Finished: 15mm Polish Cromwell OP

Hi folks,

Another random unit completed. 

I'd found myself with a spare Cromwell kit from PSC and decided to turn it into an artillery observation post tank. 

I snipped the normal muzzle from the 75mm gun, making it look (hopefully) like a fake gun. 

While I don't think it's historically accurate, I've marked this model up as a OP tank from 2 Pulk Artylerii Motorowej (2nd Polish Motorised Artillery Regiment) of the 1st Polish Armoured Division. I've already completed a Sherman OP tank for this unit, but thought it was a good use of this spare hull. 

I've used my usual combination of decals, added a fishing line aerial and based using my usual basing technique. 

Finished: 15mm Polish Cromwell Squadron

Hi folks, 

Given the number of similar Cromwell posts, I decided to hold back making more till I had the full squadron finished. With these now done, I though I would show off the whole lot. These are 15mm Plastic Soldier Company Cromwell tanks representing vehicles from C Squadron, 10 Pulk Strzelcow Konnych (10th Mounted Rifle Regiment), 1st Polish Armoured Division around the 8th August 1944. Attached units include a troop of Stuarts from HQ Squadron, and a battery of Polish M10 Tank Destroyers from 1 Pułk Artylerii Przeciwpancernej (1st Anti-Tank Regiment).

#3 troop

#4 troop

Group shot of the whole project, along with the associated progress tracker:

The only option not completed currently are the attached HQ Squadron Crusader AA tanks. These seem to be out of stock in the UK currently and I've decided they are not much of a priority being an attached asset (and I've already got 4 painted, 2 of which are for another Polish unit). I also still need to paint crew figures for the various vehicles, which should be a minor job other than the need to make them fit the PSC turret hatches. 

Having had the unit line up, I may also add some small pennants or something to the Squadron HQ tanks, just to make them stand out a little. However, lacking in turret numbers or any other distinguishing markings, the 'line' tanks are pretty interchangeable between troops. 

Finished: 15mm Polish Cromwells #2 Troop

Hi folks,

I've been continuing to use what spare time I can get beyond the demands of parenthood to focus on my Polish Cromwell project over the last few weeks. While progress has been a bit slow on getting this particular troop completed, I've also done a small amount of work on troop #4 and a reasonable amount on troop #3.

As I covered in my previous blogs (1, 2 and 3) regarding this project, these are 15mm Plastic Soldier Company Cromwell tanks representing vehicles from No.2 troop, C Squadron, 10 Pulk Strzelcow Konnych, 1st Polish Armoured Division around the 8th August 1944.

I think I've found a solution to my recent photo lighting problem, and it appears to be related to the standard photo app on my Google Pixel 4 phone. I tried a different app, and the pictures came out a lot lighter, suggesting the app is doing something to make my photos much darker. 

In keeping with previous project posts, here is the painting plan with the most recent changes marked:

It's nice to be able to track myself crawling towards completion. I'm finding that the much more limited free time I have is focusing me a bit more. I'm not going to claim that I'm getting more done, by any means, but I feel like I spent a lot less time messing on with things and more time concentrating on using my time efficiently. If only I could do the same thing in my actual work...

I'm also at the stage where I am thinking about what come next. There are a few different things tickling my fancy, but one of the main things will be to revisit a previous project - my 24th Polish Lancers:

I'd previously painted three Stuarts for this list, before realising the Poles used the Stuart VI not the Stuart V's I'd painted. So I gained my first Canadian tanks, and these Poles are still missing their recce section. Revisiting may also be an opportunity to switch to 60x40mm bases on the Sherman tanks, which will free up storage space. Very much an admin job, but one I can achieve fairly quickly. 

Finished: 15mm Polish Cromwell #1 Troop

Hi folks,

Hobby time has been pretty limited of late, with little Alexander requiring a fair amount of time. Not that he does anything but sleep, but most of the time he just complains loudly and frequently if not asleep on me or Amy. My normal hobby time in the evening has taken a hit due to this. 

Still, I am permitted to duck away for an hour here and there in order to keep my hand in (and decompress a little, now that I am also back at work). 

The goal since the start of February was to make some progress on my first Cromwell troop, which paid off this weekend with the finishing touches done. 

These are 15mm Plastic Soldier Company models, painted up as tanks from No.1 troop, C Squadron, 10 Pulk Strzelcow Konnych, 1st Polish Armoured Division. As per the previous tanks, I'm assembling the unit to look as it may have done on 8th August 1944. 

Decals have been applied for the above unit. This caused me a massive headache - at the start of the project I cut out all the decals I would need and had them in a small ziplock back on my desk. I used these decals for the Stuarts back at the end of January. However, the bag has now vanished, and I can't find it anywhere. At this stage, I think in my sleep addled state I binned it by accident. As such, I had to cut out new ones (thankfully I had spares of the relevant unit markings). However, the loss was not good for my mental health as I go into a full obsessive OCD mode. Even now, writing about it, I'm fighting the urge to compulsively search locations I have already checked 5 or 6 times. 

The tanks are mounted on the 60mm by 40mm MDF bases that I plan to move all my large vehicles to. Aerials added using fishing line, with the command vehicle having two. No magnets required for the turrets, due to the PSC design of them having a 'pin' that connects to the hull. 

The tanks were painted using a pretty basic technique. Basecoat Russian Uniform (Vallejo 70.924) green, wash with a black wash (I'm no longer using my magic wash for this, as it stops the drybrush paint adhering very well), drybrush (with Mig Ammo Medium Green drybrush paint) and then tidy with the basecoat on the flat panels. Tools, tracks, etc then painted, washed and highlighted. I'm not spending a lot of time on the tracks now, as I hit them with the Tamiya weathering products after they have been varnished. This weathering powder never looks as good on the photos as it does in the flesh. 

Painting plan progress so far:

The AA platoon is back on the drawing board, as these don't seem to be in stock anywhere at the moment. 

Onto the next troop!

Finished: 15mm PSC Polish Cromwells (Command elements)

Hi folks,

As part of the AHPC this year, my goal is to make progress with my planned 15mm Cromwell tanks squadron as part of my Polish Armoured Division for Operation Totalize. Over the Christmas period I made some progress with the first five vehicles of this squadron, making up the HQ element, close support 95mm armed Cromwell section and an ARV Cromwell. 

These tanks are all decaled up to be part of C Squadron, 10 Pulk Strzelcow Konnych (10th Polish Mounted Rifle Regiment), 1st Polish Armoured Division. I'm representing this unit as of it's initial entry into combat in Normandy on 8 August 1944.

Thankfully from a modelling perspective, at the time of Operation Totalize this unit had only been in France for a short time. As such, period photos from 8 August 1944 show these tanks as being devoid of much stowage or any other paraphernalia. Photos from later in the campaign show a huge accumulation of additional track armour, stowage, etc. But to keep the painting simple, I only had to contend with a seemingly standard bundle of camo netting on the right rear deck. 

In keeping with my standard style, the command tanks have been given two aerials to help mark them out on the table. The Squadron commander will also be in the open hatch, once a suitable model is painted. These and the 95mm armed version are PSC models. 

The 95mm armed close support tanks have not been given a crew figure, but one of the two has been given twin aerials incase that becomes relevant during a game. In the v4 rules the CS tanks form part of the troop with the HQ tanks, rather than an individual unit. This may change in our home games. 

The ARV model was an old Battlefront resin and metal kit I had picked up years ago (the PSC tanks were assembled in 2016). No use for these rules wise now, but I will find a use for it on the table!

I've 12 more Cromwells to paint, along with 3 Stuarts to round out this force. I have picked up some Crusader AA tanks as well, which I am waiting on, and may add a Cromwell OP tank as I have a spare PSC kit. Not sure how much progress will be made before March - that will depend on the baby I suspect!

Painting plan wise, progress looks like this:

Polish Cromwell project - plans

Hi folks,

I'd moved away from doing work in progress posts, as I'm not sure they have a huge amount of value. However, this does mean that it can be a while between posts, especially when I get tied up in working multiple things and not finishing anything. No big deal really, but I like to keep myself active on blogger to a certain extent. I certainly check it several times a day to see what everyone else is posting, and want to make sure I am contributing. Anyway, this is just a bit of info on what I plan to be working on next.  

I had mentioned in my previous post having been working on some other bits and bobs as well as the Universal Carriers. This included sorting out a lot of PSC plastic Cromwells that I had assembled four years ago (!!!). All the vehicles required for the force were assembled where required, detailed with stowage (where appropriate), cleaned up and base coated with a Battlefront 'Firefly Green' spray. 

I was really really pleased to see from the reference pictures I have that going into Operation Totalize the Polish Cromwells were very bare of stowage. The only thing obvious was a bundle of camo netting on the right rear, which I've replicated. Later in the campaign, these vehicles were covered in 'stuff', but at this stage they were nice and clean - making assembly and painting that little bit faster. 

Disappointingly when I assembled my Cromwells using Poly Cement, I had the turret hatches opening to the turret sides, when most of the images I've seen have them opening front to back. Still, not much I can do about that now. 

Below are some images of Polish Cromwells in the correct period (August 1944). 

IWM Image

IWM Image

This project will be focusing on the Poles from C Squadron, 10 Pulk Strzelcow Konnych (10th Dragoons Regiment), 10 Brygada Kawalerii Pancernej (10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade), 1st Polish Armoured Division. In support will be a troop of M10Cs from the Polish Armoured Divisions 1 Pułk Artylerii Przeciwpancernej (1st Anti-Tank Regiment). This will fill a current gap in my collection of 17-pdr armed M10s. 

This is what the above looks like (with a Ram OP tank):

All sprayed at the same time - One Stuart has had the next hand painted primer coat, but the rest are all identical - just to show how much light changes the appearance in the picture. 

I've added my 'final' Highland Division infantry platoon to this plan (not in the picture above), just to keep track of them painting wise. 

I've marked the AA Platoon as optional - I like to have all the options for the FoW company charts, but I've already got 4 of these vehicles painted with another 2 planned for other units. I would need to buy more to fill out all the required models and they just don't seem hugely important at this point. I might pick up some of the new plastic ones in the future just to fill out this squadron. At the same time, this unit has been in the planning stages for so long that I already had the Battlefront resin Cromwell ARV. 

Annoyingly, I actually should have had two Cromwell ARVs - one of those few times I had bought duplicate stuff without realising. The 2nd option would have been a S&S Models conversion kit for a plastic PSC Cromwell. However, somewhat frustratingly, I've been unable to lay my hands on this conversion kit. The spare Cromwell hull may be turned into a Cromwell OP tank, which seems like a good use for it. 

Speaking of OP tanks, I also did some work on converting a resin Battlefront Ram Kangaroo hull into the hull of a Ram OP tank. This, along with a 3d Printed Ram turret I had commissioned and printed years ago, will be an OP tank for my Canadians. This tank, being an oddity, is also in the current painting queue. 

Hopefully, I can make some progress for this project over the winter months!

Review - Waugh Games 15mm Resin Cromwell and Churchill

Hi folks,

A week or two ago I saw a request on some of the Flames of War pages. Brian over at Waugh Games was asking if any bloggers would like to review some of their new 15mm resin tanks, and given that Waugh Games is just down the road from me, I thought I would volunteer.

A quick run over to the other side of Middlesbrough later and a little chat with Brian, and I had some samples to paint up and review. I'll state up front that the models were provided for free for the purposes of a review, but that I have no other connecting to Waugh Games other than replying to the request on facebook!

Waugh Games are in the process of producing a range of resin vehicles in various scales. The models start as 3D sculpts, which allows them to be scaled quickly. I had a quick Q&A with Brian tonight, which I will detail later in the blog.

Anyway, on to the models. Brian provided me with a 15mm Churchill (I think a Churchill VI) and a Cromwell. Both are early prototypes although Brian does have them available for sale. I believe these retail for £4.50, although Brian stated that there were discounts available for models bought in bulk - the more you buy, the cheaper they are individually. Some shots of these 'naked'.

So starting out with my trusty craft knife, I set about cleaning up the resin. Cleaning and prepping the models was pretty quick. I decided to go two different routes with these two models. With the Churchill, I would give it the same treatment as my Battlefront models. With the Cromwell I would paint it straight from the pack with minimal prep or other work.

The resin itself was pretty easy to work with. It cut very easily without being brittle, and I was able to apply downwards pressure to clean up some of the sections that had resin in them - like on top of the tracks on the Churchill.

The other positive side effect of this type of resin is that should you dislike the cast on base, it would be easy to cut off. Of course, I base all my vehicles anyway, so the bases were no issue for me. Brian mentioned that the standard thickness for these is (I believe) 3mm.

With the hull, turret and gun, there was no major construction of the model, so it was very quick to assemble. The Churchill turret had a very short 'stalk', so I wasn't able to magnetise it. At the other end of the spectrum the Cromwell's turret had a long 'stalk' and sat quite deeply in the hull. This would have been easy to magnetise, should I have wanted to. I drilled out the gun barrels myself in order to make them look like the typical muzzle break 75mm.

No spares came with the tanks, so no crew or turret MG's.

Having cleaned the models up and given them a wash in warm soapy water. After this I took some plastic putty and filled in a lot of the larger bubbles in the resin that I could see - I gave the Churchill a lot more attention here, leaving the Cromwell as it was from the packet. I also added stowage to the Churchill from my collection of Battlefront, Skytrex and Peter Pig parts.

I then primed them with some black brush on primer. The models certainly looked better with some colour on them, the white resin hides a lot of the detail on the model. I applied a coat of Russian Uniform (Vallejo Model Color 70.924) as a base coat. At this point I noticed a lot of small bubbles. Having discussed this with some fellow painters, the consensus was that the models had not been 'de-gassed'. My conversation with Brian tonight confirmed that, although he did say that this part of the process was being introduced within the next few months. To help with this issue I gave the models a coat of Vallejo brush on Gloss Varnish.

Once that had dried, I tidied up the Russian Uniform, painted the tracks Black Grey (Vallejo Color 70.862) and the stowage various shades of Khaki. I then gave the models a wash of Army painter Dark Tone and drybrushed them back a bit with Russian Uniform. I then highlighted with a mix of Khaki and Russian Uniform. Tracks I highlighted with a lightened Black Grey. Stowage was also highlighted.

I drilled out a couple of holes in the Churchill turret and put in some fishing line. I then painted this black. I also weathered the tracks and hull slightly, and added some rain water streaks for the first time.

I glossed the areas where the decals would be going and applied them. The Cromwell is marked up as a tank from 1 RTR, 7th Armoured Division, while the Churchill is 7 RTR, 31 Tank Brigade. I drybrushed the decals with some Russian Uniform to tone them down a bit. I then matt varnished both tanks.

The base I coated with PVA and dipped in fine sand. I then painted them Flat Earth, applied more PVA and added static grass and various tufts.

I'm quite pleased with the results, given the time I spent. 

The models actually came up a lot better than I expected, especially for early versions from a manufacturer that only started making these in October 2015. There are obviously areas where the detail is a lot less than that on Battlefront or PSC kits, but in all honesty at tabletop distances I don't think the differences are as pronounced as I thought they might be. Especially with a little stowage and the likes added to draw the eye away.

Scale wise, they also compare quite well to Battlefont (I am holding off on building my PSC Churchills until S&S models bring out their AVRE conversion kits next year).

Waugh Games Cromwell and Churchill

Tabletop distances, BF churchill on the left.

BF on the left. 

BF on the left.

BF on the left.

BF on the left.

BF on the left.

BF on the left.

BF on the left.

BF on the left.

A side shot for better size comparison. The track details on the WG tanks were lacking, but I honestly didn't mind that as I hate painting tracks...

BF on the left.

BF model in centre

Battlefront Crocodile on left, Waugh Games (WG) model on the right.Tabletop distance shot?

Battlefront Crocodile on left, Waugh Games (WG) model on the right.Tabletop distance shot?

Battlefront Crocodile on left, Waugh Games (WG) model on the right.

Battlefront Crocodile on left, Waugh Games (WG) model on the right.

Battlefront Crocodile on left, Waugh Games (WG) model on the right.

So, some nice models at a price point lower than that of Battlefront - and bought in bulk, potentially PSC.

Having had a quick Q&A session with Brian tonight before publishing this article, he was happy to acknowledge that these are prototypes and that there are areas which still need work. I specifically mentioned the turret hatches and the likes, and a few other areas where protruding details were missing but left a bubble or hole instead. These are all things he said he would look at, and we talked about this perhaps being the reason that BF provide a lot of hatches as metal components.

Regarding my specific issued about the condition of the Cromwell turret, Brian stated that he had been trying a new type of silicone mold out and rushed to try both it and the recently received 3D print of the tank out. This resulted in some prep work being missed and the 3D printer marks showing on the cast model. There are also some holes in the hull of the Cromwell which I left unfilled in order to show the package to tabletop paint job. These were, I think, to do with the resin pouring process. 

Brian also acknowledged that the very small bubbles were a result of these models being poured resin, but that he was expecting the de-gassing process to be added within the next few months. This will help remove bubbles from the resin and prevent this issue in the future. Brian is very passionate about his products, and I accept that Waugh Games has only been working on these models since October of this year, as I mentioned earlier. He seems very keen on feedback and readily accepts that they are going through a learning process.  

The design of the models starts with a 3D sculpt, which can then be scaled all the way from 6 and 10mm up to 28mm. The 3D model is printed and then cast from the print in silicone.

Waugh Games are currently working on an expanded line of 10mm models, which he plans to do in various size packs. In early January he plans to release a range of 10mm WW1 tanks. This range will have around 16 models for both the Allies and Germans - in Company packs (12 models), Battalion packs (36 to 48 models) and blisters of 3.

As I understand it, there is also a range of 10mm resin WW2 tanks coming possibly in April. This range includes Allied and German tanks, with various Shermans and LVT's, as well as DUKWS. There seems to be a particular focus on vehicles used in the Pacific, for some reason... Brian did mention that they also have Landing Craft in the works. These vehicles will be in 3, 4 and 5 tank packs and cost around £1 per model. I have a sample of a 10mm Churchill, which is very nice. I'll try and get it finished and pictures taken soon.

In 15mm they currently have a few tanks from different nations, and are still trying out different techniques. The next big 15mm release is set for the start of the new year, with around 5 different Japanese WW2 tanks.

On the Cold War front, I saw a lovely looking Leopard 2 model, with Brian planning on doing the Main Battle Tanks of all the main nations. Possibly the APC's depending on demand.

So, that's it! A quick review of some new 15mm kit on the market. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have, feel free to leave a comment which will show up after moderation.