What's Mr. Joe painting now?

Hi everyone;
A big part of Miniature Wargaming and one of the most enjoyable parts for me is actually painting the miniatures to be used in various games.
I collect rule sets/books, like other people collect novels and each rule set covers a different period in history or combat in a certain element.
The only other item I collect more of, are the actual miniatures, which become the playing pieces of each game or set of rules.
World War 1 or 2, the American Revolution or Civil War,  European wars of the 17, 18 or 19th Century, Brits versus Zulus, Naval warfare from the 19th century to present day or Air Combat from the First World War to present day, I have a set of rules and the miniatures needed to recreate those battles on the table top.
To cover all of these periods, you need miniatures in a variety of scales and of course a way of finding out just what that soldier, aircraft, ship or vehicle looked like.
Thankfully I have a great core of gaming buddies, who know even more about this stuff than I do and as always, I have the World Wide Web at my disposal.
My last paint project dealt with one of my favorite set of rules, named Check Your 6.

As you can see by the cover to my copy of the rule book, this deals with plane to plane combat in WWII.

So far I have painted miniature (1/300 scale) aircraft for Italy, Britan, US and Japan.

My latest group of planes are from the French (Vichy) Airforce of 1940-43.

Check Your 6 offers several scenarios or settings for pitting Vichy French aircraft against the Royal Airforce of Great Britan and the US Navy.

A little history for you. After the German defeat of France in 1940, a pro-German government was allowed to set up and run a small part of France, plus their overseas colonies. It was called the Vichy government, or "Vichy French". Part of these territories were in North Africa and the Middle East, and so eventually brought them into conflict with England and the United States, as we attempted to beat Germany and Italy and Vichy France strove to defend their territory which was in our way.

The French had some sharp looking aircraft and used some flashy colors to distinguish their craft.

trolling the internet and websites like, "Wings Pallette" and "The Miniatures Page", plus the CY6 Yahoo group got me the color and paint scheme information to accurately paint up the French D.520s.

The color scheme consists of a light grey blue for the bottom of the plane and a 3 color cammo scheme of dark blue grey/earth brown/ dark green for the top half. Plus the Vichy French "team colors" of a yellow tail and red stripes.

While I was at it, I also painted two Italian Macchi 202s, as seen below.

These were painted with a combination of Yellow Ochre and green splotches

 

Up next on my paint bench are some WWII British soliders in 28mm scale.

These lads will be used for a different set of rules and actually we have a real plethora of rules sets to go with. Current group favorites are "Rules of Engagement", "Nuts" or "Force on Force".

Here's some I painted about a month ago.

Now, if you are reading this (Thank You) and not one of my wargaming buddies, your probably saying. "Wow, that takes a lot of time and patience" and you would be right.

Time and Patience is what I have plenty of here in Mr. Joes World.

Thanks for visiting.

Joe

benvenuto (Welcome) Bella

Hi everyone;
Thanks for coming back.
Well it seems that the old saying, "There's always room for one more" really does work, at least where Mr. Joes World and Camp Run-A-Muk are involved.
 Back in October, Josh's girlfriend Nicole, was involved in a United Way fund raising campaign, at her work place (Nordstroms). Of course Nicole had to bid on something, cute and furry, in need of a home and so she got Bella the kitten. The next step was where to bring the cat to live and as I'm sure you all see where this is going, Nicole decided to give the kitten to Josh.

Now the last "pets" she gave Josh were fish, two fishbowls full of fish. The fact that you haven't seen any pictures of the fish may tell you how long they survived under Josh's care. And now she wants to give him a kitten...oh boy. Thankfully Nicole picked out a fiesty kitten who will tell Josh when she is hungry and is not confined to a bowl of water. I do also have to give Josh credit, who, with Nicoles coaching and supplying of cat stuff, has done a good job of taking care of Bella.

It's amazing to see how a little animal can grow and adjust so quickly to her new environment.

One day she can't make it up or down 3 steps, the next day she is running laps on the same steps.

Bella has been welcomed warmly by all but one of us here at Camp Run-A-Muk.

The boys and I love her.

Daisy thinks she's the coolest toy in town.

And Hobie???

"Leave me alone kid, you're bugging me"

Yep, Hobie is less than enthused about the new little sister. But that doesn't keep Bella from following Hobie wherever she goes.

We try to limit where Bella can go in the house in order to keep her safe, like out of the laundry room, but like I said this cat is fiesty and determined to say the least.

It will take all of us to keep an eye on the littlest edition to the crew...

even if we are busy begging for treats...

or guarding your turf...

Just remember our motto here at Camp Run-A-Muk; "A place where kids and pets run free"

Thanks for visiting Mr. Joes World

Take care;

Joe

Ciao Pepi

Hi everyone;
Last month my Mom and Dad lost their very much loved dog named Pepi.
While Pepi was not a member of Camp Run-A-Muk down here, he sure would of fit in and as it was he gave my boys much joy when we spent time with him either in Latham, NY or at my sister Ginas house in Bear DE or even the one time he came here.
Pepi was the kind of dog that people were attracted to, especially kids.

The amount of joy he gave Mom and Dad is uncountable and it goes to show that if you do one good thing, you will be repaid, some way, some how, countless times. Pepi was brought home from a shelter by Mom about 12 years ago. She had volunteered to walk dogs at the shelter and thats where she came across this little one year old scruffy looking dog sitting by himself in a cage. Pepi was owned by an elderly woman who could not take good care of him or even get him out for walks regularly, so, unfortunately she sent him to the shelter. Fortune favored Pepi on the day mom saw him and on the one walk, she promised him a new home, if "Grandpa" (Dad) would agree. of course Dad agreed, although I don't know how much say he really did have in this, but the next day, Mom went back to the shelter and brought Pepi home and a match for the ages was made. Pepi grew with the family and has seen all of the grandkids grow over the years.
He had his own personality, as all animals do, which became a frequent topic of discussion whenever I spoke to my parents. Comparisons of his fincky eating habits were always made with his cousins; Daisy, Buster, Madison and Casey, all whom never met a snack or something edible they didn't like. Pepi was stubborn, loyal and knew exactly what he wanted. He was able to thoroughly train my parents to understand what he wanted to do, or more importantly not wanted to do.

Mom would ask him if he waned to go out to the yard...Pepi would let it be known that he would rather not.

Mom would suggest going to the park.....Pepi would practically open the car door himself:-)

The park is named "The Crossings", and is not far from them in Colonie and is a wonderful place for man or beast to walk and take in the fresh air. This was Pepis' home away from home, the place he longed to be with Mom.

Of course when Pepi and Mom weren't at the park, Pepi would always be wherever Mom and Dad were at the time and if at home, then he would be in whatever room they happened to be at that time.

If Dad was sitting in his chair by the picture window, Pepi was lying on the floor right next to him. If Mom was on the couch, Pepi was also on the couch with a part of him butted up against her.

I've noticed that with Dogs, versus Cats here.

Daisy wants to be with you and have some part of her actually touching you.

Hobie wants to be with you, but three feet away is okay with her.

Life goes on and Pepi began to show his age, little by little and then he developed a "mass" in his stomach.

The past few months saw a drop in his activities and liveliness, but never in his affection for Mom, Dad and the park. As any good pet owner would, Dad and Mom kept a watchful eye on Pepi and prepared themselves for the inevitable end. Their goal was to not let him suffer, but to give him as much time as possible to enjoy life. Thankfully for all concerned, Pepi passed on quietly in Dads bedroom, with both my parents at hand. It was an end that we should all be so lucky to have, in a place that you love, surrounded by the ones whom loved you the most.

Pepi now rests in Mom and Dads back yard.

Its a spot which the sun shines on most every day, the grass is green and air is sweet.

And the memory of Pepi lives on, as does all of the other family pets, here in Mr. Joes World.

Next post; "benvenuto Bella"

And another addition to Camp Run-A-Muk and Mr. Joes World

Thanks for reading.