Finished: 15mm Peter Pig surrendering Germans

Hi folks,

Another mini project for the D-Day game was a little 'marker' I wanted to use for the inevitable collapse of the beach defences. 

I'd picked up some Peter Pig surrendering Germans a while back and forgotten all about them till I was looking for something else and came upon them. In our large games, we will often 'surrender' units which are outgunned, surrounded and pinned. Normally we would just remove the models from the table, but I wanted to replace them with these markers just for some fun:

The bases were re-cycled from when I replaced my Crocodile basing (they had been the bases for the fuel trailers!). 

These models did see some table time:

MMM April Challege - Update!

Hi Folks,

The end of week 2 of the April Challenge and I'm making some good progress. Batch #1 and #2 are painted and just needing based. I had a bit of an issue with varnish, having decided to try out some of the new Vallejo Polyurethane Matt Varnish. I tried to apply this in the usual way, giving it a good shake, etc. It ended up all bubbly on the model which left marks when it dried.

A lot of messing about and the models didn't look very matt. I tried the Vallejo Matt Varnish and still no matt, so I tried a spray. I'm still not happy that they are as matt as they should be but they are better than they were.

With the second batch I tried the Polyurethane varnish again, this time opening the bottle and stirring it (as per the Vallejo website instructions). Still shiny and no matt effect. Small bubbles started appearing while painting on the varnish, possibly caused by the brush? I switched to the standard matt varnish while the other was still wet and it seems to have saved them a bit. It's still not as matt as I would like.

Next batch I will just use the normal matt varnish. I think there is something with the Polyurethane varnish I am missing or doing wrong.

Anyway, 7 strips of Peter Pig infantry to go and that will be everything painted for this month that I had planned. The bases are all covered in the resin, so just need trimming, painting, flocking, etc.

If I have time spare (Ha!) I might start either the Mortars of Pak40's.

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The painted models (from the paint brush on the left)

Work In Progress - Peter Pig Germans

Some of the 2nd batch, all done.

The first batch, finished.

Gunuary - HQ's, staff teams, observation teams and dispatch rider

Hi folks,

While Gunuary has now officially passed, my work continues on completing and updating my FoW British Artillery.

This week I have been on quite a few paint and chats - figuring that if I am sitting painting, I might as well have company. This has helped me keep up the same pace. Last weekend I took the time to lay out all my batteries and figure out what teams I needed. This helped a lot as I was struggling to visualise the units and identify what I needed to finish them all off.

I also took the opportunity to update the basing on one of my staff teams, shifting from the circular base I had originally used to the standard FoW medium base. I also used the second table from this base as part of the staff team for my 2nd 25 Pounder Battery. Having the extra 4 guns also means I need another Jeep and three more trucks - an awkward number of both!

Still, I've got all the missing teams done, now I am just on to updating the old ones.

One of the 'New' staff teams, with my Battlegroup dispatch rider. The scales are all over the place here, believe it or not these are all Battlefront models! The dispatch rider is a conversion from a early war British Motorcyclist (provided a long time ago by Dai). There was also a sidecar, which I did not add. The head of the rider was swapped with the dispatch rider from the 25 Pounder Boxed Set - meaning it is a little small as well. His arm was twisted and straightened, as was one of his legs - so that he is leaning on the ball of his foot.

Next up we have some command teams - again, all Battlefront models (some slightly blurry pics here, sorry).

My second staff team - a slightly similar to the first one. Again all Battlefront with the exception of the range finder and chair (Peter Pig addition's).

Then my Observation teams. The standing up radio operator is a Peter Pig model while the others are Battlefont. A shame that the teams are identical, but otherwise I am happy with them. I may need some sort of marking on them to tell which battery they belong to.

And a random bailed out marker/tank crew.

So, onto updating my old guns and infantry figures. Off to York Wargames show this weekend, hopefully!

Die Deutschen sind angekommen!

Hi folks,

Today I received a package from Lee over at 'A Figure Painting Therapy Project'. Lee had been downsizing his Flames of War collection and re-focusing on Bolt Action. His blog is well worth checking out and following, if you haven't already.

The package contained a range of German models which are going to form the basis of my OPFOR German collection. I was expecting to get a couple of Tigers and a platoon of Grenadiers, but the package contained a few unexpected surprises! This gets me off to a great start and should spur me on to get the basics of my possible German collection.

Some pics of what I received:

A couple of Tigers - I'm not planning on doing anything to these guys paint wise at the moment. I'm more than happy with the paint job Lee has done. Depending on how my own attempts at painting German Armour camo go will depend on whether I revisit these in the future.

A Grenadier Platoon from Peter Pig. Again, nice paint job on these. If I touch these it might be to base to the same style as my Brits - on the other hand, it might be good to have them look a bit different.

Company HQ with Mortar sections - this is a fantastic little group for me, as I was trying to sort out where to get only two mortars from. Just the A/T section to add to these guys.

MG42 platoon - another great addition.

These two are, I think, a Panzer IV L/40 and a Brumbar.

3 Panzer III's - I think these have a mix of weapons. I'm going to have to do some digging to find out if I can use them in any way - but they are free, so I'm not complaining!

Also in the package was a pack of Peter Pig infantry spares:

This includes some more surrendering Germans, a spare MG42 and some officers and halftrack figures.

All in all a great bunch of models that gets me off to a great start. Thanks very much to Lee for his generosity - both in providing all the models and paying for the postage. I'm extremely grateful!

I also have 3 plastic StuG's from an old Open Fire set which I will get built and painted. As I knew I was starting Germans, I did an audit of my paints compared to the various painting guides I have for Late War Germans. This resulted in me buying 16 Vallejo paints today before opening the package from Lee - the fact the models he has sent are painted are another massive bonus!

If I've made mistakes in my descriptions, above, please feel free to correct me!

And again, thanks to Lee - who by his generosity has provided a shining example of the spirit of the wargaming community!

15mm Stowage Comparison - Peter Pig, Battlefront, Skytrex

Hi folks,

I thought I should take the time to actually do a little comparison of the various 15mm stowage suppliers I use. I've posted pictures of the parts individually in the past, but thought it might be useful to see the parts together.

These models come from three separate suppliers, and only refer to western allied kits (although some of the parts are pretty interchangeable)

The model makers I am comparing are:

Peter Pig - specifically their Sherman Stowage Basic Pack's

Skytrex - specifically their  CD SP1 General Stowage Pack and CD SP12 Sherman Tracks & Road Wheels Pack

Battlefront -  Specifically US Stowage US670

Starting with Battlefront's offerings, this pack is billed as US stowage but would be suitable for any Western Allied vehicles. It includes some bedding rolls, Sherman road wheels, Jerry cans, track links and both a US and Tommy helmet and a few boxes. the pack contains 6 strips of each of the two types. From my perspective, the offerings from Battlefront are good and add some great variety. However, the casting isn't great and will need a lot of cleaning up in some cases. I paid £6.47 on ebay for this pack.

Next up, Peter Pig. The Peter Pig packs are a lot smaller and fairly limited in scope, containing 3 large cloth rolls, 3 strips of Sherman tracks, 2 Sherman road wheels and 2 strips of connected boxes. These packs cost £3 each. They require fairly little prep to use, not needing much in the way of cleaning up.

Then we have Skytrex. The Skytrex packs are larger than the other offerings, but a bit costlier and p+p is also quite steep. However, they do contain a lot of different bits. There is a pack of stowage that only includes the canvas rolls, jerry cans and boxes, and leaves out the 'camo net' style rolls. My experience of the Skytrex models is that they require fairly little in the way of cleaning up. 

Both of these packs cost £10, although there are smaller, cheaper, packs available. P+P is about £5 within the UK.

So how do these various offerings compare?

Peter Pig (left) with Battlefront (right)

Mix of all makes

Battlefront on left, Skytrex on the right.

Rear view of the various tracks. Peter Pig on the left with their flat backing, Battlefront at the top and the other offerings are Skytrex.

Front view of the various Sherman tracks.

Small Skytrex barrels and Jerry Cans on the left, beside Battlefront versions.

Battlefront offerings in the centre, surrounded by Skytrex and with a few Peter Pig Sherman road wheels in the center.

Skytrex Jerry Cans and Crates beside the Battlefront offerings.

As you can see, size wise they are all fairly interchangeable with minimal drift in scales. The Skytrex and Battlefront versions give you some decent variations while also providing the bulk you need to detail a lot of different vehicles. The Peter Pig offering is pretty limited in numbers - useful if you are only doing one or two tanks, but you need quite a few packs to do a lot of vehicles and there is not much variation with only the Sherman tracks and road wheels alongside the 3 connected boxes and the large canvas roll.

There are some other options, which I do use from time to time. One is to use greenstuff/miliput to make your own. Doing canvas style rolls is fairly easy and can be done with a little practice. Another is to use small strips of material, tinfoil, etc.

I also carefully strip any stowage on plastic sprues, such as the plastic Open Fire Shermans and StuGs, plastic half tracks, etc. I do try to be careful with mixing these in when I am detailing my models, as I don't want every vehicle being identical (or looking like every other Sherman out there!).

Another version which isn't on the market yet is the Plastic Soldier Company stowage sprue. PSC are working on a British 15mm Stowage kit, similar in scope to the German one. No news as to when this will be released, but they did reply to an email from me recently stating that one was in the pipeline. Another new addition is 'Flames of War Bling' which is an Ebay store selling 3d printed bits and bobs for FoW. They include crates, barrels and tools.

So there you go, a very quick and dirty comparison between all the various stowage options I use on my Flames of War vehicles. If you know of a producer I haven't mentioned, please let me know in comments! I hope you found this blog entry useful! Apologies for the lighting in the photographs.

6MMRPC: Finished! Sherman I's and Firefly

This week at home has allowed me to get the Sherman Tank's I was working on last weekend finished. I'm getting to the point that there isn't much left on my shelf ready to get finished off.

This batch consists of 3 Sherman I's and a Firefly - the troop leaders of 1st, 2nd and 3rd troop. The Firefly is that of the 1st troop.

The 3 Sherman I's are Battlefront resin and metal kits, while the Firefly is a plastic kit (from the Open Fire box). I'm not too sure about the Firefly as the barrel seems to be overly thick and chunky looking.

Stowage comes from Battlefront plastic kits, Skytrex and Peter Pig. Decals are from Doms Decals and I-94. Crew figures are Battlefront and Skytrex.

Next up... another 4 Shermans! Another 2 weeks working away from home, so I will be back to just what I can do at the weekend - and it looks like I have a game next Saturday (hopefully).

Painting Chart so far this challenge: