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). 

Progress and Xmas Loot

Hi Folks - and Merry Christmas from me and mine to you and yours!

This last week or so I've gotten started on my first entry for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge 8 (AHPC8), but progress has been slow. In all honesty I've just struggled to find the motivation to paint German gun crew. I have made some progress, but I think the pile of prepped models has actually put a damper on my motivation. I finally decided to go back to basics, pick one unit at a time and get them done, rather than staring at the whole lot and fretting!

Yesterday I really lucked out on gifts, getting everything that was on the list I had provided Amy with earlier in the year. Again, books were the main focus as they are easier to pick up and less chance of things not arriving by the big day. But I did get some models...

I'm really pleased with all of these. The Normandy stuff should keep me going for a while, and there looks to be some really great info in them. Especially the info on the Canadians! Combined with a really really interesting online find on Christmas Eve, where I found a .PDF of a post war Canadian Army report into Totalise that is chock full of some really great info, I feel like I've got some great new perspectives on the battle to read through.

Stripes is also a really interesting book, with lots of great options for Team Yankee... I can see me expanding my 3mm Americans based on some of the stuff that's there.

Necromunda is the first GW game I've gotten in a long time. When I saw it was coming out I just had to jump on board (which is pretty uncommon for me). I've great memories of this game from my teenage years. The contents of the box look great, and I'll have a think about how I build the figures before I do anything with them... but it does mean I need to think about new scenery!

Over the weekend, I also took the opportunity to prime my prepped German guns. Gunuary doesn't properly start until the 1st of January, but I'm jumping in early as I've so much to do.

A can of Plastic Soldier Company 'Late War German Dunkelgelb' went quite a long way on these, and forms a decent primer coat on all the guns. I'll probably do another light coat of middlestone or green ochre over these before detailing, washing and highlights. I also have to prep quite a lot of bases!

Right now, I'm focusing on the crew and guns for a 3.7cm AA battery. The figures are from the Battlefront SS set, but I am painting them in my attempt at Luftwaffe ground uniforms for a battery of III Flak Corps guns.

Hopefully everyone else got what they wanted for Christmas and had a great day!

Happy new year when it comes!

Operation Totalize: Footage

Hi folks,

In keeping with my blog being a repository for info I've found on Operation Totalize, I wanted to post this link. It's from a Canadian Army Newsreel and it shows what I believe is one of the training columns for Totalize in action:

It's interesting to see how closely packed the vehicles are, and there is a good shot of towed 6pdrs and SP M10 (which appear to have the armoured roofs!). Some of the earlier footage shows infantry boarding De-frocked priests - including one shot that appears to have a 144RAC Sherman in the background (going by the light coloured turret number).

Interesting find, and great to see all this Canadian stuff for free on YouTube, while in the UK historic footage has been removed and requires substantial outlay for minutes long videos with no preview of what you are getting for your money.