Finished: 15mm Firefly troop

Hi folks,

Another catch up of recently finished models - this time a trio of 15mm metal and resin Battlefront Sherman M4A4 Fireflys. 

These models have been decalled up as Canadian 2nd Armoured Brigade, and specifically for the Fort Garry Horse. They represent a troop of Fireflys landed later on d-day to help provide support to the Sherman DD squadron. The Firefly couldn't be made into a DD tank due to the length of the gun barrel and as such were not attached to the DD equipped squadrons directly.  

Speaking of which, on these models the old metal gun barrel wasn't used, and instead I took plastic ones from some of the more modern BF sherman kits. I think the plastic barrels are a lot better scale wise. 

As usual, for the command vehicle I used a commander in the turret hatch as well as twin aerials, while the other tanks have a single aerial. I also, after a lot of back and forth, decided to base these the same as the Sherman DD tanks. 

Turrets have been magnetised and in keeping with the few images I've seen I kept these tanks clear of external stowage. This unit was the last one I had initialy planned for my Canadian DD squadron. 

State of the collection 2017 - Part 1 - British/Polish/Canadian Armour

Hi folks,

So, having lived in this house for 9 or 10 months now, I finally got organised and had the old furniture which was filling the garage taken away. As a result, I now have a decent amount of space in the garage... more than enough to get my table up and get some pictures taken!

Normally I try to do a 'state of the collection' review around June time. But I'm sure you can forgive me for breaking from tradition and getting all the toys out!

Now, the issue this time was that even with the extensions put out on the table, I don't think the table is big enough to hold everything at once! I've plans to get some 2' by 5' boards for it, but in the mean time I decided to split my allied collection down into infantry, armour and artillery. This post will cover my armour!

The video I made (complete with a silent patch where the numpty that I am covered the mike with my thumb - giving more weight to the need to buy a decent tripod) can be found here:

But I know some of you won't want to listen to me whitter on (or not, while I cover the mike), so I thought some still images might be welcome.

C Squadron, 144RAC, 33rd Armoured Brigade with additional units from HQ Squadron (and some Churchill Crocs from 141RAC, 31st Tank Brigade)

Engineering and Croc support from 79th Armoured Division and 31st Tank Brigade

A Squadron, 24th Polish Lancers, 1st Polish Armoured Division. 

Supporting battery from 6th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery, 2nd Canadian Corps. 

Spares! 

Thanks! Stay tuned for more!

Finished!: 1st troop of 24th Polish Lancers

Hi folks,

Not much more of an update than the one I posted on Friday! I managed to finish all of my Shermans for my first troop of A Squadron, the 24th Polish Lancer Regiment, 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade, 1st Polish Armoured Division...

Just some pictures, which hopefully show off my approach with these guys. I've tried to keep the stowage fairly tidy and uniform, as well as the use of track links on the front of the tank (other than the single tank with sandbags).

These are all 'rescued' open fire plastic Sherman V's, with a bit of TLC applied to hide gaps in the hulls, etc.

Oddly enough, while in Edinburgh at the weekend I came across this chap:

This Statue in Edinburgh of a Polish soldier and Wojtec the bear commemorates the Scottish connection with the Free Polish forces and Polish people. The inscription, touchingly, reads:

"In memory of the

Polish men and women 

who fought 

'For Your Freedom 

and Ours'"