Rapid Fire! Western Desert 1940-43 in 20mm - First battalions of Australians

 

Two Australian Infantry battalions get ready to defend the bridge at the Lybian Wadi of Al-Kangaroo. These are my first Australian Infantry units I´ve ever painted even if I collected and stored them for many years. A problem with the Airfix, Revell and Esci figures was the lack of support weapons but you can easily convert them. This issue was solved recently by StreletsR releasing a box with support weapons (and also another one with rifle-armed figures). 

Dressed in Mediterranean uniforms they are essential for the North African campaigns as well as Italy. In the recent leaked information from the Rapid Fire HQ we all will be forced to make Crete's Mercury operation (I mean, Masters know, right?) and that was also another push for me to paint and model these.  Also the great articles by Mark Piper on the Greek campaign and other Mediterranean action also boosted this idea. 

The figures for the command and support weapons are StreletsR. The exception are the ones manning the 2'' mortar which are Hat conversions with bush hats from Airfix and the Esci radioman which also was entitled to a bush hat.

The infantry companies are (L to R) Airfix copy; Esci; Esci, Revell; Esci; Revell; Revell and Airfix copy. The mix of uniforms makes this units very versatile. The bush hat should have been replaced by the steel helmet but like this they really look like Australians. This is the principle I also followed for the Hindu and Scottish infantry to make them look their specific origin. 

In the first picture you can find also some Airfix copies with helmets as I used its heads for the Portuguese campaign in Mozambique 1895. The Airfix copies were used here as they are true 1/72nd figures and go along very well with the other mentioned brands while the original are 1/76th and distinctively smaller. 

Now for the bridge. Of  course its not intended for NA but for Northern Europe, with France/Belgium 1940 and Market Garden as prime targets. Its a 1/72nd scale model that came from Aliexpress and it resembles pretty much the  28mm  canal bridge by Arcane, probably being the same just resized.  

This was my first MDF kit but, after watching a nice YouTube video, you find its making very simple: 

1- Take out all pieces with a X-acto and glue them with Super Glue.

2- Apply diluted PVA glue all over in order to seal the wood.

3- Apply your normal primer and its ready to paint. 

I painted the bridge ramps with cobblestone effect which I think were pretty much common around WW2 and that still can be seen. 

This Beaufighter was also taken out of the pile of pride and quickly put together. Its a 1/72nd scale Luppa die-cast model which only needed to have its canopies painted from the interior and its base textured. Unfortunately I can´t find references of its usage by the RAAF in the Western Desert, only in the Pacific, but even so its in Australian colors and this one just took the modelling train and went along with the others. 

Next: A video on the Soviet Tank Corps for Kursk 1943

The French DI/DIM for the 1940 campaign in 20mm and for Rapid Fire! war...

This video is about the a French infantry Division (DI) and its motorised version (DIM). This one was started maybe some 20/25 years ago and finished yesterday with the 9th infantry battalion. The figures are mostly Pegasus, Revell, Airfix, Esci, Irregular Miniatures; Hat and Simon´s Soldiers. The vehicles and artillery pieces are Minigeneral PLA 3d prints; resin printed from Mário Laranja; Lancer; EWM; Atlas; ShellHole Scenics; ACE; Skytrex and Irregular Miniatures. As usual there are plenty of conversions and scratch building. The GBM magazine was invaluable for all these French divisions that I showed you.

Rapid Fire! France 1940 in 20mm - The 9th French Infantry Battalion of the DI/DIM and the last few 25mm AT guns

 

Finally finished! The 1940 DI/DIM is complete after many years of collecting, modelling and painting this one. Its a particularly tricky division as it involves 9 infantry battalions, lots of horse tows and plenty of conversions. 

Once again I used the brilliant Pegasus figures and also plenty of conversions for the support weapons and 25mm AT Hotchkiss crews. The green pieces you see are the usual arms made from GreenStuff. 

The command stand has three conversions. The officer torso was placed on top of HAT officer´s legs (whose torso went on top of a vehicle). 

The radio man had a new right arm and headphones made from GreenStuff and the usual EverGreen was used for the radio. The third figure was originally firing but with some twists it became more like on the watch. 

The last six Simon´s Soldiers metal figures were also used in this battalion. If I wasn't for my primeval fear of White Sharks and Crocodiles I would move to Australia and all my French would be Simon´s Soldiers !!

The missing 25mm AT gun for the GRDI was made from MiniGeneral 3d prints and the crew are converted HAT artillery figures. 

The figures had Greenstuff modelled on the helmet, both for the padded front and goggles and also on the trousers for them to become baggier. 

The last five 25mm guns of the division are MiniGeneral and the figures are Pegasus conversions. 

The Pegasus figures are ideal for these conversions as most of the arms are separate and can be discarded and replaced by GreenStuff arms. 

The (9th) 81mm mortar was made from and old Airfix one. The versatility of the Pegasus figures can be seen here, all arms are GreenStuff and can be easily adapted to a new task. 

The 60mm mortar stand has and old Revell figure too. The mortar is made out of EverGreen plastic card. 

Last week I was at Les Invalides Military Museum and these pictures gave me the Élan to finish the DI/DIM. This nice cavalryman shows the equipment for the DLC trooper very well.

Here a very good Chasseur Porté for the infantry of the DCR. 

The equipment of a regular infantryman. Note that the gourde (canteen) is uniform colour and the bayonet scabbard is black. 

The APX 1937 25mm AT gun. Guns are obviously very simplified in our scale but here you have it if you want more details. 

The Puteaux 1918 37mm gun used in many of the French tanks. Even the S-Models version is very simplified...

This is me waiting for the driver of my FT-17, which is busy taking the picture. Used in the last month of the 1940 war the FT-17 and derivatives became one of the many "desperate measures" of the French trying to stop the Germans. 

Next: a video on the DI/DIM of 1940

Rapid Fire! Western Desert 1940-43 in 20mm - First Scottish battalion

 

A battalion of Scottish infantry prepares to defend the small Lybian village of Ras-Al-Sturgeon  on the news of the Axis advance. 

For many years I wanted some Scots for the desert. Recently I read that the 4th Indian Infantry Division had several battalions of Scottish infantry fueling my interest in having a few of them. In fact you can use the normal British outfit as most of the Commonwealth and that includes the steel helmet for Scots, Australians, Indians and others. But, by using plenty of figures with the Tam o' shanter as headdress, you have the Scottish soldiers clearly identified (the kilt saw almost no use). I´m using the same principle for Indian, Australian and others as all these are cheap plastic that I have in plenty for many years. 

Using both the Revell and Matchbox boxes you can get a total of six poses with the Tam o' shanter, clearly identifying Scottish infantry. The Revell figures are much taller than the Matchbox figures (1/72 and 1/76 respectively) but by using a glue gun you can place the 1/76 figures about the same size as the 1/72. 

With this small number of Scottish figures its better to place a few heads on some Esci bodies for more Scottish variety. 

In the command and weapons support bases I used more generic British equipment and only two figures in the command stand are true Scots. Like this most of these stands can be used for other Commonwealth units.

Again you can see several conversions (radioman and Co; MMG and 2'' mortar groups) from many brands as Airfix, Matchbox, Revell and Esci.

Next: WW2 Australians for the desert. 

The British in the Desert 1940-43, for Rapid Fire! rules and in 20mm size

This time there is no particular division but different pools of models that enables you to play most of the actions described on both RF Western Desert supplements and in the many PDFs available in the RF site. The models are mostly plastics (Airfix, PSC, Fujimi, Hasegawa, S-Models, Matchbox, Revell and Esci), die-cast (Altaya), 3d prints (Minigeneral) and resin (Frontline Wargaming). The model of Monty's Caravan ( a british truck with an Italian body) is Matchbox and not Airfix and I said on the video.

Rapid Fire! Western Desert 1940-43 in 20mm - Reinforcements for Operation Compass

 

A group of tanks and portees arrive at Der-el-boris-on-the-run where a solo battery of the 68th Medium Regiment Royal Artillery, part of the 4th Indian Division, is keeping the Italians at bay. 

The valiant defenders are made of 6'' howitzers from MiniGeneral 3d prints and converted Airfix figures.

The A13 MkI are S-Models and have the symbols of the 7th AD. Only 65 of these were made and most were lost in France. I couldn´t find much information on this precise model in service with the 7th AD in the desert but I´m trusting the information on the fist RF guide on the NA campaign. I also found some information of these tanks in Cyprus so not really sure if 10 of them (2 tank models) were used by this division in the desert. 

These 2pdr portees are more of a way to use the leftovers of a previous order than anything else. Even so the 2pdr portees are an absolute must for desert early war.  After Brexit getting the nice ones from Britannia/ Grubby models became more difficult so I scratch built this group. 

I caught the generic shape of the Chevrolets WA/WB by using three more the Chinese group of 10 models that came in a pack from Aliexpress with the two first being used for the Italian Fiat Autocannone shown around April. 

The guns used are MiniGeneral 3d prints after two good coats of varnish in order to deal with the nasty printing lines. The crew are a mix of AB, Revell and Airfix. 

They became a fit of the fatty side but are close to the original. 

Now a bit on how the whole group was made. The 6'' Howitzers are originally WW1 models. I used some 3d rubber wheels thickened with Milliput for the approximate size.  

You can recognize the artillerymen as the old Chinese copies of the excellent Airfix 8th Army figures. The arms were taken out and replaced with GreenStuff ones some of them carrying with a 6'' grenade. 

The S-Models A13 MkI had a few extras you can see here: a converted head from Valiant, stowage, smoke dischargers, antenna, etc. 

The portees had to have the original (Dodge?) truck reduced to almost half of the length and heavily cut a bit everywhere. Then the miraculous Evergreen plastic card and Milliput did the rest. 

A few extras for a more desert look and they were done. An important detail was to cut the height of the original wheels making them look as if slightly sunk in sand. This detail is important as the original wheels make the trucks too tall for this effect. 

Next: maybe a video on Mortain Germans, Kursk Soviets or British in the desert. 

Rapid Fire! Western Desert 1940-43 in 20mm - The beggining of the 4th Indian Infantry Division

 

Many years ago I found some 20 boxes of Esci Muslim Warriors in a supermarket at 50cts each. I already had a few of those with some Portuguese Discoveries, Sudan and Foreign Legion in mind. With such large group two more ideas came up along the time: Turkish Sipahis for Mohacs 1526 and WW2 4th Indian Infantry in the Western Desert. Recently this last one was cooled down when StreletsR showed up with two boxes of WW2 Indian Infantry, one with support weapons and another with rifles and SMGs, making life much easier. In fact in the 70s/80s Atlantic also made a box of those but I could never find any, and when Atlantic moved to Lebanon around 1982 the factory was lost to the chaos of the Israeli invasion. Then the recent war came -again- and I tried to get my hands on the maximum models from StreletsR (Ukraine), Zvezda (Russia) and such. In terms of Strelets Indians I only could find one box of support weapons at Martola and that was it. So the old project of Esci conversions was back. 

This battalion looks too big because it has enough figures and weapons for both the infantry and Motor battalions. 

A rifle company. The figures are made of Esci British Desert infantry bodies with Esci Muslim heads (only the ones with turban were used, obviously). 

The parts were glued with soft plastic glue. Also a few of even older Airfix were also mixed in. 

The 2'' mortar was scratchbuilt and the boys AT rifle is MiniGeneral after cutting out the original Bren from the Esci Figure. 

StreletsR figures were used for the other support weapons and command groups. 

The first dedicated vehicles for the 4th Indian ID are these two Indian Carriers with Hat and StreletsR crew. 

The models are MiniGeneral 3d prints, which are nice and simple models. The Jerrycans are also 3d prints from the Spanish brand Modelismo Y Maquetas. 

Don´t forget to apply two coats of clear varnish in spray before priming. Most of the boring printing lines won't be boring anymore. 

These two Marmon Herrington armoured cars just caught the varnish spray cloud for its pesky printing lines to go. These are very useful reconnaissance vehicles for early desert war. Obviously the painting inspiration came from the nice photo on the first NA supplement of Rapid Fire!

Plenty of details were added as the models came a bit bare. A nice extra touch are the unditching metal planks which can be easily made by touching slightly with the tip of a soldering iron on a piece of EverGreen plastic card.

Other details are made of GreenStuff or Milliput, 3d Jerrycans and broom stick antennas. 

While the other figure is PSC, this one started as an armless Fujimi tank commander. With a bit of GreenStuff both for arms and headphones he is back to business. 

Next: Maybe a video on the German Panzer divisions for Mortain, or one on the Desert British or more Russo-Ukraine war.