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.

20mm WW2 US Engineer squads

A mixture of Esci/Italeri, Caeser and Airfix plastics, these form two sections of engineers, each of 6 riflemen or smgs, a 2 man bazooka team, 1 BAR gunner, and options for a manpack flamethrower or mine detector (or both by dropping a rifleman).

I used the Crowood guide for US figures and vehicles by Ray Haskins, using his suggested colours for Normandy engineers - US drab for jackets, English uniform for trousers and a canvas tone (in this case German camo beige) for webbing, pouches gaiters and water bottles.  Boots are saddle brown, helmets and metal equipment brown violet.  I used an earth wash on the trousers and metallic items, but highlights on the jacket.

The manpack flamethrower and mine detector figures, both old Esci sculpts.

Caesar Thompson SMG gunner.

Airfix bazooka gunner and Esci mortarman as his loader.

Airfix carbine armed trooper.

Esci Thompson SMG gunner (yes, his SMG is grossly oversized).

Esci BAR gunner.

Caesar SMG gunner.

Caesar rifleman.

Running Caesar rifleman.

Airfix grease gunner.

Caesar grenadier.

1st section.

2nd section.

Not a bad colour scheme, looks pretty good to me.  I liked the Crowood WW2 US guide, although I felt it wasn't as well organised and structured as the German version.  I particularly thought the photographs of the various stages of painting were not always composed to match the plate caption and/or the photos weren't always relevant to the captions.  For example, in the section on US infantry for Normandy, much is made in the text of adding the 29th Inf Division shoulder markings, yet the picture illustrating this is taken from the front of the figure with the shoulder flash not in view (very odd and unhelpful).  Some useful information for the less experienced painter, but not a lot that couldn't be gleaned from some internet research, although how long that might take depends on how computer savvy you might be.

As ever, thanks for looking.

20mm DAK infantry platoon

I enjoyed painting the motorcycle Kradschutzen section so much recently, that I decided to add another DAK platoon to the collection.  These guys are a mixture of Esci/Italeri, Airfix, Revell and Caesar and I painted them up using the colours and techniques in Farnsworth's painting guide.  I really like the washed out colours, which give them a dusty, sun-bleached look.

The whole platoon, a 6 man command rifle section and three rifle sections, each of 5 men with a 3 man MG34 team.

Mainly riflemen.

MG34 teams.

Three of the command team, from Revell, Caesar and Esci/Italeri (L-R).

The other 3 command figures from Revell, Escii/Italeri and Airfix (L-R).

Airfix grenadier.

Revell NCO.

Esci/Italeri officer.

Airfix rifleman with fixed bayonett.

Esci/Italeri grenadier.

Caesar SMG trooper in sun helmet.

Esci/Italeri SMG gunner.

Airfix MG34 gunner.

Airfix rifleman.

Another Airfix rifleman.

Esci/Italeri SMG gunner.

I still have enough figures for three more platoons, so not sure what I will do with these.

As ever, thanks for looking.