Rapid Fire! NW Europe 44/45 - 101st US Airborne - 1st artillery battalion finished

 

The Airfix US paratroopers were outclassed by the Esci and Revell already many years ago. That is really a pity as they are excellent sculpts and very realistic. The problem with this set is having a bit too small figures compared to the other two rivals. 

Like that they are joining the artillery as they are very easy conversions. Most of the figures got something like a 75mm shell and some Milliput hands after cutting out Garands and Thompsons. 

The guns are Waterloo1815. 

To the left there is a 3d resin print. This Waterloo1815 is quite generous with three guns and 12 excellent artillerymen but they will end up in another project. 

Next. Greek infantry at Crete or more Slovaks

AOE (Age Of Eagles rules) The infantry regiments of the Russo-German Legion in 28mm at Waterloo 1815

The Russo-German Legion is one of those Prussian units that breaks the "dull Prussian army all-clad-in- dark-blue" myth. Together whith blue infantry and Landwehr, white Berg infantry, black Freikorps, grey reservists and green skirmishers this is another unit that adds color to the Prussian army of 1815. The uniforms were Russian (paid by England) and the personnel were mostly German as the previous Belgian, Dutch and other POW from the Russian 1812 campaign were already dismissed. In this shape, without colors that only arrived in late 1815, the two regiments - 30 and 31- can block Grouchy at the Wavre under Thielmann's command. 

The hard plastic figures used were mostly Hat Prussians with a few Perry in the marching IR No30. 

Once again the Perry can be placed along the Hat miniatures and form very reasonably looking stands. The shako should be the Russian Kiwer but the Prussian with the oil cloth cover making a front peak is a close thing. The Prussian uniform of these days was also heavily influenced by the Russian one which makes Prussian figures a good model for the Russo-German regiments. 

There were no more drums from the command box so I converted some hornists with new arms and drums from Victrix and Perry. 

The Perry figure maching close to the right in the front rank had his head switched to a Hat one and the result is reasonable. 

Next: most probably a return to Poland 1939. 

The Prussian army at Waterloo for AOE (Age of Eagles) rules in 28mm

This one was possible when Warlord and Perry released their Landwehr and Line infantry plastic boxes. Even so you can see plenty of my usual conversions based on the 28mm Hat figures and many metal officers and characters. Still no artillery, that will come from Perry, but some cavalry and all the infantry are here.

AOE (Age Of Eagles rules) British 3rd /Foot Guards and Prussian 11th Hussar in 28mm at Waterloo 1815

 

By adding the Foot Guards and General Cooke miniature the 1st British infantry division is done. The problem is that its only the ninth Brigade sized group of the Allied army to be built and some thirty are still to go ... glups!...

In better shape is my Prussian army with all infantry done - only missing was this stand of Jägers - and a few more cavalry joining the ranks from today.

The Foot Guards are a mix of Victrix and Perry all with Perry heads. The sapper is a metal Perry miniature. 

By mixing Victrix and Perry you can even mix their arms and having a complete set of different figure from each other. 

General George Cooke was made from a Perry metal Colonel and painted with light colored hair as it shows in period paintings. 

The Prussian Hussars are made from horses and torsos from the French Perry Hussars with the addition of Perry Prussian infantry heads. The shabraque´s teeth were smoothed with a hot iron in Prussian style. 

Unfortunatly only one of these Jäger bases is necessary for the entire Blücher´s army as these Perry figures are cleverly built with the same torso but with moving arms and head which changes their movement dramatically. 

Next: a video on the Waterloo Prussian army.

AOE (Age Of Eagles rules) 7th Belgian infantry in 28mm at Waterloo 1815

 

The 7th Belgian infantry line regiment was part of Bylandt famous brigade that fought at Quatre-Bras and also, two days later, bore the brunt of the massive d´Érlon´s attack. Here, using brigade level AOE rules, the 7th Beçgian line represent the entire brigade. The 7th was a veteran unit with many soldiers that previously fought for Napoleon. For a good story of this unit, use this link: 

http://7delinie.be/en/history/

The figures are a mix of parts from Victrix and Perry British plastic boxes. The main changes is the usage of the stovepipe provided in two different Victrix boxes on Perry´s bodies and the erasing of the lace. This last one is particularly time consuming. The officer in a circular stand is a marker for advancing/breakthrough unit (Irregular Miniatures with a shako from Victrix). Next to it is a Perry casualty marker. 

The good thing about mixing brands is that you don´t get two figures alike. 

 If you don´t want to have this trouble you can wait until Warlord releases a number of plastic boxes of Belgian/Dutch infantry and cavalry. They are next on their On the making list and I found them by accident while looking for inspiration for these ones. 

The Command stand. The Flag is warflag and all typical British uniform details - the strips of lace on both cuffs and coat - were erased with a scalpel and  now look more like a French uniform as it should. The "French" cuffs were simply painted on. 

The Grenadier company. 

Centre companies. 

Light company. 

Casualty and breakthrough markers. 

Next: The British Foot Guards at Waterloo

The Anglo Portuguese army in 1810 at the Battle of Buçaco for AOE rules ...

Another project recently finished and started some 20 years ago when only Esci and Airfix existed for you to make Peninsular armies in 1/72nd scale. So you will find plenty of conversions but also many more recent Italeri and Hat figures. A few units are still missing but those are the ones who didn´t fire a shot during the battle of Buçaco. This army has 4 figures in two lines per stand as both British and Portuguese fought, on the contrary of the other armies I´ve showed you which have 6 figures in three lines.

This is the better Youtube version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quPpf0J8nRg&t=161s

Next: probably the Saxon corps at Wagram.

Rapid Fire! in 20mm - a few more vehicles for the (apparently unfinished) Ariete Division

 

On the way to Bir-El-Gobi on the 19th November 19431, and passing Djebel El-Moron-Salvini, the two batteries of Autocannoni su Fiat 634N attached to Ariete are ready to create havoc on the advancing 22nd British Armoured Brigade. To the left you can see the most powerful of the two types, the Autocannone da 102/35 su Fiat 634N and to the right, the 76/30 version.

There are some nice profile and period photos of the 102/35 version which helped to scratch built this one. As you can see from the drawing below from the Online Tank Museum the mudguards were different but very difficult to change on the soft plastic models I used as basis for these two. 

The original Fiat 634N was a bit more than 60cm longer than the Lancias 3RO 100/17 (the IBG models I built last month) so these cheap Chinese Aliexpress models used as a base are bigger and about right (maybe some 4-5mm longer models than they should). 

The Online Tank Museum also provided the basis for this nice camouflage.

The other model is the Autocannone da 76/30 su Fiat 634N for which the same cheap truck was used. There isn´t much information of the real thing, on the contrary of the previous model, but even so the general appearance can be made from the available lousy quality photos available.

Regarding the gun itself, the web gives a much better result with this diagram helping the final layout. 

The crew used on these ones should have been the big Italeri 24mm artillery figures due to the models being a bit longer than they should. Unfortunately I had none of them anymore and had to use Esci conversions (Alpini skiers turned into Black Shirts), Waterloo and StreletsR figures. 

The internal arrangement of the two models was apparently different and mine came out like this. 

The base models are from a very cheap pack from Aliexpress (10 one-piece trucks for a total of some 4 euros!). They are generical WW2 US trucks I presume. You can see to the right the original model and to the left the cut-out model used for these two models. The main changes are to cut out the cabin and the cargo sides and make a new front part of the engine. 

Here you see the different materials used on the 76/30 version: card, EverGreen plastic card, wood and bits of plastic to make the gun. 

The 102/35 version was more complicated as the gun is harder to make, seats are arranged in a different position, side platforms and ground supports due to a heavier gun.

The wheel drive was a monstrous one and drive sprocket of a Tiger tank was used for it after some cuts.  

Finally a family photo of the couple already crewed and ready to be primed. 

Next: frankly I´m around plenty of stuff for the nowadays conflict in Ukraine but I think its of very bad taste to show it now with the events still going on. Lets hope it finishes soon so it can be part of history and we can play with it. 

Rapid Fire! Western Desert 1940-43 in 20mm - Rehearsal for another of Benito´s anniversary

 

This time out of Benghazi, at Ras-al-Sand-Green-Board, the Italian troops that will parade on the 29th of July are rehearsing their task far from the eyes of spectators...and spies. The black line dividing the two boards is obviously an irrigation ditch (eh,eh). 

When building and painting Desert Italians I try do as many as I can at the same time in order to catch some other armies that are far more numerous in the collection. This time two infantry battalions got a second life with some repainting (they were already painted for years and inside some old boxes but with the uniform color painted both on the helmet and puttees which was wrong) and the addition of the support weapons. Also some artillery and a few more tanks were added. Like this the Ariete division is not far from concluded. 

The second battalion of the tank Regiment is done with the third starting with the two models from the far left. The models are 3d PLA prints from MiniGeneral and Italeri double kits. 

The crew figures came from MBM Netherlands and very pretty they are. 

The MiniGeneral model is a late M13/40 as you can see from the cut down mudguards.

Generally I don´t bother opening the hatches in order to place figures. Simply new doors were made from plastic sheet and the figure was cut down to size. 

The M13-40 from Italeri is in fact a M14-41 as it has the perpendicular bars in the engine grill and the mud cleaner on the drive sprocket. With two antennas it becomes the Centro Radio variant used by command tanks.

These Fiat Dovunque 35 SP´s are MiniGeneral and all will go to the Bersaglieri regiment. The two to the left have Waterloo1815 47mm Elefantino guns from the Folgore artillery box. The ones to the right are original models with the Breda 20mm AA gun. 

The crews of the Elefantinos are converted French from Hat with Revell US Marine heads and GreenStuff for the plumes. The ammo box in the back of the figures was erased or  heated for it to look like a water canteen.

The Breda AA guns have firers converted from a number of parts until they sit properly (with the help of my trusty lighter). The ammunition supplier is a Waterloo1815 conversion and the driver is MBM. 

The 100/17 guns (ex Austrian from WW1) are Hat and they are an important asset of the infantry division. 

I tried to make new rubber wheels for them but left the idea very early due to its complexity. Besides these old wheels were also used and transported with the help of the Carellos Elasticos. 

Here you can see the variety of figures used to crew the 100mm guns: Esci, Hat and even some Japanese Atlantic legs on the top right Esci figure which also got a Waterloo1815 Carcano rifle. These 100mm gun stands are two sheets of cardboard glued together with PVA as I was lazy to cut them from wood. In the end I spread cheap super glue all over to give the base extra resistance, the trick Mário Laranja used in its Carentan houses. 

The second 149mm gun was added to the Corps Heavy Artillery Group.

The model is Italeri and probably ranks among the simplest models ever to be placed inside a box with the gun having just nine parts. The figures are outstanding and you can have plenty of extras from the three Italian artillery boxes made by Italeri (this one, the 90mm gun and the 3RO SP). 

An example of what you can do with the Italeri extras are command groups like this one. The Radio is a scratch built RF3C model. 

A piece of 3mm hard stryrene was used for the bulk of the radio and a piece of plastic broom bristle was folded for the antenna. 

The riflemen of the two infantry battalions were painted for years and stored in boxes. This time Grey Green was painted in puttees and helmets. A few helmets also got some ochre. All other support weapons and groups were made in the last few days as you can see from the different color of the uniform. I settled with Vallejo Desert Yellow for Italian uniforms and Citadel Balor Brown for vehicles. 

The Elefantino guns are Waterloo1815 with converted Esci Alpini and officer from the gun box with trimmed trousers in order to look like infantry boots (originally this figure had paratrooper´s trousers).

The RF1 man-pack radio in a command stand of a battalion. The radioman is Esci and the officer is Waterloo1815.

The 45mm Brixia mortar is a contraption made of multiple plastic parts with converted Esci figures. 

My Bersaglieri battalions already have the Breda as MMG so I scratch-built these old Fiat-Revelli  MMG´s from the Revell WW1 Germans also using the figures from this set. 

The Solothurn 20mm AT rifle was also made from various bits of plastic. 

The Ariete is almost finished but still missing are some 8 M13-40, heavy prime movers for the 149mm guns, 3 ton Fiats and the 508 'Coloniales' which means  that this division still needs a few posts to be finished. 

Next: a few US additions for Europe 43/45.