The USAAF and the RAF in mid/late WW2 for Rapid Fire! rules and in 20mm ...

This one shows the Allied aircraft for both the Pacific and European fronts. Its another collection that mixes decades old models with an Avro Lancaster finished last night. The usual plastic brands are acompanied by Luppa and Altaya die-casts. This post concludes the WW2 aircraft from the major participants as smaller countries like Poland and Slovakia have their aircraft shown while showing the rest of the army.

The Soviet VVS in WW2 for Rapid Fire! rules and in 20mm size

This group of Soviet aircraft covers the entire conflict from Barbarossa up to the Berlin offensive. The models are mostly plastics (Airfix, ICM, Italeri, Eastern Express, Gribovski, Revell and Encore) with many Die-Cast (Altaya and Luppa).

Next: the NVA infantry.

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.

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

Rapid Fire! in 20mm. Filling gaps in WW2 - part 5

No, not  a fan of Christmas. Of course we had the family reunions, the gifts for the younger and older ones and never ending food. Love to be with my people but frankly hate Christmas and I´m always dying for it to pass. One day if the Christmas message extends into the full year with visible results of world wide happiness and all kids have the one toy they want,  maybe I´ll start to like it.  

 Last few days after meetings allowed me to paint these amazing Sdkfz 10 designed by Mário Laranja and printed in resin. Also added were two die-cast German aircraft. 

One of them went to the Blitzkrieg/Barbarossa period to be coupled with a number of the from BPM. Once again one piece vehicles which are a pleasure to paint as they are crammed with detail. 

More fine detail to the rear. 

How hooks, tools, mirrors, etc are made in one piece is for me a mystery but the end result is something great. 

These four are joining the DAK. No specific unit so they can be used by several of them. Most of the figures are PSC heads on top of Milliput torsos. 

Another group was painted with late war colors and crewed with the excellent Simon Soldiers figures winter passengers. 

One more Luppa aircraft came out in 1/72 scale, this time a ME 110 NachtJäger. 

This one is an Altaya model that lived its last few years inside the transparent plastic, an Henschel HS 129. In both aircraft the usual and simple painting of the canopy interior makes it ready for action. 

Next: The 7th infantry battalion for the French 1940 DI/DIM. 

Rapid Fire in 20mm! Filling gaps in WW2 - part 4

One more episode of this series that already became your favorite for sure. This time a few details and numbers for the allies, both British and Soviet. Also a few more German dead markers for my next game that will have plenty of infantry.

Super Mário offered me this Gaz AAA. It has the rear part with a big miss print so something else had to be done. 

In Shann´s Seelow Heights book the command version of the Gaz AAA shows up from several perspectives. Command vehicles are the typical vehicles for this series that is concentrating on small details, sometimes unnecessary ones. 

The only change is the big box at the rear made from plastic card and Milliput. 

The usual stowage and boxes were also added, specially on the roof top which also helped to disguise some flaws. 

In the end you get a reasonable Soviet command vehicle which would´t be difficult as the base resin print is a beauty. 

While looking to the stash I remembered mating the chassis of an early surplus MiniGeneral PLA print Polish 7tp with a Minairons leftover  T-26 turret in order to get one more complete T-26 for Barbarossa. The holes of the twin turrets were filed with hot glue and one of them was drilled for the turret to swirl around.

A few boxes and stowage were added and the model was built. 

This is an easy conversion as the Vickers 6 ton tank is the base for both the 7tp and the T-26 tanks

Another conversion of the week was this pair of M7 priests in British service. They have the wading system used on D-day and will be used in Don McHugh's latest RF scenario, Breakthrough to Lion-sur-Mer. The models are Matchbox and Fujimi but many parts were interchanged. The white superstructure was made from plastic card and the crew are the original figures with Valiant British heads. 

Both are 1/76th scale and even if slightly different ( the Fujimi model is the B1 version) the added superstructure helps to unify them. 

Can't say this picture is an original, right, Don? 

Two more fighters were added to the Barbarossa VVS, namely these die-cast Mig-3 from Luppa. I still didn´t have any of this important model which was one of the more numerous in the 1941 summer. 

Finally, a few more German casualty markers were added. The figure are hard plastic Hasegawa with added arms in GreenStuff. 

The poses themselves are initially Mg-42 and Mauser firers but as many have the face down they became reasonable casualty markers. 

The blood stains are pretty convincing as they come from a GW reference called 'Blood for the Blood God'... what else can you ask?...

Next: Carentan in 20mm. One of the best pieces of modelling I've seen in my life made by Super Mário and offered to me a few days ago.

Rapid Fire in 20mm! Filling gaps in WW2 - part 2

 

Now for some more Eastern Front/ Barbarossa and beyond goodies in the form of Mário Laranja resin 3d prints and one of the last Luppa aircrafts everything in 1/72nd scale. 

The Resin 3d print of the BT-7 is another marvel of detail. Some of them were printed with hatches open and crewed with Orion figures from their Modern Russian set. The horse-shoe aerial came from Fabbri T-26s as not all needed them. 

Also a DT machine gun made from scratch was pinned to the roof of the command vehicles. 

Getting ready to face the Germans at Dubno!

One of the PzIII H became a Befehlspanzer with the addition of the rear aerial railing and the repositioning of the vertical antennas. 

These ones looked to have carried many times a large wooden box held some how by the aerials. 

Also the small deflector in front of the turret was carved out as the originals. 

The gun was fake in the real one but I let the model with the original as the difference are almost non-existent. The figures on all PzIII H are PSC. 

A "Line" PzIII H. Well, these ones are also getting ready for Dubno!

The Die-cast Luppa IL-2 Sturmovik is a bit anachronistic for these 1941 tanks as it has the later two seats, while the Barbarossa period IL-2 had only one. 

Next: more gaps filled or some Epic ACW.

Rapid Fire! Normandy 1944 in 20mm - More Italian Trucks for the 12th Pz SS and a few unwanted guests.

A group of Jabos almost spot this HJ group at the road bent. Or maybe they did ...but had the tastier Panzers as targets from the beginning? We will never know.

The End 

Knowing that this War Novel could perfectly be worthy of the Nobel Prize of Literature, the last few days were used to finish a few more Italian trucks for the HJ in Normandy. In fact the four vehicles are the only new stuff as the anti-tank guns and the aircrafts were finished a long time ago. 

The TL37 are BPM 3d prints that I was waiting to have for a long time in my collection as they were used by the HJ as tows of the 75mm Pak40 guns. I squeezed some melting plastic torsos into the driving seat and some DAK Esci figures as passengers. Also some SHQ 75mm Pak ammo boxes were used and the usual stowage, Jerrycans and camouflage net. The Trousers of the passengers were also painted in the Italian camouflaged fabric. 

The TL37 with the Pak guns and crew from the Airfix Opel Blitz and Pak40 set.

By looking at these AT stands made years ago its visible a much more careful painting and basing by then. Then age started to speed, I looked at the stash 360 degrees around me and decided "I have to do something- I need to be faster!". The result is not good but at least I can see the stash going down unless when the bell rings and its the mailman...

These pictures were taken in Turnhout, Belgium, in 1944 and show the TL37 towing the PAK40 under the service of the 12th SS Pz Div. Hitlerjugend. 

Apparently the weight and long lines of the PAK40 are causing some towing issues...

Also from MiniGeneral came these two Fiat 626. The only addition is the camouflage net on top of the canvas cover. 

These P-51B Die-Casts from Luppa had a simple change by painting light blue the interior of the canopy. This is one of the most important fighter bombers of late war that I still didn't have. On the contrary there are ready on the shelves five P-51Ds not used for the ground attack mission as they were air superiority fighters. Unless, of course if you want to follow the way how 'Saving Private Ryan' ends, that is with a P-51D destroying a Tiger with a well aimed bomb!

Finally, and again a Die-Cast from Luppa, one more P-47D 'Razorback' joined USAAF shelves after a quick paint of the canopy. Dont forget that its easier to take ou the canopy and paint it blue in the inside. Like this all metal structure of the canopy will not be overpainted and will stay clearly visible. 

Next: wether France 1940 or Panzer Lehr Grenadiers for Normandy 44.