Sunday 22 November 2020

Big D Builds A Tomahawk

 Hello again

 

  I'm making another model and this time it's an Airfix kit so I should be comfortably within my limitations.

  The current project is a WW2 fighter I've always had a soft spot for. 

  These days the Curtis P40 is seen as a bit  of an also-ran, especially compared to the late war triad of Mustang, Thunderbolt and Mustang.    The truth is, the P40 gave useful service across multiple theatres for US, Commonwealth and Russian pilots because it was what the Allies had.  The RAF would have sent Spitfires to North Africa in 1941 if they had any to spare  but they didn't, the RAF had Tomahawks and Hurricanes so that was what the Desert Air Force used.  For the vicious fighting over the Pacific Islands the USAAF deployed P40s until something better came along. You get my drift, yes?  The Tomahawk/Kittyhawk/Warhawk is another one of those fighters that held the line and helped chip away at the Axis Airforces in the early rounds, ready for the heavy hits later on. 

 Having said all that, I'm doing a P40 Tomahawk that didn't see any action, because it was serving with an airforce that gets a bit overlooked. 

I've been meaning to build this ever since I found this decal set online

 So after getting them from Ebay, I then chose the aircraft I want on my shelf
 

 

 Not only is it a handsome paint scheme but the Turkish markings make it look a bit different from the roundels and stars I'm used to. 

Next step: I needed an early model P40 - a Tomahawk rather than the later Kittyhawk variant with the longer fuselage and bigger chin radiator.  After a quick visit to Pompey's Waterlooville Models I came away with this.

 I am really looking forward to building a kit with those useful little pegs and holes again.

  I have just discovered two more issues though.

 

Problem One.


 Why is it that no matter how many paints I have in my box, I never have the right ones?  I managed to find 5 tins of dark green and none of them are the right bloody shade. 

  I may just use what I've got and hope nobody sharp-eyed makes a fuss. 

Problem 2.


 Oh dear.  I think I need some new brushes. 

 

Join me next time as I actually start glueing shit together.

 

That's All Folks. 


 


 
 

 

Sunday 8 November 2020

Film Review: Legend of The Shadowy Ninja: The Ninja Dragon (1990)

 Genre; Ninjasploitation. 

  Schoolgirl Shinobu Shindo is proclaimed head of her Yakuza family and as such, receives a family heirloom: A little bell on a necklace that summons three mysterious ninja sworn to protect her clan.  

  Meanwhile a pair of  ruthless killers are knocking off Yakuza bigwigs in brutal and messy fashion.  

  Gee, I wonder if those Ninja Defenders are going to be needed anytime soon. 

 Last night I watched 1917, which is a superb piece of film making on almost every level and I absolutely loved it. 

 "Legend... " is not a superb piece of film-making, or even a particularly good film but I still enjoyed it, albeit for vastly different reasons. 

 The acting is variable in the sense that everybody either emotes with all the intensity of damp cardboard or mugs ferociously to camera. At one point I became worried that one guy was going to be injured by his own flailing eyebrows.  

  The special effects are distinctly low budget but as seems to be common with this sort of Asian film, are definitely memorable. I couldn't help being impressed - sort of - by the guy getting his face peeled off like a bit of chicken skin on a drumstick. Then there's the monster at the end. 

 Yes that's right. A film  about warring Yakuza that already has mystic ninja in it, then ramps things up even more with rubber monsters. If I just say that this whole thing was created by Go "I am the Stan Lee of  exploitation manga" Nagai then it might make more sense. 

   Really, this is a live action anime right down to the OTT, hot-blooded speechifying. Accept that and everything makes more sense. 

  The big bonus for me was having a pair of  Joshi Puroresu superstars in supporting roles. You get Mayumi Ozaki being chillingly effective as "Female Killer" while Cutey Suzuki is on the side of good as a Ninja Defender. Naturally they square off in an epic martial-arts battle...um... a surprisingly technical wrestling match that goes on for quite a while. It's a strange interlude in a movie that isn't short of strange moments anyway. 

Despite the low-budget, the shonky effects, dodgy acting and a story that they might have made up as they went along, I found myself enjoying "Legend of the Shadowy Ninja." because it's so entertainingly daft that you just end up going along with it.   If you like the schlockier end of Asian cinema, this might be for you. 

WARNING: Do not confuse this film with the 1986 Godfrey Ho  cut n' shut effort "Ninja Dragon" which is an unwatchable trainwreck and doesn't have any lady wrestlers in it. 


Screenshot time.

Shinobu gets pensive.  "If I'm the star of this film how come I don't do anything remotely useful?"

 Look at me! I'm the comic relief. Aren't you lucky.

 This shot is cool and you know it. 
 
Ninja Defenders Assemble. 
Dude, you're breaking the Bro Code big time. 

 That's not how a gun works.

Suddenly  Yakuza, hundreds of them.  

Yakuza Assassin v Mystic Ninja in some extreme hugging!
 
That's All Folks!


 

















 

 

 


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Labels

#HeavyMetal (246) #TheMetalProject (228) Advice (2) Airboy (2) aircraft (27) album covers (115) Alestorm (2) Andrew j Offutt (1) angels (1) anime (22) AOR (10) art and stuff (28) Attractive women. (98) B-reaction (1) Barbarion (1) Beasty Girls (1) Big D is going to lose his temper in a minute. (4) Big D talks bollocks (36) Big D talks bollocks. (38) Big D talks bollocks. aircraft (2) Black Metal (3) blatant fanservice (154) blatant plug (5) BOLOS (1) Books (49) Boston Wrestling 1964 (1) British comics (21) bunny (1) Buses (3) Captain America (1) carrier bags (1) cars (2) cartoons (12) Catgirl Nuku Nuku (1) Catwoman (1) Change 123 (1) Charleston wrestling 1964 (1) Cheapo DVD Review (75) Children (1) Chingford (1) Christmas (4) Clouds (1) comics (31) Dale rambles about stuff. (1) David Gibbins (1) Dejah Thoris (1) dinosaurs (13) dogs (2) doing stuff badly. (1) Dragonforce (1) dreams (1) DUKW (1) DVD artists are lying bastards (23) Elvis impersonators (1) Eric Roberts will work for food (3) European wrestling 1964 (1) eurovision (20) eurovision Metal Contest (6) fantasy (9) Fathers Day (1) female cyborgs (1) Film (158) films (50) First Squad (1) gardening (1) German Comics (3) Getting started. (1) Ghosts (1) gig (3) Goolie abuse (4) gorgons (1) Grappling Gertie (4) Green Lantern (1) Guest post (2) Hard Gay (1) Harley Quinn (1) Hawkgirl (1) Heavy Metal Artwork Blog (121) Heavy Metal Blog (96) Heavy Metal Cover Girls (95) History (3) Horror (31) Islamic Metal (1) Judge Anderson (2) Kobra And The Lotus. (1) Lawnmower Deth (2) Lesbian Bed Death (2) List (16) Lords Of The Trident (3) Manga (11) marrow fighting (1) Martial Arts (14) Maryland wrestling 1964 (1) massive shoulderpads (1) Matthew Reilly (2) men's issues (6) Merlin (1) metal (329) Metal Christmas (1) Metal songs about metal (229) mimi hagiwara (1) MinamICon (1) Mind Wars (1) models (19) monkeys (2) Monsters Of Rock (2) MRAs (1) museums (8) music (31) music from the weird aprt of Youtube (3) music from the weird part of Youtube (2) music that gets under my skin. (2) Neil Peart RIP. (1) Nice cover (2) Nicholas Eames. (1) Night Fighters (1) Nightside (1) Noot noot (1) NWOBHM (3) Oatcakes (1) Olympics (1) photos (3) pinup (1) ponies (6) Portsmouth (13) Power Girl (2) power metal (1) puroresu (2) Rain (1) rant (19) Redheads (7) Roswell Conspiracies (2) rules (2) Sci-Fi (45) sexy witches (6) shame about the book. (2) Sharktopus (1) Sigismund (1) silliness (1) Southsea (15) Southsea Food Festival 2022 (1) spiders (1) Spitfires (4) Sport is bollocks (1) Starblazer (1) Stockings (1) Storm Eunice 2022 (1) Story (9) Strike Witches (1) Strip magazine (1) Stuff with armoured cars (1) Stuff with axemurdering lumberjacks (1) Stuff with B36 Bombers (1) Stuff with big flying lizards (12) Stuff with Black Metal Catgirls (1) Stuff with blokes in kilts. (2) stuff with cute banshees. (2) Stuff with enormous birds (1) Stuff With Flying Fruit (1) Stuff with Giant Crabs. (3) Stuff with giant Germans singing about sausage. Music from the weird part of Youtube. (1) Stuff with Girls In Eyepatches (3) Stuff with Gladiators (8) stuff with kickboxing teachers. (1) Stuff with killer cricketers (1) Stuff with Killer Rabbits (1) stuff with killer snails (1) Stuff With Killer Unicorns (1) stuff with Maoris (1) Stuff with mermaids (1) Stuff with Nazi Vampires (3) Stuff with Ninjas (3) Stuff with Psycho Coppers (1) Stuff with Robot Maids (1) Stuff with Roller Derby (1) stuff with rollerskating Muses (1) Stuff with soulsucking mummies. (2) Stuff with strippers (3) Stuff with talking statues (2) Stuff with Vikings (3) Stuff with violent clowns (1) Stuff With Walking Fish (2) Stuff with weird Kiwis (1) Stuff with werewolves (5) Stuff with Wolves (1) stuffed animals (1) Stupid films about sharks (10) Synthwave (4) tanks (5) Tarkan (1) Taya Valkyrie (1) Terrible Metal Album Covers (28) Terrible songs (1) Terry Pratchett. (1) The Band (1) The Hangover pt 2 (1) The Lost Fleet (1) The Metal Project (226) Thundercats (1) Ticket Tales. (1) Top Ten (6) Toy soldiers (9) Truffle (1) Turkish films (2) Ultimate Metal Playlist (9) Valentine (2) Valkyrie (2) Vampires (8) videos (1) voyager (1) War Films (4) Warships (1) weird crushes (5) weird shit (7) White Pigeon (1) women in blindfolds (2) Women with Scythes (1) women with spears (5) women with swords (52) women with wings (7) women's wrestling (50) womens wrestling comics (13) womens' wrestling movies. (1) Wrestling (33) Wrestling Books (5) Wrestling Magazines (15) wrestling October 1964 (1) WTF? Japan (10) WW2 (1) Yamato (2) you do this shit deliberately don't you? (1) Zombie Films (6)