Holidays 2018 - Dorset and Wales

Hi folks,

Sorry for the lack of posting recently, I've been off gallivanting around the south of England and the middle of Wales!

Hobby wise, I had the chance to pick up the new Team Yankee book 'Free Nations' as well as a few FoW bits and bobs which have been sequestered away by the lady wife for my birthday. I also managed to pick up a few interesting books - 'Fighting the Invasion', which is full of translated German reports relating to D-Day and 'Assault Crossing', which covers the 49th Wessex Divisions crossing of the Seine. '6 Armies in Normandy' is also interesting, covering the perspective of various forces fighting in Normandy. From the Tank Museum, I also picked up some copies of documents regarding my grandfathers regiment and a book about modelling Sherman tanks.

Hobby wise, as usual I took along some stuff to build - having first asked permission! I find that taking some stuff with me to assemble in an evening means I then don't have to spent as much time building models at home when I could be painting them...

German halftracks from PSC and Battlefront (the Battlefront ones were by far the easier to assemble). 4 of the PSC ones are built as 'Stummels' using the PSC upgrade kit, while one is built as a 'standard' 251/1D transport. Two of the PSC ones will be HMG carriers while the other two have been upgraded to Mortar carriers, again using the PSC upgrade sprues.

Another 5 German Panzer IV's, from PSC, And a single Tiger, also from PSC. All now filed away awaiting their turn in the painting queue. Having just painted 12 Panzer IV's I do feel like I should start on those I've just built, but at the same time I'm a pit sick of painting Panzer IV's and I've still got German armour in the painting queue currently!

Locations wise, I got to spend a day in the archives at the Tank Museum and Bovington as well as a visit to the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovil.

I also stumbled across a 'vintage vehicle rally' which had a load of WW2 stuff:

And a couple of random plinths in some of the seaside villages we visited:

As well as the obligatory Welsh castle - which also included an ECW battlefield:

View of the Battlefield site from the castle grounds

All that remains of the castle...

 And with views like this:

It's easy to see why someone would build a Castle up there in the first place! It offered views into both England and Wales, I understand.

I also saw a load of these both on the ground and in the air:

As well as F-15's, V-22 Ospreys, Chinooks and Hawks in flight over Wales and Dorset.

Other than the hobby and military stuff (which is, as usual, my main focus when it's about), we had a lovely time in both countries, with the weather being amazing in the second week and the only failing of the Welsh holiday home being the internet - but it had a pool and a hottub, which made up for that slightly. It was also set in a very rural location up on a hillside with some stunning views. We travelled a lot to the seaside, ate bucket loads of ice cream and tried to keep cool! Great couple of weeks!