WW2 28mm 1/56th German Panzer Grenadier Platoon Supports.

German Panzer Grenadier Platoon  - 

Almost there
Continuing with the German Grenadier platoon based on units of a Panzer Division 1944 & 1945.

The King Tiger.
I've finally done it, after much hesitation, I've given into purchasing arguably the biggest German active 'Armoured Beastie' of World War Two; The Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger II Ausf.B "Konigstiger sdkfz.182. or Tiger II. Having picked the tigers camouflage scheme of dunkelgelb (a dark yellow colour), red-brown and green and added decals and splashing the paint around a bit, below is the finished result. Vehicle manufactured by Warlord Games, crewman to be added later.

The Armour
All my German armour is based on units that fought against the British airborne Division at Arnhem, during the battle two Royal artillerymen from the airborne division knocked out a King Tiger from Pz.Abteilung 506 with a 75mm pack howitzer at Oosterbeek, they also used a 6 pounder anti-tank gun apparently to no effect and some PIATS...although they destroyed one of the Tigers tanks tracks which set fire to the tank, there are photos on the web which show possibly the rear left lower side of the turret cracked open? I think these two guys were from the 1st airlanding anti-tank battery Royal Artillery.

At 68 tonnes and armed with the deadly 88mm gun, this was an allied 'tankies nightmare..'

....saying that one of these monters was 'popped-off by two tenacious Brtish artillerymen firing a pack howitzer at Oosterbeek during the battle of Arnhem 1944.

The turret numbers indicate a tank of the 2nd Company, 1st Platoon, 4th vehicle Abteilung 506. 

Observation post and command vehicles.
For a Campaign game I need some command and observation post units to match the British, so I acquired a kubelwagen and a schwimmwagen together with panzer grenadier observationpost/command element.

The Kubelwagen
Used very much in many role during world war two, the engine was in the rear similar to a Volkswagen beetle.

Warlord Games kubelwagen comprises a resin and metal kit

the cork from a bottle of Port comes in handy....so does the Port

a 75mm mdf base with granite sets and rocks, grass tufts made by me, see my tuft blog post :)

I can't have enough grass tufts....and Port

decals form Warlord Games

Humbrol enamels mixed with artists oil paint on both the base and the vehicle

a tenacious driver painfully aware of the kubelwagens atrocious suspension

especially on a cobbled road

 The kubelwagen wasn't really powerful enough to be used as a tow.

 But cheap and easy to produce.

 It saw many theatres of war.

 This is a Warlord  Games model which has the option of a raised canopy. 

 The Schwimmwagen

The schwimmwagen an amphibious version of the kubelwagen

 the schwimmwagen has oars equipped to aid steering when navigating a river.

 and a propeller which drops down for propulsion when in the water.

And a machine gun to zap people with

The Observation post.

available from Warlord Games

not sure about how I painted the binoculars, I might change them.

radio operative is included in the observation post pack

 All these vehicles and figures manufactured by Warlordgames UK.

Anyhow the German infantry vehicles comprising three sdkfz.251/D have eventually been acquired from JTFM in Canada (my previous order having gone AWOL in the post), then I'll start on my U.S. 3rd Armored Division with an M18 Hellcat tank destroyer from Warlord Games and a M26 Pershing from JTFM Diewaffenkammer for a 1945 game.

Until next time.
See yous.

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

The Panzer IV ausfH circa.1944-1945,

The Panzer III ausfM circa.1944-45.

Continuing with my World War Two 28mm collection I decided to create a German armoured platoon of 1944 -1945 European Theatre of War, the proposed infantry platoon needed some armour for the 1944 Normandy to the battle of the Bulge and Defence of Germany scenarios. So I picked up a Panzer IVausfH complete with 75mm gun for some extra fire power, also a Panzer IIIausfM.

Both these tank types were part of kampfgruppe 'Knaust' at Arnhem Holland 1944 fighting against British Airborne forces especially 2 PARA namely 2x panzerIV-H and 6x panzerIII-M. I used contemporary photographs of the battle for reference, both panzerIV were knocked out, it seems the panzer III were kept on the opposite side of the river to the British forces.

Die Waffenkammer make a really nice Panzer IV - H bought through Great Escape Games at http://www.greatescapegames.co.uk/miniatures/miniatures-rules-of-engagement/tanks-1.html

Panzer IV ausf H

Panzer III ausf M

 The tracks are separate but come fitted to the hull by the manufacturer so that a perfect effect is ensured.
A superb clean model, I 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. The kit includes schurzen, extra sheets of armour around the turret and hull and extra stowage, tarpaulins, jerry cans etc. I'll show these at a later stage.

panzer IIIM and IVH workshop

Then I primed with a tan leather matt enamel paint., followed by tan mixed with burnt umber oil paint.

first sheet of schurzen reinforced with 1mm thick plasticard straps.

Green was mixed with yellow and tan carefully to keep the same contrast in colours, a burnt sienna brown was used for the browns camouflage , but it was a surprisingly quick job. Then adding a water-slide transfer decals bought from Warlord Games, then a weathering effect was brushed over the whole vehicle.

airbrushing would make a better job of the camouflage but isn't really necessary.

The 75mm gun has a blackened muzzle, the 'schurzen' armour on the turret has its doors left open on the starboard side to effect an escape route for the crew when bailing out. 

German Tank Number Markings (basic guide).

Most German tanks had a three digit number sequence on the sides and rear of the turret, to use the example pictured below, the first number '5' decal shows the company number of the Tank Regiment, in this case the 5th company, the second number indicates the Platoon number '1' and the third decal indicates the tank number of that platoon '4'. 

Organization

Panzer tank regiments had 2 battalions each of 4 companies numbered 1 to 8 so the example below shows a tank of the second battalion (5th company). Each company consisted of a platoon HQ and 3 to 4 platoons, each platoon had 4 or 5 tanks.

Command tanks would use R for regimental HQ e.g. R01,R02, the first battalion I01,I02 and the second battalion II01,II02, individual company HQ tanks prefixed with the company number followed by 00,01.

The most common colours used to denote the various numbers were: red numbers with white outline, black numbers with white outline or just white outline(as example below)

National markings - the 'Balkankreuz', 1943-45 a black cross with white outline could be used. 

  

5th Company 1st Platoon 4th Tank

The rusty exhaust was painted in black, burnt umber and burnt sienna, the sooty mark on the hull is where the exhaust outlet is.

Panzer IIIausfM Warlord Games German Tank commander complete with cigar and binoculars.

Die waffenkamer provides a lot of extras with their model, stowage, separate tracks and a tank commander, on both tanks I have a Warlord games tank commander. I'm saving the Die waffenkamer tank commander for a Panther (Panzer VausfG) to be purchased at a later date.

An aerial was added using some 5 Amp fuse wire and painted in black enamel paint.

The bailed-out panzer crew are Warlord Games 28mm miniatures.

Next will be the panzer-grenadier infantry platoon and a British Airborne platoon.

Cheerio.