[20mm] PaK 38 & leIG 18

I‘m currently stuck in a lack of mojo, and also I‘m working on several units at once. Thus it’s taken me a while to get todays submission done. 

The PaK38 is a rather nice kit by PSC, but a far cry from Zvezdas offerings. As ever the crew are all AB figures. Frankly the PSC ones, that come with the gun, are utter tosh.

Whenever possible I try to stick with Zvezda with my guns, as they‘re so much nicer than most of what the competitors have on offer. So this leIG 18, leichtes Infanteriegeschütz 18, is no exception. The two figures actually manning the gun are als Zvezda figures while the rest, well yes, you guessed it, are AB. Unfortunately AB don’t do a dedicated set of leIG 18 crew, so I had to source these from several different sets. Yet, that’s all part of the fun, isn’t it?

 Points: 337

[20mm] Panzer IV Ausf. H

Finally got around to finish this 1/72 Panzer IV Ausf. H by Zvezda. The kit is nice enough and despite some rather fragile parts, like the rails for the side skirts, it should be sturdy enough for wargaming. But it comes with the hatches molded closed, something I really can't stand. It's not like separate hatches are so super difficult to handle during assembly. That said it's something that seems surprisingly common in 1/72 scale modeling tanks.

The kit was painted using the Real Colors range by AK Interactive. While I can't attest for the tonal accuracy the manufacturer claims, the paints work rather well through an airbrush. Much less of a hassle than acrylic paints. That said I miss the ready made modulation sets you get in acrylics. Means you've got to work more with pre-shading in black and white or mix your own modulation colours. Both things I don't really have the patience, nor the desire for.

For a more realistic look I skipped the combined edge highlighting/ micro scratch method I went with for my more recent vehicles but only used a sponge to apply some wear and tear here and there. Not fully convinced though, as a) I find the sponge very hard to control and b) it looks less 'defined', less visually interesting, especially at arms length.

For most of the weathering I used AK Interactive Weathering Pencils. Quite an interesting tool, especially as you can create different effects depending on wether you apply them dry or wet. Only the rust effects didn't really convince me, as they look somewhat off compared to the same effects done in enamels. So they're (of course) not the deal changer they're marketed as, but another useful tool in the tool box.

Points: 273

[20mm] Scouts Out!

 Back to my Soviets again with one of the last support choices I need for the TooFatLardies campaign "Storming the Citadel", which pits the Großdeutschland Division against their Soviet counter parts during Operation Zitadelle, the famous battle in and around the Kursk salient in 1943.

As usual the miniatures are from AB Figures and painted up nicely. Except for the single female figure they're all wearing the Soviet two piece camouflage smock featuring the distinct Amoebae pattern camouflage scheme. The female figure rather unusually wears the earlier (and much rarer) one piece garment. 

The Soviet Union was the only belligerent nation where women actively served in frontline units in any number. All in all there were about 800.000 women serving in the Red Army in different capacities, ranging from medics over snipers and AA-personell (I was quite surprised to read that the majority of AA-batteries in Stalingrad were crewed by women) to pilots, tankers and even scouts. 

Points thus far:

258

[20mm] 8.8cm Flak 36

 Fielding an 8.8cm Flak 36/37 in a skirmish game is probably akin' to overkill, but it's such an iconic piece, I simply had to get me one. Figures are 20mm AB as ever, while the Flak gun is from Zvezda. I had thought about creating a larger vignette style base, but as the gun comes without carriage I decided otherwise. But given the AB figures would let themselves well for a diorama due to their posing I might yet do one.

Wanted to try out a new recipe for Reed Green summer Drillich uniforms, but it turned out way too greenish. Still I couldn't be bothered to correct it. For the moment at least. Given the Wehrmacht used any kind of captured stock and dyes often varied from batch to batch anyway I think I'll get away with it... even if maybe just ;-)

I'm not completely sold on the shrubbery, thus it's not glued in place yet. 

Points thus far:

222