20mm Free French North Africa (lockdown 7)

Strelets release of a box of Free French for North Africa came at just the right time to ride the wave of N African interest triggered by the release of Battlegroup Tobruk.  Sadly, they didn't make it to the painting table before interest at the club waned following disillusionment with BG Tobruk.  Well, lockdown gave me the incentive to get them out and paint them up.

I've organised these along similar lines to an 8th Army infantry platoon, with a platoon HQ of 5 men and three 10 man sections.  I need to research whether they would have followed UK organisation or retained their French organisation.  If the French, I'll need to add some rifle grenade launchers and another handful of riflemen.

Below shows the platoon HQ, with officer waving pistol on the right and, next to him, a senior NCO beckoning troops on.  Shorts and some shirts are Iraqi sand, some shirts and socks are khaki.  One figure wears long trousers, which are painted in a mixture of khaki and English uniform.

The platoon.

The two leader figures in more detail, photo not as crisp as I'd have liked.

First section.

Second section.

Third section.

Hotchkiss HMG team.  No kneeling figures in the Strelets box, so I used an 8th Army ESCI figure for the third crewman.

Support weapons aren't supplied in the Strelets set, so I will have to use 8th Army figures for 2" and 3" mortars and ATRs.  I may have to treat myself to a Hotchkiss AT gun from First to Fight with some early French crew.  Then I'm tempted to look out some figures suitable for colonial French or Italian local levies.

Thanks for looking.

20mm WW2 Special Boat Squadron Italy and North Africa (lockdown 6)

Another unit flies off the painting table, this time a unit of Britannia/Grubby Special Boat Squadron troopers for the WW2 Mediterranean theatre.  Can't remember which show I picked these up at, but it was several years ago.  I had no idea when I bought them how they were organised, so went with a typical infantry platoon organisation of three sections of 10, with a 3 man command team.  It appears they were organised into boat sections of 4 men (2 kayaks worth), with larger sections and troops made up of multiples of the Kayak sections, so probably multiples of 8 or 12, although my reading hasn't yet caught up with actual organisations.

These were, as with most Britannia Miniatures, straightforward to paint with lots of raised detail.  I went with Iraqi sand for shorts and some shirts, with other shirts painted khaki or a mix of khaki and English uniform, which I also used for trousers.

The command team, CO, RTo and sten gunner.

10 man section with various weapons including rifles, stens, Thompsons, MP40s and an MG34, guy front left carries a satchel demolition charge.  I gave a couple of the guys green scarves to aid identification on the table.

Second section, as above, some guys with red scarves.

Third section, some with white scarves.

Detail of some of the troopers - armed with a Thompson SMG.

Trooper with sten.

Trooper with captured MG34.

Trooper with captured MP40.

Trooper with rifle and satchel demolition charge.

Fun to paint these, lots of grizzled beards and interesting facial expressions.  Not sure when I'll ever get to use them, maybe a game of Black Ops?

Thanks for looking.

20mm Early WW2 German MG08 team (lockdown 5)

Another success from the lockdown has been this item from the lead pile, an Under Fire Miniatures early war German MG08 team, three gunners and a three man loader team.

The MG08 - I figure this will be good for an early war HMG team or for a Volksturm HMG team in 1945 - as infantry in greatcoats were pretty much timeless during WW2.  I've based these behind a low bush and added some pink spring flower clumps for a bit of colour.

Three man loader team, all carrying additional ammunition for the MG08.

Nice figures, quite easy to paint with good raised detail.

Thanks for looking.

20mm WW2 US paratroopers (lockdown 4)

Although this is the fourth of my posts during lockdown, this is the unit I've been working on since we first closed down.  These are mostly Italieri/Esci US paratroopers with some Airfix and Revel figures, as well as some specialists from Grubby/Britannia.  According to PSR, these figures wear the M1942 uniform, which is a sandy colour.  Following recommendations on the web, I've gone with Vallejo green ochre, washed in Agrax Earthshade.  Webbing is Vallejo German camo beige and khaki, boots are saddle brown.  Knee patches are US dark green.  First platoon is illustrated below.

Three man FHQ.

Two man bazooka team.  Guy with bazooka is from the Italeri AT weapons pack.

Britannia Miniatures bazooka team.

Two man artillery spotter team, radio operator is Airfix.

A pair of .30 cal MMGs, meant to be the M1919.

2" mortar team from the Italeri AT weapons set.

Second platoon.  Not enough Italeri figures for 2 platoons, this platoon has more Airfix figures mixed in.

Command squad, all Airfix.

Mainly Italeri paratroopers with an odd Revel figure.

More paratroopers.

A pair of .30 cal MMGs from the Italeri AT set.

Engineering squad, Airfix figures with a Britannia flamethrower (front right).

Some more substantial AT capability from a Britannia 57mm AT gun and crew.

Another 57mm AT gun from Britannia, but this time the crew wear the M1943 uniform, making them suitable for Arnhem/Market Garden.

Mainly Airfix figures painted up as third platoon in M1943 uniforms.  These have a Vallejo Russian Uniform/green ochre mix for the main uniform colour, with webbing in green grey.  Britannia bazooka teams at either end of the front row.

Britannia bazooka team.

Britannia artillery observer team.

Airfix paratroopers in M1943 uniform colours (PSR suggests these figures are wearing the M1942, but here they wear the M1943).

More Airfix paratroopers.

That's cleared a lot off my painting table.  Even more can be cleared away when I finish the next platoon, which should bring my British paratroopers up to Co strength.  Then, for some variety, I have some various odds and ends, plus a troop of Britannia Special Boat Squadron troopers for the mid-war Mediterranean theatre.  After that, maybe some regular British and/or US infantry for WW2.

As ever, thanks for looking.