Knights and Iron Ace

There is a forgotten comic book character called Iron Ace.  A WWII British RAF pilot who takes on the armor of Charlemagne to fight invaders.  One of many enemies he fights is a giant Nazi robot called Black Mail. 

Here is a partial page for the battle between Iron Ace and Black Mail.

Noted Toy Soldier Enthusiast Billy Hill sent me some magnificent Armored Knights when I asked him about what would work for Black Mail.  Thank you Billy Hill for your kind gift.  They are very action packed figures, molded in plastic.

I painted one of each pose in turquoise and the other in magenta.  Then a couple go overs with the black wash to bring out more detail and look like the knight in the comic.

Not sure what I will do with all these figures, but I suspect maybe Black Mail will be one of many enemy robot soldiers, or perhaps the Allies developed their own in a different color.  Or maybe use these as stand alone figures against dragons or something.

One guy was missing his sword so I gave him a hammer.

Most of my super hero figures get a black base that is a triangle, quadrilateral, or hexagon.

I think these are very nice figures.

Thanks again to Billy Hill for making this possible!

The 1/72nd scale figure here is a Caesar Miniatures European Knight figure, with a head swap to a closed helmet.  He has been painted metallic blue.  Since this photo Iron Ace got a gold wash and looks even better.  All of the large knight figures got the dip into an acrylic floor wax to make them shine and to make their paint jobs more durable. It seemed to work very well, it's the first time I have used it.  It's a product called Quick Shine.

 

Circus Cannon

Thank you Billy Hill for the cannons they are very useful.

In the James Bond movies Diamonds Are Forever, and Octopussy the circus plays an important role in each of them.  In DAF he is at Circus Circus casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA which is a circus themed hotel / casino that features live circus acts.  In Octopussy he is in Germany where the traveling Octopussy Circus is being used as a front for an atomic bomb attack on a US Air Force base.  The bomb is hidden in the cannon used to fire the human cannon ball clown.

So my friend Billy Hill had a surplus of artillery and he was kind enough to gift me this wonderful cannon.

Originally it was bare plastic in rather more martial gray and brown colors.

That's not good enough for a clown cannon, so I painted the barrel brass, and put pink polka dots over white for the carriage.

The figures are 1/72nd scale painted as staff of the Circus Circus casino and hotel.
 

Monumental Army Men

My friend Billy Hill sent me these figures.

They are about 30mm size.

They are a rather vague, generic set of WWII era Germans and Americans.

I don't recognize the figures or even something they may have been pirated from.

My plan is to mount them each on a plinth and use them as monuments.

Maybe in a city park.

 Or maybe in a cemetary.

 Or perhaps at some great public building.
 

Even inside a museum.

Or in the lobby of a government office building.

Shown with a 1/72nd scale plastic figure for size.  I plan on painting them to look like bronze, or granite.

Billy Hill, RN & MPC Mountain

Master Figure Collector Billy Hill, RN sent me these photos of the massive MPC Mountain.

His collection of MPC troops, tanks and rocket launchers attacks the mountain, defended by Germans!

The Mountain is a honeycomb of tunnels and every entrance has a cannon or troops defending it.

 



Seen from the German point of view there are plenty of troops to keep coming every time one is hit at the entrance another is ready to take his place.

 



 



 The MPC sandbag emplacements ring the mountain fortress providing just that much more difficulty in making the assault.

 

Dismounted rockets return fire!

 

 

 

This playset is an excellent value and is in great condition.  Billy Hill, RN, thanks for taking the time to take the photos!



MPC Mountain 60mm Goodness

Master Figure Collector Billy Hill, RN has sent me some photos of his MPC Mountain Fortress.

This playset came with troops, vehicles, rockets and a great cardboard hill, with elevator!

Here is a shot of the box, the instructions and the start of the hill.  It's very thick cardboard, using metal and plastic clips to hold it together.  The original box is plain, but interesting.  This set is probably 40 years old or more.

The front of the hill components, with the large elevator shaft in front.

The rear of the same parts.  It works like a playhouse with the rear open for soldiers to move around inside.

The elevator has a car that raises and lowers to transport the troops to the upper levels.

There is a lot of play value in this little bit of cardboard.