Tag: 15mm

Undercoating the Universal Carriers

The Universal Carrier, also known as the Bren Gun Carrier is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrong.

Produced between 1934 and 1960, the vehicle was used widely by Allied forces during the Second World War. Universal Carriers were usually used for transporting personnel and equipment, mostly support weapons, or as machine gun platforms. With some 113,000 built in the United Kingdom and abroad, it was the most numerous armoured fighting vehicle in history.

As with some of my other metal models I can’t remember the manufacturer of these.These metal models are not as well defined as the Flames of War resin models, so in the end I might use them for scenery or objectives.

I gave them a white undercoat.

Full workbench feature on the Universal Carriers.

French Renault R35

The Renault R35, an abbreviation of Char léger Modèle 1935 R or R 35, was a French light infantry tank of the Second World War. Designed from 1933 and produced from 1936, the type was intended as a light infantry support tank, equipping autonomous tank battalions, that would be allocated to individual infantry divisions to assist them in executing offensive operations. To this end it was relatively well-armoured but slow and lacking a good antitank-capacity, fitted with a short 37 mm gun. At the outbreak of the war, the antitank-rôle was more emphasized leading to the development and eventual production from April 1940 of a subtype with a more powerful longer gun, the Renault R40. It was planned to shift new production capacity to the manufacture of other, faster, types, but due to the defeat of France the R35/40 remained the most numerous French tank of the war, about 1685 vehicles having been produced in June 1940.

Like some of my other models I am unsure of the manufacturer of this one. After a bit of internet research I believe it is an old SDD miniature. Not convinced totally, but other miniatures in the box it was in carry SDD codes.

I am going to use this one as the test vehicle for my Flames of War French tanks to try out different paint schemes. Tempted though to paint as a captured German version.

I gave the model a white undercoat.

15mm British Vickers Dutchman

I have had this tank for sometime. Don’t remember the manufacturer. It actually took me a while to work out which tank this was exactly… I used another website as a reference.

Mechanically similar to the Mark IV, though armament and other features were like the Mark II, the “Dutchmen” were a 1936 commercial version. 40 vehicles were sold to the Netherlands. All 40 were taken over by the War Office in 1939 before export. All vehicles were used for training only by the British Army. The term “Dutchmen” or “Dutchman” was an unofficial moniker.

Though never used in service, in the event of a German invasion (Operation Sealion) they probably would have been used to help defend the country.

After a bit of internet research I believe it is an old SDD miniature. Not convinced totally, but other miniatures in the box it was in carry SDD codes.

I gave the model a white undercoat.

15mm German SdKfz 251 Armoured Half Track

The SdKfz 251 (Sonderkraftfahrzeug 251) half-track was an armoured fighting vehicle designed and first built by Nazi Germany’s Hanomag company during World War II. The largest, most common, and best armored of the wartime half-tracks, the SdKfz 251 was designed to transport the panzergrenadiers of the German mechanized infantry corps into battle. Widely known simply as “Hanomags” by both German and Allied forces, they were widely produced throughout the war, with over 15,252 vehicles and variants produced in total by various manufacturers.

Like some of my other models I am unsure of the manufacturer of this one. However it is a completely metal model. I want to use this one to test out my German armour paint scheme. I might then use it to create a Flames of War objective.

I found the frontal weapon and stuck it to the model.

After that the next stage was a white undercoat.

Another view.

You can see how it compares to a Flames of War resin and plastic SdKfz 251 in this photograph.

As you can see there is not only more detail of the FoW model, but the detail is crisper and more defined. The plastic tracks certainly help here as does using resin for the main body.

The next stage will be to give the underbody a dark brown basecoat.

See full workbench feature on the German SdKfz 251 Armoured Half Track.

15mm British Cruiser Tank Mk III A13

The Tank, Cruiser, Mk III (A13) was a British cruiser tank of the Second World War. It was the first British cruiser tank to use the Christie suspension system which gave higher speeds and better cross-country performance, previous models of cruiser tanks having used triple wheeled bogie suspension. Like most British cruisers, the A 13 was fast but under-armoured and proved unreliable mechanically. Most were lost in the French campaign in 1940, but a few were used in Greece and the North African campaign in 1940-41.

I have had this tank for sometime. Don’t remember the manufacturer, though I think it may be an old SDD Miniatures model. It’s made of metal and is quite well detailed. After cleaning the model I gave it a white undercoat.

Looks better already than when it was plain metal.

See the full workbench feature on the A13.

15mm Home Guard Bedford OXA

The Bedford OXA was a gun truck or improvised British heavy armoured car built during World War II by mounting an armoured body onto a Bedford OXD 1.5 ton truck chassis. 948 units were built in 1940-1941.

The vehicle was used by British Home Guard units until 1942. As with many of my 15mm metal vehicles I don’t recall who the manufacturer was. I gave the model a white undercoat.

This is a solid whitemetal casting.

The next stage will be a basecoat of Brown Violet (887).

Repainting the Home Guard Standard Beaverette

Standard Car 4×2, or Car Armoured Light Standard, better known as the Beaverette, was a British armoured car produced during World War II.

Don’t remember the manufacturer. After a bit of internet research I believe it is an old SDD miniature. Not convinced totally, but other miniatures in the box it was in carry SDD codes. I have painted this model. I gave the model a black undercoat, a dark green base coat and “weathered” it with some brown paint. Decided to repaint the model and gave it a coat of Warpaint British Armour.

Looks better already!

15mm German SdKfz 251 Armoured Half Track

The Sd.Kfz. 251 (Sonderkraftfahrzeug 251) half-track was an armored fighting vehicle designed and first built by Nazi Germany’s Hanomag company during World War II. The largest, most common, and best armored of the wartime half-tracks, the Sd.Kfz. 251 was designed to transport the panzergrenadiers of the German mechanized infantry corps into battle. Widely known simply as “Hanomags” by both German and Allied forces, they were widely produced throughout the war, with over 15,252 vehicles and variants produced in total by various manufacturers.

Like some of my other models I am unsure of the manufacturer of this one.

I found the and added the MG to the model.

I am going to use this as a testbed for my German paint scheme and I will then probably add it into some scenery.

15mm Home Guard MkIV Male Tank

15mm Home Guard MkIV Male Tank

15mm Home Guard MkIV Male Tank

I have had this tank for sometime. Having found the 6pdrs I glued them in. Don’t remember the manufacturer, though it may be Minifigs! When I was planning some Operation Sealion games back in the 1990s I intended that the Home Guard would make use of a museum Mark IV Male tank. I mentioned this also in an article I wrote on a French themed Operation Sealion, Otaire de Vigneur.

To add a bit of diversity to my games, I also have one of Minifigs’ World War One British tanks, for use by a Home Guard unit (stolen from a local museum no doubt).

Now  when I wrote that article and bought the miniature it was only an assumption and what I thought would be a nice idea, and probably had no basis in truth….

How wrong I was….