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!

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!

Bundesheer...

After the madness of the 'unplanned diversion that turned into a horde' post, a little filler. I have recently repainted four Leopard 1A5 from H&R.

Everyone on the net always moans how good the GHQ models are, and then they painted them in awful manner. I have GHQ models, but I do not think they are by default the first choice. Heroic and Ros models are often perfectly good, especially with a good paintjob.

These Leopards were sitting in my bits box for ages. I just repainted them (so they have two coats!), and the end result is perfectly good.

The key element of the 1A5 version, the added Blohm und Voss turret armor and the smoke dischargers are perfectly visible, especially after a mix of dry-bushing and black-lining. The tools on the sides of the hull are there. The mantlet (another key element of the outlook) is also well done. I am happy.

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.

Zvezda King Tiger

Okay, I was hiding again... despite constantly painting (painting tanks is a good way to fight back job induced stress... much better than going postal! And you can always dream to run over those pesky individual that pretend to be colleagues with a tank...). Painting tanks is also better than binge miniature shopping, at least as long you have plenty of reserves...

now talking of tanks... last time I hopped in the far north at Partizan I grabbed some cheap (3£) Zvezda King tigers... you know those 'snap together' kits. Well after few minutes of snapping together:

I think, in my not so humble opinion, this is a good representation of the beast. Detail is not just quite good, it is excellent. Yes the cover over the gunner vision block is a bit too big and solid, but it is an acceptable compromise.  I got two of them (and then procured another two later one, after I decided they were good and I wanted a full platoon... yes something about binge tank shopping...). 

Then of course black primer and vallejo colours in hand I started to leave my own mark on the beast...

I opted for a late war plain three tone camouflage. Nothing too complicated. I think the result is quite good... but of course will I post pictures of a tank I am not satisfied with? Oh, by the way the main gun elevates and the turret rotates... quite a clever kit!

More Armor...

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are still on a World War Two roll… actually I am just clearing a backlog of posts… but target for today is the Mighty Tiger! In this case a full plastic model from Warlord/Italeri that I bought at SELWG 2015 (!?!) with my friend Minkyeong. Painted the following Christmas holiday, captured in images… and then… well I was slow in updating the blog.

It is a good model, with zimmerit modelled on. The TC figure is quite nice in my opinion (I know warlord often get bad rep). Simple, clean, and fun build. The only ‘negative’ element was the gun. Well moulded but the joint is too loose. I had to glue it in position otherwise it was depressing too much giving the impression of a knocked out tank.

Tidbit: do you know why knocked out tanks have their guns depressed? Because their hydraulic fluid, the one used in the recoil system has burned or spilled, and there is not pressure to keep the equilibrators working, so the barrel, usually not fixed at its balance point, just drop off.

Anyway just enjoy another 1:56 model!

This time I have gone for a general wash after the basic camouflage colours had been applied, IMHO it worked, it was especially effective in the wheels and to define the zimmerit.

After the Tiger we have another group of tanks in 1:56 painted the same holiday. Japanese ones this time. Two of them are Warlord resin models and one is a Company B.

I had the Company B for years while the Warlords were bought in 2013. That holiday I finally received my Trenchworx Thanks in Manchuria models. I built them but I decided to start painting from the backlog first… and I also took the opportunity to retouch the older Ha-Go. Anyway the Type 97 ShinHoto is Warlord, as one of the Type 95.  I am again very satisfied of the work. I will say that the Warlord resin model were slightly better than the Company B (and yes I plan to procure one platoon box of the new plastic Chi-Ha too). Yet everyone painted well. I think I am more happy with the Warlord because I got better and the colours are also more accurate. 

Warlord Type 97 leading, Company B Type 95 in the middle.

"Holydays done"

Or started, depends on what you call holidays... anyway for more than two months I have been quite silent here... This did not meant that I stopped being a wargamer, just that I stopped finishing decent posts for the blog... anyway things have returned to almost normal, except the fact that I am submerged by lectures to write... yes... I am entering academia from the other side. I am now a Teaching Fellow at King's college, so new that I just received my draft contract...

anyway beside writing lectures on interesting subjects like Cold War strategic air reconnaissance (including also FICON... yes I said that... Fighter In CONvair!) or Operation Barrel Roll I have been able to get some new painting done.

First thing is a 15mm Obejctive Marker. Eons ago I painted a Panzer IV for a friend. He has a transport accident and the poor tank (a Battlefront resin/metal kit) was damaged. He dumped it on me... and after some thinkering I decided to convert it in an objective/scenic base.

Actually the damage was relatively minor, just part of the turret schurzen and the muzzle brake. But I re-positioned turret and main gun to give it the appearance of an abandoned tank and repainted it in my new technique for German armour. I then did a very simple base using a some sand, sponge, and a a bit of a dried natural bush. The raised road is cork covered in sand, the idea is that the vegetation is growing in the uncared ditch.

I think it turned out quite well.

And some german airpower...

To close this WW2 parade I took pictures of a diecast Me262 fighter (1:144, I think it is from Model Power postage stamp collection, I got at the newsstand in a Del Prado collection eons ago). The paint job was, frankly uninspiring... so I simply primed it black and...

 ... did this in a late war livery.

 Yes... I messed with the stand... I already corrected it!

all in all painting it was quite nice and fun. Nothing really difficult to do (I used masking tape for the splinter camo) and very relaxing.  And my late war germans have a late war flying machine!

German Reconiassance vehicles

Continuing in my efforts to post pictures of my second half of WW2 Germans I now show the halftrack recon elements of my forces.

They are from Forged in Battle. Three resin castings with different stowage (plus some additions from my bits' box). As you know Forged in Battle vehicles are cast with integral bases. Some individuals (well imbeciles would be much more appropriate) are always screaming (often on the (PMT page) against them (the same idiots I fear that have persuaded Forged in Battle to not have cast on pikes on its new phalangites... well after having drilled open and put steel pikes on scores of phalangites I am more and more persuaded that it is a stupidity... in 15mm cast on pikes are a must! but I am digressing). Well the bases are not intrusive and more importantly the screamers did not realized that the way the bases are put in also permit Forged in Battle to produce crisp and inexpensive casts. I like them, they are cheap, they paint well, ergo I do not complain.

Well after so much pontificating here are some details:

 I painted them some years ago. Considering my good friend Asako saw them this means that I was still a PhD candidate and still living in LPH with a lot of nice people around.

For them I have used a three tone camo without anything special. They are just a recon element. I doubt I will have the table space to deploy a full recon company in a recon mission, but they can work as an addition for a lot of other formations or being employed in a reduced reconnaissance company.

First Panzer Grenadier Platoon

Well, I have been quiet on the blog front for several weeks. Do not worry, i have taken pictures (few) and painted (quite a lot). I have finished my 15mm 1985+ US force, painted some Hellenistic, started to refurbish my WW2 Soviets, and finished the Warriors for my UK Warrior Infantry Platoon. I also completed my regular Iraqi troops... anyway I have a backlog of posts...

so time to show you my first Panzergrenadier platoon.

In the above picture the platoon is seen in its Gepanzert configuration. Of course removing the Halftrack it becomes a standard panzergrenadier platoon and I can use it as a Motorisiert unit with truck or without.  The infantry squads are modeled with two MG42, thus you can use it for Panzergrenadier or well equipped grenadier units. The figures are Battlefront while the Hanomag are from Peter Pig. The Platoon, being the first one has also individual squad leaders so I can use it not only for IABSM but also for Chain of Command.

I like the halftracks. The Peter Pig  are modeled (as one of the options) with integral camouflage. They are 251C rather than D, but the are really nice. Obviously you have also the platoon command vehicle with the 37mm gun. I like the PP becaus eit has the simplified (more common) mantlet.

The infantry is from the 352nd Division Infanterie Kompanie that Battlefront released some time ago. I liked it because there are troops in camo smock and zeltbanh. I used the plastic urban bases.

I have to admit that my love for zelthbanh has been reduced after having painted the whole company... but I am happy with them, even if having painted them for gaming the faces do not really look good in enlarged pictures. The individual squad leaders are based on pennies.