Rapid Fire! Russian heavy tank regiment, Kursk 1943

This KV-1 heavy tank regiment is made of three ESCI kits and one Frontline Wargaming (top right).

Churchill heavy tank regiment: Frontline Wargaming and Altaya models. The leader has a Fujimi crewman.

 

Another KV-1 heavy tank regiment: the two in the front are Frontline Wargaming; the two at the back are ESCI.

 

 

 

Rapid Fire! (1/76th scale) 2nd Russian tank corps, Kursk 1943

 The second Russian Tank Corps I made was entirely built in 1/76th scale excluding the T-70 which are 1/72nd scale. Also placed here the american Lend-lease M3.

4th brigade: T-70 - Britannia; T-34 Matchbox and Frontline Wargaming.

5th brigade: same as the 4th, with PSC T-70.

6th brigade: M-3 - Frontline Wargaming; T-34 - Atlantic.

The Frontline Wargaming T-34 with added MG, fuel drums and stowage.

This was a crazy project in order to use the Atlantic T-34 of which I had plenty. The Atlantic version is a reasonable hull with a T-34/85 turret filled with faults. So, if used from the box, something pretty ugly comes out. I cutted the turret in the same way as I did to the Armourfast ones and built the same mantlet with a new Evergreen 76,2 mm gun. This one has a ESCI crewman.

Two of the Atlantic T-34 went to the recovery version. Quite easy to do as you only need a new cuppola and some stowage.

Another battalion of  M-3´s. The four to the left are Frontline Wargaming and the one to the right is Airfix.

 

 

I placed the balance weight to the barrel of the gun and a Skytrex crewman, besides the normal stowage, antennae and MG.

 

 

Rapid Fire! (1/72nd scale) 1st Russian tank corps , Kursk 1943

This Tank Corps was built in 1/72nd scale for the 1943 Kursk campaign.

1st brigade: T-70 - PSC; T-34 - Dragon, Armourfast and Matchbox.

All BA-64 are Frontline Wargaming with plastic commanders.

2nd brigade: T-70 - Britannia; T-34 - Armourfast, and ESCI.

3rd brigade: T-70 - PSC; T-34 - Altaya, ESCI and Armourfast.

The excellent Dragon T-34. A marvel of accuracy and detail. Britannia crewman.

The PSC rendering of the T-70. Three kits in one box makes this rare kit pretty cheap. Besides it´s a beauty!!

The Britannia T-70.

The Gaz jeep (Frontline Wargaming)  of the corps commander (Irregular Miniatures figures).

The Armourfast is a too big portrait of the T-34, both hull and turret. So I decided to turn the majority into the 1943 T-34 version. The turret was cut and a new mantlet made out of Evergreen and GreenStuff was made. Besides, as in most of my kits, I placed bedrolls and scratchbuilt fuel drums.

The Altaya version: some black wash and sand drybrush and it´s ready.

The old ESCI T-34 1943, a veteran of many battles. So many that stowage hides some  scars made on the table top and some falls, probably.

 

The ESCI T-34 1942 with a Britannia commander.

 

 

 

The two Tank Corps.

The six Motor Rifle Battalions from the six Tank Brigades. The figures have small stands so they can be placed at the rear of tanks.

AA 37mm guns from the Motor Rifle Battalions (Irregular Miniatures).

 

The small PPSH armed figures stands placed at the rear of a T-34.

 

 

Rapid Fire! 20mm - 21st Panzer Division, Normandy 1944 - Pt 2

125 Pz Grenadier Regiment:
P-107 armoured (several variants) - Raventhorpe metal and Ready to Roll;
P-107 75mm PAK - (DRW- Don´t Remember Well... but it´s a French resin company);
P-107 unarmoured - Frontline Wargaming;
Lorraine 105mm and Somua Multiple Mortar(x20) - Raventhorpe
Citroen car - Die-cast DRW...
BMW R/75 - Atlantic.

192 Pz Grenadier regiment:

- There are few alterations regarding the origin of these kits in relation to 125 Pz Gr. Reg. The BMW R/75 are Fujimi and the Somua Multiple Mortar(x16) is scratch built as I don't know any manufacturer that makes the 16 mortar version.

A metal Raventhorpe P-107 followed by a Ready to Roll one. The main difference is that the Ready to Roll carries incorporated basing and crew. Only the MG42 figure is metal.

The infantry are plastic (ESCI, Revell, from european boxes and Afrika Korps), with several conversions and Irregular Miniatures (the one with panzerfaust).

The Raventhorpe P-107 with a very nice camouflage that I first saw in photocopies sent by Richard Marsh some years ago when we used to discuss 21st PD organization on the phone .

The figures are metal: an Irregular Miniatures from their Modern African range (suits ok, no?) and a Britannia MG42 firer.

The Ready to Roll P-107 with cast-on crew. Nice idea!

The full 125th and 192nd Pz Grenadier Regiments.

The DRW P-107 75mm with SHQ crew.

Another camouflage for the DRW P-107 75mm PAK.

A support company with Skytrex MG42 crew and plastic mortar and crew.

A command company of a Pz grenadier Regiment.

Some Lorraine 155mm had a different camouflage as proposed and discussed by Mr. AlainVierwitch in Panzer Voran! 21st PD supplement. I placed the ones with Panzer Grey camo in the support companies of the Pz Grenadier Regiments.

The Raventhorpe Somua Multiple Mortar (x20) with crew from ESCI and Atlantic.

                           

Raventhorpe Somua Multiple Mortar (x20).

The Atlantic BMW R/75.

The Fujimi BMW R/75.

Several more infantry conversions in plastic.

The Somua Multiple Mortar (x16) don´t exist in kit form, at least to my knowledge. I made one in Evergreen with some plastic die-cast wheels I thought would fit in and a pair of tracks kindly sent to me by Tim Wade of Frontline Wargaming.

The figures are conversions from several hard plastic figures.

I used a bedroll to disguise my ignorance about the interior of these machines. 

I made the infantry some years ago with too large stands. If done nowadays they would be smaller.

Pz Grenadier Regimental HQ (metal Irregular Miniatures and ESCI plastic).

The three companies of the FLAK 305 batallion.

88mm gun from SHQ.

88mm gun from Hasegawa with crew from Atlantic and Skytrex.

The Sdkfz 7 4x20mm from Hasegawa.

The Britannia Sdkfz 10 20mm.

The Sdkfz 7 prime mover with Britannia crew.

The powerful 200 Panzerjäger  battalion of the 21st PD equipped with 88mm PAK (Skytrex metal). One of the stand bases (to the left) is smaller as it needs to fit a Bunker for the Omaha beach scenario.

General Feuchtinger arriving late at the battle front after a Cabaret hard night ...Staff car from Frontline Wargaming.

FCM 75 mm PAK and 105mm from Alby with Britannia crew. I don´t really know if these ones ever belonged to this division, so just in case...

The Famo probably did, but I have no information on its use by the 21st PD. As this Division had no Panther probably they didn't.

Same with Marder I on Lorraine chassis (Skytrex). these were the two first models for the 21st PD I found just to understand later they were no part of the divisions. These two can fight for a German Infantry Division though.

Lancia (Skytrex) from rear echelon units like the Nachschubtruppen 200.

Citröen trucks also from rear echelon units.

Beute Shermans. It seems that 21st PD used some 20 or so of these captured from both British and Canadians.

Sherman from Airfix with Matchbox Firefly barrel.

According to RF! rules, three Sherman will represent all the captured Beute Sherman.

The figure is a metal Britannia with a MG42. You can also see the effect of PVA glue on HO train foliage making a hard and long lasting finish.