20mm WW2 German Mediterranean infantry

Following Will's suggestion, I painted up some DAK figures in a mix of DAK colours and more conventional field grey uniforms.  These guys would work for Tunisia, Sicily and southern Italy, as well as the Balkans and Adriatic, and maybe even the southern USSR.

Figures are a mix of Esci, Italeri, Revell, Airfix and Caesar.

First up a 6 man platoon command group.

Field grey jacket and tropical shorts.

Tropical jacket, just grey helmet.

Officer in tropical jacket and grey trousers.

Revell SMG in field grey jacket.

Bendy barrel Caesar rifleman.

First section of 5 rifleman (on left) and 3 man MG34 team.  Mix of tropical and temperate uniform and kit.

Rifle section.

MG34 team.

I quite like the look of the figures, so will finish the platoon and probably add a second, which would use up the last of my spare DAK figures.

As ever, thanks for looking and thanks to Will for the suggestion.

20mm WW2 Sherman V

This the the Ready2roll sherman with camo, that I picked up at the York Vapnartak show back in February.  Seems like a lifetime ago and on another planet.

Russian uniform green with khaki camo nets and tarps.  Washed with Agrax Earthshade and dry brushed with more Russian uniform green and Iraqi sand.  Camo vegetation picked out in reflective green and german camo bright green.  Wheels and metal equipment in black grey, wooden handles and crates in new wood.  Hatch interiors off white, uniforms khaki, flesh in sunny skin tone washed with Reikland flesh wash.  Caps black grey, badges silver.

Detail of storage on the rear deck.

The business end of the tank.

I've still got to add some decals, although a lot is concealed by the camo nets and storage.  This one is going to be the FHQ for a British Armoured Division force, but there's another troop in the pipeline.

Thanks for looking.

20mm WW2 US artillery

I needed some on table artillery support for my WW2 US forces, so picked up a pair of 105mm howitzers and crews from Grubby.  I'd assembled them ages ago, but only got round to doing anything with them recently.

Bazookas aren't always enough to keep the Panzers at bay, so I also picked up a pair of 57mm/6 pdr AT guns plus crews.

I also wanted a pair of .30 cal MMGs to represent dismounted recce crews.  These water-cooled .30 cals are from Caeser.

I used paints based on the Normandy paint scheme from Ray Haskin's Crowood guide, which seems to have worked out ok, English uniform trousers washed in Agrax Earthshade and blouses/jackets in khaki, with highlights lightened with Iraqi Sand.  Webbing and packs, etc., are German camo beige, helmets brown violet.

As ever, thanks for looking.

20mm DAK assault engineer platoon

Having rediscovered my stash of unpainted plastic DAK infantry, I decided to do a dedicated platoon of assault engineers.  The platoon comprises three rifle sections, three MG34 teams and a command team of 6 including the CO.  There is also an integral flamethrower team of two men.  I also did another 2 man flamethrower team in case I needed an optional extra weapon, plus a two man mine detector team.

Figures are a mix of Airfix, Esci, Italeri, Caesar and Revell (both DAK and Pioneer sets).

One of the flamethrower teams.

Mine clearance team.

The other flamethrower team.

Command team.

CO with pistol.

Senior NCO.

1st rifle section.

1st MG34 team.

2nd rifle section.

2nd MG34 team.

3rd rifle section.

3rd MG34 team.

I also had one of the Airfix Opel Blitz truck and PAK 40 AT gun sets in the stash, so painted this up for the later campaigns in North Africa.  I need to add some decals to the truck.

I bought a seconds EWM kubelwagen at the Vapnartak show last year and crewed it with AB Miniatures DAK driver and passengers - lovely figures that paint up well.  The kubelwagen took a bit of TLC to repair as it was a miscast, but has come up well, albeit with no frills.

I think I've reached the point where I can't usefully use any more DAK infantry, although I still have enough for another couple of platoons.  I do need to add another British platoon for the desert to bring them up to company strength.  Looks like I'm back on to the Ready2roll resin vehicles I bought at Vapnartak this year, although some WW1 German infantry have sneaked on to the painting table.  For the WW1 Germans, I'm thinking of painting these in a uniform suitable for Palestine for late war troops of the German Asia Corps or possibly for German-equipped Turkish troops of the Yildirim Army Group.

Thanks for looking.

20mm WW1 dismounted Australian cavalry

I wanted some dismounts for my troop of WW1 Australian Light Horse, so went with the Strelets dismounted Australian Camel Corps figures with a suitable paint job.

The officer figure.

Lewis gunner - not sure if he'd hit anything firing from the hip.

While I was at it, I did a three man Vickers MMG team to provide them with some support.

The command/spotter team is from the mounted Australian Camel Corps Strelets set, with a reclining officer looking through a telescope and a heliograph signaller.

And for support for my British in sun helmets, I head swapped another of the Australian Vickers teams with heads taken from the dismounted Imperial Camel Corps Strelets set.

These came out OK and provide me with the dismounts I need for my HAT figures, as well as some support for the Australian cavalry.

As ever, thanks for looking.