Finished: German 3.7cm Anti Aircraft battery

Hi folks,

I managed to get my first entry completed this week for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, which has ended up being the first FoW unit painted I've finished for a while!

These are 3.7cm Flak 43 guns, painted up with Luftwaffe crews to form a 'medium' battery of the III Flak Corps, a Luftwaffe field command which served as operational level AA support for the German forces in Normandy.

Initially during WW2 the Germans had aimed for their AA support to be provided by 2cm guns, but as the war progressed it was identified that the 2cm guns were not powerful enough. Attempts were made with dual and quad mounted 2cm guns, but it was generally considered that heavier shells were required. As such, the 3.7cm guns saw more usage, filling in the medium AA role similar to that of the 40mm Bofors.

These guns were capable of firing 250 rounds per minute, and used the same ammo as the 3.7cm Anti Tank guns in use by the German army.

After a lot of thought, I decided to go with a camo effect on the gun shields. I then applied my usual edge highlight over this, but it seems to look ok. I've also gone for a middle of the road angle with the guns, either shooting at distant low level aircraft or ground targets. The guns themselves are from the SS 3.7cm pack, and I decided to use the large base instead of the medium bases used on the FoW website. 

The crews have Luftwaffe blue trousers and splinter style camo jackets. I may add some foliage/branches to the gunshield at some point in the future, but for now these are done! I'd also included the command team, purely because the models were in the pack... 

These should help counter the threat of the Typhoons I painted last year! On the painting desk I've another load of German AA, specifically a battery of 4 x 2cm guns. Hopefully I can get these finished for Wednesday (my submission day).