It can't have been 6 months!

It's hard to believe that it's been 6 months since I posted here. I have been a bit down and struggled with being ill again, a continuous run of infections around my stoma have really knocked me and I have taken a while to get through it. Not everything has stopped, I have still played a few games and still painted a few bits, it's just been the social side of things that have taken a hit.

But just to upset you all I have returned. And by "you all" I mean the one person who reads this tripe.

Gaming has primarily been boardgames of several types. Zombicide, Blood Rage, Mythic Battles Pantheon etc. Wargames have mostly been Chain of Command, with the occasional foray into Congo and Death in the Dark Continent. 

As for painting, I did very little last year, but after having a break I have managed to get a bit of my mojo back. Not a vast amount but at least a bit of it has returned. So I have finally painted some 15mm Germans for Ian at the Exeter club, which inspired me to paint some German vehicles that have been sat in my plastic pile for too long.

Ian's German Infantry

Ian's infantry were a mixture of Battle Front and Peter Pig, 94 figures all told based for IABSM.

Early War Sdkfz 251s and Panzer 38ts

Next up are some early war German armour. Five Sdkfz 251 halftracks including a command 251/10 with it's mighty 3.7cm pak gun. These are supported by a trio of Panzer 38ts, ready for France or Russia. The half-tracks are Plastic Soldier Company while the Panzers are Zvezda models

Later war Sdkfz 250s 

Some more half-tracks were then stuck together and slapped with paint. A box of Plastic Soldier Company Sdkfz 250s were made up as a mixed recce force. A command 250/11 with it's 2.8cm Pzb leads a pair of 250/1 infantry carriers and a pair of 250/9 recce tracks with 2cm cannons. A decent mix of vehicles that can either add support for Chain of Command games or be recce elements for Battlegroup games.

Late war Panzer IIIs

A trio of Panzer IIIs wereadded to the line up, picked up at a bring and buy somewhere some time ago. Pre-made but unpainted, they will now be part of my late war German force. Who needs Panthers or Tigers? Also, see if you can spot the error in construction. I didn't notice until after I had painted them and don't know if it is worth fixing.

Late War Sdkfz 251s

Finally for today is some more 251's, Battlefront models this time. A quartet, painted up to mechanise my German infantry.

All told that's 20 vehicles, so it's been not too bad.

I have painted some other bits for WW2, but these will appear tomorrow hopefully as the varnish isn't dry yet. Later folks.

Last few 15mm Cold War for now, plus a few ladies

I have nearly finished the last of my Cold War forces that I have here, the last few bits are painted up now and that's the lot...........until I get some more. 

Firstly we have a minor conversion to an Armies Army YPR-765 PRI. To give my small Dutch force a bit of long ranged anti-tank capability I decided to add some missile firepower.  A bit of research and I discovered the Dutch converted some YPRs with the TOW launcher turret from the US M901 ITV. At the time I looked nobody made this in 15mm(more on this later) so a bit of modelling was needed. Luckily Team Yankee do the ITV as a plastic add-on for their M113 kit and you can buy a sprue of bits individually. One quick order later and a sprue duly arrived. The modification is simplicity itself, just switch the IFV turret for the ITV turret and it's job done. 

Slap some paint on, add some netting and here it is, ready to support my Dutch troops against the Soviet horde.

As is typically the way with these things, just after I had stuck all the bits together and started slapping the paint on I received an email from TSS/QRF. Amongst their new releases was, you've guessed it, the YPR-765 PRAT! Typical. Ah well, I've made it now and I am happy with how it came out.

In addition the the YPR I used a spare M577 to make up an aid-station objective/jump off point marker. A few mixed figures from my Dutch, ANZAC and US spares and here it is. Its also my first attempt at the US MERDEC camoflage, hopefully it came out ok. 

Finally I ordered another Fv432 from Armies Army to carry my Milan teams around, as well as a few figures to make the teams up to 3 men each. Here they are in all their DPM glory, that's my BAOR force done, until I get some Scorpion/Scimitars for them anyway.

The last pictures are of a Dead Man's Hand gang of "Daughters of the West". These are for a nice chap in Germany for his wife to use against his gangs. Nice figures that made a change from all the Cold War stuff I have painted lately. If you read this Carsten, I hope your wife likes them and doesn't beat you too badly.

Anyway, that's it for now. I have nearly finished a few more things so there may be another update soonish.

Take care folks and I hope your dice are good to you.

The BAOR arrives......well, a small bit of it does anyway

 It brightened up yesterday so I managed to varnish my Cold War British contingent. These are all from Armies Army again and yet again are lovely models with no issues that I have found. I got these last year but the painting mojo for them didn't arrive until recently, so I have finally got around to painting them all up.

First up is the Mechanised Infantry platoon. Three squads of 8 men each with a GPMG and Caarl Gustav led by a 4 man command team with a 2" mortar.  All ferried about in four "mighty" Fv432s. Unlike Team Yankee these are available either with or without the peak turret, I decided on 2 of each just to mix it up a bit.

A closer look at some of the infantry and my attempt at 15mm DPM camo. I am fairly happy with the way they turned out but they are much more work to paint than Russians.

A closer look at the battle taxis, the Fv432. A similar design to the M113, basically a box on tracks, the 432 differed in being steel rather than aluminium and also being decidedly British by having a BV or "Vessel Boiling Electric". Basically it is a hot water system but I guess it wasn't military enough to call it a kettle. Still, +1 morale for having a cuppa in the middle of a firefight?



Now we come to the support options. At the front are a pair of Milan teams, a pair of Blowpipe SAM teams and a tripod GPMG team. I really need another Fv432 to carry the Milan teams about, along with a couple more figures to fill the ranks. Behind them are a Spartan APC for the Blowpipes and a Landrover for......well, I like them! Finally the heavy stuff, a trio of Chieftains ready to slap some T-72s around. I love the look of the Chieftain, it looks like it's going to ruin your day.

A closer look at the Milan teams with the Blowpipes behind them.





The Landrover is a lovely vehicle, I still want one if the boss ever lets me. I added the camo netting in the same way I did for the dutch, but didn't add the flock this time. I am not sure which I prefer yet so these "may" get flocked later. It's dwarfed by the Chieftain though, like most things are I guess.


Finally, for now, we have the Spartan and a Chieftain. The Spartan is a small APC, only able to carry 4 or 5 soldiers, but it's quick. It was used to carry specialist units like SAM teams and recce troops while the bigger Fv432 carried the infantry about. Behind it is the command Chieftain, given away by the open hatch and commander figure.

So that's the lot for now. I still need to add a few things, some Scorpions and/or Scimitars, an Fv438 Swingfire carrier and possibly some more infantry to make an Infantry Combat team. Hmm, not just yet though cos we is skint. Apparently a new microwave and flowers for the garden rank much higher than figures for me. Good job I love her innit. ;-)

Anyway, that's it again. Catch you later.

The Soviet Infantry arrives and so do some Dutch

I am still painting away at my 15mm Cold War forces. As I stated previously, my intention is to have a platoon with a few support options from several nations. So, without further ado, here is my Soviet Motor Rifle Company.........

Soviet MR Company, because I could!

Yes, that's right, my platoon purchases got a little bit excessive and now I have enough figures to field a full company with support options.

I now have 3 platoons each made up of 3 squads of 7 men plus 2 platoon command figures.  Then there is a 3 man Company Command group as well, making a total of 72 figures but that is not all of them, oh no there are more!

A closer look at my painting efforts. :(

Soviet Support Sections and plenty of them!

These are the support options I have painted up as well. First are two sections of 9K111 "Fagot" (AT-4 Spigot) ATGWs, 2 teams per section. Then we have two sections of AGS-17 "Plamya" grenade launchers, again with 2 teams per section. Add in a PKM machine gun section with 3 LMG teams and finally a SA-14 air defence section with 3 teams again. That's another 42 figures all told, making 114 in total for a game that I planned a platoon a side for. All these are Team Yankee figures that I picked up cheap here and there over the last few months.

I have no willpower at all. Now I need some more BMPs as I don't have enough for the figures I have.  

Dutch Infantry and Armour

Close up of the YPR-765s

In addition to the Soviet infantry I have also finished off my Dutch platoon with it's rather more limited support.  The Dutch organisation is a bit different to the previous German platoon, with three sections of 8 men lead by a command section of 7. Each rifle section has an FN-MAG lmg and a Carl Gustav rocket launcher while the command section has 2 M47 Dragon anti-tank missile launchers. These are carried around in 4 YPR-765, an improved M113 with more armour and a 25mm rapid-fire gun in the turret. A bit more capable than a basic M113 I think. Support is limited to a trio of Leopard 1 tanks which are technically the wrong version for the Dutch but they will do.

The infantry and YPR-765s are from Armies Army and are really nice models.  The detail on them all is great and the castings are clean and paint up nicely, even if your a bit ham-fisted like me. ;)

The other YPR-765s

The "Big Cats", but not that big

The Leopards are Team Yankee and are also nice, but why are they resin and not plastic like all the others? 

The camouflage netting is made from dyed bandage sections, cut to size and fixed with watered down PVA glue, then painted up and finally flock was glued on.  I am not sure how durable the flock will be, but a few coats of varnish should increase the longevity.

Armies Army Dutch infantry

Now all I need is a set of rules for them.  Initial plans for a Chain of Command variant are now in other hands as there will be an "official" version at some point, hopefully soon. Also there is going to be a Battlegroup set at some point as well. That's in addition to the copy of Force on Force that I have as well. Hmm, decisions decisions.

So that's it for now.  The British are done, just waiting on varnish but it's a trifle damp today to spray them. Up next....who knows? I sure as hell don't! Have fun folks.

15mm West Germans

I have returned yet again, after another week of excitement and adventure.

Ok, I lied, it was another week of paying bills and running about after the family. I did manage to get a bit of painting and a small bit of gaming done though, so it's not been a total waste. On Monday night I managed to get out of the hospital early enough to pop around to Zobs to see what was going on. Nathan and Zob were playing Command and Colours Ancients, Romans vs Carthaginians. They seemed to enjoy and were on their 3rd or 4th game when I left.  Panjo and Andy were trying out The Walking Dead game from Mantic, yet another kickstarter that Panjo went for.  They were good enough to let me watch/join in and I ended up pulling the cards while they ran around with the survivors. Seems like a decent game, nothing amazing but a decent system for escalation of the zombie threat and zombies reaction to noise. Good enough that we are giving it another go next week anyway, without Nathan as he is getting married on Sunday and still no Colin as he is on holiday somewhere warm and sunny.

Painting wise I have been cracking on with my 15mm Cold War project. The Russian vehicles are all done as seen in my last post, so I turned my attention to the West German platoon I had planned. No Marders for me though, instead I am doing an M113G equipped platoon, just to be different.

The German platoon seems to have been quite small, with just a small 5 man command squad and two 7 man grenadier squads. Less than 20 men all told, way less than the British platoon of about 30 men. Anyway, all the resources I could find gave the following organisation

Command Squad - 1 Officer and 4 Soldiers all with G3 rifles,1 also has a Panzerfaust 44.
Grenadier Squads - 1 NCO and 5 soldiers all with G3 rifles, 1 also has a Panzerfaust 44 and 1 has a HK69 GL, plus 1 soldier with an MG3 LMG.


These are all transported about in 3 M113G APCs(although I painted 4 for some reason), 1 per squad. I also sorted out a couple of "extras", a 2 man Milan team and a 2 man Redeye SAM team. Finally I made up a jump-off point/objective with a couple of spare figures and an M577 command vehicle.


Battlefront have supplied all the vehicles and figures for this small force, the M113s being Vietnam models bought in their last sale. Only alteration was to replace the M2 50cal with an MG3, or MG42 to be exact. Luckily I had a few spares from the Sd251 kits I made a long time ago.

I need to add some armoured support for them, but again I want something different. I have some Leopard 1's but plan to use these for my Dutch Platoon from Armies Army, when they finally arrive. I don't want Leopard 2s as they are too new and shiny for my M113 platoon, so the options are either a couple of M48A2GA2s or some Jagdpanzer Kanones. Nobody does an M48A2GA2 although I think the Battlefront Israeli Magach would do, it has the right gun and a reasonable cupola. Only QRF do a Jagdpanzer Kanone, so that at least is an easy option. But which do I go for? Decisions decisions.

I have also been painting up my British vehicles from Armies Army.  This force will be a bit larger as the platoon is bigger. No pictures yet though as they are not quite finished. I have Chieftains, Fv432s, a Spartan and a Landrover plus the necessary figures. All I need now is a couple of Recce vehicles, either Scorpions or Scimitars.

That's it for now. I am off to Nathans wedding on Sunday and we have family plans for tomorrow, so sod all will get done this weekend. Hopefully after that I will be painting either Russian or British infantry.....unless the Dutch arrive! Have fun folks

15mm Cold War

Not content with just painting tribal types, I have also started painting some of the Cold War collection I have been gathering for the last year or so. Last year I picked up a bargain pile of 2nd hand Soviet kit at Firestorm Games table sale. The box I had was fairly packed with vehicles, so I have been painting green like a mad man.  

The box I bought had a mix of 9 T-80, 3 T-72, 3 BTR-80 and 8 BMP-2s. All except the BMP-2s were base coated in a reasonable base colour, so a quick spray and then washes, several drybrushes and such made it job done on them. I also added some aerials. The BMP-2s are a shocking colour, it looks like bronze green or similar and is way too dark, so they are currently sitting in paint stripper in the vain hope that they will be recoverable. Luckily they are metal so won't be hurt by the paint stripping efforts.

Here are the T-80s, 3 with ERA and 6 without. These were a bit battered and bent but all were repairable and look ok now I think.  I believe that these are QRF models, but don't know for sure.





The 3 T-72 models are Zvezda, a bit lacking in details such as the cupola MG but good enough to make a platoon.





The BTR-80s are also Zvezda models, decent enough for the job of carrying a Soviet MR platoon.


I also had a box of Team Yankee BMPs included, so set about with the modelling cement.

So here we have 5 BMP-1s, the original Soviet IFV. Vastly more capable than the M113s and Fv432s used by most of NATO, these really are nice kits. One nice touch is that each sprue contains both the BMP-1 and BMP-2 hulls and turrets, but only one chassis. So out came the thinking cap and a bit of sneaky chopping and gluing resulted in this

Some chopped up plastic bases from various boxes of figures and a 1 cent Euro coin(the ideal size and magnetic) in the chassis, then a couple of magnets glued onto the underside of the hull resulted in removable BMP hulls.

Here are the BMP-2 versions, better armed than the earlier version with an improved missile and a rapid fire 30mm gun instead of the 73mm smoothbore of the BMP-1.


I went in on the pre-order of T-55s from Plastic Soldier Company. I like the kits they make, really good quality and usually with a range of options.  The T-55 box was just great with options to make T-55, T-55A or T-55AM versions.  I went for the AM version, upgraded with extra armour and a laser rangefinder.
So finally the 5 T-55s finish the current force. I am now sat here looking at a small mountain of 15mm Soviet infantry. I have enough for 2 platoons but need some ATGW teams to complete the force. Hopefully I will get a bit of paint on them this weekend, but family duties are calling. 

Plans for gaming the Cold War in 15mm

I am the supreme example of a wargames butterfly.  I fly from period to period with the attention span of a confused goldfish, although there is one exception to this. 

The so-called Cold War has always been of interest to me, probably because I grew up through it. I started off with a lot of 1/300^th forces and played with Modern Spearhead. Then I got diverted into skirmish gaming and got some Cold War figures in 28mm. Now with the widespread availability of 15mm models I am again spending money on 1980s period figures. In my defence I have stayed on one period and I can reuse all my existing 15mm WW2 scenery. ;)

So, I am sorting out a mixed bag of forces, I got British in the Armies Army kickstarter and have recently picked up a lot of Soviet stuff second hand. I have also bought some Battlefront Germans as well. My aim is to have a reinforced platoon for each of the British and German forces while the Soviet forces will end up at company strength. Below is a brief idea of the force structures I am going for, any comments on mistakes would be much appreciated. I have used the old WRG army list books as a guide to what is required. These lists do things by groups so I have had to guess what is in the group in some cases.

    British Mech Infantry Platoon

       Platoon HQ with 1 Fv432, 1 command group and 1 light mortar group

       3 sections each with 1 Fv432, 2 rifle groups, 1 LMG and 1 MAW

I have translated this into the following

HQ – 1 Fv432, 1 CO, 1 SNCO, 1 RTO and 1 light mortar man.

Sections – 1 Fv432, 1 NCO, 1 LMG with 2 crew, 1 MAW gunner, 4 riflemen.

Support wise I have the following

A tank platoon of 3 Chieftains (I may get 1 more as they could be 3 or 4 strong)

AT section of 2 Milan teams (1 additional Fv432 needed)

AA section of 2 Javelin teams in a Spartan

SFMG team to be carried in the command Fv432 if needed

   

     German Heimschutzkommando Platoon

       Platoon HQ with 1 M113 or Marder, 1 command group, 1 LMG and 1 Milan

       2 squads each with 1 M113 or Marder, 1 rifle group, 1 LMG and 1 MAW

Translated into

HQ – 1 M113, 1 CO, 1 RTO, 1 LMG with 2 crew and 1 Milan with 2 crew

Squads – 1 M113, 1 NCO, 1 LMG with 2 crew, 1 MAW gunner and 3 riflemen

Support

A Panzer platoon with 3 Leopard 1

AT section of 4 Jagpanzer Kannone

AA section of 1 Redeye team attached to PHQ

I will also get some Marders to give me the option of "upgrading" them to regulars.

 

    3 Soviet BMP Platoons each with

       Platoon HQ with 1 BMP, 1 command group, 1 rifle group and 1 LMG

       2 squads each with 1 BMP, 1 rifle group, 1 infantry group and 1 LMG

Turns into 3 platoons each with

HQ – 1 BMP, 1 CO, 1 NCO, 1 SAW, 1 RPG, 4 riflemen

Squad 1 – 1 BMP, 1 SNCO, 1 NCO, 1 SAW, 1 RPG, 4 riflemen

Squad 2 – 1 BMP, 1 LMG with 2 crew, 1 NCO, 1 SAW, 1 RPG, 4 riflemen

Support

2 Tank Platoons each with 4 T-72/80.

1 AA section of 1 SA-7 team in 1 BMP

There are a few other options I am considering getting, some recce vehicles for each force are a prime example, but that's the plan for now. Just need to get on with painting it all after Christmas. And find a set of rules for it, current options are FEBA, Force on Force and Sabre Squadron.  Decisions decisions.

Well, that went by a bit quick.........

I didn't realise how long it had been since I bored you all with the inane and dull crap I get up too.  I'm STILL waiting to hear from the hospital about the operation, I'm still on a mainly soup diet and I'm still feeling like crap.  Apart from that it's all hunky-dory.

Gaming has still been limited, I have managed a few board games and I did get a trip in to the Devon Wargames Group last month, although I didn't last too long.  It was nice to get out for a bit though.  We have played a bit of Zombicide:Black Plague now, having finally got our kickstarter package through.  I also received my copy of Shadowstar Corsairs, which is a fun game and plays nicely.  At least it did the one time we played it, second try tomorrow night.  In fact it's been a good month or so for kickstarters, I have received the two mentioned above, plus some 28mm German trucks from Anyscale Models and some lovely 15mm Cold War British from Armies Army.  It's been like Christmas and birthday all rolled into one. ;)

The 15mm British are beautiful figures and vehicles, I really cannot express how nice they are.  I am planning to start painting them up as soon as I can find my mojo again.

 My pledge was for an Infantry Platoon in 4 Fv432s, plus 3 Chieftains, a Spartan, a Landrover and some support weapons.  The vehicles are as nice as any I have had, nicer than Battlefront's latest efforts and easier to assemble as well.  Hopefully that will enough for the level of games I plan to do, but as usual there is bound to be more I end up with.......Scorpions, Scimitars etc

 To face off against the Brits I was planning to get some Team Yankee figures and vehicles, but did a quick internet search as £30 for 5 plastic models seems a bit pricey to me.  I found a little gem of a trader in Butlers Printed Models, who do printed vehicles in scales from 6mm to 28mm.  They do a small range of modern Soviet types for £3 or £4 each.  So I plunged in and ordered myself some, 4 BMP-1s for £12 and 4 T-64s for £16, enough for a platoon of each for less than the cost of one box from Battlefront.  Happy days indeed.

 This is how they arrived, which at first glance is a bit disconcerting. 

 From underneath they look even worse.





However the extra bits are very easily removed and it takes only a few minutes to turn them into a much nicer model and I am very pleased with how they look.  They are also surprisingly strong, none of the gun barrels broke or bent, which is more than I can say for a lot of other 15mm vehicles I have had over the years.  There is also a lot less glue needed, ie none.  No fingers stuck to little bits of metal with these.  I did use a file to clean up some of the edges though, it took all of about a minute for each vehicle.


 
As an idea of how they look compared to the Battlefront ones, here some pictures of a T-64 next to a T-55 from the Vietnam range.  The T-64 is longer, wider and lower, which seems to be about right. 






Another pair of vehicles snuck into the order, although not for me.  Nathan and Andy have Winter War Russians on the go and each wanted a T-28 to support them against the nasty Finns.  So here it is in all its glory.  Really nice and a bargain at £20.  The three turrets are all removeable and there is no glue needed again.



Anyway, that's it again for now.  I am off to do something less useful.  Catch you all later.

Not much to see here

Hello again, it's time for another rambling post of no interest whatsoever.

I have done very little gaming over the last month, but still managed to do a little here and there. Chain of Command is still the favourite game here, so this post by Trailape is worth checking out if you are undecided about which way to go for a WW2 small action set of rules.  I have tried out both sets of rules and my preference is also for CoC.  That's not saying Bolt Action is bad, it's just a bit too much like Warhamster 40k for me.  Trailapes post also brought about a special offer from TFL, so if you are considering getting CoC, now is the time.

Purchases of lead and/or plastic have been limited by a serious lack of funds, being sick for so long has really hit the finances and belts have been tightened.  So I have bought nothing lately, but the lead mountain has grown somewhat significantly due the the amazing generosity of Gaz Amos (top bloke even if he still has a pornstar moustache).  After my previous post about Fighting Season he was kind enough to offer me some Mongrel Miniatures Arab and Syrian figures.  Assuming it was a pack or two I gratefully accepted.  A box duly arrived from deepest darkest Salford, but it was much bigger and heavier than I expected.  Opening it was like Christmas as a kid, I knew what I was expecting but what else was there.  Arab and Syrians but more of them than I expected, plus some Israelis and Congo figures from Mongrel, some US infantry from TAG and some Cold War Russians and Yanks to top it all off.  Thanks Gaz, you have restored my mojo a bit and paint has been slapped on lead for a change.

Painting has been a mixed bag, with several long delayed projects finally getting some work done to them.

 I ordered a 15mm factory from Sarissa Precision as all my buildings are residential so I wanted a change.  It came in a big bag and was a pleasure to build.  Unlike 4Ground it comes unpainted, so is a blank canvas and open to a wide range of paint schemes.  I sort of followed one that I saw on their website, except I added windows of plastic and printed off some roof tiles.  Paint was mostly from B&Q in tester pots with a few craft paints added.  All in all I think it came out pretty well and I am looking forward to seeing it dominate the table as it is 180mm square.

 The roof is removable and there is a walkway that the outside stairs lead up too.  I have some fencing arrived now so will be making up a yard for it, just to tie in with the other buildings I have based.

Following on from my German platoon for the Barbarossa period, I picked up a box of Battlefronts new plastic Russian infantry when we visited Battlegroup Souths show at Bovington tank museum.  They are nice figures and the box includes Maxim mg teams too, so plenty of firepower to support the Russian horde.  I did get the metal command pack as well to provide the 50mm mortar and flag bearer.   A quick check of the list for the Russian force in 1941 and the platoon was painted up.  CO(with a flag), 2IC, Commissar, 50mm mortar team and four squads of 13 men makes it a large platoon, but quite tactically rigid as the squads are not broken up into teams.  They will make a change from the Germans though, more a blunt instrument than a scalpel I think 

 I also picked up some support for the Russians, with some Zvezda T-26s and Plastic Soldier Company artillery.  The Maxims are from the infantry box, so the platoon is almost 100% plastic (7 metal figures out of 98).  The five T-26s are more than I will ever need for CoC, but a nice force for Battlegroup games.  Two Maxims, two 45mm AT guns and two 76mm infantry guns also gives a reasonable spread of support too.

Finally I purchased a Warbases Mark I tank (just because I could) a while ago and have finally got it put together and painted up.  It will be used for my VBCW force, based on the fact that many were sent out to towns as displays after WW1 and Newton Abbot was a major train depot so had plenty of engineer types to get it up and running again.  I have tarted it up a bit from the original.  I didn't really like the square gun barrels or exhaust pipe so I replaced them with some brass tube and I also added some Lewis guns to the sponsons and in the bow, courtesy of Colonel Bills supply store.  I am happy with how it has turned out and it is a much cheaper alternative than the others out there while still making a decent replica of the original. 

A final note about hospitals and such.  I am still p****d off with UCLH for the way they cancelled at the last minute, leaving us over £100 out of pocket in hotel costs.  I have now been referred to Mid Essex hospital in Chelmsford(getting further away every time) and should be there early next month to see a top man in the gastroparesis field apparently.  Fingers crossed and all that.

Catch you all later, I am off to do something less constructive for a bit.