So despite a batch of Covid I've managed to assemble a lot of Lee's over the last few days.
These have joined the Stuarts I managed to assemble earlier.
This has given me a Lend Lease Tankovy of 21 Lees and 10 Stuarts, greatly trimming the pile of shame and adding to my Soviet force.
Now we are just waiting for some good weather so I can prime them and start the painting!
I was hoping to get this out earlier, however several issues and poor weather for spray varnishing has prevented this.
I've managed to get several platoons finished this month for my Germans. All are Battlefront models and all assembled well.
Firstly we have the Puma set, which I've assembled with the 2cm turret so I can make two platoons of Sd Kfz 234/1 as well.
These bring the German painting session to an end. Most of my other unbuilt Germans are in storage, so I can't work further on them for a bit.
As such, I'll be moving onto my Russian lend lease company, which I've part built so far.
Today we are looking at a bunch of things that werf flammen aka German Flamethrowers.
In particular, the Sd Kfz 251/16 half-track. I've painted 6 of these up for my Germans.
The kits are Battlefront, and generally go together ok, however the Metal Flamethrowers are part of the figures, have nowhere to mount, so are a bit uneven and can't be painted with the vehicle, which resulted in a bit of a mismatch.
Nevertheless 6 more models done this year!
This week's update is 6 Sd Kfz 251/9 or "Stummel" (stump) after the short 75mm cannon they carried.
They work quite well in Flames of War due to their economical points cost, so I'm looking forward to getting them on the table.
Models are all Battlefront, in this case the earlier plastic version (Ausf C)
I've got 4 more half-tracks done, so am making slow but steady progress.
Again Battlefront models, this time transport for another armoured platoon.
So today a can show a recently completed project, 5 Sd Kfz 251 half-tracks. 4 are the Mortar variant, while 1 is a command half track.
Kits are Battlefront, and went together well.
Next up is likely to be 4 more of these, as infantry carriers.
So moving house has been a bit disruptive. However finally I have an update.
Recently I've managed to assemble and finish some 1:72 WW2 vehicles, a Cromwell, a Churchill and a Universal carrier towing a 6 pounder.
These will become part of a war supply train on my hopeful future train layout.
In addition I have built 10 Stuart light tanks for my Soviets, I've been working on a Z gauge railway layout and started painting some half-tracks, so hope I will have some more progress soon.
Hello,
Something a little different today. At the start of this month I moved house. This has had two major effects:
a) Much more limited time for painting and modelling, hence the lack of updates
b) Sadly my model railway Cloughbridge, which was built into the loft, has had to be dismantled.
As such, I thought I would use this post to capture the last photos of my railway. While sad, there are plans to rebuild better in the future. I also have a small project on the go, for the intervening time.
Well it's been a while since my last update. It has unfortunately been a busy month, both work and personal-wise, which has limited the painting. Nevertheless, I have got some stuff done.
First are 4 more Stug IV for my Flames of War German's. These were designed as a substitute for the Stug III on the Panzer IV chassis. They were put into production as one of the factories building Stug IIIs had been badly damaged in an air raid. These were then produced until the end of the war, with over 1000 being built.
The models are from Forged in Battle and means I now have 8 of these available.
Secondly, I have also finished these 20mm British Gun Crew. These are from the Airfix vintage Bren Carrier and 6 Pounder set, I bought as a railway load. I decided to paint these up anyway in case I needed them, with a simple paint job. They are not great figures, especially the kneeling crew who are noticeably over scale.
Today's update are my completed Jagdtigers ("Hunting Tiger"). This was a heavy German tank hunter with a fixed superstructure mounting a 128mm gun, based on the Tiger II chassis.
These models are Battlefront plastic kits, from the "Clash of Steel" starter set. The went together fairly well, have some nice details (I like the anti-aircraft MG42 machine gun and the bucket on the sprue) and they were nice to paint.
Not sure how often these will be used, but they are there if I want a really big anti-tank punch in a German force.
So I have managed to finish 6 more tanks, 3 Panzer IIs and 3 German Armoured Cars (Sd Kfz 221/222).
These are all Battlefront models and have been good to build and paint, with the exception of the armoured car wheels, which were challenging to get to fit well.
Armoured Cars
with 2.8cm Anti-tank rifle turret
Panzer II
Next up is something a bit bigger.
So it's a new year, so how has the last year gone (painting-wise, let's not get into the rest).
Well firstly I've squeezed out another three models, 3 captured Panther tanks for my Soviets. These were used for decoy operations when captured (used to lead advanced to confuse the Germans, for example). Panther were generally not maintained, they were run until something broke, then abandoned.
These have brought my total painted for the year to 117. This is good, as this is significantly better than last year, and more in line with 2019, which is probably the best non-pandemic comparison.
To what did I get done?
The biggest success of the year has been getting a usable Tunisian force painted, however I'm also pleased with getting two forces "complete" (Providing I'm barred from gaming stores to prevent me reinforcing them) and getting back up to a better level of productivity.
My biggest regret has been the lack of actual gaming, thanks to work, a new love life and me not being organised enough to get games set up earlier. Annoyingly, I will miss Corrivalry this year as I have foolishly planned a ski holiday over the top of it!
So what are the plans for next year?
