Finished: 15mm Polish 17-pdr M10 battery

Hi folks,

A busy hobby weekend was had, and I managed to finish off the first part of next painting plan - some Polish M10 Tank Destroyers from 1 Pułk Artylerii Przeciwpancernej, the anti-tank regiment which formed part of the 1st Polish Armoured Division. 

The old v3 Flames of War booklet for this unit lists them as having 24 of these vehicles, along with 24 towed 17-pdrs. A little bit of research shows that this unit actually consisted of twelve 17-pdr armed M10s, twelve 3" gun armed M10s and twenty four towed 17-pdrs. Post Totalize loss reports for the division shows that they lost a mix of 17-pdr and 3" armed vehicles, and photos in both 'Armoured Hussars' books show both versions of the M10 in use up until the battles in the Netherlands. 

These are older Battlefront 15mm Resin hulls, with the newer plastic tracks. Crew are the older metal Battlefront ones. 

Collection wise, this unit fills a gap as my only unit of painted M10s so far are Canadian 3" armed versions. 

I tried to go a little lighter on the weathering with these models - the Poles hadn't been in Normandy long prior to Operation Totalize. Period photos from around that operation show a lack of stowage or extra kit on the Polish vehicles - while later images shown lots of added track armour and stowage on the rear deck. 

These are Battlefront 15mm models, with the older metal British crew figures. 

Now, I know what you are thinking "but James, the crews of these vehicles were from the Royal Artillery" I hear you exclaim, "and as such, they should have khaki coloured berets, not Royal Armoured Corps black ones!". And normally, you would be correct. However, the Poles used black berets as a standard item of uniform, and so their M10 crews had them. Rest easy - I checked!

I am really chuffed with how these models came out, I went with my 'faster' method of applying the edge highlights, and I think they look very neat. The .50cals are plastic Battlefront ones, which I painted separately and have tried to glue on so they are a little protected by the turret. Crew were also painted separately, back when I painted the infantry platoon. Turrets are magnetised and turnable. 

Aerials are using my usual fishing line. One slight issue is that there is no obvious HQ unit, which I will have a think about. I may replicate something I've seen in the Armoured Hussar books where the Polish added extra machine guns to their M10s. Or I might just leave them alone!

Up next, I have some 10mm Fantasy stuff to base as part of the 'For Joshua' project, some 15mm sci-fi stuff to finish highlights on and some Cruel Seas ships to finish as well. I'm planning to leave the prepped Cromwells till I start the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge in December.