Rapid Fire! Japanese Ryujo Aircraft Carrier in 20mm

 

Since finishing the Attacker/Bogue class aircraft carrier I wanted something similar for the Japanese. Maybe because I was around Vietnam models lately the interest of making a Japanese aircraft carrier finally rose. Again the problem of these things is size as they would be several times bigger than this in 1/72nd scale. I chose the Ryujo for being one of the smallest of the 18 different aircraft carriers Japan had in WW2. Smaller then the Ryujo only the Hosho, but this one was kept as a trainer and survived the war with minor damage only to be scraped in 1946.The Ryujo on the other hand was sunk in the battle of Eastern Solomons on the 24th of August 1942. 

The Ryujo was called the "illegal aircraft carrier" as it was built small and light in order to exploit a loophole in the washington Naval Treaty of 1922. This caused problems as it became top-heavy and its ship-like format at the lower deck made tons of water to enter which caused electrical and engine problems. Like this Ryujo suffered several modifications on 1936-37 and 1939-40.

Making a reasonable card bow on a model ship is always complicated but finally this one came out. The round windows were made with a paper punch on thin card paper. Some necklace thread was used for the anchor. The commander´s cabin became a bit small as I placed the radars a bit above were they should be covering what should have been a larger window area. 

The 23mm dual guns were made from Atlantic HO guns older than me. The crew is also Atlantic and a quick paint job on these Italian modern figures makes the part.  

The same for the much larger 127mm naval guns. Due to laziness I didn´t glue any detail on the cabins and just painted some details. 

The funnels were made from electrical PVC tubing with a plastic grid

The "Airfix" stern had some Airfix dinghies, Airfix WW1 tank wheel parts and an older paint mixer. It was kept simple as its a very complicated area of Ryujo to be made accurately.

In the end this model is 85cm long when it should be 2,5 meters long in 1/72nd scale. Obviously you have to compromise between a reduced model and being kicked out of the house. So these kind of smaller aircraft carriers (and then heavily reduced in RF! style) are the maximum that can be done in wargaming terms. Only the more fortunate of us with endless space can aspire to make Akagi, Shinano or USS Enterprise with around 4 meters each! 

As a proof of the shrinkage effect - if its necessary - the guns on models are 12 tubes while the original one had 24. 

This is the true Ryujo, something that dwarfs my model. 

I started with a simple layout of the model to calculate the relative position of the gun's bays and other larger details, the landing deck, height and overall design. 

The base and upper upper deck were cut from platex and the two bottom halves were cut from 3 millimeter cardboard. 

The middle deck was placed with the help of two vertical reinforcing squares of cardboard. 

Beams of wood were used for securing the upper deck. 

The life boats were made from pieces of carved blueboard. 

The 127mm guns had the side and support structures made from blueboard. There is one of these guns per box so eight boxes of the heavy artillery set of Atlantic had to be opened and coupled. 

The small radars (in red) were made from whiteboard markers. 

If done today I would have extended the bow some three more centimeters and the upper deck would get two more centimeters in  width. 

Also the lower deck should have had some two centimeters less in height. Even so it became a reasonable model for wargaming. Even if, obviously, will never wargame as intended in the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 :)

Next: The Japanese aircraft in video

Able Archer/ RFR rules - Vietnam in 20mm (part 8) - The NVA infantry

The North Vietnamese infantry is one of the essentials together with the Vietcong for the war with the USA between 1963-75. Half of the figures are the new Orion NVA while the rest are old ESCI. A total of  three battalions of NVA, a full regiment, was added. 

These two B-11 107mm recoiless rifle were added to the Vietcong. The models started with very old barrels from the Ontos Anti Tank vehicle that Atlantic produced in the 70s. Then all other parts were made from scratch. The figures are ESCI and Orion.

Here you have the models before painting. The guns became bigger than they should as they departed from the old Atlantic parts which were made as toys and always big, particularly the vehicles. 

Each battalion has one more base than the VC and the 81mm mortars were scratchbuilt from EverGreen plastics. 

For the bases of the mortars I used small wheels. The figure in the middle lost its AK47 and received a mortar round. 

Next: a WW2 Japanese Aircraft carrier (finally, after many threats). 

The Soviet VVS in WW2 for Rapid Fire! rules and in 20mm size

This group of Soviet aircraft covers the entire conflict from Barbarossa up to the Berlin offensive. The models are mostly plastics (Airfix, ICM, Italeri, Eastern Express, Gribovski, Revell and Encore) with many Die-Cast (Altaya and Luppa).

Next: the NVA infantry.

Able Archer/ RFR rules - Vietnam in 20mm (part 7) - New pieces of terrain

 

Just a few more pieces of terrain and some civilians to give life to the table.

These two models came from China by Aliexpress. They are metal and intended for decoration. But at around 2 euros each and 1/72 scale they are just too good to be left behind.  A simple paint job and a base finished the lot. The "Vietnamese Buffalo" is in fact a metal Skytrex African animal and much skinier than the intended one. 

A swamp was made with some GW plants in the middle. 

From Temu came these bamboo sticks. I cut many of them in half and took the leaves from the bottom part. The left overs were spread on the base and painted in sandy colors to look like faded fallen material. 

Next: The NVA. 

The Mediterranean and N/A air battles in WW2 (British Vs Italians) for R...

The name is just an excuse to show its three parts: the British desert aircraft, the Regia Aeronautica (the original aim of the video but just too little) and a British Aircraft Carrier. The Aircraft Carrier is scratch built and the aircraft are from the usual brands plus Super Model for many of the Italian aircraft.

The Luftwaffe for Rapid Fire! rules and in 20mm size

This collection tried to get the basics of the German Luftwaffe for all WW2 periods. There are all major brands like Airfix (some from the 1957 originals) , Revell, Matchbox and several of the newer Altaya and Luppa die-casts. The darker Me262 is a Frog model from 1972 that I forgot to mention.

Able Archer/ RFR rules - Vietnam in 20mm (part 6) - Nguyen Van Bay´s mount and a new paddy field

 

Nguyen Van Bay goes on the hunt for one more US aircraft over his beloved Vietnamese rice fields. He even carries a "Kill Box" under him (eh, eh). 

The model is Hasegawa and portrays Nguyen Van Bay´s Mig-17. This Mig-17, even if outdated by US standards, was a headache for the USAF as is was quite manouverable and very dangerous in close combat due to the three cannons it had (the initial batches of F-4 Phantom didn´t have any). It had no air to air missiles and was subsonic, but somehow the Mig-17s seems to have shot down 77 US aircraft (VPAF claim, with US sources saying a bit less) in exchange for 100 Mig-17 shot down. Not bad for an aircraft from the 50s. 

Nguyen Van Bay shot seven/eight US aircraft (five, according to US sources). He seem to have been an extraordinary figures showing incredible skills while flying his Mig-17, and shooting down his enemies from a distance of only 100 meters (A-4, F-4, F-8 and F-105, at least). He was taken out of service quite quickly, the NV governament didn´t want to loose him as he was important also to teach and inspire other pilots. 

The table needs to look as Vietnamese as possible. New terrain was added as this extra paddy field made of the usual plywood and BlueBoard walls

I´m making some risky curves and angles on these paddy fields as I want to include forest patches or villages close to them. I already received plenty of bamboo sticks, the next piece of terrain to be built. 

Next: The NVA infantry and more terrain or a Luftwaffe's video. 

Able Archer/ RFR rules - Vietnam in 20mm (part 5) - The Vietcong and some new terrain

 

After a first flood of US material and men, that would have conducted to an inevitable US victory in the Vietnam war (immediatly around 1961..), some Vietcong Orion and Esci figures arrive on the battlefield for balance. In fact a recent trip to the north and to one of the last model shops in the country, Bigcat, made me restart the Vietnam period as I found the three boxes of North Vietnamese that Orion produces, the Vietcong Main Force, the Comunist Force (in fact the Local Force) and the North Vietnamese army. The figures are beautifully sculpted and extremely varied. Coupled with the old Esci they make very interesting units. PSR review of these figures was not a good one as Orion sent them some 1st test figures filled with problems which conducted to a bad review. I was lucky as I must have found later produced figures that have all these problems solved with clean and detailed castings. 

My old Esci figures provided more or less some 50 figures while the other 50 are Orion. I made each battalion of the VC Main Force with three companies of six figures each with a command stand and an engineer stand. 

The mix of Esci and Orion gives plenty of variety. Two of the companies have LMG while another has the RPG. The old issue of some of the VC wearing the woven straw conical hat continues with the sources saying it was not used. But please, how can a VC force not use them if we could all see them clearly in Apocalipse Now? :)

The stereotyped black uniform was the most painted but a few blue grey and khaki jackets were also added as typical colors of the VC. 

The two 60mm mortars were scratchbuilt with one Orion figure and a converted Esci LMG firer each. The Regimental command stand has figures from all four boxes, three from Orion and one from Esci. 

The pieces of terrain were made from two different types of ground vegetation and plastic palm trees given to me by my friend Carlos Briz.

Next: more Vietnam or a video on more WW2 aircraft. 

The French and British aircraft for the 1940 campaign, for Rapid Fire! r...

Another project made along many years including 30 Airfix, Heller, Smer, Azur and Altaya models to go along with my four French divisons (DCR, DLM, DLC and DI) and the BEF and the British 1st Armored division.

Able Archer/ RFR rules - Vietnam in 20mm (part 4) - US infantry, new tanks, terrain and a straffing Mig

 

A combined US/ARVN force is caught crossing the paddy fields by a low flying Mig-21. Fortunately, for the allies this Mig model has no auto-cannon, only the Atoll AA missiles, if not many mothers would have received the visit of the priest and officers all carried in a olive green car... sorry, this is the consequency of watching too many times Saving Private Ryan. 

This is a four company battalion (post 1967)  of US infantry from Esci. Still missing are the HMGs, the 107mm mortar and the recoiless rifles. 

The 81mm mortars came from StreletsR and the crew are all conversions from Esci. The M-60 stand has figures with new heads as the Esci set had plenty of helmetless figures maybe inspired on the movie Apocalipse Now.

This is the 2nd M48A3 converted from a M48A2c , following the Altaya one. In fact I still have another four in the stash but all need some level of conversion as they are Israeli or German versions, missing the 90mm gun and the funny little cupola. Another problem is the fact the chassis of the M48 is one of the most time consuming of the Esci range  so this group of six will be slow to build.

 The cupola came from a PzI extra turret by Minairons and luckily I have a number of them for the other missing M48s. The figure is Atlantic. 

These Hasegawa M24 Chaffee were mostly used by the ARVN as shown here. They are painted in a two-tone of green but the mud spray ruined most of it. The figures are again Atlantic and aircraft pilots. 

The Mig-21 PF is one of the main and best  models of the North Vietnamese fighter squadrons credited with many USAF aircraft, even if both sides present conflicting numbers. This model is Altaya and was minutes from being silver sprayed as many of them were but a last minute find of North Vietnamese Mig-21PF in this kind of four tone camouflage saved me from extra trouble. Like this only the markings were repainted. 

This rice field was made from a base of plywood and small walls of BlueBoard. The water part was painted with two coats of gloss varnish. The result is OK and this type of paddy field will be made in larger numbers as most of the Vietnam scenarios needs them. 

Next: The Vietnamese VC.  

Able Archer/ RFR rules - Vietnam in 20mm (part 3) - The Altaya models

This post was quick to follow the last one as these models are ready built die-cast and of excellent quality and price. I´m a big fan of Altaya as you can have a very good model ready for the table/shelves in just a few minutes. Of course you always need some extra details, figures, dusting after thin black applied somewhere or everywhere as these ones need to be close to other models and kits from other brands. 

Altaya has these two tanks for the US/ARVN side, the M-41 Bulldog and the M-48A3. They got some mud color spray but it looks I exaggerated, specially on the M-48.

The M-35 A1 was a gun truck heavily armored for Vietnam used mostly in the convoy protection role. I just added figures and some benches for them to sit. The right side truck was made first and has Skytrex figures added while the one to the left has Esci conversions. 

Two more helicopters, a Bell Huey UH-1 Iroquois and a Bell OH-58D Kiowa. 

And these three strike aircraft, very useful in the CAS mission, a F-100D Super Sabre, a Grumman A-6E Intruder and a A-4C Skyhawk. 

All these aircraft got a "Vietnam" base with the usual green flocking but with added plastic GW vegetation. 

Next: more Vietnam.