Heads Down!

Hey All!

Just a few pics (ok...a lot) of the recently completed Heavy German Infantry Support teams.

The Battlefront 12cm Granatwerfer 42 from the GE711 blister looks too small when compared to most other BF offerings.  The detail is good though the tube itself is no thicker than the 8cm tube of the smaller mortar. The infantry supplied are mid to late and are not sculpted by Even Allen - instead they are done by Seth Nash. With me its a love/hate thing.  I find I love the detail Seth tries to model but I hate the scale change that results. The minis are a bit taller and the hands are even bigger than Evans.  Though the end result is probably closer to reality, they don't mix very well with Evans figures.

As I wanted to model a early German team, I was assembled mine from BF German artillery troops and a Soviet loader with a head transplant. I added shoulder boards and pleated pockets to complete the change.

The assistant loader was given a 12cm mortar round to replace the artillery shell he was holding.  The tube was basically rebuilt, using a Soviet baseplate and part of the brace.

The spare rounds, case and brick wall were scratchbuilt.

The sIG33 build is described in a previous post.

 I added some home-made grass tufts made with a home-made grass tuft maker that I made at home. Silflor makes them but they are very pricey (tufts and tuft maker).

You tube has the instructions on making your own tufts with an electric fly swatter (dollar store total cot for project was less than $5).

 I made some wicker cases with brass screen and some (oversized) rounds with plastic rod.

 The figures were again taken from the German Artillery troop blister.

 The netting is gauze soaked in white glue.

Cheers!

Troy

Pioniers Part 2

Hey All!

Finished up a couple more Pionere Squads for the upcoming Trumpeter Salute 2015 con in Vancouver.

Colors as per the Recommended Colors in the sidebar.

 Mixed in a bunch of figures from various blisters.

Went with five figures to differenciate other squad types. Using a simple base styles that that includes a spot for demo charge beads to be placed on the base itself.

Some detail shots...

 Cheers!

Troy

Stalingrad Pioniers Part 1

Hey All.

As I begin to put together my Stalingrad Pionier squads, I have decided that I want them to stand out a bit from the rank and file German troops.  I plan on adding in a sprinkling of figures in long coats as Operation Hubertus took place in November. Also, I plan on including figures with cloth helmet covers. As I started to look into German Stalingrad-era cloth helmet covers, I discovered that there seems to be three different ones present...

First, tight-fitting, and presumably fashioned from Soviet 1938 'Amoeba' pattern captured stocks of camo material below...

Second the 'standard' Heer pattern Zeltbahn...

Third, the burlap or cloth field fit with a rubber band or strap of some sort to hold in place.

These series of pictures are of Hauptmann Wilhelm Traub, Kommandeur of Pionier-Bataillon 305, 305th Infanterie-Division, near gun factory "Barrikady".  Missing in action 5th January 1943.

Hauptmann Traub with Hauptmann Friedrich Winkler (pointing). Hauptmann Friedrich Winkler , of Infanterie-Regiment 577, 305th. Infanterie-Division. Captured and died February 1943.

Close-up of figures with covers:

I think the Amoeba one will look good but hard to tell if it should be in base green or tan...also there are pictures of netting covered helmets as well...

Stay tuned...

Troy

Remember...

Monument to the Canadians, Dieppe.

 Graves at Dieppe

 Plaque with the names of the young men executed Abbaye d'Ardenne.

 ...their photos...

 ...tree in the courtyard...

Pokey Progress

Hey All!

Where the heck did October go?!? Wasn't it just summer? Man, time is flying by! Managed to put in a bit of time on the workbench and finished up the leIG 7.5cm.

This is the second time I completed this miniature (see previous blog entry regarding flatcoating here: Blew It). I added a few scratchbuilt items - wicker ammo cases and 7.5cm rounds. They are a bit on the large side though I was trying to size match the ones carried by the crew.

Helmet decals hand-painted. I tried to go with a similar base style to my other German squads (with a Russian steppe 42-era basing)  but the decals would allow for earlier use in France.

All colors as per the 'Recommended Colors' blog post on the right. Changed the painting style on the gasmask can to a highlight of Tamiya aluminum. Could go a bit flatter by adding a bit of grey but looks miles better than silver (which is out of scale for 15mm). If you look at pictures of German troops, the can highlights look almost white.

Base weeds are Silflor drybrushed a light straw color. Dirt is a mix of grout, sand and PVA glue. A few small stones from the driveway finish off the terra-firma.

Also finishing up some more figures for my Pionere squads. Converted a AT gun figure to a running LMG figure by removing the Panzerbuche and rifleman pouches (why would he have these?) and adding a MG34, bipod,  and a camo helmet cover.

Grenade and ammo cans added. Should have a few more of these done in a couple painting sessions.

Cheers!

Troy