More WW2 British

Here are some more British Infantry, think I've included most of the poses. As usual still some minor finishing required, helmet covers, black ink on weapon parts, etc.

I like the tilt on the gunner's helmet but that's about all with this figure, I find the poses less than convincing. When I get some more time I'll do up another stand using the Caesar bren figure, and show you the difference.

I tried to make the faces darker, still messing around with that one though.

The figure on the left almost became a Marine instantly by virtue of it having a beret, but I don't have any other figures of similar proportions to mix it with, so for now it's the infantry.

Finally, battalion command section, the man with the pom-pom hat in difference to 'other' British units; nuff said!

WW2 British

A couple of pictures of some recently completed figures. First, the Caesar ones.

Second, the HaT offering. This represents a flamethrower engineer platoon, I might yet add a rifle and some baggage to the ammo-porter figure, but am really busy researching games for the holidays, writing a paper that I have just scored an extension on, oh and some other stuff for work. More pictures to follow if I can squeeze them in.

Bits for tanks

These are going to be some aerials for a few tanks that I'm looking to polish up a bit.

They were given to me by Gerard Davey from Hokitika, and I have placed one on the other Tiger that Paul gave me last week to show you what they look like. I normally wouldn't bother with this kind of detail, but some of the other Blogs out there are a real source of inspiration, and I thought I'd do a couple just to see how they go.

Nothin Doin.

Scored this in the post the other day, but apart from that have done nothing hobby wise. However, the last of the puppies were dispatched to Australia today, so should be enjoying some down-time soon. Looking to do the drive on Kimpo from Incheon 1950 and something from the Monte Cassino theatre over Easter. I've got most of the details worked out for the first but not the second, might see Paul's battalion doing a special guest appearance, mmm better stock the fridge.

British Support Weapons

Recently completed support weapons for my WW2 British collection, from the HaT range of figures. I got a list of options to choose from for my birthday and these were at the top, as all of my old mortar stands are knock-ups.

These could be used for most periods but I think they are actually for mid to late war. The mortars are the 3" variety; the 4.2" was certainly less common and the set doesn't miss it as you get some great other figures instead.

This is the medium. I've never actually fired one of these, but the ones I have seen were all fired from the seated position.

I may yet give these some more work with ink and washes, but I just did a couple of platoons to start with to see how they'd fit in with my existing collection. I might try mixing a few with some of the late-war Revell set and using them for Korea, but may need to source some late-war helmets for these guys if I do that, so we'll see.

Another Comet

Yet another present from my friend Paul. This one is weathered and has a very realistic appearance. An excellent surprise, as I can now field an independent company of these, though slightly under strength as I have found.

Paul also gave me a few spare wheels so that I can repair this to a state of game readiness. I also thought about tarting it up a bit with perhaps a radio aerial and/or a command figure in the turret hatch, but will have to wait until time better permits. Ordered some washes and ink from this outfit http://www.wonderwashink.com/ the other day as I'm looking to step up my painting to a slightly better standard. I'll give them a whirl and let you all know what they are like asap, but they're cheaper than anything else I've seen on the market and the bloke you deal with seems only too happy to please, check them out.

New Tiger

Here are a few pictures of the Tiger that comes with a magazine, recently released here in NZL. This is another one of the models Paul gave that I mentioned in my last post.

It has a lot of very nice detail and fits in nicely with other 1/72 scale stuff.

I thought I might have a go at roughing this one up a bit as it's just too clean to be serious. Paul also gave me an old Tiger that I intend to restore, but more of that one later. These latest two give me now a couple of full companies of Tigers. Reading up last night I have found a couple of historical scenarios that call for just such a number of these plus a few more odds and sods from my German heavy tank battalion.

Matchbox Kfz 69

The photo's not great but I'm sure many of you have seen this one before. I received several very cool presents from Paul http://plasticwarriors.blogspot.com/ yesterday, and this is one of them, the rest to follow later. This addition will allow me to field a full light anti-tank company, as I'm lucky enough to have two old and decrepit ones already (Paul saw the state of them while he was here). I've got quite a few things to show you all but have not mastered taking indoor shots with the new camera. If I get a bit of time over the weekend I'll take a load of pictures in good light to show later on.

Comet

This arrived today, cool. It is my first one of these. For CD, ideally, I'd need at least one more for a company, but there may have been some Cromwell equipped units which included these as either command or fire support vehicles during the late war period. Looking through my collection I found that I had only two 17pdr armed tanks, Sherman Fireflies, so I have added to the list another one or two of these and some 17pdr anti-tank guns.

New Arrivals

Here is what I got from some friends over the weekend, it is very nice to see how well some people know me, and I couldn't have made some better picks myself. Found out this morning that there is still a couple of things to come too, so will post those in due course as well.

Ceasar WW2 British Infantry

These have been here a while now but it's also taken me a while to get the hang of the new camera. These are nice figures, good proportions and the usual excellent sculpting.

They will be good for any mid to late war actions. There is the usual mix of equipment and small arms on them, perhaps a few more Stens than most would want, but in general they are every bit as good as the Revell product, set in a similar era.

As you can see there are a few obvious parallels with the earlier released WW2 French in terms of pose, but that doesn't take anything away from their appearance.

Included in the kit is the Lifebuoy flamethrower, which I might relegate to an engineer unit, not sure yet.

The figure on the left will lose his head. Never really understood why anyone would want to wear a pom-pom on his head-dress after reaching the age of five or so.

Here are the support weapons. Buy them if you see them, they are a great set and I have plans to mix them with some others, such as the new HaT WW2 British support sets.

Update

Well, Paul lent me his spare camera yesterday, so I could show you all some pictures of the Caesar WW2 British Infantry, however, my Sony USB cord does not fit the afore mentioned Kodak camera, oops. So, again, in the meantime, here are a few more from the excellent collection of David Russell. First up, Airfix PIV in a late war scheme.

I've been meaning to ask Stan if he has any of these for ages. HaT PIIIs, very nice looking fast-builds they are too.

More late war stuff, the Panther followed by a couple of Elefants.

I got to use these bad boys just recently, and whilst they outclassed everything else on the table, they did, nonetheless eventually fall to superior numbers. Not sure of the maker, but I'm guessing Fujimi? I now have quite a collection of pictures from Dave to share with you, but if the insurance company hooks me up tomorrow I'll certainly post a few of the British, and show you some more of Dave's stuff from time to time.

The Russell Collection 6

Should have the new camera early next week, but in the interim here are some more pictures from Dave's collection.

Not sure what brands these are. Dave has a very neat painting style, and his collection has a very uniform look to it.

We have used much of his late war kit for games set during the Korean War, and we are researching and planning something that involves a bit of tank action for that conflict at the moment. I have had a few new arrivals including the new Caesar British Infantry which, although not started, I hope to post pictures of early next week.

Broken Camera

Dropped and broke the camera on Friday but hopefully Dave can send me a few pictures from his collection to suffice until I get it sorted. Here is the last one of his I have on file. Dave's collection is mostly mid to late war, German, Russian and US.

The Russell Collection 4

Realised I'd missed a number when posting some of the most excellent work of David Russell, so without further adieu, we have the missing part 4.

Not sure which brands these are but they look like a fast-build variety.

David has enough US trucks to move about a regiment, in CD terms. We have used these for Korean War games as well, but their use is a lot more restricted due to the general nature of the Korean battlefield, as compared with say Europe during the Second World War, where their service is perhaps best remembered.

SU76

Completed SU76. I ended up having a few parts left over, as per usual.

The small brass parts included with this kit proved very difficult to attach successfully but I managed to use most of them.

This one shows the wretched track assembly that caused me so much grief.

Overall these are well engineered kits that have a tremendous amount of detail for their scale.

SU Progress

Tricky one this. It has those tracks which come in separate lengths, and I can never seem to get them just right.

This was after a couple of nights progress and all was going well.

And then came the tracks. Decided to try painting some of the awkward finishing areas before it was fully finished; the jury is still out on that one. I am using the last of the crew figures Paul gave me as this model will represent the command vehicle in a company of four, when I get the other three that is.

Crews

A few pictures of some gun crew and support stands that I've been working on. There are plenty of German options for us to choose from but most other nations are sadly under represented. I usually try to modify them slightly, such as the addition of a small item of kit or personal weapon. The first three in this picture are Airfix, not sure about the one on the right, couldn't find it on PSR.

This stand usually crews the 120mm mortars, Pegasus figures with rifles added.

Revell figures from the early days when I used to shade, hightlight, etc. This crew is out of the box for a touch up and re-base.

This one is more of a support stand, they don't often get used in combat roles, as they lack the necessary fire power to really achieve anything on the table top.

Same with this unit. German signals platoon, figures are Pegasus. I started work of the SU76 I scored a while ago, and will post a few pictures of that soon; a massive 107 parts, not exactly my usual choice for a wargaming model, but a few nights work plus painting should be a nice change.