Saturday 15 November 2014

British Morris 40mm SP Bofors

Some British Morris trucks with 40mm Bofors AA guns. Models are from Pithead.

Because I made most of them with the gun firing to the side I used a wider base to help protect the overhanging gun. So with more empty space on the base I added a figure to those firing to the side. The figure is actually a Russian command figure from Pendraken Russian AA guns - so is handily looking to the sky with binoculars and also looks British when painted as such.








Sherman DWG (Deep Wading Gear) - British platoon

I have just finished another unit ready for D-Day scenarios, a platoon of British Sherman DWG (Deep Wading Gear). These are resin kits from Gramodels (see manufacturer page). Gramodels are 1/150 scale and so are a bit smaller than my 1/144 vehicles but fit in well with 10mm. Since I generally use the same manufacturer for the same variants, and within a unit, it all works out well on a wargames table.




The commander figure is part of the turret casting, but with a bit of work I guess it could be removed if they were to be used for a US unit.





Gramodels do some standard vehicles but also some more unusual ones. Their British range is the most extensive and I have a lot of engineering type vehicles from Gramodels.

Sunday 2 November 2014

British D Day support - Croc, Crab, AVRE and dozer

Part of getting together stuff for a D Day scenario, some British Funnies:
  • Armoured dozer (Pendraken);
  • Sherman dozer (Pithead);
  • Sherman Crab (Pithead);
  • Churchill Crocodile (Arrowhead formerly Wargames South);
  • Churchill AVRE (Arrowhead).
I have always loved the Churchill, right back to Airfix kits as a kid so I particularly enjoyed doing the Crocodiles and AVREs (the Airfix kit was a pig to make with all those wheel bits! but the Arrowhead one is much easier to put together as it is just 5 bits including the turret)


the dozers:




the mine clearing flail, Sherman Crabs:




the flamethrower, Churchill Crocodile (not based yet as I need a larger base then those I have already. While I could cut out of plasticard I find ply is a better surface for gluing on sand so getting some cut to size from Fenris Games. I get their loyalty cards which is a more cost effective way of buying large amounts of bases over the course of a year):




the Churchill AVRE with petard:





I will do a fuller post on fortifications later on when I have completed some other bits. But included in the photos are:

a bunker for an anti tank gun, actually a 15mm one from Games of War (top comes off):


barbed wire. Comes in a roll and I got from Antenocitis Workshop. Wound round a pencil then glued to some brass rod posts on a prepared base:


a turret bunker. Home made and I have used a KV 1 turret for this (not likely to be in Normandy but I am getting hold of other turrets for these types of bunkers, such as old French tanks):



Napoleonic command bases (5) - Austrians

The Austrian command stands.

I have been working on my Austrians the longest and some are the very first Adler figures. I will be doing a post in the next few weeks when I have touched up some guys I got on ebay (they need a wash and some of the detail painted in and the white highlighted). What I have been short on though are commanders. I had a few done but with the recent expansion to the army and a new rules set that emphasizes command I need a lot more. I had the Austrian command pack and I generally like painting commanders (I recently did a lot of the Prussian command pack) but with a lot of other stuff on the go I ended up getting Richard over at Perfect Six to do them for me.

So, one battalion outside the Granary at Essling with the massed command of the Austrian army (probably ineffectively directing them!). (NB Granary is a J&R miniatures building)


My original command stands, which include Schwarzenberg for the 1813 campaign and hence with a Prussian and Russian on the base to signify his overall command. These were commanders for the original range before the command packs came out. Last one is a first go at some guys from the command pack.




Next Charles from the command pack ready to grab the flag and lead the troops at Aspern-Essling. I replaced the flag pole on the figure with a pin and the flag is a 15mm Revo flag (I like big flags and the 6mm ones you can buy look too small - although I now mostly print off flags and scale them to my liking).




Now some photos of the rest of the command stand which should give you a good idea of the range of poses available in the Adler Austrian command pack. To note, unlike other nation's command packs they are all just nameless generals, except for Charles, so can be used for whoever you want to portray.










[other than Charles probably my favorite stand]