David Bickley's Wargames Blog

The occasional ramblings of an average gamer, journeyman painter, indifferent modeller, games designer, sometime writer for Wargames Illustrated and host of games in GHQ.



Sunday 5 July 2015

"The Bradshaw, Watson, there's not a moment to loose!"

Sue and I were in the local Garden Centre having lunch today and after our meal we went for a wander to see what was on offer, in my case for any of my projects in GHQ that need additions ~ that's all of them really of course! I'd been reading on LAF about trains in wargames and had remembered some toy trains I'd seen in other Garden Centres and Charity shops and wondered if our local facility had any...
















In fact there are two types: the 4-4-0 with coal tender and the 0-4-0 Tank Engine. They look vaguely British/Continental to me I have to say but at £5.99 a box I thought them worth a punt.






As you can see they make up a decent sized train for our games and, as I'm not too fussy either, over a wide range of periods I think. The train and carriages are slightly wider than the 00 gauge flexitrack I have, but I don't mind that; they don't have to run anywhere on their own after all. I'll leave that to the layout in the loft, at least for now. The figures you can see are Pulp Figures 28mm. A couple of closer shots ~












28mm figures for scale - they fit the cab even!


















With 'Fat Controller'!



















Now, many of you in my situation might be tempted into all sorts of repainting and kit bashing, but not me. Why, you ask? Well, I no longer take games to shows, as I said recently, and this will do for me just fine as it is, although the track will be based on MDF when Phil has a mo! I see it featuring in games in the 1940's Operation Zeelowe/Blandings setting,the VBCW in Wolverhampton and S Staffs, in Holmes games, in the Old West, since I'm not that fussy, and even in Rhanzlistan and points East! Purists will have a seizure, but,' its my game' as they say. Total cost? £17.99! Available in three colour schemes: green, red and blue to suit all tastes. Additional benefit: there's a spare engine for my grandsons to play with on the floor ~ they come with light and sound effects you see.  "Quickly now, Watson! If we hurry we can make the 4.55 slow service to Blandings Parva!"

10 comments:

  1. Well it will certainly do. Several scenario ideas come to mind instantly and at little cost what more could one wish for. Choo choo!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We will soon see after your jury service!

      Delete
  2. These look great! Very inspirational.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks like it will work perfectly!

    Christopher

    ReplyDelete
  4. A nice find! I agree with your point about repainting and so on. If it ain't broke...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are right there AJ. Too many folk are precious about ephemera in their games. I belong to the "It'll do!" School myself.

      Delete
  5. Wow great find for £6. If you wanted to a limited repaint later, you could just do some livery and weathering.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I expect many folk would do a repainted, but for occasional use it will do for me.

      Delete