Pegasus Models Banana Trees

As part of my 15mm Modern African Wars Project, I've been collecting and building jungle vegetation. Pegasus Models make a Banana Trees set.

Though suggested by the manufacturer to be both 28mm and 15mm scales, my opinion is weighted toward the latter. I suppose they would work for 28mm if they were depicting young, immature trees. At any rate, they look more 15/20mm to me.

15mm Frontier Soviet Infantry on 1" grid

While I like most every Pegasus pack thus far, this one is my least favourite. Cast in semi-soft plastic, the tree-trunk tips have a hard time accepting the palm-leaf like fronds. Whittling away with a hobby knife does the trick, as well as using drawing/push-pins to stretch the frond's axial hole. This does make assembly rather fiddly, and I suggest assembling and basing the tree base and trunk, priming and painting them, before attempting to attach the palm fronds.

Because the palm fronds are held together by 1mm plastic stems, I'll be mounting these on larger bases, away from the edges, to help reduce damage.

3 out of 5...Ω

28mm Adventure-scale Buildings from Sarissa

In preparation for RetCon-USA Gameday, I finished some MDF structures from Sarissa Precision. These were their Storage Pod, Small Water Tower, and two grain Silos. These will dress up my Zhodani Colony farm on Zdovesil (Foreven 1212) A65588A-9.  

Sarissa do a good job of cutting the parts to fit - I had no trouble assembling the bits. The detail is very good.

MDF does like to drink paint, though. All surfaces had to be primed and painted, at least twice in the base colour, then several layers of highlighting. Still, the result was well worth it.

Unfortunately, there was no time to play the game, due to competing events at the Gameday, but I'll be running this again, with great enthusiasm, at Cold Wars and GZG-ECC next month...Ω

Mats by Mars - Product Review

After Cold Wars, I decided to dress up my 7TV/Doctor Who game map with a mat, designed to simulate the concrete surfacing of an old WWII air base.

Sadly, my normal source - Hotz Mats - has been developing a less-than-stellar reputation at The Miniatures Page, so I cast my browser about and stumbled upon Mats by Mars.

Their website seems well done, and the prices were reasonable, so I ordered a 36" x 36" light Koncrete-pattern, and was well pleased by the result.

The new mat arrived in less than two weeks, preceded by a shipping notification, and rolled up in a sturdy tube, which included a "care and feeding" sheet explaining what NOT to do to my new mat. I thought this was very considerate.  Also, the colour was very pleasant and complimented my airbase nicely.

Market Weatherby RAF Station

Quality:: 5 out of 5
Shipping: 5 out of 5
Communication: 5 out of 5

Mats by Mars overall rating: ««««« 5 Stars. Well Done!...Ω