US Navy Cruisers

I am not dead,

news of my departure are a bit premature... despite having seen my dentist too much recently... that and a general bout of sourness toward online wargame communities. I complained about facebook, but even fora are starting to look stale, annoying, and basically pointless. Being still alive, I am also able to show something here. Recently I found myself painting several US Navy ships I have... no particular reason, just wanted to paint some.  They are Navwar 1/3000 metal model bought 3 years ago.

Vincennes, Astoria, Helena, Boise. I am working on US ships deployed in the South Pacific Area in 1942.  The Astoria... is in the wrong camouflage. Should have been in Measure 22, but ended up in Measure 12Mod. Why? I was sure to be painting the Quincy! And the base was already labelled and 'watered'... even geniuses make mistakes, especially when they are still relying from medicines...

I think I am finally satisfied with my water technique.

As for the miniatures themselves... I like Navwar models. They are not detailed as the 1/3000 plastic ones from Fujimi, or some in FUD from shapeways, but the former are limited to Japanese ships for the moment, the latter.. well Shapeways had messed so much with prices that now only smaller scales are reasonably priced, and only if the designer prepare them in groups. Navwar are not bad at all, they have detail, and, the price is still reasonable. So they are a win-win combination for my USN force.

Tank Destroyer!

Just eye candy for this post, no history. I finally got the crew for my Rubicon M36. Painted them and fit them in the turret.

Jagpanzers! (of the IV kind!)

Sunny days manes good pictures, hopefully...

Last year I have shown my little Peter Pig Jagdpanzer IV Lang, and also discussed a bit of the history behind the vehicles. In the fall I discovered a new French company, Normandy Miniatures, producing plastic kits in my beloved 15mm scale. A M8/M20 and a Jagdpanzer IV. I ordered a Jagdpanzer set to try. They are sold in 5 vehicles 'boxes' (it is a pattern?). Of course my order arrived without a box... but 5 vehicles (two sprues per vehicle) were there.

Good thing is the fact you can build L48 and L70 Vomag version and an L70 Alkett version. Bad thing is that the kit is not on par with PSC, Zvezda or Battlefront current release. Of course it is the first effort of a new company so maybe I am just hypercritical and spoiled.  The vehicle itself is well designed, even if the plastic is a bit shiny and the detail is not on par with the more established companies. No crew figures are provided, and the hatches are quite thick and do not fit well. Also the 'mantlet' (I know it is not a mantlet, it is more like a covered mount...) assembly could benefit from a better design, and a better connection with the hull. The main gun also tend to unnaturally elevate, and you have to be careful during the build stage. Instructions could be better too! 

Said that Normandy Miniatures' Guderian's duck rendition is good. I also had spare crews and storage to add.  The assembly itself was quite nice, excpet for gun and hatched. The tracks are well done on the other hand.

Not overly persuaded by the schurzen, but, hey... they work.

Okay, not the greatest plastic 15mm kit, a a bit overpriced for the quality, but still a good addition to my giant German collection. also it is a very useful addition to 1955-45 German forces. I have now 4 L70, two L48 and two Alketts.  I can cover different situations quite easily. And when painted they are nice little tank destroyers.  

A couple of words on the Alkett, it is ugly, basically a Panzer IV hull with a welded on box. It looks like a driver training tank, but it was a quick conversion (less elaborate than the Vomag, redesigning part of the hull) to get a 75mm L70 gun on the field quickly. They also appeared in several units up until the end of the war. So... ugly or not, it is something you can find quite useful in your arsenal. I will threw them on the table soon and tell you how they fare!

Cruising in the slot...

Whoa... I am slow in updating the blog... too sloooow...

anyway back to business! Namely the business to show my recent miniatures' painting efforts. In my last post I was complaining how crap is the painting you see on GHQ 1/2400 ships on the internet. I am not that rich to have a whole fleet of GHQ stuff, so I collect 1/3000 ships for smaller engagement or air attacks. Mainly Navwar (cheap!) but last summer I took the plunge and tried some of the excellent 1/3000 plastic from Fujimi (built plenty of Fujimi models in my youth). Ordered them from Japan and had them shipped here...

Okay here we have two Fujimi US Battleships (USS Washington and USS South Dakota) escorted by Navwar destroyers (hint hint hint... 2 BBs, 4 destroyers... what engagement is?)

Now the level of detail on the Fujimi warships is quite stunning. Conning towers, main turrets, and even the stern crane are molded separately and have to be placed into position.

While the two BBs can looks similar they are from two different classes (one improved upon the other) and show their differences. 

Now more details of the queens of the night. On the South Dakota you can clearly see the radar and the single funnel configuration.

 While the Washington has two funnels and a different radar arrangement. Deck wooden platings are well reproduced. And the 16" Gun turrets are clean and crisp.

 The sea base and the coastline are included in the box. I will probably dry-brush the coastline soon.

When you compare the detail on the BBs with that on Navwar destroyers you end up quite... deceived.  Still while Fujimi has a nice selection of IJN warships constantly increasing (guess...) and even JMSDF ships lined up, the USN ships are just the two BBs from 3rd Savo... so I still need to source USN ships from Navwar  or Skytrex (Roe Tengco's 3D printed 1/3000 models from Shapeways are awesome, but Shapeways is massively overpriced!).

Japanese ships are lining up fast anyway... stay posted for a new post.

I am literally melting down... so...

so why do not paint something appropriate, like British forces for the Western Desert? Differently from the the 'unplanned madness' that their fellow countrymen I have already shown represents this is an entirely planned project. Of course it is also an entirely expanding one...

But let's see what is new on the Western Desert...

Grants! Or better said, M3 General Grant Medium Tanks.  They are resins from Battlefront.  The M3 Lee\Grant (the names were not official US Army's ones, but British nicknames; the Lee retainted the original US turret, the Grant had a British designed one, confusingly enough British documents often call them Grant...)  was both an important allied tank in its own right but also a critical compromise made at a time when US industry was just tooling up for war.

Steve Zaloga calls it the 'Kindergarten Tank'. Its design started in July 1940, as a response to the collapse of France. At that moment the US Army realized that its armor deficiency had to be addressed  immediately rather than in the short term. A new medium tank had to be put in serial production to create a real armored force. This ideal tank had to withstand AP shells from the German 37mm AT gun and be equipped with a 75mm gun capable to fire HE rounds.  It was certainly  a simple brief, one that should have resulted in a product comparable with the German PzKfw IV. Yet neither Ordnance nor the civilian industry had experience with cast turrets large enough to accommodate a 75mm main gun, short or long barrelled.  It was not just the industrial tooling lacking. Army engineers did not even have any idea about how big and strong the turret ring should have been to withstand the recoil. Simply put the US Army asked for something no one in US had really in mind...

 As Zaloga says engineers are face by a triangle of three elements: Good, Fast, Cheap. Usually they can pick two elements. In the summer of 1940 Fast and Cheap were picked. The result was a vehicle inspired by the French B1 tank. Main gun in the hull, secondary AT gun in the turret. Of course even this 'simple' pattern was not easy to achieve. Ordnance at the time was enamored with machine guns. The initial design had plenty of them... Armored Force, the new branch of the Army responsible for mechanized force, had them removed. some were left, including a twin installation in the forward hull, and a little MG armed cupola over the turret (okay this is an arrangement that Ordnance liked as earlier pictures of my M60 show!).  The twin MG in the hull disappeared, the cupola not. 

Even when the tanks was still a drawing the new Armored Force chief, General Jacob Devers, complained about it not being good, and insisting on it being a limited (750 samples) production run. But Roosevelt wanted tanks now, not only for the US army, but for the British Army too. The British had come to Washington with a shopping list... in the list there was a request for 3,650 medium tanks! Good or not the M3 Medium was the only adequate solution.  It was given a go ahead. The US ones would see combat in 1942 and 1943 in Algeria and Tunisia, and in 1943 in the Gilbert Islands. The Soviet Army would receive them and use them at Kursk too. Specialized versions would be employed until the end of the war. Yet the M3 moment of glory came in 1942 with the British Army in North Africa, and its last roar will be in 1944 in Burma and India, again with the British Army. 

The British army realized it was a temporary solution, and they were not impressed by the turret. They asked for changes, dropping the MG cupola, adding a radio bustle (US tanks did not have it!), enlarging it. The British also insisted to have the periscopic gun-sight replaced by a telescopic one.  With the modifications it was shipped to Egypt at a time when British tanks were outgunned not only by the Germans, but also by the Italian tanks. British tank guns, be it 2pdr or the first 6pdr, could not fire HE rounds. The Grant 75mm was able to fire them, and the 75mm round was pretty powerful. On top of that the 75mm fired a decent AP round. And there was a 37mm gun in the turret.  The Grant baptism of  fire was during Operazione Venezia, the Italian-German assault on the Gazala line. The 75mm gun was appreciated, its armor was adequate, but it was still a prey for the larger Axis guns like the German 88mm or the Italian 90mm. Ariete division's AT batteries claimed scores of them in keeping Rommel's cauldron intact. Yet it gave the British tanker an ability to fire gun shells at infantry and AT position and AP shells with adequate range to fight on an even ground with the Panzer IIIs. Of course it also prompted the Germans to ship uparmoured and upgunned tanks in Africa.   It served at El Alamein and in Tunisia. Then newer tanks replaced it. It was a stopgap, but an adequate one that left an impression on the desert war.

 It also happens that the shape is kinda unique and I like it. I finally decided to paint the one I had in storage from more than 10 years ago...  Just as a curiosity they were a direct order to Battlefront in New Zealand! They aged reasonably well. The new plastic ones are better, but these are... adequate. There some issues in connecting the track units to the hull, and one lost is AT gun (I created a replacement with brass wire and tape...). The resin body show both the unique shape and the extensive riveting quite well. Painting them was nice. I used one of the camouflaged scheme seen in 1942, sand base with dark  green blotches. 

I used FoW decals to complete them.

A lonely duck... a Guderian's Duck!

Yesterday I got my copy of Vae Victis 139. As usual the magazine was packing its usual assortment of articles. As usual some anti-american idiocy slipped in... (it is quite annoying, especially because they are usual gibberish) but this is not the point of my writing... much more annoying was a comment I found on the Team Yankee article, in the box highlighting the available miniatures. The writer was defining Peter Pig vehicles:


'par contre le chars uniquement en plomb ne sont plus aux standards actuels'


this is the sort of idiocy that you find in magazine and that seems more a product of people bashing companies rather than serious reviewers. Having painted a PP vehicles just few days ago...

I felt the comments was a gratuitous insult. Peter Pig is not the only manufacturers producing full metal tanks. As a manufacturer with a big catalog it is obvious that some vehicles will be better than others, often reflecting their age. The Jagpanzer IV/70 I had under my brushes is a relatively recent vehicle (in their production, not in history!) and while being a full metal model it is certain up to standard. Certainly better than some resin stuff I have seen around.

Rant done... let's talk a bit about it. As almost every German WW2 chassis also the Panzer IV was used for conversion. Despite the appearances, it was not a late war desperation conversion. The plans for it had been shown to Hitler in 1942 by Vomag AG. The basic concept was to use PZ IV hulls to produce a 75mm armed vehicle to replace the Sturmgeschutz III. The basic reasons were compatibility with the main tank, the ability of the new hull to take heavier weapons than the Panzer III (the design specified a L70 gun from the start, while the Sturmgeschutz III had reached its limit with the 75mmL48), and also the assumption that, when the new medium tank (the still infant Panther...) would have replaced the Panzer IV as mainstay of the panzer divisionen there would be plenty of surplus hull.


That was the idea. Guderian did not like the new vehicle (despite in the end having his name associated with it), but Hitler was adamant that the new tank destroyer would have replaced the Panzer IV. Guderian's argument were basically two: the Stug III was still adequate, the Panzer IV was necessary as medium tank. Tampering with production lines would have been bad. In the end both won in typical German fashion, with Guderian keeping the Stug and the Panzer IV, and Hitler getting the new one. German Army's logistics obviously won.


Production started in late 1943, with the first 30 vehicles being completed by Vomag in January 44. With the new L70 guns going to the new Panthers as priority, the Jagdpanzer IV was initially armed with the older L48 gun. Not until August the 75mm L70 guns were made available for the Jagdpanzer, with production fully switching sometime later. In the end the german factories produced 1977 Jagdpanzer IV, 1208 with the long barrel and 769 with the shorter one. Around 270 were produced by Alkett with a different superstructure.


All in all it was a good tank destroyer with a powerful gun, good armor, and a low profile. Yet it was often used as an assault gun or an ersatz tank with poor results. I have a Skytrex and a Flames of War ones, and they had always performed quite badly on the table...


Gaming experiences aside the main issues with the Jagdpanzer IV were production runs hampered by shortage of materials and allied bombing, and another vehicle complicating the whole logistic issue.


Now, after a short historical introduction... more pictures... so you can decide by yourselves about Vae Victis' comment.

I like it of course!

Blimey!!!! They are doneeeeeee!!!!

Okay,

if you have followed this blog you know I had started a 15mm WW2 British North Western Europe project sometime ago. I stopped posting the progress because I was lazy... but I did not stop working on it.

End result:

Three infantry platoon, one MG platoon in carriers, one Carrier platoon (only two sections plus comman), one AT platoon with 6pdrs, one Motor platoon, assorted engineers, a 25pdrs section, a whole load of AFVs...

I also removed the QRF Churchills (now replaced by PSC ones) and the QRF Achilles, now with two plastic BF ones proudly taking its place. Of course I can add more... but to be quite honest, I am satisfied with painting battledress...

The 'funny' thing is that this horde of troops has more or less never been planned. I was expecting myself to limit myself ot US troops for the NWE campaign. But then I received some leftovers from a friend (I painted his British troops) and started to add small bits... usually in plastic. Actually almost the whole force is plastic!!! Plastic fantastic (I like to build plastic vehicles, they paint better than lead or resin, they are much lighter for storage). Now let's go into details.

A squadron of comet from the 11th Armoured Division, FOW plastic. Two Squadron command tanks, two troops of three Comet each. I know it is a marginal WW2 tank as employment goes, but...

1) I like it
2) It was used.
3) I want my 1945 version of the force to have a specific character.

Mixed picture, you can see one of the PSC infantry platoon on FOW rural bases, and the artillery units. Two FOW lead 25pdrs (quite old, I think I forgot about them, but they ended up quite well), on PSC quad, one PSC OP Carrier, one PSC Sherman V as OP. And load of tanks... you can see the PSC Churchills, the Comet and the line up of Shermans.

Lovely PSC Churchill AVRE with its petard mortar, and the PSC AT platoon; guns and Loyd carriers. Behind the ATs, the FOW plastic motor platoon.

Center stage for the Carrier unit. The Carriers are a mix of FOW (old the initial leftovers!) and PSC.  Infantry are a mix of FOW and PSC.  Behind them Joe Vandeleur command unit, and 2 FOW resin M5 Stuarts.

The Motor platoon again, the Churchills (three gun tanks one CS), the two Achilles and Shermans!

 
Tank photo shot.

FOW plastic infantry in close up.

For a project started with leftovers from a friend's commission (let's be honest, one Matador truck, two carriers, 10-15 infantrymen, two Fireflys...) it has gained traction, mainly due to the attractiveness of plastic.

The Sherman line, two FOW resins in the foreground, the rest are PSC, 75mm or Fireflys.

One last tribute to my madness!! Now I only need to bring them on the table!

Achtung, Aufklarungs!

Back to tanks... no to armoured vehicles, it is not a tank, it has no turret, and it is not even completely tracked. But I am sure the CNN or the RAI, or even some of my colleagues would call it a tank nevertheless...

So today we have a 1/56 (28mm) Rubicon Models SDKFZ 250/1 Neu.  The 250/1 was one of the ubiquitous halftrack designed and produced by the Third Reich to cover an infinity of roles. Halftracks are a cool (nice to look at in model form) and seducing concept (cheaper than full tracked, better than wheeled vehicles off road) that... never lived to their promise. Basically because the bulk of halftrack ended up being based on civilian truck chassis and engines they often were largely under-powered, and the off road maneuverability was not that improved. Okay, better than civilian truck in mud, but not that good. It was a concept largely discarded after the end of the war.  The 250 was a sort of smaller cousin to the 251. The 250 was based on the Sdfkz 10 light artillery tractor. It was developed in 1939 to answer a request from the army for a light APC to carry an half squad, usually in reconnaissance units. The same army's request involved two other similar vehicles, all based on the 10 chassis, an ammunition carrier and a forward observer vehicle.  The 250 was quickly designed and production started in 1940. Around 7,500 Sdkfz 250 of various mark were produced until the end of the war. It was not a successful vehicles, despite the numbers. The interior was cramped, and its off road ability was limited, more limited than the larger 251. It was also expensive to produce so a new armored superstructure was introduced in 1943, the Neu version I have built, with the more boxy shape. You can see some 'alte' models in 15mm in previous posts. Alte and Neu soldiered on on almost every front Germany fought, despite their shortcomings. They were adapted to countless roles too. Usually the APCs, the /1 version, were found in reconnaissance units, yet some panzergrenadier abteilungen replaced their 251 with them (on 2 250 per each 251 basis, due to the smaller transport capacity). 

Despite its limitation in real life, it is an iconic model, and indispensable asset in reconnaissance (aufklarung) units, and a nice looking little vehicle. 

I bought the kit  from Will at PSC in person sometime ago, built last year and painted quite recently. Yes sometime I have a disconnection between building 28mm kits and painting them. Building an painting queues are separate things here. Do not ask why... just assume there are deep reasons for it (there are!).  Done with the ramblings, back to the kit. As a matter of information Rubicon has both the alte and neu base versions, and accessory bos to produce several variants. At the moment you can buy:

250 alte box (/1 and Sdkfz 253 forward observer vehicle)

250 neu box (with crew, the crew fits in the alte too)

250/11 (anti-tank rifle) conversion for the Alte kit

240/9 (20mm gun in turret) for alte or neu

250/7 (mortar) conversion for alte or neu

250/3 (radio, Rommel's Greif to make it clear!) for alte or neu

Quite an impressive array!

It is a really nice little model with plenty of details, including interior details that will pretty much be invisible. It comes with a driver and two crews. I confess the crew is the reason why I opted for the Neu rather than the alte. I am planning to get at least one /9 but it will be an alte, I cannot really stand the 250/9 neu's look! The building was pretty much straightforward with very good instructions. I did not paint the interior before, despite what the instructions suggest. Why? If I cannot paint it when it is done... 99% no one will see it anyway, I am lazy!

For the final livery (and the uniforms of the crew) I ended up with a late war scheme and SS camo, it will be part of an SS force (I know I hate these guys, but the camo is cool to paint, and they are useful for several scenarios) based on the KG Knittel during the battle of the Bulge. An appropriate opponent for my winter/fall US troops. 

It has the usual base of dunkelgelb (my own recipe: base of vallejo middlestone, wash with dark brown, then drybrush of iraqi sand) and splinter stripes in brown, in this case vallejo chocolate brown.  I apply the camo before the wash and the drybrush. One of the Rubicon heads had been replaced by a warlord helmeted one, I wanted both crew in helmet. Decals are Rubicon and included in the box.

US Army Cavalry Platoon, part 2!

and here is part 2 (complete project) of my 15mm US Army Cavalry Platoon. M8 Greyhounds from Forged in Battle, Jeeps from Battlefront.

Here is a close up of a single patrol group.

But I cannot just stop at a single platoon so I have some attachments...

As you can see in the background...

Cavalry units also had a troop of light tank, M5A1 in 1944-45. I have a full box of PSC ones just here...

For your pleasure!

Close up of two of them. I really like them. They are very nice models, and, differently from their recent cousins the M3 very easy to put together... with the exception of the turret hatches that were a pain to cut. Tthey are split, but PSC has them in a single piece that, if you want to represent them open, have to cut by yourself in two. It was a pain and I ended up botching one attempt, and having only one TC around...

But this is not the end... I do not play only 1 to 1 vehicles rules, but also a bit larger ones... so my platoon for Battlegroup or IASBM can become a full troop for Battlefront WW2:

 With the simple addition of an HQ vehicle (a battlefront M8), and, in this specific case a reinforced troop with a platoon (two sections, one model equal two or three real vehicles) of M5 light tanks.

Finally... by the end of 1944 the shortcomings of the Stuart were pretty much evident to everyone, friend or foe, so something new was trickling to the units...

The M-24 light tank. Faster, better armored, and with a 75mm gun derived from the one used on the B-25G...

Two  old Battlefront models (when the M-24 were sold in blister and not in the platoon box), resin of course. So you had plastic and resin in the same post!