Rapid Fire! 20mm 1944 US Armoured Division - The 3rd Tank Battalion (75mm Shermans from Airfix).

With two companies in the first line and one (understrenght) in support, with the M5 light company wiped out in a previous fight (please read the true reason in the last post) another Sherman battalion sprangs its attack on German lines. From the back there is command Sherman and, on top of the hill, a support M4 HT 81mm mortar carrier and Sherman 105mm Howitzer.

Maybe I should have started with this one. This battalion has the early M4(1942) model with M34 gun mount that in spite of its age soldiered in many units up to the end of the war. It could even be seen in units along M4A3E8's, one of the last models of the Sherman.

Another reason for bunching these models together is scale. They are mostly Airfix 1/76th scale with one Jumbo by SHQ also in 1/76th scale. My other 75mm Sherman battalions are 1/72nd scale.

The Co tank is Airfix with added Fujimi's turret extra armour and figure; double antennae, HMG and stowage. The right hull extra armour is wrong as it only existed on the right side of the Shermans so there should be only one in the picture. Consider it a moving castle!!

                             

A few more examples of improved Shermans: you can apply the usual sand bags or even a Cullin Hedgerow device taken from the Revell Cromwell. Other details as the Co Sherman.

 The SHQ Jumbo also had some extra sand bags on top of its already extra protection.

The M4 HT 81mm mortar carrier from Altaya is on a brownier shade of OD but quite passable so I left it as it came. I just added the usual crew of plastic figures.



Rapid Fire! 20mm 1944 US Armoured Division - The Cavalry Squadron

Again a crossroads, this time Carrefour-Pas-Trop-Delicat, is used for the concentration of the Reconnaissance Squadron of the Armoured Division. From here, each troop - 2 M8's and 2 Jeeps- will support each one of the three Combat Commands of the Division.

I'm still a bit short of M5 Light Tanks so you can't see none of the three that should be there. For the rest this Squadron doesn't have many news as the same brands that are in other posts with M8 and Jeeps are the same, that is Italeri for M8's and Airfix and Hasegawa for the Jeeps.

One of the few news is this M8 Greyhound from Frontline Wargaming. As usual with this brand its a nice model but incomplete. So I placed a figure (Hasegawa), HMG, stowage and antennae.

Next: The Airfix Sherman Battalion.

Rapid Fire! 20mm 1944 US Armoured Division - The vehicles of the Mechanized Infantry.

Close to the French place of Carrefour Délicat a US Mechanized Infantry Regiment approaches in order to follow that general advance that started a few weeks ago...

The total is 18 Half Tracks and three A/T guns to be distributed among three Combat Commands.

Each battalion has six Half Tracks, mostly the M3A1 of Hasegawa but also a few M3 from Airfix and Italeri. Three are for the infantry companies, one is a command vehicle and another is a mortar 81mm carrier...

...complemented by a 57mm gun for each battalion (converted Irregular Miniatures guns) and...

... the tows which are Hasegawa. I built them with the canvas covers so they can be distinguished as gun tows.

Most of the HT infantry carriers  have 10 soldiers crew. A few bazookas and other personnel weapons gives detail to each HT. Also plenty of stowage is mandatory as you have to fill those side racks. Most of the figures are Hasegawa.

One of the battalions have in-action figures (hard plastic Fujimi) much to American taste as it could be seen in Syria in the past morning. The HT is Airfix.

This Command HT is a Corgi Die-cast. Fits nicely with the lot as it is quite detailed

The other two Command HT are Italeri double kits and have radios and different interior details on main crew compartment.

This one is everywhere: the mortar variant exists in each tank and mechanized battalion. This Hasegawa (what else?) model has a Matchbox crew taken from a M7 SP.

Rapid Fire! 20mm 1944 US Armoured Division - 2nd Tank Battalion (75mm Shermans from Armourfast )

Another Sherman battalion moves to the front line with the Co observing the movements behind the protection of a hedgerow.

This battalion is made mostly out of Armoufast M4 and M4A3 tanks with two ESCI M4A3.

Armourfast made history when in 2002 and for the first time in the hobby you could have two tanks in a box for the price of one. Each of my Medium Tank battalion has 10 Sherman 75mm (1 for the Co and 9 for the three companies), 1 Sherman 105mm How, 3 M3 lights and 1 HT M4 mortar 81mm (total 15 vehicles)

Clearly designed for wargaming Armourfast produces very good quality models which are getting better and better, easy to build and accurate. For instance their Cromwell owes very little to Revell's in term of the final appearence. On the down side they don't have figures, you only have one variant in the box, and the first models they produced didn't bring cartridge boxes on the MG's and such details that you can find nowadays in more recent enterprises like PSC. 

No big deal though as the missing details can easily be made or added like imported figures from other brands, home made stowage, sand bags, extra armour plates on the vision slots (for enemy shells not to be trapped and on the case of M4's)  and hull sides (to protect ammo) and Evergreen cartridge boxes for the turret Brownings.

The Co of the battalion mounts a M4A3 and has two figures as usual, one metal Skytrex and another plastic Hasegawa. The americans usually had their white stars removed for obvious - aiming- reasons.

The light company is once again made of Hasegawa M3 models. The one in the front is heavily covered in foliage in order no one notices that it should be an M5...

The M4 81mm mortar HT is Hasegawa again with SHQ crew.

The M4 105mm howitzer is a standard Armourfast with a Fujimi mantlet and barrel.

For most of my Sherman small conversions and added parts I use as reference the excellent Squadron/signal no16 Sherman in action.

Next: the Armoured infantry battalions. 

Rapid Fire! 20mm 1944 US Armoured Division - 'Gods of War' (in Stalin's words) are coming.

A battalion of M7 SPG are ready to support the general advance, I mean of course the general advance started a few weeks ago with this series of posts.

They are Matchbox kits with a sole Fujimi M7B1.

Side by side the two M7 of an SPG battery with OP jeep. The nearer is a Fujimi more modern M7B1 with side rollers and Mg bigger pulpit..

Even heavier here comes a battalion of M12 155mm SPG's. On the left you have two models from Fujimi and to the right an Altaya model.

I extended the rear base of the M12's as the crew operated mostly there. Here a crew of Irregular Miniatures...

...and here the crew is converted Atlantic plastics.

The Fujimi version of the M30 Ammo supplier for the M12's.

Help from the Corps: Long Tom's and tows from Hasegawa with an Altaya version of the lot arriving.

Old plastic conversions were used for the artillerymen.

Next: Recce.

Rapid Fire! 20mm 1944 US Armoured Division - 1st Tank Battalion (75mm Shermans from ESCİ)

A M4 Sherman battalion joins the general advance of its Armoured Division started last week with the TD battalion.

I made this battalion around six nice Esci M4A1 I had for years. After building them I just added a few more Sherman from Airfix, Frontline Wargaming and Altaya, three Stuarts and a 81mm HT from Hasegawa to fill the unit. All medium tanks are 75mm gun equipped as I have other units armed with 76mm guns but as these last ones only arrived to the Normandy front in middle July they remain separated in the shelves. 76mm Shermans started to be included slowly from July 44 on and ended being the majority in many units only by the end of the war.

I still need to find some recovery vehicles. Probably I will use the hull of the Lee/Grant from Airfix or Hasegawa.

The Esci Shermans had their side skirts removed and plates of armour were glued to the sides for the protection of the ammunition (Plastic EverGreen  of course). Then the usual different figures and stowage were also used.

The closer Sherman is the old and useful one from Airfix with extra crew, side armour and Browning HMG. Most of the US armoured battalions were receiving other Sherman models as replacements. This one still sports the old M1 mantlet. The Shermans to the back (M4A1 and M4A3) are both Frontline Wargaming with the usual add-ons.

Somewhere I read that the Esci model of the M4A1 had some flaws particularly in the rear part. Fortunately the US tank crews had plenty of stowage attached to the rear and whatever flaws there were they now remain well hidden. Most of the stowage I use is my own plastic EverGreen boxes and bedrolls and backpacks are made out of plummer's two component paste and GreenStuff.

The Command Sherman (Esci again) with plenty of crew to be easily recognized on the table... sorry, shelve, and with Fujimi armour on the turret. The M4 Half Track with 81mm mortar is Hasegawa and the Sherman 105mm is an Altaya Die-cast.

This one with a too big turret is Fujimi. It has a hull close to 1/76th scale and a much bigger turret. With such a big head it will go to college for sure !!!

The last two pictures are pure nostalgia from the times the M5 were non existant in plastic and very expensive in resin. Many years ago I 'curved' the square lines of a few Hasegawa Stuarts with Milliput and changed the place of headlights and such for them to look like the later M5. This one also has a scratchbuilt Cullin Hedgerow device. Pretty hugly things but remind me when I was young...

Then some pieces of home made bush to hide the flaws and here they are after probably some 30 years of faithful service trying to kick Jerry out of Normandy!

Next: artillery.

Rapid Fire! 20mm 1944 US Armoured Division - Tank Destroyer battalion.

With this post I'll start to show you my 1944 US Armored Division. In fact the idea is to have enough units to represent any of the big types of US units in the Western front, the Light Tank Division, the Heavy Tank Division and even the Infantry Division from the Normandy landings up to Germany 1945. Then I also wanted to be able to compose several of the usual Regimental Combat Teams (around infantry units) or the Armored Combat Command (around tank units). So no specific unit in mind when building US units but the aim is to gather enough units to be able to represent any of them.

Somewhere in Normandy a M10 Wolverine Tank Destroyer Battalion leaves the protection of the woods and advances to meet the enemy.

I made the battalion with three companies each of two M10 and one M8 Greyhound and one MG armed Jeep. The command of the battalion only has an M20. This organization presents problems as the total number of M10 was 36 per battalion (12 per company) so the number of models in the battalion should be 7-8 instead of 6. The problem is obviously to divide 7-8 by three companies...to cope with this and to compensate the lack of punch I placed one M8 Greyhound with its 'Tiger destroyer' puny 37mm gun in each company when in reality there were only two per company.

The models are Armourfast for the M10, Italeri for the M8 and Hasegawa and Airfix for the Jeeps.

The crews of the M10 are Irregular Miniatures; the M8 have Skytrex and Hasegawa crew and the Jeep's crew are also Hasegawa with Airfix drivers.

The M10 of Armourfast is an accurate but simple model. So place plenty of stowage, antennae, crew and don't forget the ammo box for the 12,7mm 50 cal Browning MG. Eventualy I fitted some of them with a smaller 7,62mm 30 cal Browning.

Lastly the command M20 Scout Car from Altaya with IM crew.

Next: the first Armored Battalion.

Rapid Fire! 20mm Ardennes 1944 specials

Another quick post of lately done models. These are all american stuff mainly for late 1944, specially Ardennes campaign.

The 90mm AA gun is necessary for the Stoumont scenario of Rapid Fire!Battle of the Bulge. Once again I  prefer to scratchbuilt it as only one is necessary and it gets cheaper this way. If you want the true model you have SHQ for instance.

All parts are EverGreen plastics. Only the wheels come from something German I had around, maybe old 88mm wheels.  Crew is Hasegawa and Revell hard and soft plastics. The M5 vehicle tow is Hasegawa.

These Jumbos started as normal M4A3 from Armourfast. You have to place 1mm Evergreen around the hull and turret which becomes tricky specially in the round parts as the turret and transmission armour. The mantlet has to be sculpted and drilled from a block of EverGreen. Crewman from Skytrex. 

Don't forget pegs in the turret and the extra cover of the power unit and exhaust pipes. Also add 1mm plastic plate around the tracks as they had them larger than normal Shermans M4A3. Do the same above tracks between main side hull and track section. Finally in all parts were things didn't went particularly well place plenty of stowage as americans did. Jumbos had a lot of work locally close to the front and that is why its parts look rough and ill finished but hey that is good news for model converters!

Nothing special here. Altaya Long Tom with tow.  Probably ready to be ambushed by Peiper's column or something like that. 

The Dodge ambulance from Academy to be used as HQ of the 106th ID. Straight from the box with painted markings.

Some US heavy-weights champions. M36 TD from Altaya (camouflaged) and two Fujimi models. One of them (to the right) has a hull from an Armourfast Achilles after the original one was destroyed by Kit, an envious Cocker Spaniel that ruled the house before my beautiful Sula arrived. There is a slight difference of scale in Fujimi's 1/76th turret and Armourfast 1/72nd scale hull but it's barely noticeable. 

Lastly two M10 TD and one Sherman 105mm, The M10 to the left is factory painted for Tunisia but with some blotches of white paint it becomes usable for the Bulge. All models are Altaya with Irregular Miniatures crews from the WWII US artillery set of Really Useful Crews.

Next: the beggining of my 1944 US armored division.