Finished: 15mm Recce 6-pdr Platoon (PSC)

Hi folks,

As usual, a bit more of a delay between my last post and this one. The sunny weather, my dabbling with other bits and generally my lack of enthusiasm for these models all led to me taking a little longer than expected on these guys. 

On the plus side, another unit marked off the painting chart!

These guys are 15mm Plastic Soldier Company 15mm Loyd Carriers and 6-pdr anti-tank guns marked up as a platoon from 2nd Debyshire Yeomanry, 51st Highland Division. 

I've used a mix of different stowage options on the Loyd carriers just to individualise them a little. The carriers themselves I had little issue with. They are decent models and I've added them to FoW medium plastic bases which will be magnetised for storage. 

My main issue with these models were the guns and gun crew figures. The guns are light and fiddly, and the joint between the gun and trailer is a definite weak point. It was tricky to get the guns to sit with a more flat trajectory without them appearing to break off every time I looked at them. Similarly, the crew figures - while they look decent painted - have no bases. As such, painting them was an issue as they have barely any surface area connecting them to a surface. I fully expect that I am going to lose crew figures from the bases as there is just no decent way of securing them. 

The details on the crew were also fairly soft, placement of water bottles on the webbing is wrong on half the models and generally they are nowhere near as nice as metal figures (but we all knew that already). For the price, I suppose they are a good buy. They certainly look like they will fit in with the rest of my collection. 

Crew figures for the carriers are very slight, especially compared to the gun crew. 

I've used my standard basing technique, but the lack of bases mean the crew figures have just had to be glued directly onto the basing material. 

All in all, a useful little 4 gun platoon, which takes my total of (deployed) 6-pdrs up to 10! I'll try to get some pic's of these next to my Battlefront and Forged in Battle Loyds now they are all painted and based. 

The painting chart is starting to fill with more green. Part of the delay on these guys has been the work of the crew figures for the armoured cars - which should be done shortly. 

As for other diversions, I was sent some MDF kits to test build. I've been chasing Pendraken for these since before lockdown! Pretty sure Leon was sick of me bugging him about them every few weeks. These are 15mm Redvector kits that Pendraken will hopefully be stocking some time soon. 

British LCI(S) in early configuration (I've converted mine to be a later variety)

A busy table with my conversion to the LCI(S) and a test of how many 60x40mm bases the 15mm LCT can fit (some sanding was required for the bases, unbased tanks will have no issue). 

Finished!: 15mm NAAFI Truck and 6 Pdr Platoon

Hi folks,

Just getting round to post this up on my own blog, but my entry for the AHPC 'Sport' challenge was a suitably sporty 15mm NAAFI Tea Truck!

Complete with a queue of three mug holding squaddies waiting for the bloody thing to open. You can see my attempt at humour and out of the box thinking, as well as why I thought entry fits the sports round, by reading the article here (where I would also ask you to have a look at the other entries and cast a vote before Saturday!), but can be summarised as Britain's three national sports - Tea Drinking, Poor Customer Service and Queuing!

The model was a 15mm truck provided by Dennis (Matt Varnish). I believe the truck was a Battlefront Tournament Objective which came with Dad's Army figures. I added a hatch to the side to cover the serving counter, and attempted to hand paint the NAAFI crest, as well as add some of the signage.

The figures were either modified with greenstuff or with a bit of plastic rod drilled out.

For the last few days I've also been finishing something I finished before... Prior to May 2013 to be precise, although the full platoon of six guns wasn't done until some time in 2014. As mentioned in my last post I decided to update the highlights and basing on my 6 Pdr platoon. The original models were rather dark and the basing was looking a bit worn.

Old (on left) vs new (on right) - the newer highlight looks odd close up, but much better at normal gaming distance. 

I've now finished the whole platoon (I think it may just qualify as a battery in Royal Artillery units?!) and have them updated to a similar standard as some of my newer units and the limbered 6 Pdr's I finished last week.

These will see some action this weekend, as we're running a big game, in my home town for the first time.

In other news, I decided that instead of going to the York show and spending money there on odds and ends, I would use that cash to make the most of the Battlefront 33% off sale on Late War. As a result, these arrived today:

While not any use for Operation Totalize, I have fancied doing some sort of linked campaign for Operation Epsom. Hopefully the local gaming space works out and we have capacity for regular big games that we could do something like that! Just need to get the bloody things built and painted!!!

These arrived along with another box containing most of the basic vehicles to make my 12th SS Panzerspahkompanie (German Armoured Car Company). Who has a problem? I don't have a problem...

Finished!: Limbered 6 Pdr Anti Tank Guns

Hi folks,

Last of this weeks trio - 6 limbered 6 Pdr anti tank guns. These will allow me to model the unit as moving, or deployed. Something I'm keen on when playing the big games (and I love the look of them being towed).

The Loyds Carriers are some of the first vehicles I painted for my Brits, which must have been about 2013. They could do with a bit of highlighting and having the basing looked at!

The guns are from Skytrex, and I specifically requested them all to be the limbered version, something they were happy to help with. I had requested 17 Pdrs from them the same way a year or two ago.

So one more idea ticked off the list!

Stupidly, I also started doing a 'quick' update to the 6 Pdr battery I have. Again, these were pretty early models for me, so were very dark. I started a programme of updating them all, thinking it wouldn't take long. Suffice to say I was wrong! And these guns will be needed for this weekend, so they will be a priority. You can see how some of the update work effects them:

Updated two on the right, originals on the left. 

The old basing is looking pretty tired, and while the guns were painted to look more realistic, the distance shot above shows just how dark they look compared to most of the rest of my collection now. A wise man once told me not to re-paint minis, just to sell the old ones and buy new ones. There may be some sense in that - but this is an expensive unit to buy!

6 Pounder Anti Tank gun platoon - Finished!

Again, some pics of models I finished last week. The two final guns and Loyd carriers I needed to make my platoon up to full strength.

These guys carry the markings of 'S' Company of 7th Battalion, The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders - the third of the three infantry battalions of 154 Brigade, 51st Highland Division. 

I realised that along with my 3" Mortar platoon I've more or less got the whole of 'S' Company! Might need to look at some command teams and stuff just to make it a stand alone unit...

Again, I can see how my painting has moved on since I started these back in 2012. I can also see that some of the older guns need another highlight and spray of Matt varnish. One of the things I changed last week were the bridging numbers on the Loyds carriers. I had these as '4's but it turns out they should be '5's... Fixed now! 

Paint Table Saturday 2

I got a little more enthused again this week to move my painting forward. The four halftracks from my last Paint Table Saturday blog are awaiting an Army Painter Quicktone coat, but as that's pretty strong smelling I'm holding off for a nice (or at least a dry) day to do them outside.

So, here's the total of this weeks work so far:

From left to right we have two Loyds Carriers, my M5 Ambulance conversion and two De-frocked Priests (also known as Kangeroo's). At the front we have two 6 pounder Anti-Tank guns. All the models are 15mm and all but the halftrack in the middle (which is a Plastic Soldier Company model) are from battlefront.

These models are getting there, but still need a few finishing touches and then a touch up using the base Russian Uniform green color.

The reason behind this motley collection is that these models represent stragglers for units that are otherwise painted and complete. The De-frocked Priests give me the last two I need to make my whole infantry company mechanised. The guns and the Loyds Carriers make up the last two guns for my infantry anti-tank platoon.

Alongside these, I have primed my Sherman ARV mk.I:

Which is awaiting a decision from me on some more detail work - I feel certain bits of it look a tad rough. Like around the spare track on the hull sides - I keep wondering if I should try some small bits of plasticard to actually make boxes around them. Or just accept that the model is 15mm and only has to look okay at 'tabletop ranges'.

Opinions, as ever, welcome!