Finished: Polish 15mm A30 Challengers

Hey folks,

While working on the Sherman DDs, I was held up on spraying them due to poor weather. I decided to try and remain productive by moving on to another 'odd and sod' unit in the queue. 

I'd picked up a box of the new plastic A30 Challenger kits a while ago, with the intent of adding them to my Polish Cromwell tanks (representing vehicles from C Squadron, 10 Pulk Strzelcow Konnych (10th Mounted Rifle Regiment), 1st Polish Armoured Division around the 8th August 1944). This unit didn't have Challenger tanks at this time, but did acquire them later into the campaign. 

I was keen to have the option of including these tanks for games set outside Normandy, or for battles using other units Cromwells in Normandy. 

This thinking did impact on my decisions for stowage. My Cromwells are fairly light on stowage, as the Poles went into Normandy pretty neat and tidy. So I've gone for a mix, with one of the Challengers pretty 'clean', while one is covered in track links and other bits, and the others somewhere in between. 

Decal wise, I stuck with the same ones used on my Cromwells - unfortunately using up the last of my Polish divisional markings. With no more Doms Decals available, I'm not on the hunt for appropriate replacements. 

As with the DD tanks, I did make some effort to match these tanks in with the Cromwells. 

Another little job done!

Finished: PSC 15mm Stuart VIs

Hi folks,

After a few weeks of building models and slowly building up my painting again, I managed to complete not just a unit, but a project tab on my spreadsheet. Huzzah. 

These tanks represent three Stuart VI light tanks from the HQ Squadron of 24th Polish Lancers, 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade, 1st Polish Armoured Division. 

Along with the recently completed Sherman ARV, this project is 100% complete. 

The Shermans from this project (who form 'A' Squadron) had been reclaimed, rebuilt and repainted way back in December 2016. Most of the Shermans were old 'Open Fire' plastic models I'd picked up already (poorly) assembled. These models are still the worst plastic kits I've even built. 

Earlier this year they were rebased and I changed the colour of the aerial recognition panels to something more historically accurate. I also hit them again with ultra matt varnish. Looking at the tanks tonight, I may also revisit the Fireflies and rearm them with the thinner and better looking barrels from the modern BF kit. 

However, I had been lacking recce Stuarts and an ARV for this unit to complete the old FoW v3 squadron list. Tonight's completed tanks rectifies that failing. 

Apologies for the over-exposure on these pictures, still struggling with lighting for photos. 

I added an orange Aerial Recognition panel to the commanders Stuart, in keeping with the Shermans of the unit. These panels were added to the unit to stand out from my other British and Canadian Sherman squadrons, and because in August 1944 the Poles were bombed several times by both US and British heavy bombers as part of the Totalize and Tractable operations, so I felt the Poles might be a bit twitchy about allied aircraft. 

These Stuarts are plastic PSC models, assembled to represent mid to late production Stuart VIs. Again, this choice was just to make them a little different from the other unit of Polish Stuart VIs in the collection. It does mean they have more tools than they should have, but consider those extra stowage to help the crew dig in faster at night.  

Two crew figures were added to the command vehicles turret (in keeping with my theme of having recce vehicles 'unbuttoned'), along with two aerials. The other tanks have a single command figure and a single aerial. These tanks are based as per my current basing scheme, on an MDF base sized as a FoW 'medium' base, which has been magnetised. 

Stowage has been added from a variety of sources, including Battlefront, Debris of War and PSC. Decals are from Doms Decals (purchased many years ago). 

The final project sheet:

The army list for this unit came from the old v3 Polish booklet, which can still be found here and contains lots of useful info on the division. I believe that other than the Sherman ARV, this unit could be built using v4 rules from D-Day British, although you would need to drop the HQ troop Firefly to make it work by the book (and field four 75mm Shermans). The Poles used this structure due to manpower shortages. 

Excuse the Canadian Stuarts (bottom left) and a Naafi truck sharing the tray. Sextons are stored elsewhere.  

You could also apply the 'Black Devils' command card, increasing the points by +2 per unit, but giving all units 'Fearless 3+' motivation. You could also apply the 'Sexton' command card to a unit of Priests from this book (in formation support) and add an OP Sherman. Point wise in v4 this list would be 105 points.

However, my intention was to build A Squadron, 24th Polish Lancers, with some attachments from HQ Squadron and 1st Polish Motorized Artillery Regiment, rather than worry about points of on table effectiveness! 

I've no more Polish armoured units planned, but still have Polish mechanised and motorised infantry companies planned. I may revisit the need for the motorised unit given I have a full battalion of British infantry in FoW at this point. 

Possibly some German halftracks next. Possibly.     

 

Finished: 15mm Skytrex Sherman ARV

Hi folks,

This is another lead mountain lurker that made it's way to the front of the queue as I tried to finish off my Polish 24th Lancers squadron. I've still the Stuarts to do, but they will be up next I think. 

I picked this up from Skytrex a while back (years ago) and it's a decent enough model. Reasonably detailed and not fiddly to put together. As I was painting other Shermans at the time, I got it knocked out fairly quickly. Pretty redundant in game terms now, but a cool model and part of the historic OOB. 

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 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:

Finished: 15mm Polish 17-pdr M10 battery

Hi folks,

A busy hobby weekend was had, and I managed to finish off the first part of next painting plan - some Polish M10 Tank Destroyers from 1 Pułk Artylerii Przeciwpancernej, the anti-tank regiment which formed part of the 1st Polish Armoured Division. 

The old v3 Flames of War booklet for this unit lists them as having 24 of these vehicles, along with 24 towed 17-pdrs. A little bit of research shows that this unit actually consisted of twelve 17-pdr armed M10s, twelve 3" gun armed M10s and twenty four towed 17-pdrs. Post Totalize loss reports for the division shows that they lost a mix of 17-pdr and 3" armed vehicles, and photos in both 'Armoured Hussars' books show both versions of the M10 in use up until the battles in the Netherlands. 

These are older Battlefront 15mm Resin hulls, with the newer plastic tracks. Crew are the older metal Battlefront ones. 

Collection wise, this unit fills a gap as my only unit of painted M10s so far are Canadian 3" armed versions. 

I tried to go a little lighter on the weathering with these models - the Poles hadn't been in Normandy long prior to Operation Totalize. Period photos from around that operation show a lack of stowage or extra kit on the Polish vehicles - while later images shown lots of added track armour and stowage on the rear deck. 

These are Battlefront 15mm models, with the older metal British crew figures. 

Now, I know what you are thinking "but James, the crews of these vehicles were from the Royal Artillery" I hear you exclaim, "and as such, they should have khaki coloured berets, not Royal Armoured Corps black ones!". And normally, you would be correct. However, the Poles used black berets as a standard item of uniform, and so their M10 crews had them. Rest easy - I checked!

I am really chuffed with how these models came out, I went with my 'faster' method of applying the edge highlights, and I think they look very neat. The .50cals are plastic Battlefront ones, which I painted separately and have tried to glue on so they are a little protected by the turret. Crew were also painted separately, back when I painted the infantry platoon. Turrets are magnetised and turnable. 

Aerials are using my usual fishing line. One slight issue is that there is no obvious HQ unit, which I will have a think about. I may replicate something I've seen in the Armoured Hussar books where the Polish added extra machine guns to their M10s. Or I might just leave them alone!

Up next, I have some 10mm Fantasy stuff to base as part of the 'For Joshua' project, some 15mm sci-fi stuff to finish highlights on and some Cruel Seas ships to finish as well. I'm planning to leave the prepped Cromwells till I start the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge in December.  

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!

2016 Roundup

Hi folks,

I had a hectic week last week trying to get my first entry into the Analogue Painting Challenge done - my entry for the 'Armour' challenge can be found here.

This week I'm off work again (work required on the car means it's off the road, and I opted for using leave rather than public transport...) and will be trying to crack on with Gunuary and my next (first proper) challenge entry.

Today however, I was 'sorting' again. I moved all my books in from the garage due to concerns about how well they would keep outside. This lead to a shortage of space in my little room and Amy agreeing I could get another book case/shelf unit. One was acquired for the pretty decent price of £10 from a local charity furniture warehouse - 72" tall and 31.5" wide with 3 stout shelves. As such I'm re-jigging my room and trying to decide what will get to live where.

While this was going on, I had moved my models, and as I had them out anyway, decided to look at last years progress.

I made a short video, but have some still pictures which will follow:

2016 was quite a busy year for me, with a change in job at the start of the year leading to some pretty hectic days and late nights. There was also a small matter of a wedding! However, my painting continued at pace through various challenges and through the regular paint and chats I take part in. These really helped me focus on the hobby and meant I was working on something hobby related almost every night - something that also helped me deal with a very stressful year!

Almost all the 15mm models - excluding the Polish Shermans which wouldn't fit on the table!

The British/Canadian contingent

The Germans (with a stray Sherman)

The Polish contingent

I'm pretty pleased painting wise, although blogging wise my output fell slightly. Mainly due to the Facebook page and the general business of my weekends!

In total, my collection has expanded by several of these plastic boxes:

I think a major effort is going to be needed to start marking bases to help keep units together and clear... There is also some repair work needed and a 100 minor things I want to fix. I think I might take some time later in the year, after the challenge, to get my house in order a little!

Thanks to you all for your comments, visits, kind words and support over the year. All the best for 2017! Hopefully I can tempt some of you into joining in a Paint and Chat session at some point this year!

Finished: 2nd Polish 24th Lancers Troop

Hi Folks,

Having finished the 3mm stuff the other week, I cracked back on with the 15mm Shermans I had been working on prior to the wedding.

I had decided to split the remaining tanks into troops in order to help make progress with them, dividing up the excess tanks between each batch. As a result, this batch of Shermans consists of 6 tanks - from left to right in the above picture:

2 Pułk Artylerii Motorowej:

Sherman V OP tank (OP tank for my future Polish Armoured Artillery)

24th Polish Lancers:

75mm Sherman V
Sherman Firefly
2 x 75mm Sherman V's

Random:

'Spare' M4A1 Sherman - no specific unit decals, but I figures I should paint the model up just in case.

So, starting with the Polish Lancers - these are the next 4 tanks in the Squadron. I took some artistic license with these, in that the pennant on the command tank is the pennant of the 2nd Squadron. However, as the Regiment only has 4 Squadrons (rather than the multiples the early war flags were designed for) I decided to use the pennants to mark different tank troops instead.

Another difference is the sandbagged tank. I tried to keep the Polish Shermans fairly similar in their stowage layout. The sandbags came about due to the 'rescue' nature of these tanks, coming from 2nd hand Open Fire Shermans. Some of these were badly put together or damaged, and the sandbags help cover up the damage or other issues.

Then I have the Sherman V 'OP' tank, for one of the 1st Polish Armoured Divisions artillery regiments - 2 Pułk Artylerii Motorowej. This tank, to represent the lack of a proper tank gun, has an older style gun mantlet. I also used an artillery officer with binoculars that I had 'spare' (following an accident which saw him stepped on and separated from his base). No stowage or anything fancy with this tank, although I gave it 3 radio aerials in order to help it stand out.

Pictured alongside the OP tank is a spare M4A1 Sherman (Sherman II) I had, which I painted up just in case. No specific unit markings on this tank, so it will either find a use or find another home at some point. I've another to do as well, which will be the same.

Having finished these guys, I've moved on to my Miniature Modelling Mayhem 'Novelty November' challenge. This will consist of a few more 'novelty' vehicles... a sneak peak follows!

Just some issues to resolve regarding centre of gravity... but a base on the tank might help with this as well.

Feel free to check out my Facebook page for more regular updates. I'm planning to draw the entries to my little giveaway later this week, so you still have time to enter. Check it out here.

Sherman progress and some games

Hi folks,

This week has been spent doing a couple of things. First up, I set up a Facebook account for my blog. You can click the link on the right in order to follow me there, where I am trying to give a few more regular updates, etc.

I also continued to work on my 144 RAC Sherman I's and some of my Polish Sherman V's.

I mixed some 'Magic Wash' up. Seems to be working ok, but needs to be mixed with ink before adding to the mini's as I've not got the shade right yet.

And lastly, I played 2 games! One was even Flames of War! The other was a 6mm battle between York and Lancaster (?) during some English civil war or other. This game was the first at a club being set up by Yorkie, over and 'Little Legions' in a village hall about 45 mins from me. It was the inaugural meeting tonight and we managed to get 6 of us there for a multi player game. Some lovely mini's, good banter and a pretty quick playing game. Here's some pics:

All set up, we were on the left - no idea which army we were! Each player had two 'battles'. The hill to our North split our forces a little.

The enemy line! Some great looking units.

Our battle line - the hill that split our forces can be seen in the distance.

Some progress in the first few turns, with my battle heading forwards and getting some lucky shots in, causing one enemy unit to fall back. on the other flank the close combat had already started! A wood meant that only one part of that battle could engage at first. Thankfully they held their own!

Aftermath of the battle in the north - one enemy and one friendly unit lost, with another enemy unit shaken. My own force carefully deployed just out of initiative charge range...

Getting ready for the big clash!

Exchanging arrow fire - Thankfully Yorkie's dice were poor and he was just out of charge range.

The results of my own charge. By this point my allies had almost cleared the board, with only one other enemy unit still active. The two to my front were charged, with one combat resulting in a draw and the other resulting in a smashes enemy unit after a turn or so.

The rest our forces preparing to tackle the single remaining enemy unit (thats being pointed at). Bottom right my chaps smashed the shattered and disordered enemy unit, swept round the hill and took out the guns and lined up to charge the other enemy unit (locked in combat with my unit) in the rear. Thankfully a very close tie resulted in morale checks for both our engaged units - I passed, he did not and his unit routed. Victory!

On Wednesday I was invited round to Yorkies house for a quick game of Flames of War. I picked two 1000pt infantry lists and we used my figures (although his own are stunning). I only took one picture of the game, but it resulted in a Highland victory.

Magic Wash wise, the concotion looks like this:

But I feel it needs to be even darker. It's not so dark as it looks when poured out to be painted on. Some drops of Army Painter Strong Tone wash in the mix sorted it out ready to go onto my bunkers and Shermans:

German MG bunkers, resins casts. I've since put the static grass on them so they should be finished this weekend.

This was them after a wash of the Magic Wash mixture and a drybrush of Russian Uniform. More highlighting still required!

On top of all this, last weekend I got all my Polish Shermans primed using the Team Yankee Soviet Armour spray. The Sherman I's were hand primed and painted. I have to say this spray was (or seems) very close to Vallejo Russian Uniform, although I did quickly hand paint a coat of Russian Uniform onto them as well. One full tin and a bit of another used to cover all the Polish Shermans:

(less the 4 on the painting table)

So yeah, constructive week, I seem to be making good progress and the club should hopefully be running every two weeks. It is a 45 min drive but that's not too bad - may be quicker once the roadworks are gone! Fingers crossed this leads to some more gaming.