WW2 in 28mm (1/56th scale) British Armoured Platoon 1944-1945

The Sherman mk.Vc 'Firefly' circa.1944

The 23rd Hussars Tank Regiment.

Continuing with my British armoured platoon of 1944 -1945 European Theater of War, I decided my infantry needed some armour for the 1944 Normandy to the battle of the Bulge scenarios. So I picked up a Sherman firefly complete with 17 pounder gun for some firepower.

Die Waffenkammer make a really nice Sherman mkVc firefly so I thought I give it a go.

 The tracks are separate but come fitted to the hull by the manufacterer so that a perfect effect is ensured, I wish all manufacturers could be this diligent! This does save a lot of frustration...I mean it really does.

A superb clean model, I actually followed the manufacturer's instructions and did wash it with detergent to remove any release agent that might be left on the model from the manufacturing process.

Then I primed it with a medium grey matt enamel paint., followed by a dark green paint.

I got a bit carried away and forgot to take pictures for each stage of the painting process, but it was a surprisingly quick job. Then just add the waterslide transfer decals, let them dry out and add a weathering effect over the whole vehicle.

The '51' decals show the red senior tank regiment of the Brigade, in this case the 23rd Hussars was the senior regiment above the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment and the 2nd Fife & Forfar regiments of the Brigade 

The Red triangle denotes 'A' squadron

Die waffenkamer provides a lot of extras with their model, stowage, seperate tracks and a tank commander, here I have a die waffenkamer tankie with a Warlord games tank commander. The aerial was added from some garden wire.

 The Yellow decal with a black bull denotes it is a tank of the 11th Armoured Division

The gun barrel has a wavy line down it to make it look like the shorter 75mm barrel used on the Mark V Sherman tanks used by the British in 1944. Disguising the fact that it is a 17 pounder tank buster gun instead.

Next post I might feature some stuff I'm flogging on ebay.

Cheerio.

WW2 in 28mm (1/56th scale) British Armoured Platoon 1944-1945

Hi, just managed to finish the third and final section of British infantry for my European Theater of War 1944-45.

3rd section of British infantry

Most of these have scrim (burlap) on their helmets added after I bought them from ArtizanDesigns.com, below is a short instruction on how to add scrim to plain metal helmets.

stage #1

ideally you want to add the scrim effect before you paint the figures but it really isn't essential, so here I've managed half paint the figures then realize I wanted scrim on the helmets.  

 stage#2

Acquire some 'green stuff' you can get it on ebay, roll the yellow and blue putty together until it becomes a green colour, this will remain pliable for hours. Place a small ball of 'green stuff' on the top of the helmet, then squish it down so it becomes a very thin layer over the helmet (i.e. you can see the helmet shape under it). then get a pin or scalpel blade etc. and prick tiny dints or dimples in the putty to simulate the texture of scrim netting.

stage#3

Whilst the green stuff is still pliable flatten some out really thinly on a mat and cut into strips approximately 5mm long x 1mm wide, then using your scalpel place the strip onto the helmet and fold it over in a wiggly shape, you can easily place 5 or more strips on each helmet. No glue is needed as the putty scrim sticks perfectly together on the helmet.

stage#4

Wait 24 hours for the 'green stuff' putty to harden.

stage#5

Undercoat with matt black enamel paint. Let this dry fully. then paint dark green undercoat and then paint successive layers of olive greens on the netting and light tans to represent the strips of sacking used for the scrim or burlap. 

 Both squaddies have their helmets camouflaged up.

That's it really, a neat and very uncomplicated way to convert your minis to wear scrimmed up helmets. It does make quite a difference to the original model.

Next post will feature the Sherman mark.Vc 'Firefly' for a 1944 European Theater of War game.

WW2 in 28mm (1/56th scale) British Armoured Platoon 1944-1945

I'm continuing to paint up my 8th Battalion Rifles - Motor Infantry Platoon with the 2nd Section (squad) finished and varnished pictured below.

2nd section 8th Rifles

The 2nd section is split into two unequal halves of:
Rifle Group
1 corporal armed with a sten gun
3 riflemen with SMLE rifles
1 rifleman with a PIAT (anti-tank weapon)
Gun Group
1 lance corporal armed with a sten gun
1 Bren gunner
1 loader with SMLE rifle

2nd section 8th Rifles

The Platoon HQ has been completed as well. Comprising 6 figures: The platoon commander (a lieutenant), the platoon sergeant and a signaller (radio op.) and 3 others, one of which has a small handheld 2 inch mortar used for laying a smoke screen.

Platoon Commander (Lieutenant) with a pistol and Platoon Sergeant with a Thompson Sub Machine Gun (SMG).

The third section will follow together with a quick guide to converting steel helmets to have scrim netting.
All these figures are 28mm miniatures I bought unpainted from ArtizanDesigns.com