Archive for April, 2023

Sturmhaubitze 42, 10.5 cm(1/56 Bolt Action)

Posted: April 27, 2023 in 1/56, 28mm, Bolt Action, Diorama, Scratch Built, Terrain, Wargaming, WW2
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I bought this model from Blitzkrieg miniatures during a sale and its been gathering dust ever since so while building a scratch house I decided it was a good excuse for a quick diorama to show it off.

The Sturmhaubitze 42 or StuH 42 was a Stug III with a 10.5cm assault cannon that was created to provide close artillery support for infantry. The model shown is of Stug belonging to brigade 341 with field modified schurzen and manlet debris guard. It was knocked out at 12 La Gare, Le Val-Saint-Pere,Normandy on the 31st of July 1944 while backing into the unfortunate house. The manlet debris guard is scratch built from plasticard. Wire mesh has been included and a 1/48 105cm brass canon was added as it seemed a better fit.

The black and white picture shows the actual Stug after the battle.

The house is made of simple foam card and as per usual everything is recyclable. The wooden plinth is not fixed so will be used again and the house wall will be added to a ruined house in progress. The base can be used again for another diorama or whatever is needed.

Lorraine Schlepper 15cm sFH for Bolt Action.

Posted: April 24, 2023 in 1/56, 28mm, Bolt Action, Diorama, Terrain, Wargaming
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Another Warlord kit, this time bought off fleabay fully assembled. All it needed was some paint and some Normandy battle weathering.

For a bit of fun I photographed it on recycled diorama base and stuck a backdrop behind it. I find it useful to keep wooden plinths spare so you can display models effectively. The plinth is seperated from the ground my a thin sheet of plasticard thus you can swap stuff about when bored without having to prize it off the plinth.

Up armoured Cromwell Tank(28mm Bolt Action)

Posted: April 21, 2023 in 1/56, 28mm, Bolt Action, Diorama, Scratch Built, Wargaming, WW2
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Recently finished work on this up armoured Cromwell tank using a bit of plasticard. The plasticard is where all the additional armour was placed increasing the armour from 76mm to 102mm. Seems these Cromwells were rare and were basically Cromwell IVs seam welded instead of riveted with additional applique armour added. Identified as a mark V(not to be confused with the MK VII which had improvemnets but no additional armour) the only real way to identify them was via the WD mark ending in a letter “W”. I also replaced the gun barrel with a 1/48 brass 75mm QF. Also decided to make a quick dio based on the black and white photo showing,”Gladys” from 1st rtr near Aunay-sur-Odon ,Normandy 1944.

Had fun making this Warlord kit , hope you like it ?

88mm Gun emplacement for 28mm Bolt Action

Posted: April 20, 2023 in 1/56, 28mm, Bolt Action, Scratch Built, Terrain, Wargaming
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Following on from research into my scratch built barn for Crepon it came to my attention that a lone 88mm gun was left to defend the South West corner of Crepon as the allies advanced inland from the Normandy landings on D Day. Many of the units defending the area were mixture of adhoc groups desperately assembled to stop the Allied advance and my 88 gun made by Warlord Games is the Luftwaffe Field Division 8.8cm 37 Flak representing the mixed opposition.

I made a simple bunker from styrene and kebab sticks and based it on a plasticard base. The individual bases were cut out to fit so the figures and gun could be revolved or removed for easy storage. The wheat around the bunker is front door mat cut up into strips and the aim was to fit the bunker seemlessly into the larger wheat fields of terrain which hopefully I have achieved ?

One thing I noticed on real pictures of 88mms in action was the huge amount of used and spare ammunition lying around so I found somebody to 3D print me the additional wicker baskets and rounds.

Finally I photographed the 88mm with a simple wheat field backdrop photograph behind it and it blended in quite well. This was most likely the unfortunate issue the Allies tanks faced as they advanced inland on raised roads,only becoming aware of the enemy 88mm after they had been hit.

Miscellaneous 28mm Furniture and bits.

Posted: April 19, 2023 in 1/56, 28mm, Terrain
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This is the start of a very long line of unpainted/unfinished bits and pieces that have been gathering dust just waiting for the light of day. To be honest I cannot even identify half of the furniture but it is pretty generic stuff for 28mm gaming. The long bench for sitting is scratch built.

The two figures are Mialee with the staff and Lidda with the bow from the board game Dungeons and Dragons,produced by Parker.