MOAR!! Flames of War 8th Army Tanks and Artillery

Cleaning up a few remnants of boxed sets I've bought for the Western Desert project. I'd already painted the Grants from the "Monty's Desert Rats" box but that left these three Crusaders and the two artillery pieces to do. First up, the armour...

Here are the three Crusaders, equipped with 6-pounder guns (I'm concentrating on "after-El-Alamein"). As usual I picked out one to have a commander sticking out of the hatch. Camo was two-colour in keeping with the rest of the force. 

The Battlefront material had limited images of the Crusader so I had to look on the web to see how the camo looked on the "other side" of the vehicle. Fortunately "Key Model World" came to the rescue with copious photos of a 1/32 Airfix build here. Thanks John Bonanni!

As with all of the British armour, the tanks were painted Light Earth as a base, with camo done in Castellan Green highlighted Deathworld Forest. The whole thing was washed Agrax Earthshade then re-highlighted in the base colours, and lastly chipped with German Camo Black-Brown on a sponge.

I also had one Honey built so I painted that too. It's a model from Plastic Soldier Company and don't be too hard on me if you see inaccuracies in the build... I basically wanted to replicate the sand-skirted model that Battlefront makes but I'm not sure I built exactly the right combo of top hatch and skirts... looks fine to me if I squint.

These are certainly iconic little desert tanks aren't they! I still have four more to build...

Now to the guns! The box set came with two sprues that could built as either 25-pounder field guns or 17/25-pounder antitank guns. But since we have the means, I figured why not make the tubes swappable and have both??

The accessories and crew for the models are great. Here we see a 25-pounder.

And here are the models with the 17-pounder tube swapped in for maximum anti-tank capability.

Easy to do, really - that's a small disc magnet in between the trunnion supports...

...and on the 17-pounder tube there's a 2mm spacer and another disc magnet. The 25-pounder tube didn't need a magnet and adding one would lower the muzzle too much anyway, so I just added a small piece of very thin sheet metal to stick to the magnet. Easy swapping and nothing is visible.

And there you go, some more models for Conscript Hugh to figure into the British army list for our next desert clash.

Toodles! 

8th Army Machinegun Platoon, Heavy Weapons and Company Command

Gearing up for a birthday Flames of War game on Thanksgiving weekend, I thought I'd better finish the Brits before moving on to painting the Afrika Korps infantry contingent. So this weekend I painted a machinegun platoon of four Vickers .303s and crew, the Boys AT rifle and 2' mortar teams from the second infantry platoon, and two stands to represent the company command.

 

First off - the machinegun platoon. These models are from Forged in Battle and are pretty nice. You get four machineguns and 12 crewmen for 10 GBP. As you might recall from my previous FiB post there was a bit of post-delivery followup required as I didn't get enough gunners for the MGs, but fortunately that was sorted.

 

They're pretty nice models. The guns and tripods are one piece which makes putting it all together quite easy.

There are two variations of the "third crewman" - one kneeling and one prone with binoculars.

These will come in handy in the desert if I can get some German infantry done!

Next up are some heavy weapons for the second infantry platoon. As you might recall the platoon was mostly from FiB, but they only supply one Boys AT rifle team and one 2" mortar team in their platoon pack, so I needed to go elsewhere for a second Boys team and mortar team. Where else but Peter Pig?

 

The Piggies supply the models in 8-figure packs - two moving teams and two prone. The prone models are too long to fit on a Flames of War small base (booo!) but the moving ones are great, so that's what I used. Above, Boys AT rifle team.

 

Here's the 2" mortar team. A little bit harder to determine how they're armed at first glance but the assistant is carrying a large box of mortar bombs.

Lastly we have the company command stands! These are also from Peter Pig.

Great character in these models, I love the officers gesticulating enthusiastically while the poor sod on the radio looks on with a bemused expression. Check out the mustache on the Major!

The second stand's models are also from Peter Pig. In fact I had to pinch a rifleman from the Boys AT pack - he is the assistant gunner from the second "moving" team and really came in handy.

I think I've discovered a repeatable basing technique for these Flames of War models - I paint the infantry on popsicle sticks, then superglue them down to the black-primed bases. Next I prepare a slurry of basing gel tinted with brown paint and apply it to the base. The groundwork is painted with Khaki and drybrushed Rakarth Flesh. Finally the static grass and tufts are applied.

With that, the infantry company is ready for a game. Next up 'll paint the Afrika Korps infantry - but looking at the Flames of War army list there aren't nearly as many of 'em, which is fine by me. Stay tuned for that in the next two weeks.

Toodles! 
 

The Western Desert - Now in 15mm! (Plastic Soldier Co and Battlefront for starters)

So... here's the start of another insane project. Following in the footsteps of Conscript Greg, I've started the Western Desert in another scale, this time 15mm.

But there is definitely a method to my madness here. As I worked on the Yom Kippur War escalation I began to accumulate an unfeasible amount of 15mm desert terrain, including but not limited to the buildings in the pic above, and a crazy amount of palm trees. So it only makes sense to start more 15mm desert projects to helpfully amortize the terrain I already have. Right...?

Anyway, I've decided to build a couple forces for Flames of War (the multi-figure basing helps differentiate it in my mind from Bolt Action's individual-figure basing) and I fell into a couple great deals on Battlefront sets. These have been started in on with vigour...

I picked up a box called "Dietrich's Ghosts" from Meeplemart in Toronto, last time I was there. This isn't a "desert" set per se but includes three Pzkpfw IIIs, three Pzkpfw IVs, and four 105mm howitzers. So far I've finished the tanks - the IIIs are in the first photo and the IVs are above.

I did a mix of main guns... the IIIs have one short and two long 50mm guns, and the IVs have one short and two long 75mm guns (the latter being the infamous "Mk IV Specials"). The models were assembled (easy!), primed black, then basecoated XV-88, painted Tallarn Sand, washed with Agrax Earthshade, then panel-painted Tallarn again. Battlefront decals were applied then the model was sponge-chipped with German Camo Black-Brown. Lastly the stowage was painted and washed.

I use a lot of stowage on these Western Desert tanks, some is from the Battlefront sprues but a bunch of it came from Redog in the UK.

Next up I did some Shermans from Plastic Soldier Company. For some reason the early M4 kits are near-impossible to find, but I had a cunning plan... The M4 "wet stowage" Shermans were never used by the British in the desert of course, but the PSC sprues also include small turrets for the 75mm gun, sand skirts, and all the stuff you need to make an earlier Sherman II/M4A1.

I've read that the PSC kits are a bit dodgy on strict accuracy (for one thing, the 75mm Sherman never came with a travel lock on the hull) but I think our group will let that go. The cast rounded hulls look great to me and that's the main thing. Assembly was fairly straightforward but the tracks were a bit tricky... cast in two pieces (top and bottom) and a couple of the models needed some greenstuff filling. Battlefront commander fits well and looks cool. 

These tanks were fully stowaged-out too. The models were basecoated with AK Light Earth, camo was done with Castellan Green, then the whole thing was washed down with Agrax. Then the Light Earth was redone on the panels and the camo highlighted with Death World Forest. Battlefront decals snuck in there too. Since the Shermans only appeared for El Alamein I kept the chipping to a minimum, since these tanks are pretty new after all.

The last thing was to hit the models with matte varnish... and I am so happy to say that these were finished with TESTORS DULLCOTE! Yes it's back!! The best matte finish I've ever used, long out of production, but now available once again, it makes me very happy.

Toodles and heia Safari!

Back to the Western Desert: 1/48 Matilda and Perry Afrika Korps

Back to the Western Desert indeed! In preparation for an El Alamein game I recently hosted, I built and painted this 1/48 Tamiya Matilda (yes I know Matildas weren't really a big deal in '42) and some really nice Perry Miniatures Germans. On with the show! 

The model was pretty straightforward to assemble, as are most Tamiya 1/48 kits. But nowadays rather than having a metal lower hull, the newer Tamiya kits are all plastic - albeit with some solid metal tubes to insert inside the hull to add some nice weight to the model.

I painted the model in a weathered Caunter camo pattern. And if you've ever read anything about Caunter camo, you know it's controversial! Some say blue, some say grey, some green... who knows. But I think this ended up looking OK. The base tan is AK Deck Tan, the blue is Thunderhawk Blue, and the slate grey is Vallejo German Uniform. 

For Christmas I got a box of AK Interactive paints and washes - "Rust and Staining" edition. Pretty good stuff and has come in handy, I used the Dark and Light Rust on the exhaust mufflers.

There was a bottle of German Camo Black-Brown in that box as well and I love that stuff, especially for sponge chipping. I used to mix craft black paint and GW Rhinox Hide but I love the pre-mixed GCBB for this work.

I used some of the kit decals on the kit but not all of the ones that were provided for "Defiance". This was because there was already stowage and junk stuck on the turret where the decals were supposed to go. Anyway it's a nice model and I think it turned out OK. 

And here's some models from Perry Miniatures - the German Zug/Platoon Command pack. Really nice models just as you'd expect from the twins. They're painted just like the other Perry Germans I've done thus far. If you're interested you can have a look at some here.
 

You get an MG-34 gunner and assistant...

An officer in some rather casual clothing and a runner...

And an anti-tank rifleman enjoying a drink with an NCO. I made the sign for our recent game, it's from a 1/35 Italeri kit. I used a 0.1mm technical pen for the lettering and skull and crossbones. I love stuff like this as it adds so much to the gaming battlefield.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed looking, back to the brushes! 

Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge XIII Submission #1 - Opening Salvo

 This may seem more like a collection of random shots rather than a concentrated salvo, but it clears away a number of small projects associated with my various Bolt Action armies, specifically my early war Poles, early war Germans, and late war British.

 Last year I started the challenge by painting a squad of the Polish 10th Motorized Brigade. One squad just wasn't enough, so I added a second squad from the Warlord Games Bolt Action range. These were painted using Vallejo acrylics followed by a coat of Army Painter Strong Tone Quick Shade. Since you can't be a motorized brigade without some motor transport, I have added four Polish Fiat trucks to move them around the battlefield. These are 3D prints done by a friend. One of the truck beds came out a bit warped and my attempts to fix it were unsuccessful. In the end I scratch-built a replacement from thin plastic card. These were also painted with Vallejo acrylics followed by a wash of Vallejo European Dust.

Polish 10th Motorized Brigade squad (Last year's squad taking cover in the background)
 

 

A column of Polish Fiat trucks

 

 

 Since many of the scenarios in the 'Germany Strikes' campaign book involve command tanks, I decided to add a Panzerbefehlswagen I (aka Sd.Kfz. 265). This is a 3 piece resin casting from Warlord Games with metal bits such as the machine gun, hatches, and commander. The pose of the commander had his right arm extended to rest on a turret hatch, but it didn't match up with the location of the hatch on the tank model. I decided to remove the arm and replace it with one holding a pair of binoculars that was left over from a German Blitzkrieg Infantry sprue. The tank was primed black using Vallejo Surface Primer and painted grey using AK Interactive Dunkelgrau. Highlights were dry brushed onto raised surfaces and some AK Splatter Effects Dry Mud applied to the tracks and road wheels. Since the theme of the special challenges this year is a movie studio, I also painted up a Propagandakompanie cameraman, also from Warlord Games. It was painted using Vallejo acrylics followed by various Citadel washes.

 

 

Cameraman filming a command tank during the invasion of Poland

Panzerbefehlswagen I of the 4th Panzer Division

 

Cameraman of a German Army propaganda company

 

 Next up is a Churchill Crocodile flamethrower tank of the 79th Armoured Division in Normandy. I got another Corgi diecast Churchill tank from another member of the Fawcett Avenue Conscripts that was painted up for Tunisia in Desert Yellow and Olive Green camouflage hoping to use it with my planned 8th Army project, but the yellow on the model didn't look very desert. Last year I had repainted one in the colours of the the 14th Tank Regiment (Calgary Tanks) at Dieppe, but I didn't need anymore Dieppe tanks. I decided to convert it to a Crocodile using a resin conversion kit from Quarter Kit Model Shop in Paris, France. This was basically the armoured trailer that carried the fuel for the flamethrower, and the special nozzle that replaced the hull machine gun.  The resin of the kit was quite brittle, and a few pieces arrived broken despite being shipped in a blister. With the careful application of some super glue followed by a sprinkling of baking soda, everything got repaired and assembled. Both tank and trailer were primed in black and then painted with Vallejo UK Bronze Green. Raised surfaces got dry brushed with a light green, and the lower areas of the tank were given a wash of European Dust.

 

 

Side view showing how the trailer was attached to the tank.

 

View from above showing the special nozzle in place of the hull MG

 

Next we have a small bit of terrain. Last year I painted a stone bridge as part of my first submission, so it seems appropriate to finish this submission with a broken bridge. The two halves are actually display bases that came with 1/72 Matchbox Sherman Firefly kits when they were released back in 1974. I no longer have the tanks, but I still had the display bases in one of my boxes of terrain building bits. A number of different ideas have been bouncing around in my head over the years, including building the center portion of the span that could be lifted out in a scenario where the bridge gets blown, a partially constructed repair done by engineers, or incorporating the two halves into a more elaborate river crossing with a ruined central support of a two arched bridge. I am not entirely sure what final direction I will take, so I am going to call this 'Under Construction'.

 

 

A bridge over troubled waters?

 

Thanks for reading.