28mm Perry DAK Platoon and HMGs

Well the German side of my Western Desert project has been going great guns, and in fact is nearly completed (well, inasmuch as any wargaming project can really be "completed"). Last weekend, I took advantage of the snowstorm and generally shit weather to finish off two MG34 teams and the rest of the plastic DAK platoon from the Perrys.

 

I really like the Perry MG34 teams, for a few reasons. One is that they include not two, not three, but FOUR crew. Three of the crew fit well on a round base with the MG, while the fourth is based separately (as it happens, on a Canadian 5-cent piece, which is exactly the same size as the Perry plastic bases). 

Another reason to like this set is that the poses and sculpts are just great, typical excellent Perry animation and anatomy. They fit in really well with the realistically proportioned plastic sculpts. I did two of these sets to give my DAK platoon some real supporting firepower. The only thing about painting the crew is an issue I always have with crew-served weapons - and that is basing. If you base the models before painting, you can do the groundwork and prime the base all in one shot, but it can make painting the figures themselves awkward as you have to work your brush in around the weapon and the other models on the base. But if you paint the figures first and base afterwards, you either have to do the groundwork around the painted figures, or leave spaces in the groundwork for the figures' bases, and even then you still have more groundwork to do after. Neither are ideal.   

Now onto the plastics themselves. First off the command section - this includes the CO, sergeant, MG34 team, anti-tank rifle team, radioman, and messenger. They're all good models, but it has to be noted that the box set doesn't include enough Kar98 rifles to equip everybody who should have one. I had to dig into my spares box for some extras to dole out - you'll see that later in the post. And while the CO is a pretty nice model, I'll probably eventually upgrade him to the metal version in the Perrys' command section blister pack. 

Here's one ten-man section - NCO with MP40, MG 34 team, and seven riflemen.

Second verse, same as the first. The third section in the platoon was posted before.

Here's what I mean by the extra rifles needed for the platoon. The two models at left and the one at right have metal rifles from (I think) Bolt Action Miniatures, before they were absorbed by Warlord Games. I had to do some sculpting of hands on all of these models (including the one with the plastic Kar98) and while they aren't great, they are good enough for the tabletop. It just would've been nice for the Perrys to have put enough rifles on the sprue for everyone though.

Here's the entire platoon with supporting MGs - I'm gonna call them done for now, and move onto painting them some 8th Army opponents.

And yes... heia Safari!