20mm MDF buildings

I picked up these two mdf building kits at Britcon in Manchester last year.  Relatively straightforward to put together, although there were no instructions and I couldn't remember who sold them, so couldn't check online for instructions.  Still, they went together well and painted up nicely - I've gone with a chocolate box appearance, rather than making them too grubby and war torn.  I also didn't want to spend too much time on them adding extra realism - if I wanted to spend that amount of time, I'd have made a framework from foam board and added the extra touches to that - these were quick and relatively cheap to add some buildings to the available mix.  Each one was built and sized with dilute PVA glue in an evening, left to dry overnight, and painted the next day.


First up, the Boulangerie from the front.

And from the back.

The other building was a straight forward town house, front view.

Back view.

Both buildings.

These make nice additions to my 20mm buildings collection, alongside an Airfix church, brick-built terraced house and factory unit.  I shall look out for some more to add a bit of variety and increase the number of built up areas I can include on the tabletop.


As ever, thanks for looking.

20mm Zvezda PAK40

I've had this model of the PAK40 from Zvezda assembled and undercoated on the painting table for a couple of months.  I was in two minds whether to go with the crew figures supplied, which are in early war uniforms with jackboots, despite the gun itself not entering service until 1942, or replace them.  However, I already have at least 2 PAK40s from Britannia with crew in camo smocks and the crew figures from Zvezda are excellent, so I decided to go with a version suitable for the period from early 1942 until ankle boots and more basic uniforms became the norm, so very much suitable for mid-war.


Side on view - the apparent downward slope on the barrel is caused by warping of the plastic box lid that the model is sitting on.

The business end.  Static grass only recently applied and I've not yet blown the surplus off the front of the gun.

Oblique view from the front showing how the figures rest on the trails of the gun.

View from the rear, crew hunched behind the shield, gun commander spotting over the top of the shield.

Oblique rear view showing the crew in more detail.

The kit was quite simple to complete and clicked together - no glue needed.  The figures also click into the base snugly, so again no need for glue.  The combination of paint and varnish have locked them in place quite securely.


I like the look of this model, although I doubt it's survivability on the battlefield as, in Battlegroup, it will become the focus of quite a lot of attention from artillery, especially if I dig it in, although while the artillery is occupied with this one, any tanks or SPAT should be free to get up to mischief.


Thanks for looking.

15mm Volkssturm platoon

I've been wanting to try out the movement trays from Warbases for some time, so took the opportunity to pick up some examples at the Phalanx show last Saturday.  I had several packs of Peterpig Volkssturm in the stash, so, having worked up a 20mm platoon, thought I'd do the same for the 15s.  These guys are based on pennies.


The whole platoon, command of 4, 3 sections of 8 and an MG34 team of 3, plus an 8 man recce infantry section and a 6 man Hitlerjugend tank hunter squad as supports.

4 man command squad, youthful Hitlerjugend CO.

1st squad.  8 figures, 2 with Panzerfausts.

2nd squad.  As 1st.

3rd squad.  As 1st.

MG34 team on the move.

8 man infantry recce squad - note the WW1 jagers front left and right, representing policemen.

6 man Hitlerjugend tank hunters - 5 panzerfausts between them.

Some of the Hitler youth in more detail.

Part of the recce squad - includes the Jager officer/policeman.

Volkssturm infantry including kneeling dude with Panzerfaust and kneeling Jager/policeman.

More Volkssturm infantry with armbands so they don't get shot as Francs-tireurs.

MG34 team - you can sense their pain struggling under the heavy loads in a greatcoat.

Now, they need to get dug in and await the Soviet onslaught or board the Opel Blitz bus and take the fight to the enemy.


Thanks for looking.

15mm US SP 105mm artillery

Having been on the receiving end of Will's US SP artillery in recent games of BG Torch, I thought it time to add some to my 15mm US force.  I picked up a couple of Peter Pig T19 105mm howitzer motor gun carriages and a pair of M7 Priests.


The T19s are nice models - I also ordered sets of US artillery crew from Peter Pig, but they only just fit in the crew compartment - unfortunately, the white metal Peterpig now use is very tough and took a lot of filing on the bases to get them to sit right.

They are base coated in Vallejo brown-violet, with black grey for tyres, washed with diluted Agrax Earthshade and dry brushed Iraqi sand.  Then details like tracks and tools are picked out in flat brown, beige brown and black grey.

Crew uniforms are tan earth trousers and either German camo beige or grey green for the tunic.

Nice models - now for a suitable 15mm supply truck as, in BG, they quickly run out of ammo.

The M7 Priests were also great little kits, easy to assemble.  Although the crew compartment is bigger, the interior is quite detailed making it difficult to locate the crew and the hard metal again made it a real chore to grind down to get a decent fit.  However, once done, they look the part.

Similar basic colours to the T19s.

The bulkheads on the bow are quite deeply recessed, making it a challenge to get the decals to sit right, but lots of decal softener at least gave me a chance, although there is more distortion of the stars than I would have liked.

Crew are similar to the T19s, but with US dark green trousers - to reflect later uniform style.

Again, for BG games, I'm going to need a supply truck or two to keep these fed.

I realised that I've not shared pictures of the main US forces yet, so when I put these in the storage box, I'll take some photos of the whole force.


Thanks for looking.

20mm British paratrooper vignettes

I dashed these off quickly over the weekend to clear out the last of my unpainted paratroopers.


There are a pair of surrendering paratrooper stands and a supply stand of drop cannisters being collected and opened.

The drop cannisters - not sure whether to go with green or white for the cannister colour - in the end I went with Russian uniform green.

Surrendering group, the wounded guy showing his captors he can still draw a longbow.

For some reason, I must have bought two sets of these at different shows, so painted the extra set up anyway.

If I'm playing against a British paratrooper player, I can pop these on the table when he fails a morale test and there are no friendly infantry within 10 inches.


Fun to paint and quite quick as I've got the technique worked out and without webbing and weapons, these guys were a doddle.


Thanks for looking.