One of the CP scenarios that I have wanted to run for a number of years now, has been the Battle of Goose Green. I have been quietly acquiring the bits and pieces needed to run it. So far I have the British forces - bar the Harrier air support -
all painted (bar the final basing), and with the Matchbox NATO Paratroopers set being reissued this year I should be able to produce the Argentinean forces by using these and figures from other sets.
But the most elusive item has been finding
Pucara ground attack aircraft. Originally I was going to try and find a 1/72 scale model, but since I have moved to 1/144 scale for modern fixed wing aircraft I have opted to use a model produced by 3D printing.
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| This is how it shipped from the Netherlands to NZ. Of course it was in a bag surrounded by bubblewrap! |
I ordered them
here from Shapeways - a site that contains quite a great deal of interesting items for gamers. I am sure that i will be purchasing more items from them in the future.
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| I ordered two as I figured it was a useful number. One suffered a minor breakage of a broken prop blade. |
I also decided to purchase some ships to add into my existing 1/1800 scale fleet. I decided that this time I would get ships and boats that would increase the amphibious capability of my US fleet.
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| Two Bayfield class APAs. Both models still have runners attached that are not part of the finished model. |
I don't think my photos give justice to the detail of these models, nor how hardy the material they are printed out of actually is.
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| 12 LCIs still attached to their runner. |
Once I get these painted up I will post pictures of my current USN fleet.
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| The view underneath showing the runner frame. |
Of course, if I am getting LCIs, I had to get some LCVPs too. These are also a very nice clean and crisp model. In fact, none of the Shapeways products had any imperfections as a result of manufacture that I noticed. I guess 3D printing eliminates flash and lines!
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| LCVPs - four bases of two craft. APAs included to give a sense of scale. |
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| The various models - all 1:1800 scale with a 20mm square GW base to give an idea of actual model size. |
I am very happy with my purchases from Shapeways and will be looking to put them up on the tabletop soon.
