British Army

British Army Vehicles and Troops

IBG Models Chevrolet C15A No.13 Cab in 1/72 scale

~ Colonel Mustard ~ 2 Comments

IBG 72015 1/72 Chevrolet C15A No.13 Cab Australian Pattern Wirel

These kits from Polish company IBG are just always a total pleasure to build. This is only my second truck from their range but i it was just as awesome as the first one. They come packed in a way oversize box with just a couple of sprues. Detail is great and the kit goes together very nicely with no issues. You don’t get any crew so i added my usual driver from AB figures. Always remember to build and paint the interior of the cab before putting on the roof and the driver in. I have made this mistake before……

Not much else to say. I really enjoyed making this kit. if you want a good range of smaller trucks then look no further than IBG. I painted mine in standard olive green and added some dirt and dust and mud. Great fun. They have some very cool looking US trucks too which i want to get my hands on. You always need trucks and plenty of them. Some lucky officer will get to swan around in this baby.

 

Plastic Soldier Company Sherman Firefly in 1/72 scale

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The Sherman Firefly is a very poorly catered for tank model in 20mm. There very few options for the wargamer in 1/72 scale. Armourfast produce some very basic kits, Unimodel have a firefly i haven’t built, and I think Dragon models do a Firefly which i have never seen available anywhere. The Plastic Soldier Company produce the best option in this scale, and i was lucky enough to pick up a box of these crucial tanks while i was visiting PSC HQ in Henfield in October. They come in the usual PSC style in a box of three and are great value for money costing around $22 Australian per box.

Very easy to build, they come in about a dozen pieces, and can be put together in quick smart time. I like having a change from the more complicated builds. The tracks come in a top and bottom section that glue to the running gear. They have a really nice heavy sag to them on the top, an effect which is hard to get with vinyl one piece and link and length tracks. You need to drill out the end of the barrel for realism. Turret hatches can be open or closed so you can add one or two tank crew and commanders. I used my favourite AB Figures tank commander drinking a cup of tea. It was fun to even paint his army issue enamel tea mug with a blue rim. Detail is nice and chunky as usual from PSC. After building fiddly Dragon models with all their delicate bits this made a nice change for a bit of rough and tumble. I added stowage from various places in my spares box, plus some wire aerials and decals from all over the place. My decals are pretty random as i don’t suppose to adhere to any historical accuracy. I just use what looks good. A light weathering with various browns finishes him off. Its a great little model and i am excited to build the other two. I think some camo netting over the turret and barrel next time will be the plan.

Here is my Firefly taking up a defensive position on the edge of town.

Assault on Camembert June 9th 1944

~ Colonel Mustard ~ 4 Comments

As the British moved forward from the Normandy beaches they managed to grab some small towns ahead of the main invasion force. One of these small towns is a little known hamlet called Camembert, on the road to Rochefort. A worn down British Company from the 17th Durham Light Infantry had taken the German forces by surprise and were just holding on by the skin of their teeth. Colonel Frank Mustard was occupying the town with two platoons of infantry, a couple of Cromwells and a Firefly as armour, plus a 17 pdr and a battery of 80mm mortars. In reserve he had the lumbering Churchill AVRE which was fresh from blowing up some Normandy beach defences. So not an insignificant force. Colonel Mustard had orders to hold Camembert against a possible German counterattack.

Just down the road through the bocage the counterattack was inevitably coming. A much bigger German force was on the way including one troop of Panthers, a troop of Panzer IVs, a company of Panzer Grenadiers, an 88mm and some Pak40 AT guns, plus a dangerous Tiger in support. So outnumbered and outgunned the British had their work cut out to hold on. The British plan was to try and destroy some German armour on the main roads leading to the village and block them up, then bring in mortar fire to further mess up the forces and pin them down.

It all started so well as the Firefly took out the lead Panther on the West road and blocked it up, while the 17pdr stalled the Tiger rolling down the East road. That was as good as it got for the Brits. The mortars never found their range and basically did nothing allowing the Germans to continue to advance. The remaining three Panthers got through the bocage and made very light work of the Firefly and his Cromwell friends. Then once the Tiger survived three direct hits from the 17pdr it took one big shot from close range to destroy the doomed anti tank gun. By this time the reserve Churchill AVRE has spent 5 moves moving about three inches and was already too late

Suddenly the Panthers and the Tiger were in the village. The Brits had no answers to the big cats and Colonel Mustard threw in the towel. So a decisive German victory i think. Next time the British need to be more alert and get those mortars firing early to have any chance. Plus be a bit smarter with some ambush tactics rather than just exposing themselves to the enemy so easily.

HaT Industrie British Mortars in 1/72 scale

~ Colonel Mustard ~ 3 Comments

I finally got around to painting up some mortar teams for my British Army units for Normandy. These plastic figures are great value as you get 4 complete mortars and a whole bunch of crew, radio operators and officers with binoculars. I think for under $10 a box (i picked mine up from Hannants on line) they will make an excellent mortar battery for your infantry company.

Image result for hat british mortars

It means that you can vary your set up with each mortar and make each base a little different. The detail is not that great, but, in plastic, and for that price you cant do much better. I think other metal manufacturers will do a sharper job but you will pay lots more. The facial detail is particularly lacking and you end up almost painting features on some of them which isn’t ideal. I based my guys on MDF as usual and mixed up the poses to create four different scenes. Another blogger had given me a good tip for using gauze or crepe bandage as camo netting, so i applied some to the helmets of some of my mortar crew. A few highlights and they look pretty good. Also with my new magnifying glass i was able to paint some maps as the spotter checks his coordinates. I also added some boxes and bits and pieces. Happy the way they came out and i always prefer to have my mortars on the board. I used an officer and a radio man as the forward observer. The only thing i may change is the plastic radio aerial which is way too thick.

Below are some photos of my finished teams. Also i based my Revell Tiger tank and did some more weathering and dirt. He is in there somewhere with his buddy the Zvezda Tiger.

 

 

The Plastic Soldier Company Churchill Tanks in 1/72 Scale

~ Colonel Mustard ~ 2 Comments

One of the most distinctive and original tanks of World War Two and one of my personal favourites please meet Mr Churchill. Choices to build Churchills in 1/72 scale are quite limited. You can have a go at the old Airfix in 1/76 scale, but that kit is really out of date and probably worth avoiding. Your only other choices are the Italeri model which seems to be very hard to find or a Dragon version or two, which usually end up being overpriced.

So great news that the Plastic Soldier Company have a two tank box of Churchills. You get the option to build four different versions, basically by giving you four different gun barrels. I went with the 75mm and the 105mm support gun. Value wise they are definitely better than buying two Dragon kits. They are just great little models, awesome chunky detail, they really capture the essence of these super cool tanks. As always with Plastic Soldier Kits they are easy to put together, so it doesn’t take long before you can get them into the action. You get some extra track to add on to the sides and the turret plus a commander figure if you want to leave the hatches open. Would be nice to have two different commanders to mix things up.

Painting was easy. A black undercoat, followed by an olive drab top coat. Then a black/brown wash and an olive drab highlight. I used some Plastic Soldier Company decals plus some Airfix numbers i found that looked good down the side of the vehicles. Some dark brown and light brown muddy bits finished him off. Check out my photos below. You can also see the comparison to my other Dragon Churchill in one of the pictures. I think if you need Churchills get a couple of boxes of these, they are better than anything else out there!

The Plastic Soldier Company

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Colonel Mustard is still on the road and so reports are a little different in nature while he is a few thousand miles from his dining room table!

I have the good luck to have a brother and a sister who live within 10 miles of Henfield, where the excellent Plastic Soldier Company have their HQ and distribution centre. So a quick email to Will the commander in chief allowed me to drop in and visit. I really needed some Sherman Fireflies for my British, and with only Armourfast offering an average looking model, i knew Will would have the best tanks for my requirements.

Its like one big candy store for the WW2 modeller. Tanks and vehicles line the shelves and order after order are loaded into boxes. Will was extremely friendly showing me around. If i had more luggage space i would have picked up more than my box of Fireflies.  Now i cant wait to get home and get cracking. Although i do have some PSC Churchills and Universal Carriers to get started on too.

So if you are in the vicinity of Henfield i highly recommend dropping into PSC HQ, with prior warning of course, oh and some cash in hand for some super goodies.

Unimodel M36 Tank Destroyer in 1/72 scale

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I actually got the next bit all wrong. What i really wanted was an Achilles Tank Destroyer for my British forces in Normandy. What i managed to buy was an M36 Tank Destroyer which i don’t think was even used by the Brits much. Anyway it was too late once i had clicked the order button on my favourite Ukrainian model store’s web site, and soon a couple of M36 kits were on the way across Asia towards Australia. For a wargamer looking for an Achilles or any other M10/M36 variant 1/72 scale in plastic, the options are very few and far between. In fact i am not sure there are any other manufacturers out there who make versions of this tank in plastic.

But who cares i really liked this kit. The more Unimodel kits i build the more i like them. The link and length tracks work well and the bogey wheels all look great. The kit comes with some excellent photo etched details, which although fiddly, really add to the detailed look of the vehicle. I did struggle a bit with getting the headlight protectors looking right, but nothing wrong with a bit of a challenge! The two piece turret needed some extra sanding and work to fit together and also to fit into the hull. Plus the contents of the turret were also a bit tricky and needed some special handling. But it all worked out in the end. There are some excellent pioneer tools to add onto the back, which makes a nice change to the boring moulded on type deal. I also added some rolled up tarps on the roof. The 50 cal Machine Gun looks good on the open turret, and i will be adding some crew men at some point too to finish the whole thing off.

To add to my confusion i kind of mixed up some British insignia on the tank with some US stars that were supplied with the kit. I like the white and yellow stars on Allied tanks, and i didn’t think anyone would object to my decal mixtures. Hey he can fight for the US or the British forces. Win win i say. Check out the photos below!

SHQ Miniatures 17 pdr Gun with AB Crew

~ Colonel Mustard ~ 3 Comments

After hunting around for a plastic model of a British 17 pounder anti tank gun, i soon realised that the choices i had were severely limited. In fact, i could not find one option for a 1/72 scale 17 pdr gun in plastic anywhere. So in my quest i had to turn to metal manufacturers, which was against my self imposed rules, but i had little choice. On reflection i am happy to break my rules on metal for figures, so why not for anything else?

SHQ make a huge range of everything 20mm for World War 2 and i picked up there 17 pdr for eight pounds fifty. I think after Brexit i may be purchasing more stuff from England in the future if the pound keeps depreciating. The gun is nicely detailed, well moulded and easy to put together with a bit of superglue. I think the model came in about ten parts maximum, so it didn’t take long to build. My crew figures are from AB Figures which is no surprise as they are far and away the best figures you can find.

I cut the base and placed the gun and crew on there first to get an idea of positioning. Then used modelling clay to build it up a bit before gluing the crew on, leaving the gun off. I find this makes it easy to paint the base and the crew before gluing the gun onto the base last. The gun was base coated black before a spray with olive drab. You get some ammo boxes and spare shells with the AB crew so i spread them around the base too.

The 17 pdr is an essential addition to my under gunned British company, especially when they come up against the bigger German tanks. Here he is taking up a defensive position in a French village.

Airfix Willys Jeep and S-Model Willys Jeep in 1/72 scale

~ Colonel Mustard ~ 3 Comments

The Willys Jeep is an absolute essential to any Allied army group, and let’s face it they are one of the coolest vehicles of World War Two. I just want to keep on buying and building more and more jeeps! You can never have enough jeeps in my opinion, great for loading up mortars, MG Teams and officers who don’t want to get their boots dirty!

The two models i first got my grubby mitts on were from S-Models. Two kits in a box and good value for what you get. You can build your jeeps with a canvas roof or without and a 50 calibre MG instead. The detail is pretty amazing but that does mean the model is quite a fiddly prospect. On both kits i managed to destroy the shovel before even getting it off the sprue. I also managed to snap at least one axle just during removal. The kit also comes with some photo etched parts which get really tiny. It’s worth the effort but you need to bring your tweezers and patience to get it done. The S-Model jeep is excellent and i would highly recommend getting a few. In picture two the S-Model is on the far right.

I also picked up two Willys Jeeps from Airfix and was just as impressed. Less detailed and simpler to put together, compared to the S-Model kits, the end result was just as good. If you prefer an easier kit with less fragile parts then the Airfix kit is for you. The box includes some extras with a pack howitzer and a trailer, which are an added bonus! The Airfix kit comes with a transparent front windscreen and frame, one of which i managed to destroy in an attempt to mask it off while spray painting. I just left it off the completed jeep and i think it just adds to the battle torn look.

A few extras were added to my vehicles including some stowage from various sources like Value Gear and SHQ. I needed some British crew and drivers and as usual AB Figures have the best jeep riders you can get! A great set includes drivers, officers and various poses for passengers.

Photos below, convoy on the move and some parked poses shots!

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AB Figures British Infantry in 1/72 scale

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I finally got round to painting up a squad of British Infantry from my favourite metal figure manufacturer AB Figures. These are made in Australia these days and can be picked up from their web store at www.abfigures.com

They have a great range of British infantry, support and crews. Nic, who runs the show, is super helpful and delivery is decisive! Although these fellas are around ten times more expensive than some of their plastic counterparts, you just cannot match the quality of sculpting and variety of poses. They are just great to paint as all the detail sticks out like dog’s balls. I will end up replacing all my plastic infantry with these metal squaddies. You also cannot find any better tank crews, truck drivers, artillery crews than the AB creations. Go and check them out!

My troops are all based on Australian 10 cents coins, and painted in a home made British Uniform colour mix of Tamiya Khaki Drab mixed with yellow ochre (50/50 i think). Plus olive green webbing. Check them out below posing and wandering down a Normandy country lane…….