Show and Tell, 1 December: French Command Figures

A couple of French command figures from the Old Glory pack that Andy got me recently, to be used I think as ADCs.

Show and Tell, 17 November: Austrian Line Infantry

More Napoleonics to add to the collection.  These are from the 'back catalogue', the drawers full of unpainted units that I'm determined to get to over time.  The figures are Essex original Austrian (Hungarian) line infantry, with the standard cast in metal.  I hope to get the second battalion done before Xmas.  We shall see...

Show and Tell, 27 May: Austrian Grenzers and Cleve-Berg Infantry

The long weekend has allowed me time to finish basing two units of 15mm Napoleonic infantry for Shako.  First up is another battalion of Austrian Grenzer light infantry, complete with alternate skirmish stand.  This is the 3rd Regiment of Grenzers from Ogulin.

The figures are from the recently redesigned Austrian range from Essex Minatures

Next is the second battalion of the 1st Infantry Regiment from the German client state of Cleve-Berg.

Again, these are Essex Miniatures, French Line Infantry painted in Cleve Berg colours

Both battalions in column of attack

Currently on the 15mm painting table is the 2nd French regiment of Carabiniers.  Will probably take a few weeks to get those finished though...

Show and Tell, 24 February: Austrian Hussars

Alternating again with the 28mm Sudan stuff, I finished basing my most recent 15mm Shako cavalry regiment - the Austrian 2nd Erzherzog Joseph Hussars.  The figures are A&B.

The 2nd Hussars were raised in Transylvania and wore distinctive light blue uniforms and red shakos

The trumpeters wore identical uniforms but their shako bore a red plume

These figures were undercoated in matt white given the light uniform colours

The view from the Austrian lines...

Size reference shot with a 2p piece

Show and Tell, 17 February: French Imperial Guard

Am still adding to the 15mm Shako collection in between painting 28mm Colonial British, Zulus and Fuzzy Wuzzies.  This week it's 2 more battalions, the 1st and 2nd of the 2nd Grenadiers of the Guard.  The figures are Essex.  I've now got 6 French Guard battalions painted up.

Given the predominance of dark blue on these figures, they were undercoated in black

The flag is the 1811-1813 pattern

Show and Tell, 17 January: 1st Infantry Regiment, Duchy of Warsaw

I've been working through some infantry battalions for Shako, aiming to alternate French and Austrian. To add to Napoleon's forces is a Polish division for which I've painted the 1st Infantry Regiment (3 battalions plus a skirmisher stand in Shako terms) above. I have enough unpainted Poles to form up a couple of Divisions including cavalry. The figures are Essex, with an A&B Divisional Commander. The flag is hand-painted on paper.

Show and Tell, 1 January: French 2nd Hussars

Christmas Holidays have allowed time for supplementing my 15mm Napoleonics for Shako.

First up, the French 2nd Hussars. The figures are from A&B.

Show and Tell: Stable and Graveyard

One of the interesting things we spotted at Colours were laser-cut MDF buildings from Warbases and Sarissa.  I bought a stable for £6 from Warbases, glued it together, based it, tiled the roof (with little squares of cardboard), and painted it up - and the result looks like this:

Andy and I also bought a load of plastic gravestones.  These came pre-painted for just a few quid and I've based them on a square of plastic, and grassed it with a path down the middle.

I sized the base to match the white picket fencing and church (which I painted, including all the stained glass!) picked up at a previous Colours show.

Show and Tell, 22 May: BKC US Army Reinforcements

After going through the rules again after Easter I couldn't resist ordering a handful of things to supplement my existing US BKC forces since I had put in a Pithead Miniatures order for Andy's birthday.

The first unit is a platoon of M10 Tank Destroyers.

Then, a couple of weapons carrier jeeps which will transport either the 81mm mortars or heavy machine guns.

I'm impressed with the Pithead figures, especially the M10s. Nicely cast and they paint up well.

Show and Tell: 300mm Army Figure

My late Grandad always had gnomes in his back garden and repainted them every year.  When my Dad was clearing the house for sale, I retrieved a very sad looking gnome from the garden.

I wanted to repaint him and give him a new home in our garden but knew that Louise hated gnomes - we still haven't cleared up the mysterious incident from our first house when my original gnome leapt from a window sill and smashed his own head in - a cat may have been involved but we'll never know...

So the solution was a gnome who wouldn't stand out too much in the garden - camo-gnome!

And here he is hiding in the flower bed.

Show and Tell: More 8th Army aircraft

I found a cheap 1/144 plastic model of a P40N Warhawk on eBay that came pre-painted as the 1st American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Chinese Air Force.

The Warhawk was also used by the British and known as a Kittyhawk, so I repainted it in North Africa camo and used some of the left over transfers from my Hurricane set.

Show and Tell: Field Defences Part 3

More scratchbuilt items from the block of styrofoam - a command bunker and couple of pillboxes.

Show and Tell: Field Defences Part 2

BKC lists Field Defences that make troops and vehicles harder to hit and improve their save values.  For hasty defences, in addition to minefields and barbed wire, players can deploy trenches, gun pits and AFV (Armoured Fighting Vehicle) pits.  Clearly it's difficult to create pits and trenches on your dining room table but they can represented by sloping the ground up.  Several companies sell resin versions but again, I thought I'd make my own.

I bought a couple of sheets of 25mm thick styrofoam from eBay for a few quid.  This is a high-density blue polystyrene which is easily cut and filed, and doesn't break up into little bits like packing polystyrene.

For the gun pits, I cut the foam into blocks, then cut them into two thinner halves.  After marking out where the 40x40mm base would need to go, I cut and filed the edges, and then cut out the pit.

I then rounded off the corners and painted them.  As well as gun pits, I made AFV pits and trenches for the infantry.  Here's what they look like finished.

Each piece ends up costing just a few pence.  And I've plenty of foam left for carving pill boxes and bunkers for scenarios allowing fixed defences (the subject of a future posting...).

Show and Tell: North African village

My Christmas present from Adrian - a set of buildings from Hovel's 10mm Arab range - all now painted, and occupied by the liberators of North Africa who are ready to defend against the evil Boche.

Show and Tell: Field Defences

Preparing for the Siege of Tobruk, I've made some field defences.  BKC rules allows for a range of field defences - from fixed prepared bunkers and command posts to hasty defences like barbed wire and minefields.

Barbed wire comes in 20cm lengths.  I've made a dozen in 10cm lengths so I've got more flexibility in deployment.  The posts are made from 2mm walnut dowel and entwined with scale barbed wire.

Minefields are 20cm by 10cm.  They can be unmarked (apart from on the player's map), marked but dummy, or marked and genuine.

Although they should be hidden, I've made mines visible on the scenery (as I've found others have done) because it looks more interesting.  The mines are made from deadly orange lentils, as you can see from one of the minefields before painting.

Show and Tell, 6 March: BKC US Army, Tunisia 1943

This weekend I finished all of the Blitzkrieg Commander figures that I've got so far - thus completing a decent sized force to represent the US 1st Armoured Division in Tunisia 1943 (or indeed a force suitable for the invasion of Sicily, 1943). I ended up using decals and matt varnish.

First up (above) is the CinC, complete with comms vehicle.

Two HQs, the first for infantry. Another HQ (in the Command tank) is below.

Next the recon elements. M20 scout car at far right, backed up by the FAO/FAC in the jeep and another recce unit in the M3 White Scout car.

Above are the Stuart M8 Light tanks, with an anti-aircraft Quad 50 M3 half-track on the right.

Onto the heavier armour, there are two troops each of 3 Shermans, the troop above led by another HQ (Command Tank) element.

Above is a troop of the Jumbo 26mm Shermans with a 105mm Priest howitzer attached.

Onto the infantry, the first three companies are in M3 half tracks...

As are the second three companies...

And the infantry support weapons (machine guns and mortars) are in trucks and scout cars. The whole collection is below - with a fair number of unmotorised GIs. Given that Orhan is well on his way to finishing his Eastern Front Russians I think I shall order some Hungarians so as both to be able to give Orhan a game solo, or to be able to team up with Andy's Germans for a larger game. Not least because completing the Americans below didn't take long at all...