The German 'Specials' at Market Garden for Rapid Fire! rules in 20mm

These German relatively rare vehicles and with different markings makes a funny addition to a late German force and were also a pleasure to collect. They came from a number of origins namely (better writing them due to my Portoenglish even if the video is an highly professional job with lots of hand movement): - Char B1 Flamethrower - Matchbox conversions - R35 w/ 47mm gun - ShellHole Scenics - Fire Truck - Hasegawa conversion - Dodge w/ trailer - Esci and Airfix - Jeep - Airfix - Panhard 178 - MiniGeneral - Humber MkIV - Matchbox - Renault AHN - S&S - Umbaus - Converted 1/64 die-casts - French 75/36 AA guns and IG37 - scratchbuilts - Pz III F and M - Armorfast and PSC - StuH 42 and Stug III C - Esci - Colorful trucks - Alle-Hop (But you can have them from Aliexpress and such) - Soviet 152mm guns - Irregular Miniatures - Sdkfz 251/21 - Hasegawa conversions - PzV Panthers - Esci and Matchbox - PzVI KingTigers - Esci and Altaya - Command car - 1/64 die-cast

The Soviet Tank Corps, Kursk 1943, for Rapid Fire rules and 20mm size

These large two units, two Russian 1943 Tank Corps, have been on the making for ... hmmm, decades by now. It includes plastic kits made almost 40 years ago and 3d resin prints with a few weeks. The vehicles are Frontline Wargaming, Britannia, Esci, Matchbox, Fujimi, Dragon, MiniGeneral 3d prints, resin 3d prints, Kooperativa, Armoufast, Atlantic (these last two includes some crazy conversions) and Altaya die-cast. The artillery is mostly Irregular Miniatures, Altaya and conversions. The infantry is a mix of all available plastic brands with a few Irregular Miniatures and Skytrex.

Rapid Fire! Operation Barbarossa and beyond in 20mm - The 1942 Panzers for the first half of the year

Latest batch of German vehicles for the "Panzer Grey" period. The PzIII L are for the first half of the 1942 battles in the eastern front while the PzIIs and PzIVs can be used in 1941 not only in the eastern front but also at the Balkans and Greece.  

Once again, sorry for the paper printed swastikas, but they are only here because they were real in period German tanks.  

This time I asked (politely) to Super Mário Laranja to change its PzIII to the L version. Like this, by mixing these Ls with the G versions, a full 1942 Panzer regiment  can be gathered, at least in terms of the PanzerWaffe's workhorse of the period, the PzIII. So all these PzIIIs are resin printed to high standards. The only thing a bit crude is my own piece of styrene EverGreen glued to the right side in order to have a place to insert the antenna. 

The stowage is a mix of GreenStuff pieces with PSC German Tank stowage. The result is satisfying and I believe that commercially made parts are always better on top of some GreenStuff or similar material, as this last one serves as a bed for the resin, metal or plastic parts, avoiding an awkward placement. 

Also two Armorfast PzIVDs were added. The models are simple and they could have a bit more of details, particularly the abundant tools in the fenders which wouldn't harm the brand for sure. Due to its absence a number of them were scratch built in styrene or GreenStuff. 

Lastly, two PzII Es were added. Old and simple Matchbox models now sold by Revell. Still in need for a few more. I used the markings from Plowman's book 'Axis armor in the Balkans campaign'. 

Next: Maybe a new video but really don´t really know, just want this stupid war to end and be part of history. 

Rapid Fire! 6th Guards Tank Brigade in 20mm - Part 2, 4th Tank Battalion Coldstream Guards

This Churchill Tank Battalion was built around the 1/72nd scale ESCI model of the Churchill MkIV which you could see in numbers in the 6th Guards Brigade around the time of the Normandy campaign. Still four Churchills are missing, not for having problems dealing with the hedgerows but  with nowadays mail from England and, on this case, from PSC headquarters. 

I slightly improved the ESCI model with the usual different crew (Matchbox figure from the Humber AC), extra stowage, air recognition pannel and antennae. For the camouflage net/foliage of these ones I tried a new approach: I used Noch birch leaves on top of blobs of wood glue, let them dry overnight and repainted it in darker colours with a finish of lighter dry brush.

The 95mm CS Churchill is again a conversion of the Frontline Wargaming model with a crew from Britannia. The names of all these tanks are the true ones used by the Coldstream Guards in 1944/45. This one was 'Barossa' of  Peninsular fame.

Attached from the 79th Armoured Division is this Churchill Crocodile from Britannia with a crew figure taken from an ESCI  model.

This time the  Achilles supporting the Coldstream are 1/72nd scale Armourfast kits. I used all 1/72nd models in this battalion (including the PSC Churchills that are about to arrive) while the two other battalion have 1/76th scale models, both for the Churchill companies and Achilles batteries.  

Plenty of stowage, crew, and foliage was used on these ones as while these Achilles Armourfast models are very well designed they skip some important details.

Next: most probably the 3rd Tank Battalion Scots Guards to finish this brigade.

DAK Artillery (170mm and Lorraine 150mm) and Pz III´s

The Famo is a Revell kit and the 170mm Morserlaf is  Skytrex. Revell also produces the Morserlaf, but the Skytrex kit is in  metal and this piece was "heavy " artillery, so Skytrex was the obvious choice...

 
The figures are Skytrex and Revell soft plastic.

The Revell figure on the left is pulling the string to make the gun fire.

The pronged claws grabbing the piece to the ground were made in Evergreen. This is the fragility of this kit, as the Revell one is more detailed and has this parts to offer. Both kits are about the same price.

Now for the Sdkfz 135 Lorraines of the DAK. These are Skytrex metal kits, now produced with the hulks in resin, as metal price keeps on increasing and with this formula Skytrex keep very good prices.

One of the nice things about these vehicles is the unique camouflage. Four of these make the full complement for both Rapid Fire! DAK Pz divisions (two for 15Pz and two for 21PD).

The crew includes plastic figures, as some of the metal ones went to the Morserlaf.


These Pz III are Altaya (left, Pz III N ) and Italeri double kits (PzIII L).

The half tank crew man is an old Esci figure that belonged to the Kingtiger.

The great advantage of this double kit comparing to the Armorfast is the detailed hulk and wheels, on the other hand Armorfast offers the extra wheels to be carried laterally, which the Italeri doesn´t. So make your choice.

Either way these double kits now on the market are a good way to build armoured forces quickly and on the cheap side.