WW2 experimental vehicles part 8 - T-100Y

Some more Russian experimental vehicles. I got these on eBay, resin kits ready made with a basic paint job. Worked out at about £9 each delivered which is not too bad for something that is needed in such small numbers.

I gave the vehicles a brown wash and dry brush to bring out the detail, added a mud effect on the wheels and tracks and some decals.

The detail on the kit is quite nice and shows most on the rear of the vehicle:

They go nicely with the T-100z tanks I bought in the summer

LVT-4 Water Buffalo (Buffalo IV)

Some Arrowhead models of the LVT-4 Water Buffalo (or as the British called it the Buffalo IV). I have been itching to get these since they were released but have resisted as I have plenty of other things to do, but finally succumbed in a recent order.

A very nice model, but needs a little bit of care putting together. It comes as a top and bottom piece, the two sides and the rear door. After a bit of experimentation I found it is best to glue the top and bottom together then the sides need filing until they slot in. Some off the top and a bit off the bottom; just do a bit at a time and keep trying to fit the piece in until it fits just right. Thing to remember is to put the rear door in before the final side is glued on as it slots into two holes in each of the side pieces. After a bit of thought I decided to glue the rear door closed. The kit comes with a variety of machine gun options, but for some variety on the final one I used some Pendraken roof top machine guns (I found photos with this type of machine gun being used).

Markings wise I did as a British vehicle with a regimental number on the front (saw one in a museum photo with 67 on the front) and a squadron marking on the rear.

It is a big old thing and quite heavy in metal for a vehicle in this scale.

The one with some Pendraken roof top MGs

I also got a LVT (A) Mark 1 as I fancied making it - I have no need of it so already sold on ebay. It does give a useful size comparison and the LVT 4 is a larger vehicle, particularly on height (ignoring the turret on the LVT (A))

I have some LVT 2 from Gramodels which are 1/150 scale. Noticeably smaller than the LVT 4 but some of that is the actual size difference in the real vehicles. The comparison with the Arrowhead LVT (A) shows that other than on length they are broadly the same size.

I found this on line and as long as the link is still working it provide some useful scale drawings of the various variants to compare sizes: LVT size comparison

US airborne 75mm pack howitzer battery

An entirely Pendraken unit of 75mm pack howitzers crewed by US airborne troops. They are the Ardennes airborne figures - which I really like and will be doing and airborne infantry platoon in the Ardennes equipment at some point.

I have most of my US artillery done now except for the Priests which are half way through.

The supply / objective marker is made from the odds and ends that come in the various Takara versus sets.

US 57mm anti-tank guns

Something else that has been on the work bench for a while - waiting to paint the rest of the crews, which became much easier when I got my new glasses!

Two 57mm anti-tank guns platoons, one for normal US infantry and one for the Paras. The guns are Takara which I have repainted (the Takara Pak 40 and Russian 76mm I just give a wash and a dry brush but the 57mm does not have quite the right colour so I repaint for the Americans and British).

Bog standard infantry version is with Pendraken crews:

The crew for the Paras/ Airborne platoon are Arrowhead (actually bought when they were still called Wargames South):

US 105mm artillery and trucks

Just finished my 105mm howitzer battery for the Americans. This is a real mix of manufacturers. The guns themselves are Minfigs but their crew are a bit small compared to my infantry (from Arrowhead and Pendraken) so I have used Pendraken crews - as I have said in earlier posts Pendraken are really helpful and will provide any mix of individual figures on request to make up artillery crews. The trucks are Pithead - the GMC 352 105mm artillery tractor; this has just been released and it looks truly excellent. To be honest I was surprised I could be so please with a truck!

The overview of the battery:

Some close ups of the guns and crew:

The staff stand with a makeshift table made from a crate that comes in the Takara versus sets (I forget which one). Map is a print of a real WW2 map found on the internet scaled way down.

And now those lovely trucks:

M12 self propelled 155mm artillery

I have finally finished my M12 battery. This Pendraken model came out in summer 2012 and I picked 4 up at the Birthday Bash event when they were first released. I did one to work out how I wanted to do it and came second in the single vehicle category of the 2013 Pendraken painting competition. But the rest have sat half done for over a year and a half. I have been trying to finish off everything that is on my work bench (a terrible habit I have of getting distracted with the latest thing!). I have also done some crew figures on a separate base to indicate when they are in firing position - again Pendraken figures.

I really like this model and it comes up extremely well - I think my favorite Pendraken vehicle.