Converting Germans & WIP

Like the great missionary monks of the "Dark Ages", I have been converting Germans!
Well, not with preaching, but with Greenstuff, X-acto blade, wire & superglue ;)

Don't expect anything finished on this post, just some stuff I've been tinkering with.

First up, some Italeri Fallschirmjagers that have been sitting in the stash for a while- I did complete some a while back which you can see here . Basing is at the early stages in this picture.

I have tinkered with the camo scheme slightly since the first lot by drybrushing back over with the base colour. The only slight conversion is taking the sniper scope off the gun of the kneeling figure. I have also given them some stubble to make it look like they've been in the line for a while, probably trying to hold off the US advance.

Next we have a couple more figures from that set that I have given simple head swaps to, just to add variety. This is achieved by drilling small holes in body and head and supergluing in a small piece of wire to improve the bond. I think both these figures had peaked caps before and were looking in different directions.

This FJ has a bit of plastic putty to tidy up neck join- should paint up fine.

Next, I have another FJ which combines the top half of the kneeling figure with a standing FJ- I had to use a bit of Greenstuff to fill the gaps on this one. In the same photo you will see I have been applying Greenstuff to figures from this Zvezda set. To give them a bit more of a late war appearance I have disguised their jackboots to look like trousers - I haven't attempted to remove pleats from pockets for that LW look as they wouldn't be particularly visible on these models anyway. I'm sure they will look fine with a bit of paint on.

Finally, a couple of shots of those converted commandos from an earlier post- haven't finished painting them yet.....I got distracted.....:)

BOOM! The Artillery is here!

You may have seen the work in progress posts for the 25pdr and Quad , well now I have finished them! They had been sitting in drawers for quite some time in a stage of partial completion, its great to  have them done at last....although I will be needing to get the same kit again later on- two 25pdrs are better than one :)
The models themselves are from Italeri, originally produced by Esci many moons ago, and it still builds up as a good kit. Next time I may leave out some of the more fiddly bits underneath the Quad as they cannot be seen once the vehicle is based for wargaming. I did find that some pieces broke as I tried to remove them from the sprue even though I tried to be careful- I guess it was never designed to be a fastbuild wargamers type kit.
I exchanged the original crew for AB miniatures, who make some great sets for British artillery, I even put an AB driver in the Quad-  though you can't see him too well, at least I know he's in there. The shell casings and boxes on the ground came with the kit- I drilled the ends of the shell cases out slightly. They are based as three separate items to aid play for wargames, the limber base with the three chaps on it constitutes a "loader team" in the Battlegroup rules.
I have used a cloudier background for these photos, probably appropriate as it was quite cloudy outside this morning when I was taking the pictures.
I hope you all enjoy them, please feel free to ask questions etc.
By the way, it's great to see 90 people following now- very cool- perhaps I'll hit 100 before the end of the year? Thanks to everyone for your encouragement and support.

Universal Carrier Completed (finally) + Artillery WIP

G'day all,
A while back I bought some Plastic Soldier Company Universal Carriers in 1/72- and very nice they are too. PSC sent me an extra sprue because I pre-ordered (some time last year), so I still have three left to build. I'm not known for speed or mass-production so what I'm presenting is my first PSC carrier. I have used crew from AB Miniatures for variety, and because they look cool. I have added a metal rifle and Bren Gun from Sgts Mess and a resin kit bag from Black Dog. The decals are a mixture of stuff from the spares box and Dom's Decals. They have the markings for my usual 43rd Wessex Division chaps. Some of the beret heads from the kit have already been donated to my commando conversions, and the other PSC figures will no doubt see service in some other vehicle.

Enjoy the pictures:

 

Work in Progress

I have been doing a bit more on my British 25pdr, Morris Quad and crews. I have nearly finished the crew and loader team- just need to paint the rear end of the seated gunner bloke, as he was stuck to the blu-tack. Finished painting the gun, limber and Quad apart from some extra weathering during the basing stage and after any decals are applied. I have stuck the crew onto thin pieces of plasticard, as I find this helps in the painting and basing stages.

Lightened up the panels & added a bit of weathering- needs decals next.

Hopefully my next post will be the finished articles :)

 

WIP- Artillery & Commandos

A bit more Work in Progress to share...
I have dragged out my incomplete 25pdr kit with Quad Tractor and decided to finally finish it off. This a kit from Italeri which was originally produced by Esci, it's not bad but some bits could be left off for wargames purposes- like some of the fiddly bits underneath the Quad. I am not using the figures supplied with the kit which were designed for North Africa, having shorts on. For crew figures I will be using AB, I am placing four crew with the gun and three as a "loader team" with the limber (Battlegroup Rules allow you to expend extra points for a loader team to give improvements to fire rates I think). So, the three elements will be based up separately- gun, limber & Quad.

 

 

 

I have also been chopping and gluing some figures to go on a couple of commando bases. I have used resin beret heads from Dan Taylor Modelworks.

Plastic conversion of Caesar British with Dan Taylor Resin beret head- looks like a good match.



Plastic conversion has Caesar Miniatures body, resin head and right arm from an Italeri
British Para- the spare ammo box is taken from an Airfix British figure.

 

They should paint up OK.

I have also nearly finished my first Universal Carrier with crew, just need to do the base and weathering- I'll show it to you when I've finished.