Felix, Author at Felix's Gaming Pages

Typhon Sponson Weapons

My latest model for my Imperial Fists Horus Heresy force is the Typhon Heavy Siege Tank.

The Typhon Heavy Siege Tank was released as a plastic kit for The Horus Heresy. I’ve always liked the Forge World resin model and so was pleased to get one of the new plastic kits for my Imperial Fists force.

Having started constructing the model, I finished putting it together. The next stage was a white undercoat.

I realised I had forgotten to construct the sponson weapons, so I quickly put them together. There is quite a choice, I decided I would go with the lascannons.

See the workbench feature on the Typhon Heavy Siege Tank.

Junkers Ju88R-1

The Ju88 was the most versatile German combat aircraft in World War Two. It began life as a bomber, became a night fighter and intruder; undertook anti-shipping operations and flew long-range reconnaissance missions. It is one of the truly great multi-role combat aircraft.

This Ju88R-1 was a C-series night fighter with BMW 801 engines and was on display at RAF Cosford.

Deliveries of the first production aircraft took place in September 1939 and on the 26th it undertook its first operational mission against British shipping in the Firth of Forth. It was not until the Battle of Britain, however, that the Ju88A played a major role in German operations. At the time of the Battle of Britain the Ju88 was at the beginning of its service career and its remarkable adaptability, particularly as a night fighter, had still to be exploited by the Luftwaffe.

This aircraft is thought to have been built in mid–1942 as a model A bomber, before being converted to a model R–1 fighter in early 1943. It was flown to Scotland by its defecting crew in May 1943; two of the three crew on board (who may have been British agents) had taken the decision to defect after being ordered to shoot down a civilian BOAC Mosquito courier flight from Sweden to the UK.

The surrender of this aircraft was of great intelligence value at the time, as it was fitted with the latest UHF-band FuG 202 Liechtenstein BC A.I radar. The Ju 88R-1 was operated by the RAF’s No. 1426 (Enemy Aircraft) Flight and evaluated in depth by various British groups.

More photographs of the Junkers Ju88R-1.

Undercoating the Typhon

My latest model for my Imperial Fists Horus Heresy force is the Typhon Heavy Siege Tank.

Having started constructing the model, I finished putting it together.

The next stage was a white undercoat.

The main weapon was kept separate. So the hull actually is in this stage. It has a big hole in it.

The main dreadhammer siege cannon was kept separated as was the weapon armour shield, both were also undercoated.

The tracks I kept on the sprue for painting.

The next step will be a brown basecoat for the underneath of the model.

See the workbench feature on the Typhon Heavy Siege Tank.

Mark VIII “The International” Tank

This Mark VIII “The International” Tank was on display at Bovington Tank Museum. It is the last remaining survivor of the six Mark VIII tanks which were completed for Britain.

When the United States declared war on Germany in 1917 the US Army started to look at tanks. They favoured the American Renault as their light tank but used British Mark V and Mark V* tanks for their heavy battalion. However they had their own ideas on tank design and, in co-operation with the British Tank Corps came up with a new heavy tank design for 1919.

The Mark VIII tank also known as the Liberty or The International was an Anglo-American tank design of the First World War intended to overcome the limitations of the earlier British designs and be a collaborative effort to equip France, the UK and the US with a single heavy tank design.

Production at a site in France was expected to take advantage of US industrial capacity to produce the automotive elements, with the UK producing the armoured hulls and armament. The planned production levels would have equipped the Allied armies with a very large tank force that would have broken through the German defensive positions in the planned offensive for 1919. In practice manufacture was slow and only a few vehicles were produced before the end of the war in November 1918.

More photographs of the Mark VIII “International” Tank.

Many people have thought that the tank used in the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade film was a Mark VIII. However that tank was specially created for the film, inspired though somewhat by the Mark VIII.

Mechanical effects supervisor George Gibbs said this movie was the most difficult one of his career. He visited a museum to negotiate renting a small French World War I tank, but decided he wanted to make one. The tank was based on the tank Mark VIII, which was thirty-six feet (eleven meters) long, and weighed twenty-five tons. Gibbs built the tank over the framework of a twenty-five ton excavator, and added 6.4 ton tracks, that were driven by two automatic hydraulic pumps, each connected to a Range Rover V8 engine. Gibbs built the tank from steel, rather than aluminum or fiberglass, because it would allow the realistically suspensionless vehicle to endure the rocky surfaces. Unlike its historical counterpart, which had only the two side guns, the tank had a turret gun added as well. It took four months to build, and was transported to Almería on a Short Belfast plane, and then a low loader truck.

There is a (similar) 28mm resin kit of this tank, called the Mark IX Beast. I did buy one from Empress Miniatures and even managed to build it and paint it.

From Crimea with Love: Misadventures in the Making of Sharpe’s Rifles

After rediscovering Sharpe, I also saw that Jason Salkey, who played Private Harris has written a book about his experiences in making the series: From Crimea with Love: Misadventures in the Making of Sharpe’s Rifles.

In the summer of 1992, Jason Salkey was cast in a role that would change his life forever. Sharpe’s Rifles, a Napoleonic war drama, was to be shot in the Crimean Peninsula. Little did the producers know that they would be sending Jason and the crew to film in a rapidly disintegrating Soviet Union. There they faced near-starvation and danger round every corner as they set about creating one of Britain’s most successful and critically acclaimed television programmes.

From Crimea with Love documents the mishaps, blunders, incompetence and downright corruption that made Sharpe’s Rifles go down in British television folklore for its unique tales of hardship. Follow the cast through intense depravation and constant catastrophe until they become every bit the jaded, battle-hardened soldiers we saw on screen. Tapping into his diaries, photo journals and video log, Jason brings you an eye-opening, jaw-dropping insider’s account of one of the best-loved shows ever made.

I once met Jason at Salute, when it was at Kensington Town Hall.

Fieseler Fi 156 Storch

This Fieseler Fi 156 Storch was at RAF Cosford.

The Fieseler Fi 156 Storch was a small German liaison aircraft built by Fieseler before and during World War II. It remains famous for its excellent STOL performance and low stall speed of 31 mph.

More photographs of the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch at RAF Cosford.

Returning to the Spanish Penisular War

I saw on the Twitter a link to a Radio 4 show, The Reunion, which brings together people from a common event or background. The most recent episode was about the Sharpe TV series.

It’s a great insight into the background of the making of the series, some of the challenges that the cast and crew faced.

It was a Napoleonic war drama to be shot in the Crimean Peninsula. But little did the producers know that they would be sending the cast and crew to film in a rapidly disintegrating Soviet Union.

Once in Crimea, the whole production faced near-starvation and danger around every corner as they set about creating one of Britain’s most successful and critically acclaimed 90s television programmes, Sharpe.

It was to go down in television folklore for its unique tales of mishaps and hardship. Renowned actor Paul McGann was originally cast to play the lead character, Sharpe. But only six weeks into filming he picked up a serious injury and had to pull out.

It left the production in chaos and saw one of the highest-ever insurance pay-outs for a television series.

Everyone packed up back to the UK with the future of the series left in suspense. That was until a relatively unknown actor called Sean Bean took on the part and the show was back on the road. The cast and crew headed back to Simferopol in Crimea (later to be nicknamed “simplyawful”) and filming resumed.

Sharpe became a six series hit across nearly 15 years, with viewing figures topping 10 million.

Our panel includes Sharpe’s author Bernard Cornwell, then-assistant producer Stuart Sutherland, one of the “chosen men” Jason Salkey who played one of Sean Bean’s right hand men, Michael Cochrane who played Colonel Sir Henry Simmerson across the entire series, and Diana Perez who played Ramona.

What I didn’t know, and was quite a surprise was that Paul McGann was originally cast as Sharpe. I thought I knew a lot about the series (I even have a book about the making of the series). However, I didn’t know that.

I do wonder how different the series would have been with Paul McGann in the lead role.

I really enjoyed the series when it was broadcast and though around thirty years old, is still great television. I also love the books as well.

It certainly has rekindled my interest in the subject matter, I re-watched an episode of Sharpe, thinking about re-reading the books, and looking back into my Flintloque collection and digging out my 25mm Napoleonic Rifles figures.

Finishing the construction

I’ve always liked the Forge World model and so was pleased to get one of the new plastic kits for my Imperial Fists force.

Having started constructing the model, I finished it off. Attaching the tracks to the hull was a lot easier than I thought it would be.

I have kept the tracks off, despite the instructions indicating they should be stuck on. These will be painted separately.

I still have to construct the sponson weapons, and I am still deciding which ones to attach to this beast.

The Typhon has four exhausts compared to the two on the Proteus Land Raider.

I decided to use the hull plates instead of the hull doors on the model.

I kept the dreadhammer siege cannon separate, and its accompanying armour shield. The instructions indicated that the weapon mounts should be stuck on once the weapon is in place. I decided that I would cheat slightly and affix the weapon mounts to the weapon.

These would then be painted Leadbelcher like the cannon.

This is how it is looking, a dry fit with the dreadhammer siege cannon in place.

The next stage will be a white undercoat.

See the workbench feature on the Typhon Heavy Siege Tank.

Mark V Tank

The British Mark V tank was an upgraded version of the Mark IV tank. It was first deployed in 1918, used in action during the closing months of World War I, and in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War on the White Russian side, and by the Red Army, after they were captured.

This Mark V Tank was in display at the Tank Museum in Bovington.

Although similar in appearance to earlier models the Mark V was a much better tank, more powerful and easier to drive. It was equipped with the new Ricardo six-cylinder engine and Wilson’s epicyclic steering system which meant that one man could handle all the controls, compared with four in the Mark IV.

Among the new features was a rear cab for the commander, complete with signalling apparatus and a rear machine-gun position. Our exhibit also carries an unditching beam, which was first introduced in the Mark IV. This would be used if the tank got stuck in mud – chained to the tracks it was drawn under the tank and gave it something solid to grip.

The Mark V is shown in the Markings of 8th (H) Battalion (No. H41), Tank Corps at the time of the Battle of Amiens (8 August 1918). Commanded by a young officer named Whittenbury this actual tank took part in the battle and its young commander was awarded the Military Cross.

More photographs of the Mark V at Bovington.

The last confirmed use of the Mk V in battle was by units of the Red Army during the defence of Tallinn against German forces in August 1941

In 1945, Allied troops came across two badly damaged Mk V tanks in Berlin. Photographic evidence indicates that these were survivors of the Russian Civil War and had previously been displayed as a monument in Smolensk, Russia, before being brought to Berlin after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.

Accounts of their active involvement in the Battle of Berlin have not been verified.

Source for Berlin Photographs.

Constructing the Typhon

The Typhon is named for the ‘Great Beast’ of Terran myth, and lives up to its namesake in sheer brutal strength. Sharing a basic chassis with the Spartan Assault Tank, this heavy tank serves as a mobile gun-platform with enough power to operate a single massive piece of siege artillery – the dreadhammer cannon. The Typhon was created to meet the demands of the Primarch Perturabo of the Iron Warriors, who sought a war engine that could rapidly deploy such fortress-breaking firepower to the battle line alongside his Legionaries. Though unsubtle in design, its overwhelming effectiveness is beyond question.

I’ve always liked the Forge World model and so was pleased to one of the new plastic kits for my Imperial Fists force.

The Typhon is an extended Land Raider, and as the model kit uses the core parts from the Proteus Land Raider, there are components within the kit which extends the sides, adds an extra wheel and track parts. There are also additional parts to widen the hull, as the Typhon is wider than the Proteus.

I can see why they did this, but it does make the construction of the kit more complicated then I think it needs to be. I think it would have been better to create completely new sprues with the bigger parts needed, rather than additional parts to widen the existing sprues. I think it potentially makes it a weaker model as a result.

I remember when we first saw the Spartan (and the Typhon is basically a Spartan with a big gun) and I said when they announced the plastic Spartan.

With the announcement of the plastic Spartan Land Raider Assault Tank it got me thinking, will we also a plastic Land Raider Proteus? It wouldn’t be too much of a step to have a plastic kit of this Land Raider? Essentially the Spartan is a stretched Land Raider.

What I didn’t realise (as I didn’t buy the Spartan at the time) was that literally what Games Workshop had done was create a kit which was a stretched extension kit for a kit they hadn’t released yet.

The Proteus Land Raider is the core of both the Spartan, the Typhon and (obviously) the Proteus. The Typhon comes with some additional sprues, which provides new side parts and the big gun.

This was not quite the simple construction kit that it could have been.

The first stage is to construct the track units, which have a fair few parts to them.

I did have one problem in that the polystyrene cement I was using wasn’t very effective. It was a replacement for a nearly empty bottle of my usual Humbrol polystyrene cement. I had constructed the track units, and then they fell apart on me. So I then re-glued the units with the Humbrol polystyrene cement which did work.

The internal hull components went together well, but I did think that they were difficult to stick (and keep) together.