Starting afresh for 2017!

My recovery from illness has been a lot slower than I imagined, my hands have slowly begun to stop shaking which has precluded any model making or painting. But, things are starting to look up and I starting to plan ahead for a fresh start in 2017!

New Year's Resolution
Actually, the break has forced me to spend some time thinking about what I am doing with my modelling. Thus far, everything I have done has been a bit spontaneous, or eclectic or faltering as I undertook model-making in a very sporadic and unfocused manner.

2017, I have decided, will be very different. I now have a plan!

I am determined that this year will see me completing my Finnish Continuation War collection and I have even produced a Word document with a sort of road-map of how I will achieve this. This outlines everything I need to do to complete my collection using the Rapid Fire rules as a guideline for my Finnish army.

A proper outline document listing the models I have and the models
I still need in order to complete my Finnish army collection!

First Build for 2017
Looking at the gaps in my plan, I still need to build some more trucks. I never knew that a wargaming army composed of quite so many trucks, I naively imagined it was all the exciting stuff - like tanks and artillery - but I have discovered that a late 20th Century army doesn't so much 'march on its stomach' as ride around in a truck!

Not the best period photo of a Ford M39 (second from left) but still a very
interesting illustration of the eclectic nature of Finnish motor transport in 1942.
Every truck in this line-up is a different make and model!

So, the first model for 2017 will be a rather niche and potentially tricky resin Hunor 1/72 Ford Model 1939 V8 truck. This model was a little hard to get hold of and somewhat expensive, but it represents one of the less well-known vehicles that made up the Finnish WW2 inventory.  Like a lot of the Finn's motor pool at this time, the Ford M39 V8 was a pre-war import and probably a commercial civilian vehicle which was pressed into military service.

I have had a fair amount of bad experiences with resin builds (I'm looking at you Mr. Zebrano) but this is my first Hunor and they seem to have a fairly good reputation. This despite all the parts being supplied loose in a plastic bag!

Apologies, this video is in Russian (I think), but it does give you a good idea of what to expect in a Hunor box...

Let's hope this turns out to be a good start to the New Year - and I hope everyone has a happy and prosperous 2017!