Rapid Fire! Blitzkrieg in 20mm - German inflatable boats for the Meuse

This was an old idea of mine since I started my French and German armies for 1940 campaigns. The Meuse crossing by the Germans always caught my imaginaton as it involved the 5e DCL and two French infantry divisions and even some counter attacks by French tank units. The Meuse crossings are also on my visit list for the future. The boats are resin Anyscale Models and the figures are converted soft plastics. There are also ten Revell rowers from five  boxes of Engineers. They just needed some cuts in the anorak as the original is the late war for them to look like the the feldbluse. 

These twelve boats are enough for three battalions, one per fusilier company and one for the support and command companies (quite crammed these last two). There should be more people inside the boats tahn the 6 I used as the period pictures shows sometimes 12 men inside. The Anyscale models German inflatable boats in 20mm size maybe should be a bit bigger but they capture the essential of the piece. 

I used old soft plastics for the figures, mostly Airfix, Esci, Revell Hat and Matchbox. This one is the charging Airfix German and was one of the most used figures for the right hand side of the rowers. The trick was always the same: the figures got cut by the waist; the portable gun was taken out and replaced by a piece of heated plastic broom stick; a rifle or SMG was glued to the back; the legs were made in Milliput; the bottom part of the jacket was also modelled in Milliput and the boots were glued to the trousers while the Milliput was still drying. 

This one is the Esci mortar figure with new legs and left arm. 

Now the same for the relatively useless Airfix DAK figure with a shovel. 

This one was also from the Airfix DAK figure. Its the one in shorts bayonetting the opponent , something that Rommel forbade (not bayonetting but using shorts :) 

The most used torso was the Esci grenade thrower with new arms and used in both sides of the boats. 

The Airfix MG34 gunner just got new legs and its old boots. 

In this one there is an Esci DAK torso hold a LMG, a Hat cyclist (rower) and a Matchbox figure. The two figures on the lower right corner are again Matchbox and Airfix. 

 Some of the boats have a LMG or a flamethrower lying on the floor. Virtuelly all figures neede new gas mask containers, shovel and bayonet, bread bag and canteens and these ones were taken from Preiser or cut from the original figures before the torso was glued to the legs. Nowadays you can also do all this using much more recent figures like Caesar and Pegasus but this is a way to use these old figures in a different, fun and useful fashion. 

Next: Italians for the Russian campaign of 1812. 

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.

The French and British aircraft for the 1940 campaign, for Rapid Fire! r...

Another project made along many years including 30 Airfix, Heller, Smer, Azur and Altaya models to go along with my four French divisons (DCR, DLM, DLC and DI) and the BEF and the British 1st Armored division.

Rapid Fire! Blitzkrieg in 20mm - Additional German bycicle fusiliers, artillery and staff cars for the 18th ID and 7th PD

The bycicles convinced me to add all other things: The bycicle Fusiliers are necessary for the OB of the 18th ID together with Staff cars and artillery limbers mentioned in the RF! Blitzkrieg battlegroups for May 1940; the 20mm Flak gun is the last piece missing for the Flak battalion of the 7th PD that wreaked havoc in the ranks of the Matildas in the Arras action.

The Cadillac 1941 from Matchbox is the closest I could find to the Opel Admiral and this photo made me buy the two toys in a local supermarket. 

The wheels were replaced by some better ones from Airfix and Matchbox as the original ones are generally what spoils these kind of models. Some 3d resin extra jerrycans were placed copying the original photo as they also help to disguise the different front of the Cadillac in relation to the Opel. 

So together with some ACE staff cars already made I´m more or less done with these kind of vehicles for the Panzer Grey period. 

The Hat box of german cyclists was once again (after the Slovaks) used to make these German fusiliers using BlueStuff as the matrix and two component resin as the filler and lost details with Milliput. The original resin heads, turned into blobs and were replaced by Esci DAK heads. 

Together with the resin contraptions a few more dismounted cyclists were made using old Atlantic, Airfix and Esci figures. 

"- Hey Hans, is it us overthere on those bikes?

- Of course not Helmut! You are on too much Pervitin!"

After another moment of fine poetry lets have a look at limbers. There were still three Revell limbers around without horses, wheels or figures that must have been used somewhere else. I coupled the limbers with Napoleonic horses, wheels of unknown origin (some are 3d printed) and figures from FtF. The horses had to have some Milliput extras as they were demoted from the fancy line cavalry to the hardships of horse artillery. 

Limbers on the wargames table or even on a shelf, like mostly my case, are always a nice sight. The card bases were strenghtened with super glue. 

In the end you have some reasonable looking limbers to pull guns from the 75mm caliber to 150mm. The harness was heavily transformed and reduced in lenght as I didn´t want the huge final model that Revell offers even if its the correct one. 

One more Zvezda 20mm Flak 38 was added and this one will be closer to the 7th PD assets as it concludes its Flak battalion. The standing figure to the right is FtF. 

Next: More Slovaks or reinforcements for the 1944 British airborne division. 

Rapid Fire! Poland 1939 in 20mm - Long awaited reinforcements for an endangered front

 

This post complements the last video were these latest Polish reinforcements can be seen. The Polish army of 1939 is a big temptation thanks to FirstToFight (FtF) models who is always teasing you with very beautiful and unexpected models almost on a monthly basis. 

The second battalion is done. Figures are the usual Hat. 

The bicycle platoon uses slightly converted Hat figures with Hat German bycicles. 

The 40mm AA Bofors is Airfix with FtF crew. 

A Tatra T-18 from MiniGeneral 3D is a now a close company to my made up Smialy armored train. 

These are the FtF cavalry limbers for the 37mm Bofors AT guns. 

These are the FtF Biedkas to carry the WZ30 machine guns. Whatever FTF produces they are always great kits filled with details (and sometimes some irritating small parts many of them photo-etched). 

The FtF 155mm 1917 gun was coupled with Hat figures and also with a scratch-built Bolinder -Munktell AK tractor 1939. Most of these guns were horse towed but some of them had these experimental tractors pulling them. At least you get something not as ecological but different for sure. 

Next: re-starting the Bir-Hakeim project. 

The 1939 Polish army in 20mm and for Rapid Fire! rules

Still on the Hastings battlefield, it´s time to show you my Polish army for the 1939 campaign. This one was possible when Hat industries released its infantry and artillery and FirstToFight started the job of producing in a very comprehensive way the vehicles and artillery of the Blitzkrieg period. There is also the help of 3D prints and the usual scratchbuilding, particularly the Smialy armored train. Lastly, the Polish air force is also covered as you can find in plastic virtually everything Poland had in 1939.

The French tank projects for 1941 in 20mm for Rapid Fire! rules

If the French had held the Germans (if also the British, the Belgians and the Dutch did the same) maybe, just maybe, a future French tank column might have looked like this one. In fact this group is made of disparate vehicles with no relation to any French 1941 unit, just a group of vehicle projects that never saw its integration in the French army (that excludes the Lafflys W15T). 

This is one of the possible futuristic organisations of the French army 1941 (eventually late 1940), in this case an armored division as thought by the Commander Ayme. The picture is taken from the GBM magazine ('what else?' as George Clooney would say). 

The FCM F1 would have been one of the biggest tanks of the conflict with 120 tons but only a wooden mockup was built. It was designed to pierce the Siegfried line while replacing the aging Char 2C. The model is a MiniGeneral PLA 3d print, like all others in this group, which had to take two coats of varnish before the primer to see most of its printing lines relatively disguised. The camouflage of the lot is based on the latest scheme applied to French vehicles around may 1940. 

Another possible painting scheme is to copy the Char 2C layout as can be seen in this TNT magazine proposal. 

Another camouflage also from TNT, which is the same I used in my two Char 2C. 

The Laffly W15T was already serving in the French army as the tow for the 25mm and 47mm AT guns and the 25mm AA gun. 

A famous picture of the Laffly W15T with LMG mount and making its usual business of towing the 25mm CA39 AA gun. 

The additions to the models were the metal and soft plastic drivers and the LMG from Caesar on a support as seen on the B/W picture. 

No, this is not the famous Panhard EBR of post-war fame but its predecessor, the AM40P that already had an oscillating turret and bullet proof tyres. 

The ARL V9 was the SPG for the DCR as it had parts of the Char B1bis. Only two were made but ended its short career hidden in a tunnel in Morocco.  

The AMX 38 was meant to replacing the D2. Also only two different prototypes were built but not put into production. The figures are (left) Irregular Miniatures and (right) CP models.  All models in the group have antennas which would have been a priority for sure for French tank warfare in late 1940/1941. I chose a buff color for the numbers on this group but this has no historical base.

Next: the Saxon Lithsman at Hastings 1066.

Rapid Fire! France 1940 in 20mm - BMW's and Mercedes for the Germans

German light vehicles arrive at the Ferme des Fenêtres bleues (sorry, I could´t remember anything else) during that fateful month of May 1940. They are BMW R/75 combos and Mercedes-Benz G5 (W152). While the side-cars were a reality in France 1940 not so much for the military G5s which, as far as I could find, was sold to the Hungarian army, used by the German mountain troops but not seen in France. Even so I had these three 3d printed G5 models from MiniGeneral and had to do something with them. As they are relatively similar to other light and medium cars that the German army used in France I pressed these into service and they will be useful as Infantry battalion command cars or OP team carriers. 

The MiniGeneral G5 are simple six part models with my own usual crew made out of plastic torsos and boots with legs and arms made in GreenStuff. 

Now what I really need is a picture of these guys in the Blitzkrieg period valiantly advancing in the midst of the hot spring summer of 1940. Anyone?...

I found these Eskice Miniatures while looking at Aliexpress. A pack has what you see in each row and they are a nice way to introduce some variety in the ranks of our Zvezda combos. The figures are more on the chunky side with bigger heads than Zvezda but at the moment they are all happily living in the same shelve and I had no complains from any of the involved parts. 

One piece resin printings of the finest quality. Just take them out of the blister and paint them! No boring material attached, no printing lines, just lovely models. In their catalog you can find plenty of other models from French motorcyclists to refugees, British paratroopers, Swiss infantry and plenty more.  A true temptation. 

 

One of the prints has the later MG 42, so I carved it out and replaced it with the MG 34 from the Esci soft plastic figures. 
 

Next: probably more Ukraine 2022. 

Rapid Fire! France 1940 in 20mm - The 8th infantry battalion and the horse tows for the DI/DIM

An infantry battalion just debused for its Renault N6C2 and forms with the horse tows of the 81mm mortars and 25mm AT guns of the DI. The gathering is in a field close to the village of Raymond Kopa (as you know it can be whatever name you want whether you like football or not) unfortunately already hit by the German artillery. 

The DI/DIM its about to be completed only missing one infantry battalion and 5x 25mm AT guns. In this post you can see:

-one infantry battalion (the 8th)

- one more bus 

- nine scratch built horse-drawn 81mm mortar 

- six 25mm AT gun horse tows from Mário Laranja 3d resin printer

- the last Char B1 bis missing to complete the DCR.

The full infantry battalion. The figures are a mix of Pegasus and WW1 Revell figures with shortened bayonets. The die-cast bus is my third. I remember buying the first two from China years ago at a reasonable price. This one came from France through Ebay at 20 euros P&P included which is reasonable compared with other offers at the same place. The baby blue on the windows is just to go along the others painted previously as a darker blue is more effective.

Many figures had GreenStuff arms in order to create new poses. 

Both the 60mm and 81mm mortars had converted crew, mostly from the Pegasus firing positions. 

The 81mm mortar shell about to be introduced in the barrel didn't came out as expected, looking more with a rugby ball. Sometimes you only realize it after painting... 

The pointing figure came out better. The arm got itself straight as it was modelled around a pin introduced at elbow height. 

The command section has the usual scratch built radio on the back of the running figure to go along the officer who is also (unfortunately) quite active. 

After a careful inspection of the GBM magazines I found that the French radios were dark grey which will force a repaint of all others. 

Not much information can be found on the 81mm mortar voiturette but this one shows its main characteristics with ammunition boxes on top, mortar barrel on the left side, folded tripod on the back and plate on the right side.  

Based on this information and some GBM diagrams nine of these voiturettes were scratchbuilt, one for each battalion. Our masters Richard and Colin show in its diagrams of the French infantry battalion another model (covered), the voiturette d'infanterie modéle 1937, to carry the 81mm mortar, but in fact that horse-drawn cart was used for medical and command issues. 

I used two different Revell figures, the grenade thrower and the cornet, this last one with GreenStuff right arm in order to pull the horse's reins. 

The voiturettes were built with pieces of Blueboard (carved at the top to simulate ammo boxes), plastic pieces for the three parts of the mortar and stretched sprue for the poles connecting the cart to the horses, The horses are conversions from old Atlantic Egyptian cavalry.  

Now these ones are something much better as they were 3d designed and resin printed by my friend Mário Laranja. The S-shaped connection form between the cart body and the horse is particularly difficult to scratch build so I asked Mário to design it. As usual it became something amazing, horse included! Each one got a Hat driver. The missing three 25mm AT tows are the already built Renault UE chenillettes. 

Once again I used for basing cheap heavy duty thick card filled with (the cheapest you can find) super glue. The bottom of the base had some X-Acto cuts and acrylic paint. The final result is a very resistant surface with no warping over the years. 

The nice design and printing of this 3d resin print can be seen here in all its glory. 

Finally, one last Char B1 bis from MiniGeneral in 41e BCC colours was added for a total of 14 for the DCR. 

Next: Probably more Ariete vehicles.