Archive for the ‘Flames Of War’ Category

25pdr Sexton Guns

Posted: August 12, 2014 in 15mm, Battlefront, British, Flames Of War
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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:

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Universal Carriers 15mm

Posted: July 24, 2014 in 15mm, Battlefront, British, Flames Of War
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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 🙂

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Project : Normandy Terrain boards stage 1

Posted: July 23, 2014 in 15mm, Flames Of War, Project, Scratch Built, Terrain, WW2
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I have been making small bits of terrain for some time and recently

a lot of Western front WW2 type stuff. Unfortunately I have an

Eastern front type terrain board which has been disguised , very

badly as of late to look like Normandy 😦

So without a further thought of what I`m letting myself in for

and inspired by Arkiegamer ,its off to the shed and out with

power tools 🙂

Now I started this project a couple of months back and to be honest

I have been up to other things but in an attempt to get myself moving

its time to post up my progress and get on with it.

Stage one was to build the standard boards which I already use. By

keeping to the same sizes they will fit perfectly in my terrain storage

tower(sounds impressive but wait for the picture).

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My terrain boards are 610 x 610 in size, which fit nicely on most tables

and are not to bulky to move around as a permanent set up board is out

of the question.

I basically cut out four battens of strip wood(2cm x 2cm) and sand off any rough

edges.
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These are then glued down onto a 6mm MDF board using industrial PVA

glue.
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Once dry a couple of small screws are screwed through the MDF from underneath

the board into the battens to add to rigidity.

Next up I use styrene boards which just happen to be the exact height of

the battens. Cut out the desired shape with a saw(best tool for cutting large

bits of styrene neatly) and glue down again

with industrial PVA, use plenty. Please note by industrial PVA glue I mean the

stuff builders use for sticking just about anything . You can also use wood glue for

sticking down the wood if you choose.

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Now we have the basic battle board all ready for whatever you plan to do.

For my project I made four of these basic boards.

Just as a note in case any body is interested, this is what the basic costs

are but a large amount of the stuff I already had in stock. The prices quoted

make at least four boards.

1. 6mm sheets of MDF x 2 £10.
2. 2×2 lengths of strip wood x 2 £12.
3. PVA glue big pot £8.
4. Styrene in packs of 5 £14.
5. Small screw pack £3.

So £47 so far or $80 dollars for you guys over the pond 🙂

Compared to GW boards x 6 at £170 or $289 and I will have lots

of kit left over for more boards.

British Rifle Platoon 15mm

Posted: July 5, 2014 in 15mm, Battlefront, British, Flames Of War, WW2
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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 🙂

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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.

Normandy Bocage test builds

Posted: June 1, 2014 in 15mm, Battlefront, Flames Of War, Painting, Scratch Built, Terrain, WW2
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Deep in the depths of my shed I have been experimenting

with the bocage and have finally got a winner, perhaps ?

Step One:

Polystyrene was used for the banking(light and dirt cheap)

and cut to shape, then pva glued. I based one on 3mm mdf

and didn’t bother with the other. The cocktail sticks

are just to hold it together while gluing.

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Step Two:

Add some twigs from the garden as tree trunks and glue

into place.

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Step Three:

I used standard house hold filler to smooth off the bank

and any sharp edges. I then cover everything in pva glue

and added a mix of sand and stone for texture. Let dry.

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Step Four:

Paint brown with house hold paint.

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Step Five:

More pva glue over all and add your flock/scatter mix.

I tried all green at 1st but found the brown gave it a

better look.

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Step Six:

Grab your self some rubberised horse hair(ebay was cheap)

and separate it out into thin bits. It comes as a thick

section and reminds me of horse jumping hedges. Now with

your pva glue again thread between your twig trees and glue

down. I found you had to put weights on the horse hair while

gluing as it springs up otherwise. I added a bit of moss as

well.

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Step Seven:

Using a spray bottle(50/50 pva glue and water) spray the

horse hair with your glue mix. Now sprinkle on your scatter

so it looks like leaves. Leave it dry over night.

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This is what it looks like next to a field and with a tank in:

Click on the image to get a bigger version 🙂

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I tried two other methods of making bocage from moss but

was not happy with the outcome.

Also the bocage next to field is not 100% finished and

needs a bit of airbrushing here and there.

What do you think ?

Cromwells 2nd Northamptonshire Yeomanry

Posted: May 24, 2014 in 15mm, Battlefront, British, Flames Of War, Plastic Soldier, WW2
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More 15mm tanks from Plastic Soldier Company,but this time with

single tracks :).The PSC box comes with 5 Cromwells and plenty

of choice to make each vehicle different. I have added some different

crew and stowage made from cheese cloth again. Some of the cheese cloth

has scatter stuck on to make it appear like foliage. One small

criticism of the PSC model is that the front glacial(location of

45 and Black Bull) plate of the Cromwell is very narrow making it

hard as hell to fit a decal on.

My Cromwells belong to 11th Armoured Division but are 2nd Northamptonshire

Yeomanry as they provided Recce along with 15/19th Kings Royal

Hussars.

Click images below for larger picture.

Enjoy 🙂
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British Shermans in Normandy

Posted: May 8, 2014 in 15mm, British, Flames Of War, Plastic Soldier, WW2
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Joining my 3 Fireflys are the meat and veg of the Allied

tank force the Shermans. M4A4`s to be exact and made by

Plastic Soldier. You get 5 plastic tanks for £18.95 and lots

of detail. My only issue was the tracks that come is 3 parts

and are a nightmare to be honest. It seems later kits have now

been changed to one solid plastic cast of the tracks, most likely

due to people like me moaning.

Anyway as before the Shermans are marked up as 11th Armoured Division,

23rd Hussars Regiment.

Click on picky to get a bigger size.

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Hope you like them ?

I`m going to stick with 11th Armoured Division as I build my Normandy bocage

and terrain boards(I`ve actually already started but as of yet to got round

to getting the photos up) and I need some Cromwells and Stuarts. According

to my info 11th Armoured Division had 44 Stuarts,71 Cromwells, 175 Shermans,

36 Fireflys,28 Crusaders and 3 Valentines.So I better get building.

Quick camouflage

Posted: May 1, 2014 in 15mm, Battlefront, Flames Of War, German, Terrain, WW2
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Decided to make my Jagdpanther blend in a bit more

with a bit of camo. Take a few bits of electrical wire

and twist them together to make the branches. Next paint

them brown(couple of coats will be needed) and they stick on

your flock with pva glue. I painted lighter colours(yellows and

browns) onto the flock before sticking it on. I then got me a bit

of cheese cloth and dipped it in a mixer of Agrax wash and green

paint and then dried it in the conservatory for a camo net. Now

just stick your camo net onto your vehicle and thread through the

branches.

Click on picture for bigger size.

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I have left this camo net hang loose but you can apply it slightly

damp and mold it to the vehicle shape.

Bocage Jagdpanther…no thanks I will take the Stug !

Posted: May 1, 2014 in 15mm, Battlefront, Flames Of War, German, Painting, Terrain, WW2
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Just finished by Battlefront plastic Jagdpanther and I`m very

pleased with it. The cheaper plastic kit(there is a metal version) is

just as good and comes with a ruined building(not shown). Once again I

really could not be bothered getting the airbrush out for a couple of

minutes use and then spending an hour cleaning it so free hand time

with the camouflage.

Please click on pictures for larger size.

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The interesting part about this small project for me was the bocage

itself. I knew what bocage was and have been all over Normandy and seen

the stuff first hand. What was compelling was the constant argument on

various forums about should bocage have stone at the bottom of it ? Well

the first hand and most accurate answer is yes and no. Some bocage is built

up on age old(Middle ages or later) walls and some is not. Quite often stone is

used on hill sections of bocage and deep cuttings. Farmers in general clear fields

and push stone to the side and leave it. It is then overgrown by weeds and becomes

part of the bank/hedge.

The second compelling bit of information I came across after reading up on the

subject was the way enemy tanks were killed in the bocage. First initial thought

was great big dirty tank destroyer behind a hedge kills all(the Jagdpanther for example),

but you couldn’t be more wrong.

In bocage country 54% of tank kills were caused by gunfire(tank,anti tank,td and arty),

20% by mines,13% by non combat(stuck in mud or mechanical failure),7% by Panzerfaust

and the remaining 6% by miscellaneous.

If we then look at the 54% in more detail ,Britsh and American studies show that half

of theses kills were attributed to Stugs and by direct frontal penetration at an

average 800 yards. Forget the Jagdpanthers,Panzer I`Vs,PAK 43 man handled and arty the Stug

was the main man in the bocage!

Anyway I`m building a Normandy board as we speak to look out for hand crafted bocage with

and without stones and a few lurking Stugs.

Russian armour

Posted: March 7, 2014 in 15mm, Battlefront, Flames Of War, Russian, WW2, Zvezda
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I have been adding to my Russian armour as of late

with these two heavy beauties from Battlefront and

a couple of light weights from Zvezda.

What strikes me about the IS2 and ISU 152 is

their shear size, its intimidating. Saying that

having an IS2 and a ISU 152 hiding in some woods

as back up brings a smile to my face and worries the

hell out of the opposition.

I added the two BT5`s as an after thought and intend

to use them as spotters(cannon fodder).
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