Challenge Submission #3 - WW2 German Panzertruppen

My third submission for this year's painting challenge is a selection of early to mid war units appropriate for a German Panzer Division. They include a squad of Kradschützen (motorcycle troops), a Sd.Kfz. 222 light armoured reconnaissance vehicle, and a platoon of Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf B light tanks. The last vehicle is an iconic Panzerkampfwage VI Ausf H or Tiger I.

The Kradschützen are a mix of Black Tree Design and Bolt Action miniatures for a total of nine figures on five motorcycles, with two where the passenger is riding in a sidecar, and two where the passenger is riding pillion. I picked up the two Black Tree Design motorcycles a number of years ago at an estate sale, and the assembly looked rather daunting with the bike, the handle bars, and the riders all being separate pieces. I wanted to flesh them out a bit, and ordered two motorcycles from Warlord Games where the passenger was riding in a side car. One more motorcycle was ordered a few years later, again from Warlord Games, but this time with the passenger riding pillion. If I thought Black Tree Design bikes were daunting, the ones from Warlord Games consisted of 10 separate pieces, and didn't come with assembly instructions. I was able to find those online, but to get everything to fit correctly was really tricky, especially since the handle bar and the driver's arms came as a single piece.

With much patience, I was successful in getting everything together so that it all looked right, although the drivers still don't seem to be sitting properly on the seat. The instruction for the bikes with side cars showed stowage satchels attached to the sidecar, but none came with the kits. I did get enough for a single bike in the kit with the passenger riding pillion. These got moved over to the sidecars, one to each, and the second stowage bin coming from my bits box along with a gas mask canister. Three of the bikes were mounted on long bases that came from Warlord Games, while the bikes with sidecars were mounted on bases cut from old plastic gift cards. Everything was primed in black and then painted with Vallejo or AK Interactive acrylics. They are now ready to take the field as part of the 8th Panzer Division.

 

The  Sd.Kfz. 222 light armoured car was another acquisition from the above mentioned estate sale. It was a multi-part metal casting which I think is an old Battle Honors kit. The scale looks closer to 1/48 than 1/56, and although the body is hollow, it still weighs in at 266g (almost 9.5oz). In fact, it is so heavy that the axles that came with the model were unable to support the weight without bending. I had to pull the wheels off again and replace the axles with lengths of florist wire that were much stiffer.

The fit of the pieces was pretty wonky, and I had to fill a number of gaps with epoxy putty. The rear fenders were a single piece that were difficult enough to fit to the chassis, but the front fenders were even worse. They came as two separate pieces, and the fit to the chassis just didn't work as all the angles were slightly off. Eventually I gave up and fashioned the front fenders out of a single piece of thin plastic card. Once all the fenders were in place, I made some headlights out of the heads of pushpins that I have filed flat on one side. Finally I added the shovel and the rolled tarp from my  bits box. The commander that came with the model was wearing an Einheitsmütze, which is more mid to late war, so I replaced him with a figure from a Bandai tank kit. The vehicle was painted in a similar fashion to the Kradschützen, and then some AK Splattereffects Dry Mud was applied. It will make a useful addition to my early war Germans.

 

Next I have a platoon of three 1/56 resin Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf B light tanks from Warlord Games that I purchased as part of a bulk order along with DallasE. I liked how he mounted his on bases to make them a bit more compatible with 1/48 and 1/50 scale vehicles, so I did likewise. Assembly was pretty straight forward with the tracks, etc, fitting well to the chassis. I used magnets to attach the turrets, countersinking them into the chassis and the turret itself. The only flaw was that two of the exhaust pipes were not well cast, so I carved the partly formed bits away, and rebuilt the exhaust with some copper wire and the insulating sleeve. These were then painted using the same technique as for the armoured car. They were then mounted on the bases that had already been prepared with most of the sand, paint, and flocking before gluing the vehicles in place. The red vehicle numbers and German crosses on the tanks are appropriate for the France 1940 campaign.

 

Lastly I have  a Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausführung H, also called the Tiger I, of the 502nd Heavy Panzer Battalion. The battalion was the first unit to receive and field the Tiger I in August 1942, and it was one of the most successful German heavy tank battalions, claiming the destruction of 1,400 tanks and 2,000 guns.

The model is a 1/48 scale Bandai kit that I picked up on eBay. It was obviously a second hand kit as it had already been started, but what the original owner had done was glue both the inner and outer road wheels on all the odd numbered axles before realizing their mistake. I contacted the seller about the problem, who refunded my money without wanting me to send the kit back. It languished for many years in my pile of unfinished projects until I thought that a repair was possible. I used a fine saw blade to cut off all the outer wheels from the odd numbered axles. Now all the inner wheels could glued onto the even numbered axles. I drilled holes into the axles and the back of the wheels I had removed with a pin vice to take a short piece of florist wire to provide strength to the joint when I glued them back in place with a little bit of epoxy putty to fill the slight gap. Once all that was done, the rest of the kit was assembled as per the instructions.

Prior to this, I had already acquired a Solido 1/50 diecast Tiger I in grey. It is visible in the background of the pics below, but not part of the submission. Other than a bit of tweaking, new decals, and adding a muzzle break, the Solido model is as I bought it. Since it was already painted in Panzer grey, I wanted to use the same paint scheme with the Bandai model to make them part of the same unit. After priming it with black, I used AK Interactive acrylic 704 Dunkelgrau, and then drybrushed the raised areas and corners with a lighter grey. Special parts like the tools and tow cables were painted appropriate colours, and a few parts got either a black or a dark brown wash. Once the tracks were on, I hit the lower areas with AK Splattereffects Dry Mud. 

 

Thanks for reading.

Second World War Canadians

With many of the Conscripts involved in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, there have not been many posts on our blog page lately, so here is another one of my ‘Armies in Review’ posts. When I started doing Bolt Action my first army of choice was a Canadian force, and as I had been a member of the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada in my younger days, I wanted to paint up my infantry units marked for the 2^nd Canadian Division, and all the supporting units marked for those that actually supported the Camerons in Northwest Europe in 1944-45. At the moment I can currently field two 38 man infantry platoons, a company headquarters, a 6pdr anti-tank gun, 3 Vickers medium machine guns, 2 medium mortars, a carrier platoon of four Universal carriers, a few 25pdr field guns, a forward observation officer, a reconnaissance troop of scout and armoured cars, a troop of Sherman tanks, and a pair of Ram Kangaroo armoured personnel carriers.

The full force on parade.

Vickers machine gun teams, mortar teams, and 6pdr anti-tank gun

The machine gun teams are a mix of manufacturers being (from left to right) old school Bolt Action, Crusader Miniatures, and Westwind Miniatures. The team 'on the move' is also by Westwind. The 6pdr anti-tank gun and the mortar teams are by Battle Honors.

Carrier platoon to rapidly move the support weapons

The two carriers on the left are metal models by Battle Honors, with crews and extra stowage by Bolt Action. The two carriers on the right are resin casting by Bolt Action, as are the crews. The dimensions for the Battle Honors carriers are a bit off, primarily in that the part of the vehicle in front of the driver is too short. They end up being wider than the Bolt Action castings, but the same length.

Ram Kangaroo armoured personnel carriers

The Ram Kangaroos are conversions using the chassis from a 1/50 scale Solido Grant tank and a resin kit from Quarter Kit. I had purchased the Grants as something to use with my Soviets, but once I had enough T34/76 tanks, they got repurposed. The conversion kit went together very nicely, but I think they are no longer available.

Company headquarters, with supporting artillery in behind

All the figures are from the Westwind range, with the jeep being a repainted 1/50 scale Corgi diecast model with a crew from Bolt Action that was specifically marketed to go with the Corgi jeeps. At some point I have to do a conversion on the officer to replace his forage cap with a proper Highland Balmoral.

First platoon of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada

The platoon consists of a headquarters, a PIAT team, a light mortar team, and three 10 man sections, all wearing the blue divisional patch of the 2nd Canadian Division. The infantry sections are a mix of Westwind Miniatures and Crusader Miniatures. The Westwind figures are closer to true 25mm size, and I really love the animation in the sculpts. Each section consists of a section commander with a Sten gun, a Bren gun team and seven riflemen. The officer, NCO, and radio team of the platoon headquarters are Westwind castings, and the PIAT and Mortar teams are from Crusader.

Second platoon with the same composition as the first

A reconnaissance troop of two scout cars and two armoured cars

The reconnaissance regiment of the 2nd Canadian Division was the 8th Reconnaissance Regiment (14th Canadian Hussars). The Daimler 'Dingo' scout cars and the Daimler armoured cars are repainted Dinky Toy diecast models that I picked up cheaply from eBay. All had seen a lot of wear and tear, and much of the original paint had worn off, which was the main reason why I got them for the minimum bid. I didn't mind about the paint as I planned to repaint them anyway.

A troop of Sherman tanks 

The 2nd Canadiain Division regularly received armoured support from the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade. Since this gave me another opportunity to represent a home town unit on the gaming table, these Shermans are marked as 'C' Squadron Fort Garry Horse. They are all Solido 1/50 diecast models. Two were originally the version of the Sherman with the 105mm howitzer. On one of these I replaced the howitzer barrel with an appropriate 76mm barrel, while the other was converted to a Sherman 'Firefly' with a 17pdr anti-tank gun using a resin kit from Quarter Kit. All have extra track sections welded to their hulls to beef up their armour, as well as plenty of gear stowed on the rear deck. The extra track and stowage are resin casting.

25pdr field gun, transport, and a forward observation officer

One of the artillery units that was part of the 2nd Canadian Division was the 4th Field Regiment Royal Canadian Artillery. All the vehicles sport the proper tactical signs for that unit. The field gun, limbers, and crew are Battle Honors casting, while the Quad Field Artillery Tractors are again Dinky Toy diecast models acquired off of eBay and repainted. 

Me (on the right) in a Universal carrier

The above photo was taken in front of the Manitoba Legislative Building during the 100th Anniversary parade of the formation of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada in 2010. The vehicle bears the correct tactical signs for the Camerons. Thanks for reading. I wish everyone all the best in 2022, and good luck to all the Conscripts who are involved in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.

 

Second World War Soviets

 The Analogue Painting Challenge is about to kick off next week, and this year I am looking at expanding my Bolt Action Second World War collection starting with my Soviet horde. Here is the current array on parade. The infantry are primarily from Black Tree Design, with a few riflemen and the majority of the heavy weapons from Battle Honors. The platoon of T34/76 tanks consists of a 1/50 Corgi, two 1/50 Solido, and 1/48 Bandai. The Bandai T34 and the 'captured' Kubelwagen are recent additions, but most of the figures and tanks were painted over a decade ago and saw much action on the table top with the after school wargames club I organized.

 

A group photo of my Soviets: four rifle squads of nine men each, one SMG squad of eight men, two medium mortars, one heavy machine gun, one medium machine gun, one 76mm divisional gun, a headquarters, a captured Kubelwagen, and four T34-76 tanks, ready to repel the Fascist invaders.

A close up of one of the rifle squads, the 76mm divisional gun M1942 (ZiS-3), and two 82mm 82-BM-37 battalion mortars. The Battle Honors mortar teams came with figures to either be 'on the go' or 'deployed'.

Another two rifle squads each consisting of a section leader with a submachine gun, six riflemen, and a DP-28 light machine gun. Behind them are a DShK 1938 heavy machine gun team, and a PM M1910 medium machine gun team. The machine teams again came with enough figures to be either 'on the go' or 'deployed'.

A fourth rifle squad in front, a squad armed with PPSh-41 submachine guns behind them, and a platoon of T34-76s at the back.

A stern commander with his captured Kubelwagen staff car, and a small escort of riflemen.

A group of 'character figures' from Black Tree Design. You can just smell the bacon frying. 

A close up of the two medium mortar teams from Battle Honors.

A close up of the two machine gun teams, heavy machine gun on the left, medium machine gun on the right.

A close up of two 1/50 diecast T34s from Solido (closest to the camera) and Corgi. The Corgi is a later model with two hatches in the turret.

The last two T34s, a plastic 1/48 Bandai kit, and a 1/50 Solido diecast model. Both are the early version with the single turret hatch.

 

So what's on the workbench for the next few months? Soviet infantry in summer uniforms, Soviet infantry in winter uniforms, Siberian veterans, a variety of support weapons, more tanks, and an armoured car or two. Below are just a few of the projects I hope to have rolling off the assembly line soon.

Soviet Infantry (Winter) and Siberian Veterans from Warlord Games, and another T34/76, this time from Tamiya. I plan to do this one in Winter camouflage.

 

Russian Infantry in Summer Uniforms, Russian Infantry Heavy Weapons, and a pair of Russian 45mm Anti-Tank Guns, all from Plastic Soldier Company, and a KV-1 from Hobby Boss.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have enjoyed this little trip down memory lane. As projects are completed I will post them on the blog to keep you up to date on my painting challenge progress.

Carrier Platoon moves to the Front

With the completion of my second rifle platoon, it was now time to work on the Carrier Platoon. For the painting and marking of the vehicles, I had photos of the "real deal', a restored Universal carrier, complete with markings of the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada, 6th Brigade, 2nd Canadian Infantry Division. When I bought my West Wind Canadians, I also picked up two Universal carriers by Battle Honors. Those were later supplemented by two Bolt Action Miniatures Universal carriers along with enough crew for all four. The BAM carriers came with drivers, but not those from Battle Honors, so I converted two Jeep drivers to carrier drivers by cutting them off at the waist and repositioning the steering wheel. (On a Universal carrier, the steering wheel is vertical.) Here is a photo of the vehicle with the owner, Derk Derrin, and me in front of the Legislature during the Camerons' 100th Anniversary celebration. I managed to get a ride in the vehicle but because it was on the road surface, we didn't really get up to speed. Metal tracks and asphalt/concrete don't mix well. Here is a pic of my cluttered work area. In addition to the photos of Derk's carrier, I was also able to find some pdf files of Canadian vehicle markings on the internet. This proved very useful for producing the tactical symbols for marking the vehicle. In order to paint the crew men, I glued them to Popsicle sticks which makes it easier to handle the figures. The driver and Bren gunner castings are only from the waist up, while the crew that sit in the back are cast from the shins up. It took me a while to get the colour somewhere close to correct. Canadian vehicles were painted a bronze olive colour and I haven't been able to find anything close that is pre-mixed. I do most of my painting with water-based acrylics from the craft store. A 50/50 mixture of FolkArt 449 Olive Green and 945 Maple Syrup seems to come very close. The vehicles with the crooked stars are the original Battle Honors universal carriers, which are inferior to the BAM resin castings. They are about 10% too wide and 5% too short (most of the missing length being forward of the driver's compartment). Here is the completed carrier platoon with all the crew inside and vehicle markings in place. To make the markings, I scanned an image of the symbols and shrunk it to size. I then printed enough off on my laser printer, cut them out with scissors, and glued them on with Weldbond glue. I put a black '5' on a yellow circle on the front right fender (bridge weight rating) and white '68' on maroon square, as well as the a yellow maple leaf on a blue rectangle on both front and back of the vehicle. Not as perfect as decals, but it was a cheap way of doing the markings for the Camerons of Canada. Here is another view from a different angle showing the unit and divisional markings. I am counting these as 20 points towards my personal painting objective for 2011.