Ubique

Little done over the last couple of weeks. A busy time at work coupled with the Pike River Mine Explosion http://www.nzherald.co.nz/pike-river-mine-blast/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503000&objectid=10690665 has left everyone in this community rightly distracted.

Anyway, here is a selection of some of my gunners.


WW2 German


WW1 German

WW2 British

WW1 British

WW2 French

WW1 French

WW2 Russians

WW1 Russians

WW1 Turkish

WW1 Austrains

WW2 American.

I've probably got twice this number of crew stands, so will post a few more of those at a later stage for you. Some of these need quite a tidy up and have been added to the holiday list of things to do.

German 75L12

Last couple of metal guns that I have.

Standard German infantry gun, in service from the early 1930s until 1945.

These are from RAFM, not bad, but not quite the same level of detail and engineering as the others I've featured.

Useful in several units from mountain infantry to punishment formations.

German 2.8cm

Another donation from Gerard Davey. This unusual weapon saw service between 1940 and 1943, when production was discontinued owing to a lack of tungsten for its projectiles.

It was apparently fitted to 251/1 half tracks in service on the eastern front.

Seven parts total, manufacturer unknown.

The wheels could be lifted and the weapon fired from the prone position; some sources list it as a heavy anti-tank rifle. It first saw service in the western desert, and was used by a variety of units including paratroopers. Maximum effective range was about 500 yards, it could fire 8-10 rounds per minute. A nice little addition indeed.

Russian Gun

A present from the ever generous Gerard Davey of Hokitika.

I think this is a 76L39; a direct fire weapon found at the battalion level in most cases.

Eight parts total, quite tidy, no idea of its manufacture.

Painted with Vallejo Russian Green, no ink.

Very cool addition. I was most impressed with one Paul made, so this turning up unexpected was a real plus. The only one of these I have, now to make some gunners to go with it... eventually.

2pdrs

Until my senior students go on exam leave postings will be limited; lots of early mornings and late nights. Anyway, here is one of the few things I have managed to finish lately.

More metal guns from RAFM, this time two pound anti-tank guns.

Each gun has only seven parts, five if you leave off the wheels.

They are simple tidy kits that go together really well. You get two in a pack for about USD$7. These ones got the standard British green, black ink and a bit of dry-brushing.

5cm Pak

A fairly recent addition this. Another piece of kit for my early war German collection, this weapon dates from about 1940 and served throughout. The 50L60 was one of the few guns that the Germans had available to them capable of dealing with the armour of the T34, during the early phases of the Russian campaign.

This is a metal kit from RAFM in Canada, ten parts total.

I only got one as they were not that common in early war German OOBs.

Minimal bending required for a metal kit, which is always good.

I might get a couple more eventually to give me the option of a full regiment for later war encounters, because although this was replaced by the Pak-40 of 75mm it was used in numbers on many other fronts, such as North Africa and Italy, until their replacements arrived.

Another Building

Another knock-up using spare parts, this time the donor kit was a very mangled Airfix Waterloo Farm set.

As with all buildings for CD this will represent a group of them, and its base size will permit occupation by two platoons.

I tried to trim the parts to match up square but the plastic had been warped by heat at some stage and I ended up with a less than tidy performance. However, I will try a hot wire and some filler and see if I can't improve it a bit further still. I am thinking it will be function as a police station, customs post or bank for most theatres.

ANZAC Support Weapons

More or less finished these, a small addition to my ANZAC collection.

Not as well crafted as the infantry set, as the soft plastic does not hold the lines on the figures, not as crisp, if you know what I mean.

The sculpting is also inferior to the other set but they are still okay; would have been good to see one or two figures in the shirt sleeves but still a gap in the range filled. Back to doing Russian mortars next.

Tales from the Crypt

Reckon most of us could tell/show a few of these...

This bone yard Hetzer has been resurrected with all manner of spares, including a Tiger, Panther and Pz38t, all it needs now is repainting.

I have had a lot of fun over the past few days doing the monster mash with old wrecks.

Here is the latest addition with the other two I already had, a full company.

Here is the half-track, still needs more painting and possibly an MG or other accessories.

Moved the wheels forward a bit as per suggestion. I didn't have any proper wheels, so I used a couple of an old 88mm gun carriage ones, which have spokes but that doesn't bother me; still working on the other one.

The Bone Yard

A visit from Paul the other day produced a couple of donations to the bone yard, one is already in a reasonable state of repair, the other I'm not so sure about.

Paul also gave me some crosses, which I had none of, so some German stuff came out straight away for improvement.

Here are the mortar crews I'm working on, plus some support weapons for my Great War ANZAC collection; so many projects so little time.

Progress

Haven't had a lot of time for my hobbies lately but still managed to knock this up over the last few days.

It is made from spare parts, most of which didn't match, though for gaming that hardly matters.

I've decided it will function as either a courthouse or perhaps a small school. If you want to see some really nice home-made buildings check some of Thanos' work here: http//miniaturesterrainpage.blogspot.com/

Russian MMGs et al

The five recently completed battalions now includes their MMG platoons, thanks to Gerard Davey from Hokitika.

Gerard kindly donated a few Esci machine gunners and here they are.

Each battalion is now tabletop ready, and I am currently making mortar stands to go with the regiments.

This shows a Russian company 1939-41 from the eastern front, it includes its own command and weapons platoons.

This one shows a Russian company from the western front for the same period.

Just mortars and antitank rifles platoons to add.