Building another IS-3 tank

One of the Clash of Steel Starter Sets have been on my wants list ever since I found out about them at the beginning of the year. I ordered Operation Unthinkable boxed set containing the British and German tanks.

I decided I would add to the game by ordering the other Operation Unthinkable set, which contains American and Soviet tanks. There are three IS-3 tanks included in the boxed set.

The IS-3 is a Soviet heavy tank developed in late 1944. Its semi-hemispherical cast turret (resembling that of an upturned soup bowl) became the hallmark of post-war Soviet tanks.

 IS-3 tank

 IS-3 tank

I had already constructed one of the IS-3 tanks, so it was a relatively easy process of constructing another one.

Constructing one more King Tiger

One of the Clash of Steel Starter Sets have been on my wants list ever since I found out about them at the beginning of the year. I ordered Operation Unthinkable boxed set containing the British and German tanks. It contains 17 tanks, two of which are the King Tiger tank.

The Tiger II (or as was informally known to the Germans who fought in it, Königstiger), was a 70 tonne heavy tank.

Having constructed one of the King Tiger models, I started making the second one.

Having had a few issues with magnets recently, for this model I decided not to use magnets on this model.

As with the other Operation Unthinkable models, it is quite simple to construct. The next stage will be a white undercoat.

Constructing the 15mm Comet (A34)

The Comet (A34) was a British cruiser tank that first saw use near the end of World War II. It was designed to provide greater anti-tank capability to Cromwell tank squadrons. It was armed with a 77mm HV, a derivative of the 17 pounder, with the result it was one of the few British tanks with the firepower to challenge late war German designs.

A34 Comet Tank

I have the  Operation Unthinkable boxed set containing the British and German tanks. The GF9 Operation Unthinkable boxed set, the British versus German, contains 17 tanks, three of which are the A34 Comet Cruiser Tank.

This is the GF9 finished model.

This the sprue.

With three models I decided I would vary construction. One would be as indicated in the instructions.

For the other two I decided I would add some commanders (which are included in the Operation Unthinkable boxed set). I also used the stowage from the American tanks I got in the other box.

For one model I did add significant amounts of stowage.

The other less so.

Here are the three constructed Comet tanks.

I decided to use magnets with the turrets, and I kind of wish I hadn’t. I had trouble getting them to both fit and when glueing them into position I eventually got it sorted.

The next step will be a white undercoat.

I do have four more plastic Comet Flames of War kits on the workbench as well.

Constructing another King Tiger

One of the Clash of Steel Starter Sets have been on my wants list ever since I found out about them at the beginning of the year. I ordered Operation Unthinkable boxed set containing the British and German tanks. It contains 17 tanks, two of which are the King Tiger tank.

The Tiger II (or as was informally known to the Germans who fought in it, Königstiger), was a 70 tonne heavy tank.

Having constructed one of the King Tiger models, I started making the second one.

Constructing another King Tiger

As with the other Operation Unthinkable models, it is quite simple to construct. Once finished,the next stage will be a white undercoat.

Another Tortoise Heavy Assault Tank

One of the Clash of Steel Starter Sets have been on my wants list ever since I found out about them at the beginning of the year. I ordered Operation Unthinkable boxed set containing the British and German tanks.

There are  17 tanks, two of which are the Tortoise heavy assault tank. One I had already constructed, decided to put together the second one as well.

The Tortoise heavy assault tank (A39) was a British heavy assault gun design developed during the Second World War, but never put into mass production. It was developed for the task of clearing heavily fortified areas such as the Siegfried Line and as a result favoured armour protection over mobility.

The next stage will be a white undercoat.

Early War Monsters delayed

I was pleased to hear in the Battlefront preview video in December 2024 about their new releases. 

Back in 2011 I wrote this after the release of the Mid-War Monsters.

I do hope that we see future “monsters” for Flames of War, there are some nice concepts and ideas out there for both Early-War and Late-War.

In the Battlefront preview video it was announced that Battlefront would be producing some Early War ‘Eavies. The preview included glimpses of the British TOG and the French Char 2C, see some photographs in this post.

Alas in a recent video announcement, the release of these massive tanks was said to be delayed. However we did get to see some photographs of painted versions of these monsters.

This is the French Char 2C.

Screenshot

This is the British TOG.

Screenshot

Alongside these we saw some British A13 cruiser tanks, infantry, artillery, and the delightful Light Tank VI.

Screenshot

For the French we saw the Char B1 bis.

Screenshot

These will (I suspect) be all plastic kits. I’ve been waiting well over ten years now for these monsters, I can wait a little longer…

In the original preview video there was also mention of a German super heavy tank, but it was not identified in the review, I suspect it might be the Großtraktor that was built by Krupp and entered service in 1935. However despite seeing some nice PzKpfw I tanks and PzKpfw III tanks and variants, no mention was made about the German tank…

Though we did hear about a 1960s version of Team Yankee called Checkpoint Charlie, sounds interesting.

Constructing the IS-3

One of the Clash of Steel Starter Sets have been on my wants list ever since I found out about them at the beginning of the year. I ordered Operation Unthinkable boxed set containing the British and German tanks.

I decided I would add to the game by ordering the other Operation Unthinkable set, which contains American and Soviet tanks.

The IS-3 is a Soviet heavy tank developed in late 1944. Its semi-hemispherical cast turret (resembling that of an upturned soup bowl) became the hallmark of post-war Soviet tanks.

This is the GF9 finished model.

This is the sprue.

The model is quite simple to construct.

This is quite a large tank.

The next step will be a white undercoat.

Constructing the T30 Heavy Tank

One of the Clash of Steel Starter Sets have been on my wants list ever since I found out about them at the beginning of the year. I ordered Operation Unthinkable boxed set containing the British and German tanks.

I decided I would add to the game by ordering the other Operation Unthinkable set, which contains American and Soviet tanks.

The T30 was designed at the same time as the T29 Heavy Tank. The T29 Heavy Tank was an American heavy tank project started in March 1944. The Heavy Tank T30 was developed to counter new German tanks, such as Tiger I, Tiger II, and tank destroyers, such as the Jagdtiger, or Soviet heavy tanks, such as IS-2 or IS-3.

This is the sprue.

The instructions allow you to construct either the T30 or T29 Heavy Tank.

The kit was relatively easy to construct.

The next step will be a white undercoat.

Constructing the Centurion Mk3

One of the Clash of Steel Starter Sets have been on my wants list ever since I found out about them at the beginning of the year. I ordered Operation Unthinkable boxed set containing the British and German tanks.

There are  17 tanks in the box, of which four are the Centurion Tanks. They can be constructed as a range of variants. For this model I went with the Mk3. I did think about the Mk1 initially, but I think I will model two Mk3 tanks and two Mk1 tanks.

This is the GF9 finished model.

Centurion Mk3

This is the sprue

Centurion Mk3 sprue

Centurion Mk3 sprue

There are various parts to the model, however it goes together very easily.

part completed Centurion Mk3 model

The finished model prior to a white undercoat.

Centurion Mk3

Centurion Mk3

Constructing the Panzer IV/70

One of the Clash of Steel Starter Sets have been on my wants list ever since I found out about them at the beginning of the year. I ordered Operation Unthinkable boxed set containing the British and German tanks. It contains 17 tanks, three of which are the Panzer IV/70 tank destroyer.

The Panzer IV/70, was a German tank destroyer based on the Panzer IV chassis, it was armed with the 7.5 cm Pak 42 L/70. Officially, only the L/48-armed vehicle was named Jagdpanzer IV. The L/70-armed vehicle was named Panzer IV/70.

This is the GF9 finished model.

This is the sprue. It has the parts to make the L/48-armed vehicle as well.

The first stage was constructing the hull and tracks.

Then the main weaponry was added and the side armour.

Next stage will be a white undercoat.