Base metal

A couple of weeks ago I received a model I had ordered on eBay, a GHQ Nashorn, nicely painted. It came in an old metal cigarette case, along with a couple of free 3mm tanks. All three had magnets mounted underneath, which held them to the case. It occurred to me that this was an idea I could use, given that I already mount all my 6mm troops and vehicles on 1" square steel bases. If I put a magnet under a tank, then I can put it onto a base for games where I want that, but I can also remove it for games in which unbased vehicles are preferred. 

I tried this out on some GHQ Pz IVH which I had painted but not based, and some magnets I had lying around - I think from Flames of War days. I used Das air-drying putty to fill in the cavity under the tank, and then embedded a magnet in it, at ground level as it were. As it turned out the Das isn't all that sticky once dried - most if the carcasses dropped out of the tanks, and most of the magnets popped out of their holes when I offered them to a steel base. However that was not a big problem - I glued the magnets back in with superglue, and the carcasses into the hulls with Uhu or similar. The first picture here show how it works.

I then modelled some bases in my normal way - green Basetex to give some shape and texture, a bit of Flat Earth paint and then a variety of flocks and other bits. The difference was that instead of gluing a model I simply left a fairly flat area in the centre. The tanks then sit nicely on the bases - the magnets hold them securely, but come off easily enough when needed. The next few pictures show the effect - I later did the same with some Chieftains which can be seen in the last two pics, with and without bases.

This opens up several other possibilities. I can use the same bases for different tanks, so I do not need to have a base for every vehicle, just enough for the biggest battle I am likely to fight. And I can use different bases for the same model - so a Tiger could have a desert sand base to fight in Tunisia, and then switch to a temperate base for Italy, or even a snow scene in Russia. All in all, I think a successful experiment.

The magnets, by the way, turn out to be very cheap, only about 12p each for the size I used, and there is a huge range and choice.

 

Chieftain vs Chieftain

 Getting into Moderns for the first time, and I decided to try some H&R, specifically the 1980's UK stuff, as I had heard it was new and some of their best work. I ordered a variety of infantry in small amounts - you can order a single strip of 3, 4 or 5 figures for about 60p, so you can get exactly what you need, without having to buy a pack of 60 or more and put up with the mixture you get. I also bought four Chieftain Stillbrews - again you order these individually, so you can get just the number you need.
I painted the Chieftains up, and fitted them with magnets for flexible basing (more of that in another post). They seem nice enough models, certainly with better definition than previous H&R I have bought - though that does go back to about 2000. I thought I should do a proper comparison, so I sent off for a pack of five GHQ Chieftains - these are the Mark 5. I painted these up as well, and the photos below show both types together. It is easy enough to spot the H&R models, they have distinctly fatter gun barrels.
Overall, I still prefer the GHQ. Apart from the finer barrels, they generally have sharper detailing. They are also slightly larger - about 2mm longer and maybe 0.5mm wider - though the GHQ ones actually seem slightly lower in profile. There is more definition in the various racks, grilles and other attachments to the hull and turret. Not a huge difference - the H&R one is not a bad model, but GHQ wins for me.
Of course there is one major downside - the GHQ tanks cost £9-25 for the pack of five, or £1-85 each. The H&R ones cost 65p each, only a whisker over a third the price - and as I mentioned you can buy exactly what you need, which may effectively lower the price quite a bit - if you wanted six, say.
So if price or purchasing flexibility are important, H&R are well ahead here. But if you want the best quality models, it's still GHQ. I would also say that H&R still has no photos on the site, which makes purchasing a bit of a shot in the dark. I got my GHQ from Wargames Emporium - Magister Militum are the other UK stockist - and on both their sites you can see a picture of every model before you buy. That matters to me, especially with infantry where  you would like to see the poses and animation.