As the end of the Year is just round the corner I
decided to go for a group shot of my growing British
forces which are being assembled to take on my Panzer
Lehr sledgehammer.
Just click on a picture to enlarge. Be aware these
pictures are quite big 🙂
Plenty more room on the table so best get painting.
I think some aerial power is required ?
Everybody needs something to stop the Panzers in
their tracks and these babies could do just that.
17pdr guns that had better performance than the
German 75-mm (long) or 88-mm counterparts.
All four are made by Battlefront and I have chopped
and changed the crews to make them as British looking
as possible. Out with helmets and in with the berets and
pipes. The vehicles have 75th Anti-Tank Regiment markings
which once gain fits nicely into the 11th Armoured Division
tree.
Click on an image to enlarge 🙂
Some support weapons for my confident,trained
British Rifle Platoon. Only thing that troubled
me was the ammo coming from the Vickers to the
ammo feed guy next to him. I ended up having to
cut the ammo belt to get the fit just right and
its extremely fiddly, which means you are going
to get super glue stuck to your fingers. Apart
from that another quality bit of kit from
Battlefront. Saying that it doesn’t justify
your recent price rise especially in the light
of lots of other 15mm manufacturers now making
equally quality kits and way cheaper prices.
Click on any picture to enlarge 🙂
Oh also finished another two 6pdrs to add to my
anti tank bunch 🙂
I needed something to haul my anti tank guns
and the Loyd Carrier was the answer. These are
Battlefront models and very simple to paint up and
only needed a slight modification here and there just
so they didn’t all look exactly the same. I have added a
few extra troops as well. Once again its 11th Armoured
colours.
Click on a picture to get a bigger picture:
Cheap to make, easy and light to tow and quick
to set up. Whats more the 6pdr could penetrate 68mm
of armour at 1000 yards, so good enough to deal with
Panzer IV`s.
These are once again Battlefront models and as you can
see I have only managed to complete two so far. I also need
a command team to go with them.
Usually towed into battle by a Loyd carrier 🙂
Click on a picture to get a larger picture:
Another £2.65 well spent and a great looking
truck just ready to pull a 5.5 inch gun. I did
a few modifications before painting including
adding a rolled up tarpaulin cover, front tow rope,
front load weight sign, front lights and a small step
up ladder over the fuel tank.
Click on a picture for a larger image :
After reading up on the history of 11th Armoured
in Normandy it seems the artillery came to the rescue
of many allied units in combat and in some cases
literally were the difference between winning and
losing the fight. So bring on the Sextons and my
infantry will be forever more protected by a shield
of HE. One thing that I am still unsure about is
the nationality of the Sextons as 11th Armoured used
and requested artillery help from any and all batteries
available. So even thought they have 11th markings they
could quite easily be British or Canadian.
Click on pictures to enlarge:
Note the title of the post is the correct name but
everybody calls them Bren gun carriers 🙂
These beauties were used by the British and other
Commonwealth countries throughout WW2 and beyond. In general
terms they were too small, unreliable ,under powered,under
armoured and compared to the German counterpart hopelessly
out classed.
But hold on, because they were cheap and fast to build and
most importantly you could fix them with a hammer 🙂
The 3 below are Battlefront 15mm models with additional
stowage and extra troops. All 3 have Bren guns and one
has a Boys anti tank rifle(useless against most things).
Once again they are sporting 11th Armoured colours and
4th Battalion King`s Shropshire Light Infantry markings.
Click on an image to get a bigger picture 🙂
To put it bluntly these have been a royal pain in
the neck to do, literally. For the last two weeks I
have been unable to tip my head downwards, eaten all
the paracetamol and Ibufrufen stock in the UK and had
a sadistic physio therapist trying to rip my head from
my neck. I now paint in a very unusual and amusing
position. Anyway onto the rifle platoon.
Battlefront`s 15mm British Rifle Platoon(late)
gives you 37 metal figures including a Piat, a 3 inch
mortar and two Bren guns. Basic bases are provided as
usual.
I opted to use Vallejo paints instead of GW simply
because Vallejo have a very good range of WWII colours.
I use a variety of paints including P3,Vallejo and GW so
no extra costs. Saying all that there are GW paints in the
mix.
Couple of things that gave me problems apart from the neck
were a black base coat which makes its virtually impossible
to pick out details especially the webbing. Secondly I forgot
to add a bit of depth to the base so my men stood a bit
proud, but hopefully the gravel and static grass hides this ?
Lastly I wish I had added a few spare bits of equipment on
the ground, perhaps next time ?
Plus points, I love my new Noch puffer bottle and the
effect you get with it and I have taken a liking to Vallejo`s
Flat Earth colour 983. I have always used other colours for
earth but Vallejo`s seems to hit the spot for me 🙂
Click on a picky for a larger image 🙂
Sorry about the floating bases in the pictures. They are
still sitting on French out of currency coins for painting.
I`m thinking 4th Battalion Kings Shropshire Light Infantry
or 3rd Battalion Monmouthshire Regiment to stick with
the 11th Armoured Division theme.
Nearly finished my 15mm British Platoon and to help me
with the painting I bought ,” The World War II Tommy”
by Martin Brayley and Richard Ingram and what an excellent
book it is. I have read and owned a couple of uniform guide
books before but this just leaves everything else behind.
Rich, colour photographs and loads of them covering all
uniforms between 1939-45 plus detailed descriptions of all
the kit and weapons. It even covers hospital clothing.
I found this book especially helpful for identifying what
exactly the bit of equipment you are painting as 15mm figures
have tiny bits on them(when sprayed with a black base coat
it makes things even harder to make out). What also stands
out is the photographs themselves. They have been modelled
perfectly with WWII back drops and if turned to black and
white would be hard to distinguish from the real thing.
This book is the one stop resource for everything British
for the painter, modeller and wargamer.
Hope he plans to do a German and American book next 🙂
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