Finished: 15mm Polish Cromwell OP

Hi folks,

Another random unit completed. 

I'd found myself with a spare Cromwell kit from PSC and decided to turn it into an artillery observation post tank. 

I snipped the normal muzzle from the 75mm gun, making it look (hopefully) like a fake gun. 

While I don't think it's historically accurate, I've marked this model up as a OP tank from 2 Pulk Artylerii Motorowej (2nd Polish Motorised Artillery Regiment) of the 1st Polish Armoured Division. I've already completed a Sherman OP tank for this unit, but thought it was a good use of this spare hull. 

I've used my usual combination of decals, added a fishing line aerial and based using my usual basing technique. 

Finished: 15mm SP Bofors

Hi folks,

Yet another allied anti-aircraft unit for my collection. This time some 40mm self-propelled Bofors guns. 

These rapid-firing AA guns were mounted on a Morris C9/B truck and used for mobile air protection of armoured divisions. I had previously painted four of these, but this left me short of the full unit strength of six so I've added the missing two. Decals have been applied for the AA regiment of the 1st Polish Armoured Division. 

These are both older 15mm resin and metal Battlefront kits. 

I chose a more subdued highlighting colour for these, to match them into the older models. 

I'm quite happy that this pair match in well enough to not immediately stand out as having been painted years later. 

I've still allied AA units in the painting pile, so expect more of the same shortly. And another 6 of these in the painting pile for the Canadians...

Finished: 15mm Polish Crusader AA

Hi folks,

Trying to keep up my momentum with blog posts and painted units. 

This week, I finished a pair of 15mm Battlefront resin and metal Crusader AA tanks. These were intended for my Polish Cromwell force (10 Pulk Strzelcow Konnych). Equipped with two 20mm autocannon, they were supposed to provide local air defence to tank units.

I've two more pairs of these tanks in the painting queue (both for Canadian units). Honestly, I've more of these vehicles than I would ever need if I ignored tactical markings, but when I drew up my painting plans I included a pair with each Squadron for my various forces. Each regiment would have had 11 or so of these, and I've probably got a regiment worth...

I've also never used an allied AA unit on the table, yet seem to have loads of them. Up next - more allied AA!

Finished: Polish 15mm A30 Challengers

Hey folks,

While working on the Sherman DDs, I was held up on spraying them due to poor weather. I decided to try and remain productive by moving on to another 'odd and sod' unit in the queue. 

I'd picked up a box of the new plastic A30 Challenger kits a while ago, with the intent of adding them to my Polish Cromwell tanks (representing vehicles from C Squadron, 10 Pulk Strzelcow Konnych (10th Mounted Rifle Regiment), 1st Polish Armoured Division around the 8th August 1944). This unit didn't have Challenger tanks at this time, but did acquire them later into the campaign. 

I was keen to have the option of including these tanks for games set outside Normandy, or for battles using other units Cromwells in Normandy. 

This thinking did impact on my decisions for stowage. My Cromwells are fairly light on stowage, as the Poles went into Normandy pretty neat and tidy. So I've gone for a mix, with one of the Challengers pretty 'clean', while one is covered in track links and other bits, and the others somewhere in between. 

Decal wise, I stuck with the same ones used on my Cromwells - unfortunately using up the last of my Polish divisional markings. With no more Doms Decals available, I'm not on the hunt for appropriate replacements. 

As with the DD tanks, I did make some effort to match these tanks in with the Cromwells. 

Another little job done!

Finished: PSC 15mm Stuart VIs

Hi folks,

After a few weeks of building models and slowly building up my painting again, I managed to complete not just a unit, but a project tab on my spreadsheet. Huzzah. 

These tanks represent three Stuart VI light tanks from the HQ Squadron of 24th Polish Lancers, 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade, 1st Polish Armoured Division. 

Along with the recently completed Sherman ARV, this project is 100% complete. 

The Shermans from this project (who form 'A' Squadron) had been reclaimed, rebuilt and repainted way back in December 2016. Most of the Shermans were old 'Open Fire' plastic models I'd picked up already (poorly) assembled. These models are still the worst plastic kits I've even built. 

Earlier this year they were rebased and I changed the colour of the aerial recognition panels to something more historically accurate. I also hit them again with ultra matt varnish. Looking at the tanks tonight, I may also revisit the Fireflies and rearm them with the thinner and better looking barrels from the modern BF kit. 

However, I had been lacking recce Stuarts and an ARV for this unit to complete the old FoW v3 squadron list. Tonight's completed tanks rectifies that failing. 

Apologies for the over-exposure on these pictures, still struggling with lighting for photos. 

I added an orange Aerial Recognition panel to the commanders Stuart, in keeping with the Shermans of the unit. These panels were added to the unit to stand out from my other British and Canadian Sherman squadrons, and because in August 1944 the Poles were bombed several times by both US and British heavy bombers as part of the Totalize and Tractable operations, so I felt the Poles might be a bit twitchy about allied aircraft. 

These Stuarts are plastic PSC models, assembled to represent mid to late production Stuart VIs. Again, this choice was just to make them a little different from the other unit of Polish Stuart VIs in the collection. It does mean they have more tools than they should have, but consider those extra stowage to help the crew dig in faster at night.  

Two crew figures were added to the command vehicles turret (in keeping with my theme of having recce vehicles 'unbuttoned'), along with two aerials. The other tanks have a single command figure and a single aerial. These tanks are based as per my current basing scheme, on an MDF base sized as a FoW 'medium' base, which has been magnetised. 

Stowage has been added from a variety of sources, including Battlefront, Debris of War and PSC. Decals are from Doms Decals (purchased many years ago). 

The final project sheet:

The army list for this unit came from the old v3 Polish booklet, which can still be found here and contains lots of useful info on the division. I believe that other than the Sherman ARV, this unit could be built using v4 rules from D-Day British, although you would need to drop the HQ troop Firefly to make it work by the book (and field four 75mm Shermans). The Poles used this structure due to manpower shortages. 

Excuse the Canadian Stuarts (bottom left) and a Naafi truck sharing the tray. Sextons are stored elsewhere.  

You could also apply the 'Black Devils' command card, increasing the points by +2 per unit, but giving all units 'Fearless 3+' motivation. You could also apply the 'Sexton' command card to a unit of Priests from this book (in formation support) and add an OP Sherman. Point wise in v4 this list would be 105 points.

However, my intention was to build A Squadron, 24th Polish Lancers, with some attachments from HQ Squadron and 1st Polish Motorized Artillery Regiment, rather than worry about points of on table effectiveness! 

I've no more Polish armoured units planned, but still have Polish mechanised and motorised infantry companies planned. I may revisit the need for the motorised unit given I have a full battalion of British infantry in FoW at this point. 

Possibly some German halftracks next. Possibly.     

 

Finished: 15mm Skytrex Sherman ARV

Hi folks,

This is another lead mountain lurker that made it's way to the front of the queue as I tried to finish off my Polish 24th Lancers squadron. I've still the Stuarts to do, but they will be up next I think. 

I picked this up from Skytrex a while back (years ago) and it's a decent enough model. Reasonably detailed and not fiddly to put together. As I was painting other Shermans at the time, I got it knocked out fairly quickly. Pretty redundant in game terms now, but a cool model and part of the historic OOB. 

Finished: 15mm Polish Cromwell Squadron

Hi folks, 

Given the number of similar Cromwell posts, I decided to hold back making more till I had the full squadron finished. With these now done, I though I would show off the whole lot. These are 15mm Plastic Soldier Company Cromwell tanks representing vehicles from C Squadron, 10 Pulk Strzelcow Konnych (10th Mounted Rifle Regiment), 1st Polish Armoured Division around the 8th August 1944. Attached units include a troop of Stuarts from HQ Squadron, and a battery of Polish M10 Tank Destroyers from 1 Pułk Artylerii Przeciwpancernej (1st Anti-Tank Regiment).

#3 troop

#4 troop

Group shot of the whole project, along with the associated progress tracker:

The only option not completed currently are the attached HQ Squadron Crusader AA tanks. These seem to be out of stock in the UK currently and I've decided they are not much of a priority being an attached asset (and I've already got 4 painted, 2 of which are for another Polish unit). I also still need to paint crew figures for the various vehicles, which should be a minor job other than the need to make them fit the PSC turret hatches. 

Having had the unit line up, I may also add some small pennants or something to the Squadron HQ tanks, just to make them stand out a little. However, lacking in turret numbers or any other distinguishing markings, the 'line' tanks are pretty interchangeable between troops. 

Finished: 15mm Polish Cromwells #2 Troop

Hi folks,

I've been continuing to use what spare time I can get beyond the demands of parenthood to focus on my Polish Cromwell project over the last few weeks. While progress has been a bit slow on getting this particular troop completed, I've also done a small amount of work on troop #4 and a reasonable amount on troop #3.

As I covered in my previous blogs (1, 2 and 3) regarding this project, these are 15mm Plastic Soldier Company Cromwell tanks representing vehicles from No.2 troop, C Squadron, 10 Pulk Strzelcow Konnych, 1st Polish Armoured Division around the 8th August 1944.

I think I've found a solution to my recent photo lighting problem, and it appears to be related to the standard photo app on my Google Pixel 4 phone. I tried a different app, and the pictures came out a lot lighter, suggesting the app is doing something to make my photos much darker. 

In keeping with previous project posts, here is the painting plan with the most recent changes marked:

It's nice to be able to track myself crawling towards completion. I'm finding that the much more limited free time I have is focusing me a bit more. I'm not going to claim that I'm getting more done, by any means, but I feel like I spent a lot less time messing on with things and more time concentrating on using my time efficiently. If only I could do the same thing in my actual work...

I'm also at the stage where I am thinking about what come next. There are a few different things tickling my fancy, but one of the main things will be to revisit a previous project - my 24th Polish Lancers:

I'd previously painted three Stuarts for this list, before realising the Poles used the Stuart VI not the Stuart V's I'd painted. So I gained my first Canadian tanks, and these Poles are still missing their recce section. Revisiting may also be an opportunity to switch to 60x40mm bases on the Sherman tanks, which will free up storage space. Very much an admin job, but one I can achieve fairly quickly. 

Finished: 15mm Polish Cromwell #1 Troop

Hi folks,

Hobby time has been pretty limited of late, with little Alexander requiring a fair amount of time. Not that he does anything but sleep, but most of the time he just complains loudly and frequently if not asleep on me or Amy. My normal hobby time in the evening has taken a hit due to this. 

Still, I am permitted to duck away for an hour here and there in order to keep my hand in (and decompress a little, now that I am also back at work). 

The goal since the start of February was to make some progress on my first Cromwell troop, which paid off this weekend with the finishing touches done. 

These are 15mm Plastic Soldier Company models, painted up as tanks from No.1 troop, C Squadron, 10 Pulk Strzelcow Konnych, 1st Polish Armoured Division. As per the previous tanks, I'm assembling the unit to look as it may have done on 8th August 1944. 

Decals have been applied for the above unit. This caused me a massive headache - at the start of the project I cut out all the decals I would need and had them in a small ziplock back on my desk. I used these decals for the Stuarts back at the end of January. However, the bag has now vanished, and I can't find it anywhere. At this stage, I think in my sleep addled state I binned it by accident. As such, I had to cut out new ones (thankfully I had spares of the relevant unit markings). However, the loss was not good for my mental health as I go into a full obsessive OCD mode. Even now, writing about it, I'm fighting the urge to compulsively search locations I have already checked 5 or 6 times. 

The tanks are mounted on the 60mm by 40mm MDF bases that I plan to move all my large vehicles to. Aerials added using fishing line, with the command vehicle having two. No magnets required for the turrets, due to the PSC design of them having a 'pin' that connects to the hull. 

The tanks were painted using a pretty basic technique. Basecoat Russian Uniform (Vallejo 70.924) green, wash with a black wash (I'm no longer using my magic wash for this, as it stops the drybrush paint adhering very well), drybrush (with Mig Ammo Medium Green drybrush paint) and then tidy with the basecoat on the flat panels. Tools, tracks, etc then painted, washed and highlighted. I'm not spending a lot of time on the tracks now, as I hit them with the Tamiya weathering products after they have been varnished. This weathering powder never looks as good on the photos as it does in the flesh. 

Painting plan progress so far:

The AA platoon is back on the drawing board, as these don't seem to be in stock anywhere at the moment. 

Onto the next troop!

Finished: 15mm Polish Stuart VIs

Hi folks,

Alongside the Ram OP tank, I also recently completed another element of my Polish Cromwell project. 

These are a trio of Stuart VI (M5A1) tanks from the HQ Squadron of 10 Pulk Strzelcow Konnych (10th Polish Mounted Rifles), 1st Polish Armoured Division. While not part of A squadron, these HQ squadron vehicles were assigned out as required. All of my armoured squadrons have Stuarts attached for recce purposes, so I'm building quite a collection of variants of these little tanks. 

As such, these tanks have been marked up with the HQ squadron diamond on the front hull. Other decals are the 1st Polish Armoured Division markings and the regimental markings, as well as the bridge classification weights and allied recognition stars. I've still to figure out crew figures, but each vehicle will have one and the command vehicle will have two. Two aerials also mark out the command vehicle. 

Stowage was limited to a single bogey on the front hull, again based on these vehicles being so new to combat and the Poles having a reputation for being so neat. Later pictures from the NWE campaign show the Poles as having the same, if not more, levels of track links, tarps, boxes and jerry cans as everyone else. 

Each tank has a .30cal turret mounted MG. Something I didn't realises prior to working on these models was that the odd armoured shape on the side of the turret was actually in place to protect the MG, which could be dropped down into the compartment so as not to be damaged by shell fire, etc. 

These models being completed (bar the crew figures) adds yet more green to the painting progress chart. 

Finished: 15mm PSC Polish Cromwells (Command elements)

Hi folks,

As part of the AHPC this year, my goal is to make progress with my planned 15mm Cromwell tanks squadron as part of my Polish Armoured Division for Operation Totalize. Over the Christmas period I made some progress with the first five vehicles of this squadron, making up the HQ element, close support 95mm armed Cromwell section and an ARV Cromwell. 

These tanks are all decaled up to be part of C Squadron, 10 Pulk Strzelcow Konnych (10th Polish Mounted Rifle Regiment), 1st Polish Armoured Division. I'm representing this unit as of it's initial entry into combat in Normandy on 8 August 1944.

Thankfully from a modelling perspective, at the time of Operation Totalize this unit had only been in France for a short time. As such, period photos from 8 August 1944 show these tanks as being devoid of much stowage or any other paraphernalia. Photos from later in the campaign show a huge accumulation of additional track armour, stowage, etc. But to keep the painting simple, I only had to contend with a seemingly standard bundle of camo netting on the right rear deck. 

In keeping with my standard style, the command tanks have been given two aerials to help mark them out on the table. The Squadron commander will also be in the open hatch, once a suitable model is painted. These and the 95mm armed version are PSC models. 

The 95mm armed close support tanks have not been given a crew figure, but one of the two has been given twin aerials incase that becomes relevant during a game. In the v4 rules the CS tanks form part of the troop with the HQ tanks, rather than an individual unit. This may change in our home games. 

The ARV model was an old Battlefront resin and metal kit I had picked up years ago (the PSC tanks were assembled in 2016). No use for these rules wise now, but I will find a use for it on the table!

I've 12 more Cromwells to paint, along with 3 Stuarts to round out this force. I have picked up some Crusader AA tanks as well, which I am waiting on, and may add a Cromwell OP tank as I have a spare PSC kit. Not sure how much progress will be made before March - that will depend on the baby I suspect!

Painting plan wise, progress looks like this: