20mm Fallschirmjäger and Firefly

First off fthis time is a 20mm 3D printed Sherman Firefly by Arvernes Miniatures. Having painted two regular 75mm Shermans for my Canadians previously I felt the urgent need to add a Firefly for that little bit of extra punch. The stowage is mostly from AB Figures as is the tank commander.

This is then followed by a Squad of 20mm Fallschirmjäger, also from AB Figures. They're a mix of regular Heer figures, mainly with Zeltbahn, and Fallschirmjäger with head swaps as I was aiming for a very late war feel. So these should be more suitable for those battles following the German defeat in Normandy. A time when the Fallschirmjäger were a mere shadow of their former strength. I don't like the hype that surrounds some of the supposedly 'elite' German units and having this hodge podge of grizzled veterans and raw recruits is just my thing.

Thanks for viewing and have a nice day!

20mm Detroit Tank Arsenal

Been busy with job interviews and what not those last few weeks. Also I haven't really felt like lobbying at all. But at long last I've finished something worth posting about. 

First off a 20mm PSC Lend-Lease M3 Stuart for my Soviets. The PSC kit is a sturdy enough kit, able to withstand the rigors of the wargamnes table well enough I imagine. Personally I'm not a huge fan of those kits as they're by necessity very basic with overblown details. Looks nice enough when painted though.

On the other end of the scale we have a 1/72 M4A4 Sherman from Dragon Models. The kit was fun to build and came with etched brass (which I didn't use) and even 3D printed (some of which I used) upgrade parts. Only let down were the vinyl tracks. First of all I managed to put on one the wrong way round and then they're just a smidgen too short, meaning that when you put them on you might snap the delicate plastic connecting the rear idler wheel to the hull... Of course I also managed to break off some of the more delicate parts during painting, but that's a whole other story full of fat fingers and too little patience. The tank commander is from the ever excellent AB Figures range.

Occupying the middle ground in model complexity is a venerable 1972 vintage ESCI M4A1 Sherman nowadays sold by Italeri. I got this one from a friend, so I can't say anything about how it went together, but looking at it I'd be highly surprised if it was any challenge at all, but as with the PSC Stuart the detail is a little basic. I really love the rounded shape of the cast M4A1 hull and hope to add a few more to my collection at some point. 

So that's about it for the moment. Stay save and thanks for watching!

[20mm] First Canadian Squad

I'm still experiencing problems with Blogger on my Apple devices. Instead of getting better it's getting worse. Somehow I have the feeling they're trying to force me to use their bloomin' Chrome browser as every other browser I've used so far wouldn't work. So apologies (again) to all the fine people on who's blog I failed to comment. 

Todays offerings are my first painted squad of Canadians. I've painted them as PPCLI (Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry) as I want to use them for Italy in the long run. That said I won't be shy and will field them in France just as well.

Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry - 1st Section... and some KSK

Being ordered to stay at home for the day till the company has decided on how we field-service technicians are best and safest to proceed with our jobs in face of the virus I've taken the chance to take pictures of finished stuff. These lads have been sitting on my desk for a few days now as I haven't had found the time to finish the basing.