15mm WW2 US trucks

I needed some softskin transport for my US infantry, so when I saw these as a pack of four from Forged in Battle at the Phalanx show last month I thought, they will do the job fine.

I painted them in Vallejo brown violet, with khaki tilts and black grey tyres and .50 cal MGs.  Cab gunners are in Russian uniform with brown violet helmets.  I'm not sure the .50 cals were standard WW2 issue, perhaps more for Korea or even Vietnam?

More detail of one of the trucks.  Allied star decal is from Skytrex, vehicle numbers and unit markings are I-94 from Pendraken.  Dust effects are a simple dry brush in Iraqi sand.

Various angles on the individual models.

I used a diluted Agrax Earthshade wash to bring out some of the details.

Unit markings on front and rear.  Allied stars and vehicle ID on bonnet or hood as they would say in America.

So, when I need to rush some infantry reinforcements to the front, these guys should do the job.  They'll need to keep well out of the way of indirect fire and line of sight from just about anything in range.

Thanks for looking.

15mm DAK vehicles

While working on my 20mm DAK forces, I decided to complete a couple of 15mm vehicles too.  I picked up another bargain Battlefront vehicle, an Sdkfz 254 recce vehicle.  This rather unusual vehicle, designed in Switzerland for the Austrian Army in the 1930's, was used by the Wehrmacht in a variety of early war theatres, including North Africa.

I used I-94 iron cross decals, while the vehicle registration plates are from Skytrex.

Then I used one of the spare Forged in Battle Kubelwagens to add a command or artillery spotter transport vehicle to my DAK force.

I still can't get over how hideous the driver of the FiB vehicle is.

Thanks for looking.

15mm Kubelwagens

These are a pair of Forged in Battle Kubelwagens.  There are 4 in a pack and the other two are going to join an early war force decked out in Panzer grey.  These vehicles are for a late war force in dunkelgelb.  One crew is wearing a camo smock, the other a medium grey uniform.  They can provide transport for an infantry FHQ or an artillery observer team.

Nice models, one piece resin castings with a base.  No real assembly, other than fitting the crew, which was a bit of an issue as the rear passengers are too broad shoulders to fit in the rear seats side by side.

I paid close to full price for these at the Recon Show, back in December, but they filled a niche in the 15mm German forces for Battlegroup.

Thanks for looking.

Christmas 2017 builds

Over the holidays, I lose my painting corner of the kitchen table as it reverts to its design function as a place to sit and eat.  So I took the opportunity to search through the unmade model stash for nice things to build, thereby hoping to reduce the number of boxes stored away and making some room.

So here are the results of my holiday builds.  The front row is the contents of a Plastic Soldier Co 25pdr box, 2 Quad tows, 2 limbers and 4 guns, 2 25pdrs and 2 18/25pdrs.  The 18/25pdrs are crewed by 8th Army crewmen, while crewmen for NW Europe are shown on the far left.  Their helmets seem really big and more like the kind of skrim covered helmets worn in the 1980s - not sure what I'll use them for.  On the right are 6 Armourfast Crusader IIs ready for my 8th Army.  The second row has 4 Opel Blitz trucks, again from Plastic Soldier with a light grey Airfix Austin K2 ambulance from the emergency set.  The third row are 2 Plastic Soldier Co Panthers, donated to me by club members from their free models, I think supplied with Battlegroup Overlord BTB.  The middle of the third row are 3 A9 tanks from Plastic Soldier Co that I picked up at the Derby/Bruntingthorpe show.  At the very back are 4 15mm Zvezda Opel Blitz trucks and 4 Forged in Battle Kubelwagons that I picked up at the Recon show.

The Plastic Soldier Co 25pdr set, built as suitable for the desert, with open topped Quads and 8th Army crew.  The 18/25pdrs can be used for early scenarios and were allocated to some Australian divisions as AT weapons in later scenarios as they pack quite a reasonable AT punch.

The Crusader IIs from Armourfast, a nice Christmas present from my wife.  I modified the two command tanks by cutting the hatch in two and adding spare crewmen from the Plastic Soldier Co A9 kits.  I will add some stowage before painting.

The Opel Blitz trucks, on the right 2 with tarpaulin covers are trucks, the open topped vehicles are Maultiers.  The Airfix Austin K2 will be an addition for larger Battlegroup Tobruk scenarios.  The big hat NW Europe crews are on the left.  Behind are the 2 PSC Panthers and 3 A9s, built for the desert.

The 15mm Zvezda Opel Blitz trucks; my aim is to add these to the early war 15mm German force I'm slowly assembling.  On the right are the FIB Kubelwagons, which will probably be allocated to my 15mm Late War and Desert War forces - any spares will find themselves in the early war force.

Santa also bought me various boxes of plastic figures, including Strelets new WW2 Indian heavy weapons and their slightly older Indian infantry for the desert and various late war winter Germans from Italeri and Caeser.  There were also boxes of Strelets Arab Revolt Foot, Polish Blue Army, WW1 Tropical Turks and WW1 German Hussars and Uhlans and Russian Hussars, all to swell the ranks of my Andreivian forces.  With the release of the Blue Army figures, combined with assorted Russian and Austro-Hungarian infantry, there is the core of a Czech Legion force - I can see me scouring toy shops for suitable train models to uparmour.

So, lots to get on with in the coming weeks.  Have a very Happy New Year, all the best for 2018 and thanks for looking.

15mm Forged In Battle PzIIIs for Tunisia

These are a set of five PzIIIs, which Phil picked up for a bargain price at the WWGS in Castle Donnington.  He wants these for a late N African battlegroup for action in Tunisia.  Rather than a desert yellow, he opted for an olive green scheme using paints liberated from the Italian Airforce and felt by the Germans to be a better match to the more vegetated scenery in Tunisia.  Some of these will no doubt finish up as Tiger escorts, given Phil's "Tiger Phil" nickname.

These are painted in Russian green, over sprayed with a 50:50 mix of Pastel green and Russian green.

The complete platoon.

The command vehicle.

From the other side.

The commander, about as close as my camera will focus.  I've done him in yellow green.

Another view of the commander.

The platoon arrayed on parade - a propaganda shot for Phil's opponent tonight.  Let's hope there aren't any Kittyhawks out for a straffing run!

Hope he likes them. Now all I've got to do is finish an Israeli Sho't Centurion and an infantry platoon for his Arab-Israeli War project.

Thanks for looking.