More 28mm Afrika Korps - 88mm Flak from Perry Miniatures

Here's a Flak 88 for the Afrika Korps... as everybody knows, this was the ultimate anti-tank weapon when pressed into that role by the Germans, and they developed some very clever tactics with the 88 in the Western Desert. Obviously a must-have for a DAK table-top force.

So clearly I needed to build and paint one... and there are several available. Rubicon makes one in 1/56, and there are various metal kits about in "28mm" scale as well. I chose the one from Perry Miniatures for several reasons: it was described as a "resin kit" of only six pieces (I still have trauma from the 1/48 Bandai 88), Perry make a metal crew for it, and I needed some other models from them anyway. Done!

However, while I'm happy with the result, the model itself didn't thrill me. First, it's 3D printed (in resin), not a cast resin model. This is OK I guess, but when paying top price for a kit (18 pounds sterling!) I don't want to deal with print lines and such. Second, it's freakin' tiny. And third, did I mention it cost 18 pounds and didn't come with crew?? But to be fair, I think the Rubicon one is comparable in price (about 21 pounds) and comes with carriage parts and an early-war European theatre crew, but there are over 200 parts in the kit, and I've BTDT. 

So I went with Perry, and it worked out OK, after straightening out the warped trails. I'm also patting myself on the back for magnetising the crewman seen above aiming the gun. I used 5mm magnets, one attached to the body of the gun and the other to the seat mount on the crew figure.

Speaking of the crew, they're great - typical Perry stuff. Anatomy and faces are first-rate, but it should be noted that they're fairly slightly built to match the plastic DAK models; these aren't "heroic 28mm" figures by any means. You get 8 of 'em in the pack and a couple shell crates for 8 pounds, which is pretty good if you don't have to have them posted to you.

Here's that gun aimer. You can just see the disc magnet at the left.

And here's some beauty shots of the gun itself. In hindsight I maybe could've used a lighter yellow to paint it but it's weathered and done now. Not one step back!!

As I said earlier, the trails were a little warped and wouldn't straighten with hot water, so I had to screw around a bit with mounting it to the base - basically had to put a spacer in the middle and superglue the pads at the ends of the trails to the base, and clamp them down. It worked in the end, but was a royal pain.

So I guess I would say that if I had to do it over, I'd order the gun from Rubicon, pocket the Rubicon crew, and get the DAK crew from Perry. Two hundred parts is a lot for this model, but you do get the carriage parts - the DAK was known to put these guns into action straight from the carriage, and that would look cool on the table. Anyway, it's done now and that's the main thing, I'm on to the rest of the infantry platoon and a Blitzkrieg Pzkpfw. III, watch for those soon.

Challenge Submission #18 - Another Mixed Bag of WW2 Vehicles

 

Last November fellow Conscript Dallas and I were discussing the idea of a France 1940 scenario for Bolt Action. We had played 'The Battle of Stonne' scenario from the Bolt Action campaign book 'Germany Strikes' in October 2021, and were looking at another chance to pit French and German armour against each other. We settled on 'The Battle of Orp' where the 3rd Panzer Division met the 3^e DLM (3rd Light Mechanized Division). A few of the vehicles needed were not in either of our collections, plus I had been looking at ordering some German and Soviet trucks to transport troops on the battlefield, as well as some more early Soviet armour. In the end  I ordered 3 GAZ AAA trucks, 3 T-26 tanks, 3 Krupp Protze trucks, 2 Panzer III Ausf E tanks, and a Hotchkiss H39 tank from Rubicon Models. They arrived just before last Christmas.

 

A group shot of all twelve vehicles

A size comparison of three tanks in the same scale

The GAZ-AAA was a truck produced at the Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (Gorky Automobile Plant) from 1936 to 1943 as the company's first 6-wheeled vehicle. During that time, over 37,000 trucks of various patterns were built. The Rubicon kits were easy to assemble, and  could be completed with or without a driver in the cab. (I went with the driver option.) It comes with a one-piece tarp that can be snapped into place, so I can field them with the tarp on or off. They will provide some necessary transport for all my Soviet infantry.

 

GAZ-AAA truck with tarps

GAZ-AAA truck without tarps

 

The T-26 tank kit comes with all the necessary parts to build one of ten different variants of the tank, which was based on Vickers E Six Ton. The T-26 entered active service for the Red Army in 1932, and it was used in many conflicts of the 1930s as well as during the Second World War. When production ceased in 1941, over 10,000 tanks of all variants had been produced. Of all the options available, I went with the M1933 turret, and assembled one with a radio aerial along with a commander that came with the Warlord Games BT-7 tanks I had painted in January. 

 

The German Krupp Protze was a truck used by the Wehrmacht to transport troops and tow the 37mm anti-tank gun. While I have a number of German 251/1 half-tracks, the reality is that most Panzergrenadiers rode in trucks. Using Bolt Action rules, the cost of a truck is less than half the cost of a half-track. The Rubicon kits can be built as the troop transport variant, with the tarp either up or down, or to tow the PAK. I built all of mine as transports, so I may end up ordering another as a towing vehicle.

 

The German Panzer III Ausf. E was an early model of that tank armed with a 37mm gun in the turret. It saw service in Poland and France before being replaced by upgraded versions. The Rubicon kits supply enough parts to build one of the E, F, or G variants of the tank. I added a commander that came with the Bolt Action Panzer I tanks I built in December as I liked it better than the one that came with the models. I painted up my Panzer IIIs as part of the 3rd Panzer Division with the Berlin bear symbol on the side of the turret.

 

 The French Hotchkiss H39 was an improved version of the H35. Some models were further upgraded to a longer-barrelled SA38 37mm anti-tank gun. The Rubicon kit is a resin model with enough extra parts to build the French tank with either the SA38 or the earlier Puteaux SA18 low velocity gun, as well as a different cupola if you want to build a version of the tank in German service. 

 

 

Thanks for reading. We are planning on playing the 'Battle of Orp' scenario soon, so stay tuned for the After Action Report.
 

Challenge Submission #16 - Soviet Infantry in Winter Uniforms

 

 

Here is another contingent of defenders of Mother Russia that was completed for the Painting Challenge, specifically 42 Soviet Winter Infantry from the Warlord Games boxed set of the same name. The set consists of five identical sprues of eight figures, plus three weapons sprues, enough to build 40 miniatures. I transferred two additional figures from the Siberian Veterans I did last week to beef up the numbers a bit. They are dressed in either greatcoats or quilted jackets, many wearing mitts, or having them dangle from 'idiot strings'. The selection of heads provided a lot of choice from a variety of fur hats, pilotkas, or helmets, with many of the faces wrapped in scarves. The only criticism I have with the set is that the weapons sprues don't provide enough basic Moisin-Nagant rifles. but I was able to make up the shortfall by carving away telescopic sights, or grabbing rifles from the sprues that came with the box of Siberian Veterans.

These were all painted in my usual style, starting with a dark brown primer. All the basic colours were painted using Vallejo acrylics, followed by a coat of Army Painter Strong Tone Quickshade. At times it was a little tricky getting the brush into the deep recesses. I might try a method I saw on YouTube where all the parts were painted while still on the sprue and then assembled. I used AK Diorama products 'Snow' and 'Snow Sprinkles' on the bases to give them that frosty look. The dead grass is Vallejo Scenery 'Wild Tuft - Beige'. The end result is a platoon of three identical 10 man sections, each with a submachine gun, a mix of Moisin-Nagant rifles and carbines,  a DP-28 light machine gun team, plus some hand grenades and Molotov cocktails, and a section of 9 conscripts armed with rifles, all led by a senior officer with a pistol. Add to that a PTRS-41 or Simonov anti-tank rifle team, ready to engage the Fascist invaders. 

The Bolt Action rules for Soviets allow a free section of conscripts as one of the force selection options, or I can use them to increase the strength of the other three sections up to 12 men, so this group will provide me with some options on the wargames table of either bigger sections, or a free group of 'Grot'. They will be teamed up with my Soviet Winter Support Group and my whitewashed T-34 for a battle in the snows of Russia.

 

A platoon of Soviet infantry in Winter uniforms

Veteran Officer and Anti-tank Rifle Team

Squad No. 1

Squad No.2

Squad No.3

Призывники Фосетт-авеню

 This was the last of my Soviet infantry. The last of the Soviets? Stay tuned for the next submission.

Challenge Submission #14 - Siberian Veterans and Soviet BA-10 Armoured Car

 

More Soviet infantry were completed for the Challenge, specifically 32 Siberian Veterans from the Warlord Games boxed set of the same name. The set consists of four identical sprues of multipose miniatures, enough to build 32 soldiers, plus two metal figures. (I diverted two of the plastic figures, and some of the Mosin-Nagant rifles to my Winter Soviets to beef up the numbers.) You also get a selection of metal heads and arms to add further variety to the figures, such as captured weapons, bandaged heads or hands, Eastern facial features, etc. 

These were all painted in my usual style, starting with a black primer. All the basic colours were painted using Vallejo acrylics, followed by a coat of Army Painter Strong Tone Quickshade. The end result is a platoon of three 9 man sections each with two submachine guns, a mix of Mosin-Nagant rifles and carbines,  a DP-28 light machine gun team, one Tokarev semi-automatic rifle, plus some hand grenades, Molotov cocktails, and a captured Panzerfaust, all led by an officer with a pistol. Add to that a sniper team, a soldier dragging a Maxim machine gun, and a Commissar with a speaking trumpet. 

 

Siberian Veterans defending the approaches to Moscow

Bandaged heads and hands

Bandaged hands and captured Panzerfaust

Captured MP40, Molotov cocktail, and bandaged heads

Sniper team with scoped Moisin-Nagant rifle

Machine-gunner pulling a Maxim and an officer with a pistol

"The man with the rifle shoots, the man without the rifle follows...."

Next we have a Soviet BA-10 heavy armoured car which is a 1/48 model by Uni-Model, another Ukrainian company stocked by my local hobby store. Like the Ace Model kits that I built earlier, these are very detailed and contain a lot of parts that I probably could have left out given that I am building something for the wargames table. The parts lack locating pins and holes to correctly align them, and the diagrams didn't always give a good representation of exactly where things were to be positioned. (One diagram actually had all the part numbers printed backwards. 😱) I also found the plastic to be a bit fragile, and a few pieces broke when trying to carefully cut them from the sprue. In the end I left off the optional tracks from the rear wheels and some of the tiny etched brass parts, and replaced the headlights and the steps outside the side doors with something more robust than provided by the model kit. 

Despite all the trials and tribulations, I eventually got it all together. It was primed black using an airbrush and then painted Russian green using acrylic paint. Highlights and decals were applied, and then the entire vehicle was given a wash of AK Interactive Dust. (In case anyone is wondering what 'А. Невский' means, it is for Alexander Nevsky, a medieval military leader who defeated the Teutonic Knights in 1242.)

 

The headlights were made from round push pins filed flat on one side

А. Невский on the side, just above the rear wheels

The plastic piece to support the step on the side was replaced with florist wire

 There is still another batch of Soviet Infantry in Winter uniforms coming down the pipe. Stay tuned. Thanks for reading.

Challenge Submission #13 - A Handful of Special Challenge Targets

 One of the features of this year's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is the Challenge Quadrant, consisting of three rings of planets surrounding a central star, each planet representing a special theme for the figures to be painted. Here are some of those special figures that I completed in late January and early February.

 The figures of Gandalf the White on foot and mounted on Shadowfax are the older Games Workshop Lord of the Rings castings. I have included Gandalf the Grey in the photos for the 'Before' and 'After' comparison.

A Canadian Churchill tank at Dieppe -Churchill Mk III T68696 'CAT' is a repainted 1/50 Solido diecast model I acquired from a friend. It was originally painted in a desert yellow/olive green striped camouflage pattern for service in Tunisia, but I wanted it to match another Solido Churchill that I had that depicted 'Cheetah' (shown in the background). So the 'tank from Tunisia' was repainted using Vallejo Dark Earth, and then the vehicle name, numbers, etc. painted on freehand.

 A legionary of early Imperial Rome, equipped with lorica segmentata, gladius, and scutum. This is a 28mm plastic figure that came as a sample years ago with an issue of Wargames Illustrated. I was never sure what to do with it, and thought I might use it as a gladiator in our 'local arena'. I'm glad I had it on hand for one of the stops on the Challenge Quadrant.

 A Eurasian Solar Union SAW gunner from Ground Zero Games and a Rebel Commando from West End Games. Both date from the mid to late 1990's. I have painted them up in the colour scheme for the Ral Partha Galactic Grenadiers figures I use as 'Planetary Militia'. In the past I have used both GZG and WEG minis to augment the variety of poses and weapons in my squads.

 

 A 54mm miniature from the Scale Link Ltd. WW1 Grand Guerre range, which depicts a British or Canadian infantryman advancing at the 'Trail Arms' position with fixed bayonet, and his Small Box Respirator worn at the 'Alert' position. He is identified as a member of the 27th Battalion CEF by the blue circle over a blue rectangle on his shoulder. The figure was painted using Vallejo acrylics, followed by some Games Workshop washes. Finally some AK Interactive Spattereffects 'Wet Mud' was applied to areas like knees and elbows. 

  Two 'old school' 25mm Star Wars figures from West End Games depicting Princess Leia Organa as she appeared in 'A New Hope' and 'Return of the Jedi'. Again, these are painted using Vallejo acrylics with GW washes on the faces and hands, and to produce the camouflage pattern on the poncho.

 These special challenges have been very useful in clearing out some of the miniatures that have been lingering in the 'PENDING' box for some time.

Thanks for reading.