I started to speak about these two projects a long time ago. Now I can give you some updates. The former is the project for an arena for my gladiators, the latter is the viaduct for Flyton, the fictional town where I want to set my battles with miniatures.

At the last Hellana I could meet some friends of mine, as Filippo, that gave me this present, a prêt-à-porter arena made of cardboard from a box for computer equipment, a sheet for railway modelling with engraved regular stones, a touch of spray paint that create the stone effect. And his skills for assembling all in this attractive form. Three doors are made with toothpicks or other little wood bars. The final touch is the waterproof wood-like coating of the external surface with some sort of adhesive sleeve. I will utilise this arena for presentations or other similar contexts, because it is built to be portable. I have to give it some final touches to complete the global aspect. Now all is flattened on a single tone. I want a sand colour for the base, the same of the gladiator bases used for my fighters. I must buy more Vallejo “dark sand”, I suppose. And I wish a reddish brown for the walls. When I will do it? I’m thinking to bring with me this arena to explain the rules to my future playtesters. So very quickly! I’m almost in the external playtest phase.

Do you remember the viaduct? Fabio was building it with his family help, but he is always so busy with his job (and the TB Line, and Anticamente) that these polystyrene blocks were remained at the bottom of the to do list. Finally he gave me the unfinished materials so I can realise the model. Fabio printed some sheets with the brick motive to create the missing parts. The work is not so complicated to complete, there are some pieces to be glued. Flyton city is still without houses and gladiators are more urgent, so this viaduct is something that now must wait for better times. Maybe next year, this is the year of “Zen Garden”, “Ferrum et Gloria” and “Song of Spears and Shields”, only to mention the main Ganesha Games rulesets on the works where I am “slightly involved”…

This is my Gruppo Combattimento Folgore action figure. It is a custom figure created with spare parts from other figures. I made the badges using photos of real badges, reduced in size, than printed and put on a tape with a double adhesive surface. So, on a side I attached the badge, while the other surface was attached on the battle dress. With a black marker pen I darkened the borders. I obtained some good badges, I solution than I would like found before.

As you know, I have got a real battle dress of this kind for reenactment. It is more practical than the other uniforms than I own, that of Italian design. On the photo, as “bookcase guardians”, all my action figures. It is a complete series of Folgore uniforms of the WWII. The new figure is a reproduction of the paratroopers operating in the 1944-1945 for the South Reign of Italy. On the extreme right there is the paratrooper of Italian Social Republic always for 1944-1945.

I wrote a lot of posts about this reenacment event. It was an intense experience for me and I wanted to show you that large amount of vehicles and uniforms. Mine is a replica of those of Gruppo Combattimento Folgore, the paratrooper troops of South Reign of Italy in 1944-1945. They are the English Battle Dress with Italian badges, because the old uniforms were lacerated by wear.

Here there is the same uniform but with the paratrooper suit and a more practical combat cap.

And now some images from our stop on the way to home. This is the tablet at Case Grizzano, a place, some houses on a hill, where Italian and German paratroopers found death only a few days before the end of the war, in a failed attempt to break the front in the plains from the lateral side on the mountains.

The cippus. Sad that there is nothing for the Germans.

The valley where Italians attacked.

A country cemetery, place of a German machine gun position. Now a empty cemetery.

A little problem with the klaxon. And the possibility to view the motor.

Here a post on a forum with the official presentation of the refurbished jeep to Mario’s friends.

After a lunch for 350 seats, we parked in Pinarella di Cervia and prepared a more choreographic entry in Cervia, with people dressed as Germans (and who speak German, they are very pro!) who waited us and after fled to the sight of tanks (two Sherman and other vehicles). I was on the jeep, at the end of the column, so I couldn’t see the action, I have to wait for the release of the official dvd of the event to understand what happened.

More videos. I saw a lot of people who took photos and films of us. The availability of mobiles with great cameras turned people in media producers. Here the entry in Pinarella di Cervia parking. You can see me while I’m using my mobile on a camion. And finding on my video who is filming me.

Half an hour after we left. And some tanks were with us.

Here we were in Cervia, in the main phase of the event, with more audience, more reenactors who reached us, another authorities speech, displays. And a lot of chatting with other people: locals and lovers of reenactment. It is not only a show with strange people dressed as military troops, but the opportunity to confront ourselves with other people, and to know more on history, personal history and passions.

Fuel of a different kind.

Heavy steel…

This one was a rattletrap used as artillery target, now reconditioned after a lot of hard work. Probably it is the only exemplar of marching AB 40/41/43. This one is the last type, the AB 43, built in North Italy under German occupation for RSI forces and also known as Panzerspähwagen AB43 201(i).

Later we reached a huge restaurant with more than 500 seats. At the end we finally fell asleep. The day after there was a long trip along the Via Emilia but we went back home, with a stop. More on a next post.

A column is a long strip made of vehicles and people that move at the velocity of the slowest. Often we were stopped by something but we didn’t know what. A boring thing. It is not lack of organisation, it is the reality of a large amount of troops that have to travel. As the logistic problem to find an area to park all this. And the queue to the petrol pump. I heard that to start a Sherman you must consume 20 litres. We had to collect money for the fuel, because these old cars have a high necessity of it. Moreover, when a vehicle is out of order, the first thing to do is to throw out it off road. We were not so cruel, but I saw some blocked in the rear for mechanical problems. The column march towards glory consuming itself…

Every year a different location. This year, for the first time, I had the possibility to participate with my friends to the event, but only for the 28th of April, a column visit to Cesena and Cervia. We had Italian uniforms of the South Reign, the part of Italy that after the end of the Italian nation, the infamous 8th September, passed to Allies side. A nice gentleman from Verona offered us a passage on his jeep. Here you can see a video about our trip along the column. More on next posts.

If you want to know more on this event you can examine the official programme.

This is my new 1/6 action figure that I received for Christmas from Renato. In these months I bought some specific pieces for it to realise a Folgore fighter for the Regio Esercito side in 1945. It is almost done. And my father fixed its feet because their joints were broken. Here you can see the surgical operation. Next time I will show the complete model.

Today I’m on the road for Cervia, to meet a celebration of the date of the end of WWII here in Italy, the 25th of April 1945. I’m going to participate as reenactor of the Folgore. In these months I built, with the help of Renato (and with my mother), a uniform like that dressed by this action figure. It is a version of English Battle Dress with Italian badges. You will see more when I come back.