Visit to the Bruxels Army Museum

In Bruxels you can find a very big, packed and interesting military museum. 

The Army Museum is one of those old style, not much technological museums were you can find an amazing collection of uniforms, vehicles, planes and thousands of other military related items.

You have dedicated rooms to each of the Belgium main periods: Napoleonic wars, wars of independence, WWI, WWII but also a big area only for AFVs, another for aviation, etc.

The Renault FT-17. 

The family is always good for these visits as they can be used to show the scale of the military material. So always take one or two members to such a place. 

The British Whippet. 

The MarkIV. 

The Soviet Mig-27 of the Cold War period. 

The kid's happy face is due to our skipping of the Anderlecht stadium.

Many thousands more pictures can also be taken. But wether you look at the pieces or you take pictures of them. I preferred the first one. 

Ah, and it's for free. When in Bruxels don't let pass this oportunity. 

6 pdr and 7.7cm FG found in Figueira da Foz

The beautiful beach city of Figueira da Foz kept hidden from my eyes two old artillery pieces, one from WWI and another from WWII.

They are located near the Monument to António Gonçalves Curado, the first  Portuguese soldier killed in WWI (no, don't feel ashamed by not knowing it, I also didn't till I read it on the monument).

This memorial is close to the Guarda Nacional Republicana  (Republican Guard) barracks  in Figueira da Foz.

It's a place visitors and tourists rarely go, and that's why after coming to this city hundreds of times I never bumped into it.

 

This is a Krupp 7.7-cm FK 16, similar to its  older brother FK 96 but with a longer barrel. 

The Germans made this caliber bigger than the French 75mm or Russian 76 so they could use their ammunition if captured but not the other way around.

The other one is a British 6 pdr. This finding would have been very useful when I scratchbuilt the airborne version for my WWII 1st airborne division. 

The sights are still in very good condition and all detail can still be seen.

Pineapple Miniatures - 1/32nd scale Portuguese artillery - Buçaco 1810

Latest additions for the Buçaco museum:

The ACTA 9 pdr gun manned by four ACTA crew. 

Originally these figures are Waterloo British, but with a few carved out details and some putty they become Portuguese artillery for the 1810 campaign. 

ACW- Fire and Fury- 1/72nd command stands and crisis artillery (part 10)

Now for some last command stands.

Lee and staff, inspired on a painting by Mort Kunstler.

Lee is a Strelets R figure on an Italeri horse.

General Ewell, one of the most blamed for the Gettysburg results. With justice?
Ewell (center figure)  is made out of a torso from Revell, legs from an Italeri horseman and a horse also from Italeri.

And finally Union General Sedgwick, VI corps commander (Strelets R).

Here are the last "crisis artillery" stands I managed to do. I remembered to look at some soldier boxes my friend  Jorge Faria (from Brigada Tripeira) gave me and I found some napoleonic artillery from Esci and Airfix among hundreds of other figures for other ages.

That allowed me to do 5 more groups (gun+limber), two to finish VI corps artillery, and three to do all XII corps artillery.

ACW - Fire and Fury- 1/72nd scale anti-crisis artillery painted

After an inspirational wargaming saturday in Lisbon with the Brigada Tripeira, and also a pleasant trip to Palmela to the house of the great modeller Carlos Briz (who doesn´t know him from the Brigada Tripeira site) which included the offer of one of his fabulous 1/144th scale dioramas to each of the visitors, I ended the artillery pictured in the last post.

Here goes some decent pictures, after noticing that the scenery button was better.

Lincoln´s dream, that he saw for a shortwhile.

ACW -Fire and Fury- 1/72nd scale anti-crisis artillery

After building some 40 sets of artillery for the ACW, limbers included, I started looking at emptying surplus stocks of  related items and also saving some money.

This is how you can do it:

1. Pick  some wheels, 12/14 spokes, 1/72nd scale man height, from whatever artillery XIX century set.

2. Find some horses in relaxed poses. Napoleonic artillery ones will do, but carve off  the shabraques that most have.

3. Build the seats, the central and wheels axis and the bucket out of Evergreen. Use a good reference image, but keep it simple.

 4. Pick some old french Esci guns, those we all bought in plenty in the eighties but we used little. Cut the Gribeauval double part of the trail, and glue a Evergreen one part trail, carved and heat-bended to shape. Use the Loctite Super Plastics to bond different plastics. Use surplus napoleonic tubes for the Napoleons 12 Pdr, or build the Whitworth,etc out of Evergreen.

5. Add some of the detail from Evergreen pieces and GreenStuff (the ropes in the middle of the gun trail and  saddles).

6. Most of the artilleryman are converted Revell pioneers or Italeri cavalryman.

7. Some Airfix resin cast figures, and some metal Irregular Miniatures also...

8. Et Voilá.

9.No, it´s no oil leak. I'm using Black Krylon Super Plastics for priming.