Rapid Fire! Normandy 1944 in 20mm - Resin houses

Some 20 years ago these kind of cheap resin Made-in-China miniature houses were quite trendy around here. They were made in different sizes and along some months I bought this lot that looks very close to our 20mm size.

There was another range, much more expensive, with photo-etched gates and windows for sale in other fancier shops but I didn't buy any. These were good enough, quite detailed and sturdy and with a nice NW European look on their faces, sorry facades.

The only problem was painting. They came in some very faded and pale colours. So next step was lining them up, spray black on all of them and maybe in 2/3 days I painted this lot with grey roofs, stony colours and some lively details. Even if I rarely wargame I used them once in my Omaha wargame (last one I made some 15 years ago!).

This a is a nice French chateau. Next to it, only for scale, is a 75mm Airfix gun with PSC crew. 

These seven small buildings are closer to 15mm but are nicely detailed with six of them being unique pieces in the group.

This church can be used in many scenarios and ages and it reminds me Plancenoit of Waterloo fame.

Almost all of them can be used from the XVII-on in most NW Europe periods and scenarios.

This one is a bit Hollywood style but still a nice piece.

Almost all of them shows up a bit of exageration in terms of vegetation.

This one looks like Little Red Hood grandma's house.

The Boutique OhLáLá has a photo-etched vitrine and I think it was my only atempt at a more expensive range (Lilliput Lane? maybe).

This one became a Café after adding the placard. Inside is Renée at the balcony and on the top floor, with the radio under her bed, is Mme Fanny La Fan and, who knows, also Meusieur Alfonse still trying.

Same house front and back. Some of them have nice detailed corridors that cross the entire building.

Another one from you favourite  fairy tale.

This one was clearly designed with the Wicked Witch in mind.

A nice Norman Inn.

This one went along many of my French post on 1940, in famous battle places like Thierry Henry, Tigana and Platini...

...as well as this one. 

Next: probably Kriegsmarine infantry for part 2 of Arnhem oddities and such.

DBM - Battle of Cannae 216 BC in 20mm. Hannibal's Army

I made this army along several years and finished my last group of Gallic warriors some weeks ago. I tried to keep the same style of painting and basing but many subtle changes happened. In the end of more than 1000 figures it is one of my favorites adventures into this crazy idea of mine of building full historical wargaming armies to set them quietly in the shelves. 

The powerful Cartaginian army of Hannibal Barca arrives at the plain of Cannae and prepares to follow Hannibal's orders for forming a large convex bow in front of the Roman army to absorb its impact...

Hannibal mounted on his brave Belleus. Next to him is Maharbal, Hannibal's 2IC. The army's command stand is Newline Designs. 

Not at Cannae, of course, but needed elsewhere namely at Zama, follows a group of Hat elephants. 

Protecting the back of Hannibal itself , two Newline Designs stands of elephants in a not very favorable position for the spear men in front...

Here, Hannibal is surrounded by his faithful Liby-Phoenician phalanxes. Later in the battle, these two groups will be placed in both ends of the battle line, and they will be crucial to defeat the bottle necked Roman legions in a pincer movement. 

Hannibal and his Citizen Cavalry bodyguards.

The left wing phalanx. The phalanxes are made mainly of Newline Designs figures but the front ranks also have some Hat miniatures. Every single shield is a different design making these units slow painting groups. In the end I even went to the Lybian ministery of tourism site to find some extra designs!
All other ethnical groups are the same regarding shields: only the Numidians figures have more or less the same pattern, all other, Spanish, Gauls, Carthaginians have different shield designs. So some 900 different patterns. The good thing was that this army was made along several years, interchanging modelling with other periods of history, otherwise I would be in a loony house. 

The right wing phalanx. Both command stands are Hat miniatures.

The biggest group in the Carthaginian army were the Gauls, recruited when Hannibal made his journey from Hispania to Italy. 

Here you can see Revell, Italeri, Newline Designs and Airfix all mixed in. 

Having a large contingent of Gaul figures is very helpful as they were long lasting enemies of the Romans. 

This group was the last to be painted and includes some blue tattoed bodies. 

The full Gallic foot contingent.

Gallic Cavalry. Again many Italeri, Hat and Newline Designs. Whenever I can I have a metal figure at least per stand to make it heavier and more varied. 

Numidian skirmishers. Hat and Newline Designs figures with shields covered with oxhide.

Numidian cavalry made out from the usual Hat and Newline Designs. I placed two commanders in  different stands anticipating Zama when there were rival contingents of Numidians in the battlefield.

The Spanish Caetrati are all Hat miniatures.

Balearic slingers from Newline Designs and Hat miniatures. 

Spanish Scutarii. These came from the two boxes of Hat miniaturers that contemplates these long lasting enemies of Rome.  

"Round shield" and "Long shield" Spanish Cavalry. The command satnds are Newline Designs and the rest is Hat miniatures.

Celtiberian spear men. Mostly are Newline Designs with some three stands of Hat Miniatures.

The Newline Designs miniatures paint extremely well and the figures are detailed and very well proportioned.


Next: Houses for Normandy, made in China and repainted in Portugal.

Rapid Fire! Market Garden in 20mm - Oddities and such (part 1).

A Group of Germans tries to visit the Arnhem Municipality Museum passing by the famous White house (the Dreyeroord Hotel in Oosterbeek, here slightly misplaced by a few Kms) only to find it closed. Apparently its Regisseur, hearing gun shots around,  abandoned it and threw the keys into the Rhine! Well, without anything else to do on a Sunday afternoon the Germans decided to fight off the pesky British Paratroopers. 

I model Wargaming stuff since I was 10, that means for 40 years. From time to time I have to search the old Wargame books looking for inspiration even with the Net packed with stuff from incredible talented modellers. My favourite Rapid Fire! books are many times the source for inspiration, at least for WW2. Looking again into the Arnhem book I signalled many years ago all models that I didn´t have on those days. The list got shorter each year and now the only few things I don't have are the Steyr heavy cars, the Fire Trucks, the Horch Radio cars, the Kriegsmarine infantry and the Sdkfz 251/21 Drilling. I tried to be more picky and looked again inside my usual reference books and found in the Concord book on German Armour at Arnhem by Marcel Zwarts a few more useful stuff to be modelled namely German captured Dodges and Jeeps and a re-used Panhard 178. Also the StuH42 without muzzle on the 105mm Howitzer used by Stug-Bgde 280 showed up. The good thing about all this is that I had material in the stash to fill almost all of these blanks.

The good news continued as by looking into the RF! black book on the Bulge some of the latter models will also fill some blanks for the Ardennes 1944/45 namely the 251/21 Drillings.

The STUH 42 is an Esci model with PSC crew with cut down muzzle. 

The commander got some homemade headphones .

 

Plenty of stowage and foliage as the ones used at Arnhem.

Recognize this one? Me neither. Its just an atempt to make a Horch Radio car from a toy I stole from my 2.5 YO kid. In the morning, when he woke up, the model was all all primed grey, stuck to a base and with a few details. He got suspicious but was never sure!

I used plenty of foliage and netting to desguise the original toy and to make it look something like a Horch 901 Kfz 17...

... like this one.

The original toy before priming. A slightly over scale thing but a funny conversion. 

Finally the famous Fire Trucks used by the SS NCO school of Arnhem. They might have looked something like this but they could also have been fully enclosed and more modern. Matt Williamson found a great site from the Arnhem Fire Brigade with two vehicles lost in 1944. One is a fully enclosed -Mercedes maybe- and another has some similarities with the one above. The problem is that both Fire Trucks were commandeered in Leerdam, a place kilometers to the west of Arnhem so I think the quest for the shape and type of these two will continue. 

I added figures, new wheels, Airfix Jeep windscreen, spotlight, ladders, tools and a hoose to the original Isuzu Hasegawa model.

As the trucks were used to carry heavy weapons I placed a tripod MG42 inside. After finishing to glue all pieces I found a piece of information that 81mm mortars were carried inside but too late.

The hoose is made of wire rolled around a piece made of plastic card.

This is the original Hasegawa model still far from over. The figures were all converted to seated people. I think I´ll have to go AB models sooner or later...

Next: wether Hannibal`s army, NW European resin houses or part 2 of this series.

Rapid Fire! Desert War 1940-43 in 20mm - First British infantry/ motor battalion

A British Infantry battalion crosses the Oasis of Ras-ta-Parta. This one is a bit on the large side as I made enough figures for a RF! motor battalion (with 3 Boys stands for the Bren Carriers)  and a normal infantry battalion. All plastics- Airfix, Revell, Matchbox and Esci - are together.

The command stand has a Revell radioman with a German Esci radio on its back. The close 2" mortar has a Matchbox Bren firer (without the Bren) and a cut down tube from the Matchbox 81mm mortar. 

The Airfix Vickers MMG has a plastic water cooling system as an extra. The Bren carrier for the 81mm mortar is SHQ with crew from 1st and 2nd editions of the Airfix 8th Army British infantry.

The different brands and scales can also mix well. Even the smaller 1/76th figures of Matchbox fit well with the larger Revell and Airfix if you glue them with electric glue giving them 2 or 3mm extra height.


Next: additions to Arnhem