Tuesday, 28 July 2026

Pontoon bridge Terrain 32 and some Bavarian chevaulegers WIP

 Here are some elderly airfix pontoons I came across in a box from the loft that I'd forgotten I had and some spare Rendra pontoons. Inspired by Aly's (relatively) recent engineering post I thought I'd build a few  pontoon bridges from them, the first one had the bridge boards from the warfayre pontoon set (it was spare as I'm using the pontoons on their carriages, so they were redundant but waste not want not!) the second set of bridge boards were scratch built from card, balsa, matchsticks and mostly the ever present coffee stirrers, mostly cut in the car!


With my 100 years war figure for scale. I think Im going to need some wider river sections!

The third set uses the spare Rendra pontoons and scratch built boards as before, I've added vertical posts with rope on them at the end of the bridges which I've seen in some illustrations and gives a bit of lift I think.





With added cavalry for scale.


Primed in Halfords brown,a bit darker than the Army painter leather brown and finished with a bit of emulsion, I think they'll do for a number of periods,  I know they're 1/72 WW2 but they're probably going to see action from at least the Great Italian Wars  onwards (mainly for the Spanish) and possibly earlier, all in glorious 28mm! 

Oh and for Chris some WIP shots of my snide Bavarian chevaulegers, Perry French post Bardin chasseurs with Victrix heads on Warlord ECW horses with portmanteas from wargames factory WAS cavalry ( very dissapointing horses, couldnt mount Austrian dragoons on them, might do as Spanish mounts or end up pulling carts!) Oh and light cavalry horse heads courtesy of Perry British light dragoons, theres a couple of warlord chasseurs/ lancer bodies in the mix  there too!



And finally, at last,I've got something done for Daves summer of scenery!

All the best 

Iain 

48 comments:

  1. Brilliant stuff Iain the bridges are great but I love your conversions ๐Ÿ‘

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    1. Thanks Matt, yes I like the conversions too!
      Best Iain

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  2. Great job on your engineering project!

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  3. Nice work on the pontoon bridges and chevaulegers Iain. I recognise the pontoons. That was a nice little Airfix set.

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    1. Thanks Lawrence, Ive had them since at least the mid 1970s so about 50 years!
      Best Iain

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  4. Great work Iain. They will look fantastic on the table.

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  5. Great work Iain! They have turned out really well! Best wishes, Jason

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  6. very good and of course always nice to see something that touches the nostalgia button (Airfix bridge pontoons .... that in my teenage years carried many a commando unit to shore!). Bridge planks, ribs and poles are very nicely brought together.

    What are you thinking about for wider rivers? The Last Valley do some wide sections. Would it be worth making your own wide section and making it part of the bridge model and then have that section thin down on both sides to mate with your current river width?

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    1. Thanks Norm, yes nostalgia 101, but I thought Id put them to work! Im going to make some wider river sections to match what Ive already made, if I can remember what I used and the paints havent gone off!
      Best Iain

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  7. Hi Iain,

    Splendid work on those pontoon bridges! Repurposing vintage Airfix and Rendra parts with coffee stirrers is proper wargaming ingenuity, and they’ll serve you brilliantly across almost any era.

    Cheers, Andy

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    1. Thanks very much Andy, as I said on your blog your post on pontoon rules was timely!
      Best Iain

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    2. Glad it was useful! It’s funny how hobby timing works out like that sometimes. I’m looking forward to seeing those bridges put to good use on your table!

      Cheers, Andy

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  8. The pontoon bridges look great Iain, as do your new Napoleonic cavalry conversions!

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  9. Great combination on the Pontoon bridges, they look really effective all together, and great looking cavalry.

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    1. Thanks Dave and at least Ill have something to show for the summer!
      Best Iain

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  10. Excellent work on the Pontoon bridge Iain! Looking forward to see the Cavalry all painted up as well!

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    1. Thanks Ray, theyve got something like four units of Austrian hussars, a French hussar unit, lancers,chasseurs,Polish guard lancers,another unit of grenzers, four units of Hungarians, three units of Westphalians, so they might be a while?!
      Best Iain

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  11. Super looking bridges! And the cavalry look promising too.

    Kind Regards,

    Stokes

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  12. Very nicely modelled Iain, they should look great on the table. Another vote for looking forward to seeing the cavalry painted up.

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    1. Thanks Donnie, yes I look forward to the Bavarian cavalry being painted up but it might be a while!
      Best Iain

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  13. The bridges look great Iain! They'd do well for a WW2 Eastern Front game too I think.

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    1. Yes I think youre right there Dai!
      Best Iain

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  14. Excellent engineering on the bridges!

    "snide Bavarian chevaulegers" - those fancy cavalry on their high horses. Probably twirling their mustaches, too. ha ha

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    1. Thanks Fitz, I actually meant it as slang, like bent for non legitimate copies but I prefer your version, I keep looking at them and thinking of the chap who has mutley in whacky races cartoons from the 1970s!
      Best Iain

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    2. Ah, I didn't know of that slang usage. It made me think of Snidely Whiplash. Probably related to the Whacky Races chap. :D
      (not to mention Professor Fate and Terry Thomas)

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  15. Those bridges look sensational after the 'full Iain'! More wonderful conversions too. Bavarian chevaulรฉgers are really attractive units.
    Best wishes, James

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    1. Thanks James, Im looking forward to them as likely they will be after a big dose of hussars, so they will be a nice pallet cleanser!
      Best Iain

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  16. Top stuff Iain…
    Lovely conversions …

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Thanks Aly and thanks for posting your engineers to inspire this post!
      Best Iain

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  17. Iain. Lovely work Three no less? A couple games with these no doubt. Interesting conversion work on the cavalry.

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    1. Thanks Joe, I was going to do two but had the boats for three, so figured I may as well do three as it wouldnt really use up any more time!
      Best Iain

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  18. Nicely done and always useful elements, I really like what I see here

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  19. Lovely bit of woodwork. Those are some seriously awesome bridges. Stark reminder that I could do with similar...

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    1. Always nice to act as an aide memoire!
      Best Iain

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  20. They've come out brilliantly there Iain and it reminds me that I have intended to make something similar for some years now, but never gotten around to it. Nice work on the figures too:)!

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    1. Well, I think Ive probably been meaning to do it for ages too, nice to get it over the line!
      Best Iain

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