Happy Holiday's and a Guten Rütsch

I'll keep the words down, but we're in Wisconsin to visit the Parents over the Holidays.  I have to say though that I'm a bit disappointed, the weather in Germany is about the same as back here.  :(   I've been waiting all year for the "Frozen Tundra" of  'Scansin, but it ain't gonna happen.  Still it's better than living down there in FIB Land.  :)

See you all in the New Year, have fun, be safe, and enjoy the time with your families.

A year in review

I'll start with a review of my goals, and then move on to my view of the hobby in General.

1. Blog Regularly.  
I started the year strong with 4 - 5 posts a month, but after summer vacation this dropped to a measly twice per month.  This is a direct reflection of the amount of hobby time I had available over the last few months.


2. Game Regularly.
Nope, I failed here. Nuf said.

3. Finish the following Models:
Nope, failed here to.  Although I started on the Hvy weps, Avenger, an Warhound, I didn't finish them. I did finish my Rough Riders though.

  - 7th Scansin:
      - Hvy Weps
      - 2nd Squad

  - BG 82:
      - Arial Support
      - Warhound

4. Use the Painting Chart to track my painting progress.
I'll give myself a plus point here as every time I DID paint or model, I made sure to update my painting chart.


5. Finish and post up my collected Fluff and Background information 
And again, I feel I did a good job here.  I ran my "TOE" series over 5 posts covering the different Regiments in the Battle Group. Next year I'm going to continue with the Battle Group itself.


Well I guess that's it.  Happy New Year to all and I wish you all the best in the coming year. 

19th Scansin Lancers

 Finished!  I finished up the bases and detailing over the weekend. Mostly it was doing the buckles and Aquila's on their kit.  The all got a Las-Pistol added but not all of them were able to get a chain-sword, due to a lack of supplies from the Munitorium. A new Request has been prepared but needs to be signed off by Marshal Argos.

 

The last two shots are simply showing a bit more detail of the one of the troopers.  Not really much to see but they show the Chainsword and Laspistol. If you look closely you can even see the "G" in the Pennant.  

Yes, I based the Pennant on the Green Bay Packers along with the Regiment Number 19, and yes that's where the Planet name "Scansin" also has it's roots. 

Unexpected Reinforcements

Forge World Macharius Vanquisher

Well I'll be a monkeys uncle!

I've been reading "WeeMen" for a while now, not always online, but it's on my list of RSS feeds.  And I've always tried to "join" each of the blogs that I read of RSS.  It just makes sense for me, even if I don't post on every Blog I read.  So when I saw that they reached 500 Posts, I headed over to say congrats and see that they're doing a give away..  I also see that I never "joined" there site, sooo  After joining and posting a comment I sat back and said "naja, when I hit a big number like that I should do the same."  I really never expected to have my name drawn.

Well my name was drawn, and she's on her way to the "Vallivar Sub-System* as I write this. Once offloaded she'll be assigned to the 73rd Armored and receive the new color scheme required in the current theater of operations.

Unboxing WIP pics to follow.

Thanks again to WeeMen!

19th Scansin Lancers - Almost there

Lt. Carey leads the troopers of 1st team G Troop on the exercise field.  Visibly noticeable is the lack of training that the 19th Scansin was able to perform with their mounts while traveling to the theater of war. Although the 19th spent more than the required time training for "Infantry Operations" a mere fraction of their allocated riding time was able to be carried out.  This due largely to the Imperial navy being unwilling to convert a portion of the troop deck to a training area for horses.

So these guys are getting closer to being done. There a few minor details that need to be painted and of the most obvious, the bases..  I'm hoping to have these knocked out by the end of the week and then it's back to the Avenger for a bit before I start on the 7th Scansin's heavy weapons.

Sgt. Ellwood  With his Chainsword at the ready repeating his Lieutenant's order to "Charge". 

19th Mynvody Re-Org (change to my army background fluff)

So I've been thinking 'bout this for a long time, and it's always bothered me a bit that the 19th Mynvody come from...  well Mynvody.  I'd like to trim up my fluff and I'm finding hard to write background on "x" different planets all located in or around the same sub-sector.  That being the case, I'm going to hold onto the planet of Mynvody, but remove all reference to them producing Guard Regiments.

That said, the 19th Mynvody are going to be re-flagged as the 19th Scansin. :) It not only makes it easier for me and my background fluff but also because I was never a big fan of the Green Uniforms.  Along with the change of homeworlds, I'm also changing the Troop designation from Echo Troop to Golf or G Troop.  First  up is going to a Lieutenant, with no name as of  yet, in game terms he's going to fill the slot of Sergeant, but we'll see how that develops.

As you can see I've changed their uniform colors, but retained the white and yellow trimming.  The rest of the troop will get the same treatment shortly, and I hope to have them done within a fortnight.

So above you can see a Trooper of  "G Troop, 19th Scansin Lancers".  I've also picked up a few pistols and chainswords from Curios Constructs and will be adding these over the course of the week. The problem I now have that the Curios Constructs is set to release the following heads.  (Link to Original Post)

After seeing these I'm sorely tempted to replace my Rough Rider Heads....  

Painting update.

Summer vacation was spent along coastline of the Adriatic Sea, and thankfully we had 2 days of bad weather so I was able to get a bit of painting done. Above you can see the 19th Mynvody getting a bit of attention.  I've added a few bits for Curious Constructs to give them a bit a more detail.  Additionally I started and finished the following, models (also ordered of Curios Constructs)

Didn't get any decent WIP photos, but there's really not much to see.  Black, Dark Brown, and  dry brushed with desert brown.

And here's an action shot troopers from the 7th Scansin getting into position.

End of Q3 Report

Well seeing that we're 9 months in, I suppose I should a little update.  (Zzzzz's post over at Devos IV) reminded me that this post was in my Drafts, along with a "Final Report" for December.  So for those of you who missed it, here's the original post 2014-hobby-resolutions.   Below is my self evaluated mid-term report.

1. Blog Regularly.
Up until August I would have said yes.  But a couple of projects at work just ran wild and I ended up doing quite a bit of work from home.  Of course the spare time that I had after that was spent with family, and summer vacation.  Here's to last quarter and hopefully a few more posts.

2. Game Regularly.
Naja, can't say that I've done much here.  I've only just picked up the rules for 7th, and prior to that I was able to get in 2 games of 6th this year.  It's more than last year, but still not what I was hoping for.

3. Finish the following Models:
Ha, more time for painting...  Up till now I've had quite a bit of time, just never together.  I was painting at all the odd times of the day and week, wherever I could squeeze in 30minutes or so. The last few weeks though I haven't touched a thing.

  - 7th Scansin:
      - Hvy Weps  - I actually wanted to base these this last weekend.
      - 2nd Squad  - Still in bits....

  - 19th Mynvody
      -  I did manage a bit over summer vacation. (more on that in an upcoming post)

  - BG 82:
      - Arial Support - I've actually done a bit of work here, as can be seen by the posts.
         Avenger Strike Fighter
      - Warhound  - Haven't touched her.

4. Use the Painting Chart to track my painting progress.
With the little bit of painting I've done, this was pretty easy to keep up on.

5. Finish and post up my collected Fluff and Background information    
If you follow my blog, you've seen my ToE Series. So I would say I'm doing pretty good here.  There's still quite a few more posts that need to go up in the series, covering everything from the Battle Group itself, the theater of operations, and of course a Merchant Trader who supports them along way.

Kickstarter Steampunk Infantry Support Weapons

I'm sure some of you have already seen this, but for those of you who may have missed it, Curious Constructs and Zinge Industries have teamed up to offer a pretty cool Kickstarter.  They'll be producing and selling the "Steampunk Infantry Support Weapons"

These not only look cool, but they're also compatible with the earlier Heavy Weapons offered by Curious Constructs.  I've already got plans for mine  ;) and I'm sure they'll make a great addition to my 7th Scansin Imperial Guard.

British Royal Mail and Customer Service

So I recently ordered some bits being offered by very cool company in England.  I figured they would look great on my Rough Riders and I just couldn't resist.  As usual the bits were shipped within days of ordering and I sat back and began to wait.  About 2 weeks later I came home and there it was, the little brown bag o bits, and I couldn't wait to get it open. 

As you can see by the above and below pictures the contents were not quite what I had expected. Some Wingnut decided to swap out the original contents with those displayed in the pics. (I have to admit though, the Lindt Chocolate was good, The bacon chips thingy... not so much)

To make a long story short, I jumped on the computer and shot an email of, and over the next day or two we came up with a plan to get the order shipped again.  The company planned on registering a complaint by the Royal Mail, and I do hope they figured something out. And the whoever made the swap deserves a good slap upside the head.

Not to drag this out, but the new shipment arrived yesterday, and this time it is complete. :) So be looking forward to some Rough Rider updates.

 @ "The Company" Seeing that I didn't ask if I could post about this, I've removed all references to the real you. 

ToE 327th Infantry (Part 5)

The 2nd largest Regiment assigned to BG-82, the 327th Infantry has been assigned to the group since 668M41.  The Regiment is realitivly young, having been grounded in 666M41, but has had quite a disturbing past. In transit to the Departmento Munitorium rendezvous point the Regiment lost 66.6% of it's strength to Warp sickness.  It was immediately sent back to Fantoma where it quickly replenished its losses and then proceeded to Vallivar Sub-System to be assigned to BG-82.

Equipped with 21 Cargo Haulers and 13 Chimera's, the 327th is the most mobile of the Infantry Regiments currently assigned to the battle group. Two of their Infantry Companies are cross-trained in Mechanized operations and are often found working in close concert with the 73rd AR.   The rest of the Regiment has seen little direct combat action, instead they have taken up a security roll. Ensuring that fronts are held, and that gained ground will not be lost.

Avenger Strike Fighter (Part 7)

Well as I mentioned in an earlier post, we had family from Russia visiting over the last 2 weeks.  It was quite an eventful time, especially as my knowledge of the russian language includes only the words for different "foods".  Of course their knowledge of English or German was about the same, so I had a lot of conversions through my daughter.

To that end I've had 0 time for gaming, but I did find a few minutes to do some painting.  The results of said time can be seen below.

Red is the standard color that all Pilots in VF-8455 wear.

Green is the uniform color worn by all Navigators assigned to VF-8455. Not shown is yellow for the flight-crew, and orange for all gunners.


In 5 days I'm off to the states for a conference, I'll be visiting "Cisco Live" San Francisco, can anyone recommend any gaming stores out that way?  I won't be bringing anything along to play, but I'd be interested having a look see, and I'm definitely picking up a few models.

Liebster Award: Its like a chain letter, but a bit nicer

Thanks to "The Responsible One" and "Admiral Drax" for the nominations!  I'll start this off with my list of Nominations, and the following note.  I wish I could have fit you all in here, but there just isn't space.  According to some of the rules for the Liebster award (and there's a lot of different rules depending on where you look) you should only nominate blogs with less than 200 Followers.  For some reason I like that I idea and decided to follow that one.  My only regret is that by doing so I excluded some blogs from the list.
So, without further ado...

Blog Nominations

1.) The Responsible One's Wargaming Blog

2.) The Thunder Guard
3.) Admiral Drax
4.) Col. Scipio's Palladian Guard
5.) Do you have a Flag?
6.) Devos IV
7.) 'Till you see the white of their eyes - 4th Praetorian Mech
8.) Rights of Battle
9.) Praetorian XXIV
10.) Lions of Harlech
11.) The Grim Darkness

1. Why did you start blogging?

Honest Injun? Because it was so much easier to blog than to continually update a normal website. But I don't think that's what you wanted to hear.  I started to share my armies on the Internet because I got tired of updating 10 different Forum's with my new stuff.  It really did start out on my home server and I ran it myself.  Later I wanted to try wordpress, so I installed that on the server and hosted my website there. At the beginning of 2008 I migrated to Blogger.

Over the years though, my blogging is almost important to me as a real gaming community. I'd love to have a regular gaming club, but with my job, I'm usually more excited to stay at home.  But I do get in games when I can.

2. If you could change one thing about the wargaming hobby, what would it be?
Less crying and more fun. We should be enjoying the game for what it is, a game!  If your idea of fun is competing at tournaments or fighting a historic re-enactment of the Nexxas Exculpation in 39M561 than have at it.

3. What is best in life?
Sitting outside with the family. I've traveled the world, spent time in war zones, rolled in the cash like it was sand, and stood in the lime light. But spending 5 minutes with daughter beats all of that, hands down.

4. Do you want to live forever?
Nope, I only want to live long enough to be able take a vacation in space. The key there is that I would like to be able to pay for it without selling my left nut.

5. Fame or fortune? 
Neither, but if I had to choose, I'd take fortune.  Buy a bigger house (with a maid), turn my real job into a 1/2 day job, open a gaming store, and feed my 40k Addiction.

6. What miniature are you most proud of having painted?

That would have to be this guy.

7. How do you deal with burn out?
 Hmmm...  It's happened twice, and both times I packed up my models and hobby kit and left them alone.  I stayed active on the Internet and reading books, but didn't touch any models.  After a bit when unpacking I only picked one model to start with and worked my way back into it. 


8. Why is a raven like a writing desk?
I'm sure I'm supposed write something thoughtful here, but to be honest I don't get the question.. What does a raven have to do with a desk?


9. Star Wars or Star Trek?
Is that really a question?  Star Wars of course. In fact I tell my daughter stories about Princess's and bad guys, and knights with swords every night.  She knows them all as Leia, Luke, and Vader.

10. If you could only buy from one miniature company from now on, which one would it be?
...  Right now I'd go with Victoria Miniatures. 

11. What is your favourite take away? 
That depends on what country I'm currently in.  (I told you I travel a lot)
Mid-East - Shawarma
Germany - Currywurst (Bratwurst with a curry ketchup)
Stateside - Chinese 

ToE 73rd Armored (Part 4)

The 73rd Armored Regiment has fought for the Emperor for the last 13 years.  The regiment is composed of 7 Armored company equipped with variety of Leman Russ battle tanks.  Very few tank regiments originating from Fantoma are equipped with the more exotic variations like the executioner, Punisher, Eradicator or Demolisher.  Super Heavy or Artillery support is also provided by the 73rd Armored, and against common practice in the Imperium Super Heavy Units from the sector are also equipped with Malcador and Valdor tanks.  The Super Heavy Company is composed of 1x Stormblade, 7x Malcadors and 3 Valdor tanks.

The regiment has no inherent infantry support and relies completely on support from one of BG-82'S infantry Regiments. In addition the 73rd has been assigned to BG-82 since its inception and is also contains the famous Tank Ace Vet. Sgt. Knebel, with 168 confirmed kills, more than any other tanker assigned to BG-82.

Avenger Strike Fighter (Part 6)

Well it's been almost a month since I put up any progress regarding my Avenger, so I thought it's about high time I did so.  For those that may not have seen it, here's a link to Part 5.  I haven't done much on the exterior other than get 80% percent of the engines painted black. There's still a lot of detailing left to do.

 You can see that unfinished engine on the right, but also the weapons mounted on their hard points.  The lascannons are fixed, but the missiles are attached using magnets so the load out can be easily changed.

Here's the crew.  I filed off about 3mm's on the back of the pilots seat, and 2mm's on the gunner.  This gave me more room in the cockpits.  Heads were swapped (I've always been a huge fan of Robotech) and green stuffed, and I found that they both sat a bit to high for my liking.

Once I got the files back out, I shaved off about 2mm from the bottom of the seats and everything fit much better.

I didn't really like the pose of the Navigator/Gunner, so repositioned his arms, and will add the extra stick to his left arm.  The idea is that the rear gun is then controlled over the joysticks and not by hand.  By shaving off the rear of the seat I also gained more room for him as well, but still didn't like how the rear gun was taking up so much space.   So...

I removed the rear of the gun..  I suppose I'll just say that the munition feed comes up through the bottom of the ball joint.

Well that's it for this week.  We've once again got company from abroad, so I don't think I'll have much "hobby" time in the coming weeks.

Battle Group Campaign Log

So I'm stealing yet another idea from Col. Scipio (The Palladian Guard), but this time it's going to a modified version of it. I've been working on a Campaign Log for my armies.  It's been a work/idea in progress for quite some time now, and I think I'm ready to show it to the "world" and get some outside input.  In other words comments and criticism is welcome, if you don't like something though, please tell me why so that I can think about fixing it (if I feel it's needed).  There's nothing I hate more than a comment knocking someones work, but not being able to justify it.

So without further ado... 

Above is the over all view of my campaign log.  I know that some players out there, quite literally list and name "Every" model in their army.  Although I think that's cool, it's just not for me.  Instead, I have listed every unit, and "key players" in my armys or fluff.  As I play a game, I decide on the unit, company, Regiment, etc... and then I fill in the CO's name.  The only other time I list a mini on here is when he did something heroic and deserves an award.

Now we come to the list of awards and ribbons that may be present in my army. All of the pictures were found on the Internet at various sites over the years. The names and descriptions have been slightly modified or completely modified to fit my purposes.  This way the awards fit into the background fluff that I will one day share with the Internet.  ;)

awards cont'd....

You may have noticed that there isn't much background regarding the earlier battles or campaigns that BG82 was involved in.  This is mostly due to the fact that although I had thought of fluff back then I didn't document it very well, and secondly after leaving the Army I have no idea what happened to the little that I had. So everything prior to the War of Avenweddon, is simply background that I sort of remember and used to fill in the gap's.  I started this project about 3 years ago, forgot about it, and just started it back up again after the last Apocalypse game. I'm hoping to keep it going as it is quite fun to do.  

The next post will finally show off some more models, as I've been slowly trudging away, just not enough to make a post out of em yet.

ToE 19th Scansin Lancers (Part 3)

By far the smallest of the Regiments assigned to Battle Group 82, the 19th Scansin Lancers is made up of slightly more than 1000 troopers.  There ability to quickly redeploy on the field of battle more than makes up for their small numbers.  The 19th is a green Regiment and their assignment to BG82 is their first posting.  Although not requested by the Battle Group, the Regiment has been given a few chances to prove their worth to the Group.  Up until this point their usefulness has been questionable, and Marshal Argos is still undecided on their future.

Contrary to many Rough Rider Regiment's throughout the Imperium the 19th Lancers are also trained as standard guardsman.  Meaning that they can operate mounted using their Lances, or as dis-mounted infantry.  This is extremely useful for outflanking an enemy, and using the dismounted troops to set up a prepositioned firing line. Up until now, this has been their redeeming factor, the 19th has performed exceptionally well when deployed in a dis-mounted role.  Some of the lower echelon officers have even begun to voice the opinion that Group command has no idea how to properly employ cavalry.   Of course such thoughts are rarely voiced in the presence of outsiders, or within 100 meters of a Commissar, but the idea is slowly spreading throughout the battle group.

ToE 7th Scansin (Part 2)

Welcome to Part 2, and a little bit of background on the 7th Scansin Regiment of Foot. The 7th Scansin is a pure Light Infantry Regiment, with absolutely no vehicles at all. Scansin is the 2nd most important Planet in the Vallivar Sub-System, but has only light manufacturing capabilities. Instead it provides almost 70% of the agricultural in the system. Imperial Guard Regiments from Scansin are most noticeable for the grey trousers and blue coats, which some say refer to the uniforms worn by workers in the planets Breweries (2nd largest export). Nonetheless, like all Regiments assigned to Battle Group 82, armor, artillery, and even transportation is provided by the Battle Group.

"Yes I like to make it hard on my Guardsman, all that walking keeps 'em fit and ready for battle.  We're the Imperial Guard! not some Regiment of Bureaucrats who need pampering."  - Marshal Argos, when asked why he's never requested a Transportation Regiment.

Platoon Command Team

This Regiment is broken up into 10 Companies of the line, and currently composed of 3 Infantry platoons of 3 squads.  Although Sector Command has deemed the Rgt. combat ready, it is currently only at 60% strength.  All heavy weapons are located at the Company HQ's and can be used to support the Infantry platoons as required. Where the 313th is typically used as shock force, striking deep behind enemy lines, the 7th Scansin is typically used in all scenarios where Infantry are required.

Operation Condor (2000 pts vs Chaos)

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
++++++PRIORITY:  Low
 ++TRANSMITTED: 313th Rgt. Signals
++++++RECEIVED: Trooper Holweg
 +++DESTINATION: Col. Pallidar
+++++++++++REF:  DJS-5548-201
  +++++++SUBJECT: Operation Condor AAR
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Col. Pallidar,

I respectfully submit my after action review of the recently completed operation "Condor".  The mission was a success and was pushed the forces of chaos out of 70% of the area's we had intended.  Only in one zone were we not able to reach our objectives, this was due in part to cowardice in the face of battle, and the Daemon Prince that decapitated Delta Company commander and his command team.

Daemon Prince on the Charge

As I mentioned after deploying for battle the Deamon Prince flew into our line, and Cornet Pulaski apparently froze in combat. Instead of leading his men into a flanking action, he had them dress to the right and stand to.  In the following minutes he and his troopers waited until the Deamon Prince charged into his line, and cut them down to a man.  What exactly he was thinking we shall never know.  Afterwards the Daemon Prince charged into the company command team, and well sir. We won't be burying much of them Sir. Sir, if I may speak freely, I do hope that the rest of the Cavalry has a stronger fighting spirit than they did. 

Cavalry's last stand

 The Daemon was stopped at that point by the men of 2nd Squad 1st Platoon.  If Reports are true, after seeing the company commander fall, Sgt Anderson rallied his men and they poured down fire on the Daemon Prince.  The Daemon was slain moments later, and Senior Lt. Netzlin took over command.  Sir I respectfully request that Sgt Anderson be awarded the "Steal Aquila", and his troopers the "Bronze Halo" and given a 7 day pass after they have been examined for traces of taint.

Once again the Artillery of the 73rd has proved it's worth.  Basilisks were able to provide not only direct and in-direct fire, but they accurately dropped shells to within meters of friendly forces engaged with Chaos Cultists. Although a few guardsman were injured by shrapnel, the arty fire was effective in saving the squads life.

The Forces of Chaos

 Currently Delta company 313th DTR is being led by Senior Lieutenant Netzlin, 1st Platoon Commander.  He's proved his worth in holding the company together after Anderson was killed, and I recommend that he remain in place.  Whether or not he should be promoted I leave to you.

As an aside.  The detachment from the 7th Scansin performed surprisingly well for such a fresh Regiment.  Holding the right flank was not easy, and the troopers their performed admirably. Please pass my regards to their commander.

Respectfully,
Major Thomas
Commanding
1st 313th Regimental Combat Team

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So last night I got my last game in prior to the release of the new "Astra Militarum" Codex.  I'll miss my IG codex, but they will always be Imperial Guard for me.  We played the following:  2000Pts,  Mission: Crusade /   Deployment: Hammer and Anvil.  The game was fun, but a bit long.  I prolly should have stuck to a 1750pt game, but I wanted to get one last "big" game in before our 'dex goes away.

As you saw above, I ended up loosing the game.  The Daemon Prince really hurt me, and so did the 3 Dreadnoughts that marched up the center of the table.  I poured as much fire as I could into them and 2 of them lived through all 5 rounds... In the end I just couldn't get my forces around the table edges fast enough to contest the objective in the middle.  That is in part my fault as I concentrated my assaulting forces in the middle, in front of 3 Dreadnoughts. 

ToE 313th DTR (Part 1)

Motto: Faug a Balac “Clear the way”

So here's the kickoff post for my a series of background posts.  The first couple will be covering the  "TO&E" of the different Regiments assigned to BG82, that should last 5-6 weeks if I can keep up on this. As you can see above the 313th is made up of roughly 3700 troopers, broken down into 7 "Regimental Combat Teams"  (what may be considered a modern day Battalion but without an supply/support company.)  Each RCT is comprised of 4 Companies, and the RCT itself is led by a Major and his Command Squad.

Directly attached to the Regiment are the Transportation Company, the only Company equipped with vehicles of any sort, and various support platoons to include the HQ staff.  Being a Drop Troop regiment the 313th is equipped with no self contained armor, but does have a few Chimeras formed around 1 Mechanized Platoon the rest are typically used by the Combat Team HQ's. Armor and artillery support is provided by the Battle Group, along with the coordination for Imperial Navy assets when the Regiment performs a Drop insertion.

* I know that this doesn't match 100% with what is in the Codex, but hell some of this stuff is older than our current codex. 

Avenger Strike Fighter (Part 5)

Just a quick, short, down and dirty post today.  Work is really busy right now as I ramp up into a new project, so I haven't had the time to do much else.  More will come soon I hope, but I just wanted to put up the recent progress.

 The first layer was done with an air brush, but I did the 2nd layer by hand.  My airbrush skills aren't quite up to snuff yet, so after trying it out on some paper, I decided it was safer to use a brush.  :)

To be honest, the more I see how the black pre-shading came out the more pleased I am with it.  As I mentioned in an earlier post I had never tried that before and was a bit weary at first.  Looking at the how the it's come out so far I like it.

Something I also learned was that I have to be much more careful applying Masking Oil In someplace it worked perfect, and in others...  well not so much. 

till next time...  maybe I'll have the thrusters, nose, and have started on the detailing by then.