlos Briz

Big Bird - F-toys

Figures - Pendraken

(Class SW-2 locomotive - United States Transportation Corps)

What a perfect combination: horsepower vs. air power!

The B-17 "flying fortress" bomber is one of my favourite bombers of all time!

This piece of hardware also has some sort of iconic aura around it, since there were plenty of wartime tales related to the pounding these birds were able to take from the enemy and still manage to fly, and bring it's crew to their home base.

The US Transportation Corps performed many "miracles" during WWII.

One of them was the fast-paced rebuilding of the French railway network, after D-Day, allowing for a swift deployment of men and materiel.

That was heavy duty stuff!

BT

Post-WWII Locomotives - by Carlos Briz

Big Bird - F-toys

Figures - Pendraken

Vehicles - Spare box

(Class Köf II locomotive - German State Railways)

They're back!

The seaplanes, I mean. 

Check out another great dio brought to us by our friend CB, related to post-WWII Germany.

This Short S.25 Sunderland was nothing but "short". With a wingspan of about 35 metres (112 ft) it was one of the biggest flying boat used during WWII on the allied side.

This piece of hardware was also a major factor in the so-called battle of the Atlantic, where it proved to be a formidable adversary of the German U-Boats.

It's sturdy construction and ample defensive power made it also a difficult kill during an aerial dogfight, leading the Germans to nickname it the "flying porcupine".

Another day, another great dio, CB!

BT

WWII Locomotives & War Series nº 73 - by Carlos Briz

(Class ALN556 locomotive - Italian State Railways)

Here is a great a desert dio from CB, to bring up the heat!

And this time the "heat" is brought by a lot of fine Italian army WWII models.

As you can see (lower left bottom), even in the desert the metal scrap yard was a faithful companion of the side of the railway...

Check out that nice pair of self-propelled guns.

We want more CB!

BT

Orange Scenics Artwork (20mm cardboard buildings) - by Mário Laranja

Ok, this time it is all my fault!

That's right, JF has been nagging me for weeks now, trying to convince me to scribble out a few words in this post, but to no avail, since I've been really busy at work and I just could not bring myself around to it.

Sorry dude!

But since today it's PAYDAY, I am a little more cheerful!

Not that we (the portuguese) have many reasons to be cheerful about, since there seems to be a conspiracy around to deprive us of all our hard earned cash, with all those new taxes that seem to spring out of the blue nearly every day.

As we can see, ML is a guy that is always happy with the world, since he always brings out something great for us to check out!

That's right guys, this is all made of that versatile material that is in every guy's reach: paper.

I have a lot of surplus paper around my office ML, so be sure to drop by in case you need some raw material.

Where is the infantry, this time?

Oh, I see, they must be INSIDE the buildings...

This is another great job ML!

Do not forget to check out his outstanding website!

There you can see all the things you would like to be able to do, but that you can only reach with a wallet in you hand...or a credit card.

BT

WWII Locomotives & War Series nº 72 - by Carlos Briz

(Class GR.880 locomotive - Italian State Railways)

Holy Canoly!

What is the matter with you CB? 

Do you want to give us guys a heart attack or something?

Will you just CHECK-THIS-OUT!

I will never guess how you managed to balance that whole structure and I am sure everybody wants to know from WHERE that model came from...and do not tell me it's a paper model made by our friend ML...

This Italian landscape is a perfect setting for a coal mine.

From now on, I love coal mines...

When all you guys out there thought CB could not surprise you anymore, he brings another modelling masterpiece.

Well done CB!

BT