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Category: world war two
Flames of War German Armoured Train
After much consideration I did in the end get a German Armoured Train for Flames of War, well an armoured locomotive to begin with.
Though they were not used on the Western Front (as far as I am aware) it is my intention to use it against British (and American) tanks. Then again I might just get in a few Soviet tanks for a quick game.
As with most Battlefront models the kit contains resin with metal parts for the details. The engine and tender are two resin parts with the front, the funnel and the wheels in metal.
Next stage will be washing the resin, and cleaning the castings before constructing the engine.
Bolt Action Partisans
I started painting my Bolt Action Partisans using Vallejo Flat Earth (983).
Still some way to go…
Arnhem – Book Choice
I recently read Arnhem: The Battle for Survival by John Nichol.
In September 1944, a mighty shock force of battle-hardened Allied troops dropped from the skies into enemy-occupied Holland in what was hoped would be the decisive final battle of World War II. Landing miles behind the German lines, their daring mission was to secure bridges across the Rhine so that ground forces could make a rapid dash into Nazi Germany. If all went well, the war could be over by Christmas. The plan went terribly wrong …
Seen through the dramatic first-hand accounts of those who were there, Arnhem is the gripping story of a bitter military defeat that became a triumph of the human spirit. It paints a vivid portrait of those in the cauldron of war, fighting for their lives, fighting for their comrades, fighting for their honour, a battle they won hands down.
For fans of A Bridge Too Far, Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers, and for readers of Antony Beevor’s Stalingrad and Hugh Sebag-Montefiore’s Dunkirk.
It’s a good book, but I don’t think it really covers the Arnhem battle as detailed and as gripping as Antony Beevor’s Berlin
If you have watched A Bridge Too Far then you will find this book useful in finding out more about how the assault on Arnhem actually happened, as well as more details on the British and German forces. As this book is about Arnhem, the rest of the Market Garden operation is covered in minimal detail.
It was a really interesting read and recommended for those interested in this aspect of World War Two.
Undercoating the Partisans
Having based my Bolt Action Partisans I gave the models a white undercoat.
These are very nice miniatures and there is a nice range of poses and characters within the band itself.
Though there is a “Soviet” feel to the partisans, I have decided to go down a French Forces of the Interior (Forces Françaises de l’Intérieur) or FFI force. Though I think some of the figures could be used for some 1920s gangsters games, look at the bloke on the right of this lot.
I am not too sure about the female partisan, as someone said to me, that bloke’s wearing a skirt!
I have been thinking about “transport” and armour for them. Tamiya do a 1/48th scale Citroen Traction 11CV which would work really well I think. As for armour I am tempted by the Bolt Action Char B1 bis and paint it up in FFI colours.
Bolt Action Partisan Band
After thinking about Bolt Action for a while and reflecting on the rules I finally decided on which force I was going to build. My regular opponent Simon was going Italian, so I actually had quite a wide choice of potential foes, from Early War French, British Desert Rats, Anzio which would mean regular British Infantry and US forces, Russians and even Germans towards the end of the war. I did initially think about Greek, they used regular British equipment so would be quite easy to model. I did consider Late War Germans, so I could get a JagdTiger in 28mm…. but in the end I decided that I would go totally irregular and go with Partisans, so just infantry, or maybe a car or truck or two.
Through mail-order I bought from Warlord Games their Partisan Band, which in theory contains eight figures, quite pleased to find that my parcel contained ten figures.
After cleaning the castings, I stuck them to two pence pieces using super glue, after that was dry, using PVA and Citadel Sand I covered the bases.
The next stage will be a white undercoat.
15mm German Königstiger
In the process of sorting some old gaming stuff out I found a bundle of old SDD models. These are 15mm metal castings that I bought back in the 1990s. It makes me think that the other metal models that I have been painting are also SDD.
This box was mainly late war stuff and included a King Tiger. Having constructed the model, I gave it a white undercoat.
The undercoat has shown that the quite severe casting lines, something you don’t always get with a resin casting.
Not airbrushing the Tiger IE
After trying out a non-airbrush method on an old metal SDD SdKfz 251 and been happy with the end result, I decided that I would start to paint my German big cats using a similar method.
Having given the model a basecoat of Warpaint German Armour the next stage was to add the disruptive camouflage. What I did was take an old paintbrush and cut off the bristles leaving a quarter inch. This brush is then used to stipple on the camouflage pattern. I used initially Chocolate Brown (872) and will use Reflective Green (890) later.
I was quite pleased with the initial effect on my SdKfz 251, however I think I may have made the pattern too wide on the Tiger. What I will do is tidy up the camo pattern with some Middlestone (882).
Though the official German manual during the war told how the camo pattern was to be applied, it said the raw paint mixture was to be mixed with petrol and sprayed onto the vehicles. Reality and short supplies of petrol meant that more often the camo pattern was “painted” onto the vehicles, sometimes with brushes and sometimes with rags.
V2
Forged in Battle on their Facebook page have showed off a V2 rocket with armoured half-track.
Looks very nice, though not so sure about the exhaust smoke, looks like it has been modelled as just taking off. Not so useful as an objective, but nonetheless could still be used.
Ruined Ground
A week or so ago I mentioned that I bought a couple of wooden buildings from 4Ground. I’ve always liked the look of the 28mm ruins so was pleased to find out today that 4Ground have released some ruined 15mm buildings.
Some are better than others, but they do look good, they do need some rubble though to add realism.