Guadalcanal 1942 in 20mm for Rapid Fire! rules - (Part 10) An odd bunch of a Japanese divisional staff car, anti-tank rifles and mules

 

The divisional stand is made from an Hotwheels car and plastic figures. The idea was to place a tank commander (Fujimi) presenting the report of the last failed tank attack on Guadalcanal (look at the map! Its Guadalcanal). The good thing is that the officers (Chinese Airfix copies) may also be pleased as it depends on the wargame result. 

The HotWheels car was this thing I found in a supermarket as it had potential to become a Japanese Staff car if you just consider the front. 

The usual wheels were replaced with 3d printed ones, a 3d printed canvas cover was placed on top and lots of Milliput was used on the back part of the car. Some plastic parts at the rear - fortunately they were plastic-  were taken out with a X-Acto. 

A small table was added and a hand painted map of Guadalcanal was glued on top. 

This is the kind of divisional stand I like to use in my miniature divisions. This one had this Hotwheels model trying to represent the Nissan model 97 staff car something I couldn´t find anywhere. 

I found this Matchbox Dodge 1940 in a 2nd hand fair and it quickly became a captured vehicle from one of the many US enterprises spread out in the Pacific islands. In fact I have very few transports for the Japanese infantry and anything closely suitable is welcome. 

The Japanese AT rifle teams are made from plastic figures firing the Type 96 LMG with 3d printed anti tank rifles and added bipods. The number 2 operator was generally firing a rifle and is now holding an extra 20mm cartridge box. 

Here they are finished. One will go to each battalion of the division. 

Inspired by the latest videos of Wargaming China a group of pack mules pulled by (left) the Esci figures using the rifle as a club; (center) the Airfix figures of the Jungle Outpost and (right) the Airfix figure running with its rifle in the air. The mules are from the Esci Italian Alpine set. 

Next:  a batch of Japanese coming from Assymetric Wargames, both 3d prints and Simon´s Soldiers or the beginning of the US Marines. 

Guadalcanal 1942 in 20mm for Rapid Fire! rules - (Part 7) 5th Japanese infantry battalion

 

Now well into the 2nd regiment of Japanese infantry. I will not manage to finish the division in this batch as I need four more battalions and only have figures for two more. More artillery will arrive today so next post will be about it. 

Some of my scratch built Juki HMGs are already painted for this battalions. Fortunately they will be mostly inside bunkers as they will never win a modelling contest :)

Due to the high number of knee mortars the 81mm model was relatively rare in a Japanese infantry division. This one is the first addition. The mortar is Strelets and the crew is converted Atlantic and Esci. 

The small Japanese radio was glued to the chest of this grenade throwing Matchbox figure. The legs were placed in an upright position with the help of some heat and a rifle was glued to the hand and to the base for extra resistance. Most of the figures I´ve been showing you were already painted for many years and waiting to be properly based. Thus you can see some green pieces of uniform mixed with the Japanese khaki as the green color was aparently getting more common as the war progressed. 

Next: Japanese artillery and some more infantry

Guadalcanal 1942 in 20mm for Rapid Fire! rules - (Part 6) 4th Japanese infantry battalion, an unwanted guest and HMGs

 

One more Japanese infantry battalion in order to start the 2nd infantry regiment. Nothing new here, with the usual Matchbox, Airfix and Esci hard plastic. 

The unwanted guest is obviously this Marmon Herrington with Italian 20mm Breda gun from the nice people of Asymmetric Wargames for the first desert Rapid Fire! supplement. The crew is an old Airfix with bonnet and a Xan Miniatures figure. 

I was out of 7,7mm Type 92 HMGs and I cranked up these ones from 3d printed US Brownings with cut out ammunition boxes, plastic card tripods and elevators. The result isn´t a great thing as I was lazy to make them totally from scratch. The only good thing about them is that they are big which is not the tendency of most manufactures who make the Jukis very small.  The two HMGs to the left are Hotchkiss (very close to the Type 3)  from Strelets as well as the 81mm mortar. The crews are mostly Atlantic conversions with the HMGs firing figures made from torsos with burned legs and GreenStuff arms.

Next: More Japanese  

Guadalcanal 1942 in 20mm for Rapid Fire! rules - (Part 5) Third Japanese infantry battalion and the anti-tank guns

 

This third battalion has the company of 3d resin prints from Asymmetric Wargames in the form of 37mm and 47mm anti-tank guns and a Kurogane car. 

The infantry is more of the same with the usual conversions: a small radio, a rifle both on the cornet and grenade thrower and some foliage on the helmet of the grenade thrower. 

The Kurogane car is a small beauty and a few more will go to the command of each regiment. 

The guns were printed a bit on the big side something that Asymmetric Wargames is already solving. For that I used the biggest 1/72 Japanese figures I have, the Airfix cheap copies. These two are the 47mm type 1 guns. 

There are two of these figures that can be used as artillerymen, the 50mm mortar figure (cut of its mortar) and the charging figure. 

The charging figure can be turned to a kneeling guy by an anti-tank gun as seen here. Just be careful with the blade and the flame on your fingers. 

The type 94 37mm anti-tank guns got the same type of crew. 

Next: more japanese as more artillery is arriving and more infantry is being repainted and  based. 

Guadalcanal 1942 in 20mm for Rapid Fire! rules - (Part 4) Second Japanese infantry battalion (and this one is being observed)

 

The first battalion was calmly marching while this one is in action, something I like do with my units, that is dividing the figures by situations. Sometimes this get awkward as sometimes a marching battalion is called to charge, or vice-versa, but c´est la vie.

 The MMGs are Atlantic this time. The figures had to have their legs heated and bent in order to fit the 4cm base. 

Some scratchbuilding had to be done namely on the small radio on the advancing Airfix figure and on the Esci figure using its rifle as a club who became an ammunition carrier. 

This Hasegawa Curtiss Seagull was bought on a 2nd hand fair and its a useful and colorful thing for Guadalcanal as it continued to serve as observation aircarft even after the introduction of the Kingfisher. 

Next: some days off and then Japanese artillery, probably. 

Guadalcanal 1942 in 20mm for Rapid Fire! rules - (Part 3) First Japanese infantry battalion

 

The Japanese infantry was inside boxes, still to be based properly and without breathing for many years. Only the stamina of the emperor´s soldiers could do that! This humble battalion is made of Airfix (some are downsized copies from the 1/32nd box) and Matchbox. Most of the figures are with the coat but others are in shirt order for variety. The radio is the small 94-6 hanging from the chest of the Matchbox figure waving the rifle. The LMGs are the same as others Airfix marching figures, one with the LMG and another with the ammo box. 

The Matchbox poor renderings of the model 92 7,7mm gun were slighly improved with an elevating wheel and an ammunition strip. 

Next: more Japanese infantry and maybe some more artillery. 

The Japanese IJA and IJN aircraft in WW2 for Rapid Fire! rules and in 20...

The Japanese airforce of WW2 is an old pleasure of mine and, together with a Tarawa wargames table and a few Japanese tanks and US Amtracks, its the only few things I have for the Pacific. The models are Hasegawa, Fujimi (most of them from the good old days of cheap Japanese models), Airfix, Matchbox, Italeri and Altaya. If you want a detailed post on how I built the Ryujo Aircraft Carrier go to https://jpwargamingplace.blogspot.com

The Mediterranean and N/A air battles in WW2 (British Vs Italians) for R...

The name is just an excuse to show its three parts: the British desert aircraft, the Regia Aeronautica (the original aim of the video but just too little) and a British Aircraft Carrier. The Aircraft Carrier is scratch built and the aircraft are from the usual brands plus Super Model for many of the Italian aircraft.

The Luftwaffe for Rapid Fire! rules and in 20mm size

This collection tried to get the basics of the German Luftwaffe for all WW2 periods. There are all major brands like Airfix (some from the 1957 originals) , Revell, Matchbox and several of the newer Altaya and Luppa die-casts. The darker Me262 is a Frog model from 1972 that I forgot to mention.

Able Archer/ RFR rules - Vietnam in 20mm (part 1) - Terrain and first model

 

Recently Tim King started to make a revamped Able Archer Rules closer to the principles of the (even) faster Rapid Fire Reloaded called Able Archer Reloaded. This fact sparked again my interest on the Cold War period so I started to pile up once more figures, vehicles and aircraft for Iran-Iraq war, Angola, Lebanon and particularly the period I had less stuff, the Vietnam War. 

After some piling up and stash organisation for Vietnam I saw a number of nice videos by Little Wars TV and other wargamers and modellers for the sake of inspiration and took my old books on the subject from the shelves. I had to clean the dust after that as some 20 years already passed since my last raid into Vietnam.

 I had no terrain for South East Asia and my first task was to make some patches of forest that looked exotic enough for Vietnam. The material was already in my stash for years as I used Games Workshop jungle terrain and some nice plastic vegetation I found in  Chinese shops. Another good thing about these patches of forest is its usage in the WW2 TOE of the Pacific.

This one is made only of GW plastic vegetation. Some stones were used for extra weight in all stands. 

The Chinese plastic vegetation was cut into pieces of around 10 cm to 20cm and mixed with the GW pieces. 

This is the "20cm" variant. What I wanted was some vegetation stands with an exotic look that can also be mixed with the European/North American vegetation as Vietnam has a prolific mix of evergreen and deciduous forests to bamboo and mangrove forests, for a total of 1500 types of woody plants (!). 

These are the different types of vegetation that GW offered at least some 10 years ago. Looking on the pet shops is also a good solution as they also have this type of plastic vegetation specially in the aquarium part. 

A view from the lot. What will have to be done, after mixing with the European/North American types, is to make the mandatory paddy fields and bamboo forests. 

This was my first Vietnam build maybe 40 years old but still in good shape, a Matchbox Bell Huey AH-1G Cobra that can be used from 1966 on many actions as a support for the other great achievement of Bell, the UH-1 "Iroquois". Recently I took out the figures and painted the canopy from the inside, which gives a good shine to the canopy and doesn´t erase any detail from the frame. 

Next: More Vietnam. 

The British 1st/6th Airborne Division in 20mm size for Rapid Fire! rules

Another big unit made along many years. The figures are mostly Esci, Revell and Airfix, the last ones particularly useful for support weapons. The gliders are scratchbuilt or Italeri. The many jeeps are Airfix, Matchbox, Fujimi or Hasegawa. Artillery is Matchbox for the 17pdr guns and SHQ for the M1 75mm howitzers. The 6pdr are all scratchbuilt. The cute little Tetrarchs are Assymetrical Wargaming in 3d printed resin. As usual there are plenty of conversions specially in the mortar and MMG crews.

Next: More Slovaks.

The IR Graf Von Matchbox for Rapid Fire! in 20mm

I wanted to do this for a long time. I already have plenty of early and late German WW2 infantry but none for the mid-war, that is German figures in full field gray uniform and tall boots.  They are necessary for some of the projects on the way, Crete (were they will be Gebirgsjäger, the same uniform with a different patch on the shoulder); Greece and the Balkans; Dieppe and the first two years of Barbarossa. The rifle+MP40 figures and the battalion command figures are all Matchbox in this regiment. For the future I may add a second regiment made mostly of Esci (IR Graf Von Esci) figures and a third of Airfix copies (IR Graf Von AirfixCopies :). 

The full regiment of three infantry battalions. 

Each battalion has rifle and command stands made of Matchbox old but lovely figures, Esci 50mm mortar and LMGs; AB copies MMGs, and Zvezda 81mm mortar.

Each of the Zvezda 81mm stands has a Matchbox figure. The 50mm mortar is made of EverGreen plastic and the figures are Esci conversions. 

The engineer company is made from a box of Zvezda and Esci figures. The Zvezda box brings a sprue of game pieces including the barbed wire which is here being cut by the figure to the right. 

These Zvezda small sets are meant for the command of three different regiments and can be used in any of the theaters of the war. 

The AB resin copies were ordered from Aliexpress. Back in 2016 I remember this being criticized as piracy but today I hope that AB has received some sort of compensation or reached a deal. The figures themselves are quite good and it looks they didn´t lost much in relation to the originals. 

Besides the 50mm mortar only the Radioman had a scratchbuilt radio...

...and some plastic pieces for the absent bipod of the Esci LMGs. 

Next: the beggining of the Slovak fast division for Lipovec 1941. 

Crete 1941 in 20mm for Rapid Fire! Part 4: the gliders, artillery and support weapons already painted

 

In the last few days I´ve been painting my scratchbuilt artillery, support weapons and DFS 230 gliders. I tried to get the most common FJ uniforms painted avoiding camouflaged items for speeding the process.

Which of them is the Frontline Wargaming resin glider?...Hmmm...Damn, I was expecting some mistakes and a bit more drama but that lady in the 2nd row immediatley gave the correct answer.... Its the one on the bottom right corner...

The painted plywood and Blue Board gliders got a layer of PVA so they can be spray primed. The camouflage is the one of Blitzkrieg namely the attack on Eben-Emael. The camouflage used on Crete was very bare virtually without markings and with a lighter color on the upper wings. At least, some people say it based on period pictures. But frankly it may be just a trick of the eye due to the mediterranean light. 

The Do Gerat 150mm rocket launcher. The quest for pictures of this specific weapon gave no results so this one was based on other models of different calibre.

The 75mm IG. The Airfix figures give reasonable artillery crew (If you are not too peaky, of course). 

The 75mm Geb.G 36. 

The 20mm AA gun. Still not sure if this Flak.38 was the model used at Crete. The shield was taken out, which is a messy enterprise as the gun is 3d PLA, but like this its closer to other models of the 20mm Flak gun, just in case. 

The 75mm LG40. 

This Puppchen 88mm gun and this other 75mm LG40 are for the Carentan book. 

The 37mm PAK 36. 

The PzBuchse 39. The heavier 41 version seems not to have been used at Crete, at least I could not find any evidence of that. Of course I would love to be wrong so I could make a few of them.

The MMG 34. Again the Revell and Airfix figures got new positions, legs and plenty of cuts in order to fit the guns. 

The 105mm mortar. The wouded FJ (top) is particularly handy as it can be used to carry ammunition and/or to be placed with a pair of binoculars. 

I´m not sure of the real size and shape of the thing so a bit scaled up 81mm mortar will do the trick. 

The 81mm mortars. 

The 50mm mortars. 

The FO (I think this is my shortest comment ever). 

The containers both for the small and support weapons. 

The command groups with a few Matchbox officers. 

Next: The FJ companies and the JU 52s. If mail arrives in time I´ll add a couple of Kettenkrad.