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Author: modeloperator

Adeptus Unboxicus

Adeptus Unboxicus

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Earlier this year an old gaming buddy gave me his first-edition Adeptus Titanicus from 1988. This box rested longer with him than I know him. We never played it together but, as far as I know, it saw a lot of action.

Box in good condition
Got me hooked

Today was the day that I opened the box for deeper inspection. However, I was already warned that there wasn’t much left in the box, namely the rulebook and the Titan models.

Strangely, when looking at the Titan models in the scenery on the back, you can see they are different from the usual old plastic Warlord models. Recognizable especially when looking at the legs‘ armor plates where you can find much more detail on the models in action. This difference is also true for the unpainted model in the circle which shows the standard model. Even in the old Citadel catalogues I couldn’t find a model that is exactly the same as in the scenery. An „unseen“ Titan?

Content as it came
From the 80s with love
Only one missing… Nice!
Mostly complete

The big prize was the seven polystyrene buildings which are still in good condition. They will go nicely with the new AT buildings. I can’t see any difference in size despite the smaller scale of the old edition.

Rulebook came as pdf
Sorted out
A little rest of Titans
Wow, that’s… creative

Only one Titan model was still in the box and I’m not really sure what to make of it. The bases can be restorated and there are a lot of heads and weapon options. No idea where all the Titans went but I have about ten of the old plastic Warlord models in my collection, in addition to some metal Reavers and Warhounds. Enough for epic battles!

Another gift
Long live resealable bags!
After sorting out…
… before

Next step is to finish some of my Titans already under painting and play some solo games to learn the rules.

Cheers from here to an old gaming buddy who let me have his old stuff! The AT box was not the only thing. So more to come.

Not what I had planned but it stinks

Not what I had planned but it stinks

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As an early Christmas present I treated myself to an old Märklin starter set I found on ebay. And guess what? It’s incomplete! Three curves are missing and no word about in the description. But at least it works.

Oh,boy! I remember that smell of burned iron from my childhood days. Gladly the set was cheap enough not to complain too much and I ordered the missing rails for a really decent price.

This antique controller though frightens me a bit. So when I tested it (Very carefully!) I was prepared for the worst and to react in an instant if necessary. But it works fine. Even the switch for going into revers. (Is there a proper word for that in English?) I will not lose a word about these cable/ plug connections here.

So, whereforefore? The idea is to teach myself a little bit more about maths, physics and electronics with the help of a book that uses model trains as demonstration material. Ok, that’s only a pretext. I just wanted a model train!

Nice to be here again

Nice to be here again

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Today I visited the scale model exhibition in Rheine, Modellbauwelt 2021, for the first time in years. This time together with my brother. This exhibition is in no way not as big as the one in Bünde (Baden-Württemberg) but the entrance is free.

As a bonus I found some nice cheap additions to my Cold War collection.

I also had the chance to talk to the club’s chairman, the GFWC Rheine. Unfortunately he had to tell me there isn’t much club activity going on anymore. Still there were some clubs from Brandenburg and Duisburg exhibiting their pieces and I hope for 2022 event in which I might take part.

First things done in 2021!

First things done in 2021!

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Today I finished painting four cargo loads for the Zvezda Ural 4320 Truck in 15mm. Not really much to do on them but it’s a good feeling to get something done this early in the year.

These pieces are a very nice addition to an already great model suitable for many different settings.

I already had four of the truck models, ordered in around 2015, when I found these loads on sandsmodels.com. In addition they offer a conversion kit for an office body which makes a very nice comand vehicle. At that time, in 2017 or 18 maybe, they also sold models of the Ural and so I snatched four loads, the office body and a fifth Ural in one order.
The four cargo trucks and the comand truck were already finished one or two years ago.

A very nice convoy ready to get ambushed by some partisans or special forces teams! 🙂

2020 Old year’s clean up

2020 Old year’s clean up

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The last few weeks I managed to finish four units of 40k minis, 34 figures as a whole. That was only possible due to the extensive use of Citadel Contrast paints. Otherwise that would have taken me years!

These 12 Hormagaunts are my first Tyranids ever and were completely done with Contrast paints – with a very good result considering the effort. I have no intention of collecting a ’nid army which is my least favourite of all 40k factions. My plan is to use them for Space Hulk-like scenarios in Kill Team. Maybe some Tyranid warriors will join their ranks later.

The next three units are all Orks that I wanted for KT.

I really like the idea of a big bunch of Snotlings as a kill team. These 10 were painted up nearly in zero time so I might add some more in the future if they turn out to be fun in the game. Most was done with Contrast paints. The Runtherd is a mixture of contrast and traditional method.

Burna Boyz is what I wanted most for KT Arena. Their area effect fire template should do good use in the narrow passages. Only the skin was done with contrast paints, the rest is traditional method.

These Nobz were painted the same way as the Burnas. Painting Ork skin the contrast way gives very nice results. Until now I only had Nobz with sluggas and choppas. Now I also have options for kombi-weapons but what I really wanted was the boss with the big choppa… Good noone can hear me talking! 😉

A good and healthy 2021!!!

Edinburgh Hobby Wonderland

Edinburgh Hobby Wonderland

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This year our summer holiday led us on a trip around Scotland and we also spent a night in the city of Edinburgh. During our first stroll through the city we passed by Wonderland Models just by coincidence, as they call themselves: the „largest model specialist in the country and one of the largest in the world“.

Wonderland Models storefront. Picture taken from their website.


Of course I had to go there and I can say this is definitely the largest exclusive model shop I have ever been to. Wonderful not only to look at pictures but taking boxes into your hands, feeling the weight and reading the texts. The sheer amount of models was mind-blowing.
A modelshop doesn’t have to be this big but I wish there would still be more model shops around. Very often even the big department stores don’t offer scale models anymore. Wisely enough Wonderland Models also has an online shop: https://www.wonderlandmodels.com/

Of course I could have ordered there online but buying in store just felt so good. These three just had to be. 🙂

Cheers, Scotland! I love it! 🙂

A Retro-Gaming Weekend

A Retro-Gaming Weekend

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While the world keeps debating about sustainable living, recycling and reusing, we are bringing this concept to the gaming world. Nothing we played with last weekend was younger than 20 years… and it still works! 😉

Amazingly this was the first time we met face-to-face for gaming this year. First our timetables were against us and later lockdown struck – though we played several scenarios of Descent via Skype during this time.

We started this gaming weekend with some 1989 SpaceHulk. I had never played this classic before and I felt there was a gap to be filled. However, my mate had lost the rules but now he brought them from his parents‘ place… along with some other stuff and we played an introductory mission twice.

First time I ended up with the choice between blowing my flamethrower Termi myself or going into close combat. I opted for close combat and lost it… expectingly! Second time, the same mission, I had learned my lesson and managed to fulfill the objective in short time.

Still a nice game but before going into SpaceHulk any deeper I’d rather go for KillTeam. However, I like the idea of moving blips which turn into groups of ‚Nids and I was surprised how much the whole concept reminded me of Descent which came some 15 years later.

Next morning we started out with BattleTech which we hadn’t played for over a year. Shameful! However, to keep it short(er), we decided for one Recon-Lance each. An encounter I lost bitterly! I hate a crazy Spider in my back!

Along with the SpaceHulk rules my mate brought some other gaming stuff from his parents‘ attic and one of his old gaming friends who wanted to clear his cellar. First thing was a group of old FASA tanks for BattleTech. I purchased these for a fair price for my growing BattleTech army.

Something else that was on offer was an old 2nd edition SpaceMarine-box, today better known as Epic.

Epic is on my list for building an army since a long time but I did not have much hope it would ever come true. At least as long as GW does not release a new edition. Now, this offer came quite as a surprise and could be the first step of a long gaming dream come true. Though there will be a lot of work ahead and as the minis are all oop, this could become expensive when finding additional troops on ebay.

However, a great bonus: While my mate rummaged through his left-overs in his parents‘ attic, he found an old box of BattleTitans with five Warlord Titans still on sprue which he gave me for free! A bottle of gin was the least I could give him for this. Cheers! 🙂

Sunday Evening Star

Sunday Evening Star

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After finishing all the Cold War Americans, this F-86 Sabre from Airfix was sticking out its tail right from the top of the pile of shame. According to plan it was supposed to be finished druring the last summer holidays. Now, last Sunday, after getting to it, it went rather quickly. However, I didn’t bother much with painting details. Maybe I will add some more later. Major work was putting on the decals, what was like open-heart surgery at some points.

This also completes the display in my glass cabinet with the Airfix Mig-15 and the 1/200th counterparts from the Mig Alley! box for Blood Red Skies.

Kill Team Scenery

Kill Team Scenery

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Hobby time during the last three days was spent completely on Kill Team scenery. Everything I own, besides of the items from the Kill Team Arena box, was still on sprue, left to build and paint in the boxes: buildings and ruins from the Sector Fronteris box, the Servo Haulers from the Ork starter box, Krogskull’s Boys, and (Surprise! Surprise!) a Wall of Martyrs from the Tau starter box, Advance Team Starpulse.

The Sector Fronteris worked out quite nicely and will also be useful in Star Wars: Legion games. I like especially the rusty main colour, originally Army Painter Fur Brown spray.

The Servo Haulers are not finished yet. They were given only a black primer with another basecoat of Team Yankee Chieftain Green. I guess I will take my time to paint these because I really started to like them while building. With some special rules they can bring a lot of fun in scenarios. But why did I use this colour?

Unfortunately I had two cans of the Chieftain Green and both are leaky as you can see from the pictures.

I already had this problem with other brands and it’s not a question of age. I have much older cans which are still tight. Whatever, I have to use them up as quickly as possible and so I used the spray on the haulers and the wall. In the end, I think, the colour is not bad at all as it brings a dirty look of decay with it

The Wall of Martyrs is not a piece that I fancy at all. Too many skeletons and awkward iconography that are so… well, 40K! But someone left that literally at my door step and ran away. I thought about selling or just dumping it but in the end I decided otherwise. Let see what I can make of it.

Oorah!!! It is done!

Oorah!!! It is done!

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And so it ended yesterday without much ado and applause. Not even from my girl-friend! 😉 I finished the last of the vehicles for my US Cold War army, including all the gunner and commander figures. For today spraying varnish was the last thing to be done.

Waiting for their turn to get varnished.

And then to arrange them a nice little box until it’s time for action.

Only the ground forces.

After seeing this, I guess, I will need some more infantry later. How did evil Lord Merrick say: „I’m not that easily defeated!“ I guess, this is also true for most painting projects.

The last pieces yesterday were the M35 trucks and M151 jeeps.

All metal models from Skytrex from their Vietnam range.

During a night shift I also finished all the gunner and commander figures for all of the vehicles – another 13 figures. Some were easily done with plain NATO olive. Others needed the woodland camouflage pattern, like the gunners in the Humvees and the ones in the MUTTs.

With this the main force of my American 15mm Cold War army is done. Helicopters and planes did I already finish last year. I still have two platoons of infantry and a few helicopters on the pile but these are for a later date. With this ends one of my biggest painting projects ever!