Finished: M5 Halftrack Crew

 Hi folks,

The last few weeks have been spent filling out the infantry and vehicle crew part of my planned Recce squadron, with decent progress made. It's been nice to paint British infantry again - limited colour palette and familiar figures. Hopefully within the next few days I'll have the Mortar and Motor platoons finished along with one of the dismounted carrier patrols and some spotter teams.   

Up first, however - due to the lack of any basing - are the finished crew and passenger figures for the M5 halftracks I previously finished. 

Passenger and driver figures are sometimes a bit of a nuisance due to them being bulky and repetitive (getting the brush into some spots can be hard). Thankfully, I didn't need a huge number of them for these five vehicles and these figures were fairly straight forward. 

I paint these outside of the vehicle as I find it easier, especially when it comes to batch painting similar poses. I had contemplated painting the whole models with crew glued in place, but chickened out and removed them to paint separately. 

Once in the halftracks, they nicely bulk them out alongside the little bit of stowage I had also used. 

Not the most useful thing to have spent time painting, but I'm happy with them now and they make the purpose of the halftracks nice and clear as well. 

17 Pounder Anti Tank platoon - Finished!

Continuing with this little series of blog posts on units I managed to get finished last week.

This article focuses on my completion of my heavy anti tank platoon. The unit is made up of the M5 Halftracks I've already featured a little (...!!!!) and four 17 Pounder Anti Tank guns - plus command. 

I've built this as a troop of guns belonging to 61st Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery. Although one of the towing M5's currently has the wrong markings, which will be fixed shortly. 

From Wiki:

"The Ordnance Quick-Firing 17-pounder (or just 17-pdr)^[1] was a 76.2 mm (3 inch) gun developed by the United Kingdom during World War II. It was used as an anti-tank gun on its own carriage, as well as equipping a number of British tanks. It was the most effective Allied anti-tank gun of the war. Used with the APDS shot it was capable of defeating all but the thickest armour on German tanks. It was used to 'up-gun' some foreign-built vehicles in British service, notably to produce the Sherman Firefly variant of the US M4 Sherman tank, giving British tank units the ability to hold their own against their German counterparts."

The anti tank regiment in the Division provided 24 x 17 pounder and 24 x 6 pounder anti tank guns. From my research it seems that the unit was split over the division and troops assigned where they was most needed. The 17 pounders, being much bigger guns, tended to be brought forward after an attack (rather than accompanying it) and deployed to help hold gains. 

In Flames of War these guns have the highest AT in the British list (at 14) and are immobile without their transport. Although they can be towed by many British tanks. In the Highland Division list these guys are Reluctant Veterans, making them hard to hit but hard to unpin. 

Currently missing from the bases are the newly adopted flowers and the ammo cases which still have to be painted. I'd also like to do some empty shell casings but need to find the correct material to do these with. 

Great fun using these guys, nice dishing out to the Germans what my poor Shermans normally suffer! 

Plastic Soldier Company 15mm plastic M5 Halftrack comparison

One of the most popular posts on my blog has been my article comparing the Plastic Soldier Company plastic M5 Halftracks against Blattlefronts resin kit for Flames of War. My original post was from just after I'd picked up and assembled the PSC version, and featured an unpainted and unbased model next to a painted and based one. Not a very fair comparison!

To revisit that post then, I've taken some pics of the two finished products side by side. On the right is the Battlefront model, on the left the PSC one. 

My impression of the kits now they are painted is that the detail on the PSC models come through better. The crew are a bit slighter of build and the models took a bit of assembly, but the quality is top notch as are all the extras you get in the sprue. 

M5 Halftrack Ambulance - PSC conversion - Finished!

I managed to get a few pics up last night of my finished halftracks that will be the tractor units for my 17 Pounder platoon. Alongside these I managed to finish off my halftrack ambulance (seen above). This is really a unit for Battlegroup Overlord rather than anything to do with Flames of War. It's one of several units I have planned. At the moment those plans include a ambulance jeep, a lorry loaded with supplies and a MP jeep.

Ok, so some details. The kit itself was from The Plastic Soldier Company and was one model from a pack of five M5 Halftracks. I already had a M5 halftrack from Battlefront which had been part of my Pioneer platoon - prior to the 'Overlord' book changing the platoon HQ vehicle to a truck. As this model was painted I decided to decal it as one of the halftracks of 61st Anti Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery, add it to the plastic Halftracks and convert one of them to an ambulance. Mainly as they were all unpainted.

Details of how I converted this model can be found here. Just to bore everyone again:

I removed the MG cupola and used some standard plasticard to build up the shape I needed for the canvas top. I figured this would be easier to build up the green stuff on. As you can see, the shapes are all pretty simple. The only bit that caused me an issue at this point was the front section - but a bit of time and shaping with a craft knife got me both the shape I needed and the little slices required to prop it up.

Then on to the green stuff:

This was just layered up. I rolled the mixed green stuff into sausages, laid them along from side to side, layering where the canvas was higher and just used a modelling tool to shape it. I tried to make it look 'canvassy' but not too sure that worked very well. Still, from a distance it looks fine!

The model then went through various stages of painting - Black primer, Base coat with Vallejo Model Color Russian Uniform (70924), Black for the tracks and wheels then Model Color Black Grey (70.862) highlighted by Vallejo Panzer Aces Dark Rubber (306). Model Color Mahogany Brown (70.846) for the tools highlighted by Model Color Beige Brown (70.875). The canvas I had gone for reflective green, but I think through drybrushing etc it ended up back at more the Russian Uniform color. Very hard to tell from what few period pics I could find what the tarp should have been painted.

Decal wise the British Red Crosses are from Skytrex (CD DEC26) along with my usual selection from Doms Decals. for the WD number (the number along the side of the front hull) I decided to go with a 'A' number. Mainly as I had ran out of 'Z' numbers which is normally what a halftrack is classified as. 'A', of course, stands for Ambulance.

The AoS markings I searched high and low for. Eventually I figured out that as a Ambulance of 154th Field Ambulance (the 154 Brigades ambulance unit) the AoS seems like is should be a white '77' on a black square.

I used one of my Doms Decals black '64' AoS decals (for the Divisions support battalion's MMG and 4.2" units) and just painted black over the 64 and reapplied the 77 in white.

I was a bit unsure about where to put the red cross markings but in the end went for a mix of the various markings I had seen during my research.

So that's it, one ambulance ready to support my PBI!

This model was also the first one I went for the flowers on as well, and I think they look brill. All in all really pleased with how it turned out.

PSC M5 Halftracks... teaser

Managed to finally get my half tracks finished, based, etc The only thing remaining is some decals to fix on my previously completed Battlefront M5 to make it fit in with the unit. No time for a full blog tonight, but I was so chuffed I wanted to put some quick pics up before a fuller blog later.

Plastic Soldier Company M5 Halftracks in 15mm

Side view of Plastic Soldier Company M5 Halftracks in 15mm

My conversion of a Plastic Soldier Company M5 Halftrack into a M5 Ambulance - in 15mm

More pics to follow!

Paint Table Saturday #26

This week I spent a bit of time taking paint off old Full Thrust miniatures. Last Saturday I purchased some Fairy Power washing up spray. This stuff is pretty effective at removing paint from both metal and plastic miniatures. I found the best way of removing the paint was to place the mini's in a tub (I used an old butter tub) and spray the foam all over them liberally. I then left the tub for 12 hours, returning to shake it from time to time. After that, I picked the mini's out, rinsed them off and then scrubbed them with a cheap hard bristle toothbrush. I left the build up of gunk in the bottom of the tub and just dropped the next lot of minis in before spraying again.

Rinsing the mini's first was important, as the first batch I worked on I did not rinse and ended up with very dry skin on my hands.  Like, 'I've dipped my hands in PVA and it needs peeled off' style of dryness.

The only paint left on the minis at the end of this process was the paint that had been applied over areas that had been super glued. But that superglue it removable by a modelling knife.

So yeah, a effective method of paint removal that won't kill you with fumes or need specialist disposal.

Anyway, onto this weeks painting. I did manage to apply highlights to the FoW models I have been working on for weeks, and a primer to a FT mini I wanted to mess with. This weekend has mainly been taken up by the EVE Online Fanfest feed. Next weekend will involve a visit to Carronade over in Falkirk.

So that's it for this Saturday. I will point out that I have come to the point of over highlighting on my 15mm stuff, as from tabletop distances it looks good - not so great close up though! Next up will be matt varnish and then decals.

Paint Table Saturday - three days late...

Slightly late with this week's attempt at a Paint Table Saturday post! Mainly due to the fact that on Saturday I only had Army Painter (Strong Tone) varnished vehicles staring back at me. No Salute for me, I'm afraid. One day... Trying to convince the better half that there might be a show on in London that weekend...

I managed this evening to get a dry brush with the base Russian Uniform Green (Vallejo Model Colour 70924) over them. I had tried a new type of highlighting (for me) on my Sherman Hybrids and I intend to replicate that on these models. I'll also do a lighter shade of the Russian Uniform as a quick dry brush later as well.

Since I had some Russian Uniform Green left (I seem to be really bad and putting too much paint on my palette) I also gave the Sherman mk.1 ARV a rough base coat.

This is also my 101st post - please check out my Competition in post #100!

PSC M5 Half Tracks

Loyd Carriers and 6 pdr A/T guns

De-frocked Priests and M5 Ambulance on the left

Side view of M5 Ambulance conversion and De-frocked Priest

Side view of Sherman ARV mk.1 and another shot of the A/T guns

Closeup of Sherman ARV mk.1

Just a quick comment on the Sherman Armoured Recovery Vehicle and why I wanted to convert one. The ARV's are not too much use in Flames of War. However, in Battlegroup Overlord, they have a much wider range of abilities. Some examples: They can attempt to repair destroyed vehicles (6 on a D6, max of 2 attempts) or repair immobilised vehicles (4+ on D6). Recovery vehicles can also tow destroyed vehicles from the table, allowing you to recover some of your lost morale points.

The reason I wanted to convert a mk.1 is that the model Battlefront do for FoW is just plain wrong! I understand it's not as interesting a model as the mk.2, but I think it deserves the attention!

Paint Table Saturday 2

I got a little more enthused again this week to move my painting forward. The four halftracks from my last Paint Table Saturday blog are awaiting an Army Painter Quicktone coat, but as that's pretty strong smelling I'm holding off for a nice (or at least a dry) day to do them outside.

So, here's the total of this weeks work so far:

From left to right we have two Loyds Carriers, my M5 Ambulance conversion and two De-frocked Priests (also known as Kangeroo's). At the front we have two 6 pounder Anti-Tank guns. All the models are 15mm and all but the halftrack in the middle (which is a Plastic Soldier Company model) are from battlefront.

These models are getting there, but still need a few finishing touches and then a touch up using the base Russian Uniform green color.

The reason behind this motley collection is that these models represent stragglers for units that are otherwise painted and complete. The De-frocked Priests give me the last two I need to make my whole infantry company mechanised. The guns and the Loyds Carriers make up the last two guns for my infantry anti-tank platoon.

Alongside these, I have primed my Sherman ARV mk.I:

Which is awaiting a decision from me on some more detail work - I feel certain bits of it look a tad rough. Like around the spare track on the hull sides - I keep wondering if I should try some small bits of plasticard to actually make boxes around them. Or just accept that the model is 15mm and only has to look okay at 'tabletop ranges'.

Opinions, as ever, welcome!

Paint Table Saturday

A week or two ago I had seen Sofies Paint Blog and her Saturday Paint Table idea through TamsinP's Wargaming Girl blog. Since I've been working on my models this week, I decided to take part and put up what I've got on my painting desk this week.

So without further ado, my 4 x 15mm Plastic Soldier Company M5 Halftracks - for my Flames of War Highlander army. Alongside two painting/converting in progress jobs, a Plastic Soldier Company M5 Halftrack in the process of becoming an ambulance halftrack (for use in Battlegroup Overlord games), complete with tarp covered top. And a Battlefront plastic M4A4 (Sherman V) in the process of being converted into a Sherman ARV mk.1

The 4 halftracks are almost at the point of getting their coat of Armypainter Dark Tone Quickshade. 

15mm M5 Halftrack Ambulance (Plastic Soldier Company)

One of my many ideas in progress has been to have some of the vehicles that are not typically modelled in 15mm - mainly to use in games of Battlegroup: Overlord.

One such idea has been to do a M5 Ambulance conversion from one of my (now spare) Plastic Soldier Company M5 Halftracks. The reason the model is spare is due to a change in the force chart for my Highlanders - previously the Pioneer unit had a M5A1 Halftrack for it's command team. However, in the D-Day allied book for Flames of War, this was changed to be a truck.

I'm going to use this newly spare Halftrack for my 17 Pounder A/T gun unit - meaning on of my PSC models is now free for me to try and be creative with.

I based this model loosely on this (yes, I know it's American!):

Photo care of: http://www.primeportal.net/apc/robert_de_craecker2/m3a1_white_halftrack_ambulance/

Having seen black and white pictures of such halftrack ambulances working with armoured units.

© IWM (B 7521)

So, starting with a M5:

I quickly decided that this wouldn't work - the struts were not tall enough and I needed a platform to model the green stuff on.

So I moved on to the above idea. This would give me the base I needed to do this:

As you can see, the struts along the top give the green stuff ridges to rise to. I started with working on the sides of the canvas canopy first, and then filled in the centre. For this I was greatly helped by the modelling tools loaned to me by Paul. Which I've had for months and never used - sorry Paul!

The final version (so far) is this:

The next step is to try and get a hold of some British style red crosses (I think Skytrex does some). Then see how the whole thing looks painted! Not sure what unit I will mark these up as - another area I will need to check out. Suggestions welcome.

Also in the works is a Ambulance Jeep - will see how that one goes as well!