Perytion

The Perytion inhabits the island of Atlantis, and is a creature half stag, half bird. It possesses the head and feet of the stag, and as for the body, it is that of a perfect bird, with all its feathers and plumage.

The most astonishing feature of this beast is that when it is struck by the rays of the sun, the shadow it throws upon the ground is not that of its own figure, but rather that of a human being...

- The Book of Imaginary Beings

The Perytion is the creation of Jorge Luis Borges, though he cites fictional sources for the origins of the creature. In the AD&D Monster Manual, the name is spelled "Peryton" and the monster does not have the feet of a stag, but it is more-or-less the same beast described in The Book of Imaginary Beings.

The illustration by Peter Sis in the 2006 publication of The Book of Imaginary Beings shows the creature as a winged stag.

The winged stag is sometimes used in medieval imagery, but most likely had nothing to do with the Perytion.

Anyway, the choices for 1/72 perytons is pretty limited, with the two candidates that I own both being released in this year.

On the left is a peryton from the D&D Fantasy Miniatures Icons of the Realms line (Elemental Evil #23), while on the right is a Reaper peryton (Dark Heaven Legends 03702), sculpted by Julie Guthrie.

The D&D miniatures peryton is a bit small, and is probably better suited for 15mm figures. The body and wings are nicely sculpted, but the head looks a bit weird (perhaps reflecting the new Brynn Metheney design).

The Reaper peryton on the other hand is a bit large, but since it has horns like that of Megaloceros, I'm going to give it a pass with regard to scale. I don't particuarly care for the long reptilian tail, so I'll probably try to hunt around for some proper tailfeathers to use as a replacement.

Reaper will be releasing the peryton as a Reaper Bones miniature later this year. I'm not sure how the antlers will turn out in plastic, since I had to do a bit of adjustment with the metal ones to get them looking symmetrical.

Assembly instructions

This post provides some instructions for assembly of the Plastic Soldier Company 6-pounder anti-tank gun from the British 6pdr Anti-tank Gun and Loyd Carrier Tow kit (WW2G20004), and some Verlinden fuel and oil carts from the Airbase Flight-line Accessories kit (2627).

For whatever reason, no instructions were provided for the assembly of these models, so I put them together as near as I could figure after doing some research.

The 6-pounder is actually pretty simple to put together, but some actual instructions would have saved a lot of time that was spent fitting parts to see how everything was supposed to go together.

In typical PSC fashion, the diagram showing the layout of the parts is somewhat different from the actual layout on the sprue.

The critical piece for the 6-pounder is part 16. Be careful when removing it from the sprue because the plastic is rather soft, and the piece can bend or break.

This side up

I used a 1.15mm drill to widen the holes in the carriage chassis (part 16) to allow the trail legs and cannon to fit in place without having to use too much force. The increased diameter seems to be just about right, allowing the parts to move without being overly loose.

1) Attach part 16 to part 7. Glue is probably not necessary because the fit is pretty secure, but I used some liquid cement anyway.

Make sure part 16 is in the correct orientation.

2) Glue part 17 to part 15. I positioned the sight parallel with the barrel.

3) Glue the barrel (part 15) to part 9.

4) Insert the trail legs (parts 1 and 2) into the corresponding [left and right] holes in the carriage chassis (part 16).

5) Attach the cannon (part 15) and wheels (part 14) to the carriage chassis (part 16). Glue the tow hoop (part 6) to the trail leg.

Part 6 glued to part 1

I wasn't sure if the tow hoop was supposed to be attached to the left or right trail leg. In the 1/35 world, Tamiya and Bronco 6-pounders have the hoop attached to the right trail leg, while the AFV Club and Riich kits have it attached to the left. Maybe it can be on either side, who knows?

Anyway, the model is rather simplified, but it looks decent and assembles quickly.

For resin kits, I've become pretty accustomed to having minimal to no instructions. The problem with this particular set from Verlinden is that the models are very obscure, and I was almost unable to find any good pictures of the assembled models, much less pictures of the actual oil and fuel carts they are supposed to represent.

The set includes one fuel cart, and two oil carts. I assigned some part numbers in the picture below.

Fuel cart assembly:

Used pin for front axle to allow wheels to pivot.

* indicates location of hose reel which needs to be scratchbuilt.

Oil cart assembly:

* indicates location of lever that needs to be scratchbuilt.

Used pin in front axle.

Oil drum trolley assembly:

* indicates location of tow arm that needs to be scratchbuilt.

The Verlinden models are nicely cast in a firm resin that is very easy to cut. Once all of the parts are identified, it's actually pretty intuitive where each of the pieces are supposed to go.

The only unclear part is with respect to the location of the rear axles of the carts, since there are no guides as to where they should be positioned.

Hopefully these instructions will be of some use to someone out there.