SPECIAL THANKS. I would like to thank Paul Watson for his sponsorship of several lead figure collections on this blog. Having decided to clear his spare/surplus figures, he generously forwarded them on with no other requirement than they deserved to be restored. I would also like to mention George S. Mills, who kindly furnished a quantity of plastic figures which greatly enhanced several collections.

Wednesday, 23 September 2020

GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (ZUBROWKA), 1932

Last year I picked up a large box of figures. They comprised original Airfix, copies of the same, and nondescript Chinese-made figures. Having paid £6.50 for over 300 toy soldiers they still only become a bargain if they are actually used. This interesting predicament led to a number of projects that can best be described as 'fringe' wargaming. I really enjoyed the film Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), and the idea arose for recreating something for the wargames table.

The Zubrowkan Militia are shown wearing uniforms which are very similar to German WW2 Mountain troops, while the WW2 Japanese could also represent them with a head swap. The Black Guard look similar except for their colour and armband. For the record, all my 54mm 'toy soldiers' are gloss varnished. This is a distinction I am keen to stick to, just as all my 28mm 'miniatures' are matt finished.

Finally, this skirmish collection must include something to represent General von Schilling's Iron Tank Division, and a certain building should make an appearance in any games. The armoured car is made of plasticard, used paint pots, and some wheels I picked up off Ebay (I took the liberty of adding headlights).

MGB

(Footnote, the opposition will be a mixture of Soviet NKVD, Anarchists, and Soviet WW2 infantry, more than half of which are now ready for the table.) I'm planning on using some fast play Featherstone WW2 rules involving groups of three firing figures and a dice.










NB. Clips from the film are for purposes of review and promotion of the film, and therefore permitted.

8 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thats kind of you Brian. The cost of buying a kit or die-cast, and then converting it would have been just too high. This model cost about £2 in plasticard, and £6 for the wheels. By the way, often visit your blog, and I have been working my way through some of the older content, some inspirational stuff!
      Michael

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    2. Thanks Michael, I currently building up a collection for WotR/Italian Wars inspired very much by the Ghibelline and Guelph figures on your other blog.

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    3. Pleased it had interest from someone with your reputation in this hobby.
      Michael

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  2. Some very effective paint and head conversions. Some clever photo manipulation too! Shiny and dark figures, shiny and threatening ...

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    1. Thanks Mark, that was the plan, to be able to capture something from the film, but have it reduced to an easy set up skirmish game, a one hour excursion to Zubrowka in 1932. I am tempted to create some of the film characters too.
      Michael

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  3. Some great work here and a fascinating project. It is my nieces favourite film. I must give it a go.

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    1. Allan, its a great film, and I wanted to have something of it in miniature.
      Michael

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