1/72 & 1/76 WWII German Figures

Circa 115-120 little Germans...

I decided to start painting some figures today, to go with all my German vehicles. 

As can be seen, there's a real variety of manufacturers, materials, and quality/style. There's even a mix of scales, most being 1/72, but a few being 1/76. There are a number of drivers and tank crew, several self-propelled gun crews, some infantry, and a few odds and ends, like the AB motorcycle policemen, and artillery crews by Airfix, and Zvezda.

Other manufacturers/figures include Italeri (old Esci) Nebelwerfer crews, Caesar plastics (Panzer crew), Dragon's Tiger Aces, some Milicast resin tank and self-propelled gun crews, and some white metal figures I got a few Salutes back, by a couple of brands whose names escape me now.

Some of these are excellent, like the AB drivers and traffic cops, the Dragon Tiger Ace's, and the Caesar tank crew. Some are just okay, and some, like the very basic and rather wooden-posed older Airfix figures, are quite poor. 

The good, the bad, and the ugly!

The Milicast figures are odd, inasmuch as they have aspects that make them quite desirable/good - interesting outfits/poses - and qualities that are less winning - odd proportions and some rather awkward poses. The range of sculpted proportions across the various manufacturers is also very wide, from the most slender and naturalistic, to some really quite stocky fellows. 

Unsurprisingly it's the white metal figures that tend to be the more heavily built. Though the AB range, whilst heavier set than the Dragon or Caesar panzer crews, show that old-fashioned 'tin' soldiers can be just as pleasing to the eye as the best of their plastic brethren.

And of all the driver figures the two AB sets are hands down the best, both in terms of pose, but - and more fundamentally (unlike the Milicast drivers, which haven't fitted in any vehicle I've built yet - not even the two Milicast models!) they actually fit inside 172 and 1/76 vehicles very snugly.

One or two of these figures remain undercoated in black, as per my old method of painting. The bulk, however, after getting a coat of black, have had a coat of Tamiya Dunkelgelb. 

So, all in all, a very mixed bag!

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Bang!

Sadly, time for modelling and painting ran out, and I only got as far as two undercoats! But I was at least able to console myself with a bit of Sharpe on the box whilst eating dinner.

Salute, 2016

I didn't buy many figures this year. The only Wargaming figures I picked up were these 20mm AB Germans.

Sir Antony of Barton sure knows how to sculpt! These guys look so natural. I love 'em. Gluing the bike together was a pain tho'. Oh how I hate cyano-acrolite glue!

This isn't really a show report, as such. I'm never thorough enough at a show to really attempt such a thing as that! I'm far too lazy, and narrowly focussed, as well. On that front, I have to confess I was somewhat alarum'd and diffappointed at the theme of this years show: Steampunk. 

My stalwart wife came along again, and I have to say that there were noticeably more women at this years show, mostly tagging along with men, but a few, astonishingly, by themselves, and some, even more surprisingly, apparently into it all on their own account. I mean, there was even a lady with a stand specialising in female wargaming figures, and not your usual 'tits oot' varieties either!

Well I never!

This Peninsular game - The Battle of Adrados (1811) - was quite something: beautiful 40mm figures on a stunning terrain.

A familiar Napoleonic image: a British square waits to receive French cavalry.

Now it is possible that the noticeable (and welcome, I'd say) increase in a sisterly presence was in part due to this years theme. I can only say, in my ornery curmudgeonly way, that I have more of a rear-view mirror vibe. I'll explain: I'm really far more interested in historical gaming, and even there, my narrow focus means I only really find stuff interesting if it lies between the Napoleonic era and WWII.

That period to me represents - and I haven't really ever sat down and thought this through, so I might be talking out of my fundament - the most interesting combo of large scale engagements, interesting uniforms and equipment, and the best of strategic and tactical interest: I'm occasionally quite drawn to the ECW, but even that epoch, and much more so ancient period wargaming, seems to me, essentially, to involve two more or less similar lines meeting and scrapping.

Of course, of course, there's much more to it all than that, I know. But I find my dismissive approach helps me save time and keep (relatively) focussed.

You can see why Boney loved his 'daughters'.

French cavalry making its way up the hill.

Anyway, I'll leave that digression there. Steampunk is, in many ways, a highly interesting avenue, in which the imagination runs riot, and I admire it for that aspect; the Police armoured-car-cum-traction-engine in the Salute programme was, well... cute, I guess. But - and I'm not dissing the whole genre (if, as it appears, it's bringing new blood into the hobby, great) - it's just that, so far, it hasn't really appealed to me.

I also dislike the tendency of some of the bigger companies on the more futuristic front - Wayland Games being the biggest (quite literally) - which can look a bit like they're becoming the Tescos of the hobby: huge and monopolistic. Another way in which I'm, I guess, 'old school', is that I like there to be loads of little fish, in a big pond (why are Adler never at Salute?). Certainly judging by the numbers of games and traders that side of things still seems to be thriving.

It's nice to see some Frenchies not in blue. I love that this game has French units in red, green and even yellow.

Attempting to buy our first home of our own meant my fundage was under limitations, so I'd resolved to try not to buy another army or two. Indeed, I was kind of hoping not to buy any figures at all, this time. But I couldn't help Mice-Elf, and bought a few Tony Barton 20mm Germans, to populate some of my steadily growing collection of WWII German vehicles. 

My wife keeps suggesting I get some bigger figures. She seems to be worried I'll go blind painting the littl'uns - 6mm, 10mm, 15mm, 20mm, etc. - and that she might even go blind just occasionally looking at them! So I bought some larger plastic Napoleonic cavalry figures, by Master Box. Just for her sake, you understand! The guy on stall told me they're 1/32, or 54mm.

A little later in the day, some rude Herbert decided to share his unsolicited and unwelcome opinions on my bartering technique at another stall, and I got so flustered I accidentally left these figures at the stall, when I left. Fortunately they were still there when I retraced my steps a bit later, 'pon realising what'd transpired.

I've only ever seen more modern stuff, mostly WWII, by Master Box. These looked like fun.

Some decals and a little bit of photo-etch for the growing WWII armour collection.

It was at the Milicast stand that this episode took place, as I was buying a bunch of WWII German decals, and even a little bit of photo-etch detailing. It was actually the latter that brought about the mildly unpleasant scenario, as, truth be told, I didn't really want the photo-etch stuff. The guy who served me was great. So I felt I experienced the full gamut of the hobbies social experience in those few minutes: a lovely guy selling me some stuff I was after, and some I wasn't - and prepared to haggle a little in respect of the latter - and the charming oaf who thought it was fine to be rude to a complete stranger.

This nameless Russo-Finnish WWII game looked simply amazing.

The guys behind this game had really gone to town on the scenery. Whoever you were, well done chaps!

This unwonted bit of acid banter contrasts unfavourably with my general experience on returning to the hobby. I see a lot of bitchy fighting going on online, and try to steer well clear of it. And indeed, the experience contrasts badly with my experiences of Salute in recent years, as a whole, where the norm is for people to either mind their own business, or to be very friendly. A little later in the day I bought an airbrush from Barwell Bodyworks, and a guy chipped in during the transaction with a far more welcome interjection, alerting me to the variety of supplementary gear I would doubtless soon be buying. 

My Russia 1812 library continues to grow.

As so often at Wargames shows, my main swag consisted of books. I still have large and mostly unpainted armies for Napoleon's 1812 campaign in Russia, and, funds allowing, I try and get anything I can at shows that will add to my knowledge of that endlessly fascinating campaign. This year I found and bought two new surveys of the whole campaign I'd never encountered before, by Foord and Riehn, plus an old Blandford paperback by Philip Haythornthwaite, on the uniforms of that campaign, and finally, the Frontline Books three-volume reprint of Paul Britten Austin's 1812 masterpiece. I already own the latter in a single volume version. But it's soooo good, and it looks so nice in this edition, that I figured it was worth having in both formats.

I had to climb up on a chair to get this aerial shot. But it was worth it, I think. Two Finnish pilots fly over their own lines, towards the Russian foe.

Skiing Finns. Very, um... cool!

I almost bought one of those magnifying visor doodads, on account of Teresa's (justified) concerns for my eyesight, but the only one I could find didn't feel right to me, so I left it, buying instead the Masterbox Napoleonics. I was sorely tempted, as I usually am, by some books on the Ken Trotman stand, but the stuff in question was way too expensive. And I had to exercise some almighty restraint elsewhere throughout the day. There's so much to tempt one, even on a day dominated by sci-fi, fantasy and steampunk.

This year I was less taken with the games. There were loads that were clearly brilliant, in their own ways, but many of these, where they were modern/fantasy/sci-fi/steampunk, just didn't appeal to me. My favourite games were the 40mm Napoleonic Peninsular game (Teresa was pleased to be able to identify Sharpe and Obadiah Hakeswill!), and the Russo-Finnish WWII winter game, which was a thing of bleak beauty.

A Russian plane heads for the Finns.

Apart from the theme of this years show not being to my tastes, I must admit I ... no, make that we (my wife felt the same), were distinctly unimpressed at the lack of seating/catering provided within the show itself. The catering part - just the one 'express' food and drink stall, where the queue was always too long whenever we passed it - I can (kind of) understand, there being so many options in Excel at large. But the almost complete absence of punter seating, that was, in my books, inexcusable.

Wargamers aren't, by and large - and this certainly holds true for me - the sportiest bunch. And what are those hapless wives and significant others to do, when they want a momentary break? For us there was something psychologically significant about the fact Teresa would have to actually leave the hall - if she wanted to be sure of a modicum of comfort - to take a break.

Anyway, as usual, much fun was had, (too) much money was spent, and we left exhausted but inspired. Thanks South London Warlords, keep up the good work.

I already had this version of Paul Britten Austin's masterpiece. But I thought £20 for the Frontline trilogy, below, was fine. What excuse can I think of? Well, it's a little more portable split in three.. erm, and, ummm... well it's just brilliant. Isn't that reason enough?

Duxford Dioramas Pt I - 1/76 Normandy 1944

Duxford Dioramas Pt I - AB/MAFVA Normandy 1944 Diorama, Duxford IWM Land Warfare Hall.

Mobile, HQ: officers gather round a map on the bonnet of a jeep, as

tanks, armoured cars and artillery head west, for the Front and Berlin.

I think this is what they called the bocage.

I love this tank model. I think it's a Churchill AVRE with a fascine [1] bundle. It's a pity about the reflections from the glass case housing the model.

I'm no expert on Allied tanks. Is this a Churchill AVRE with Petard mortar?

I doctored the above pic, for the banner pic of this post (see very top of post), substituting some (genuine) Normandy 1944 sky for the innards of the Duxford IWM Land warfare hall. Does it work?

Like I already said... I'm not so au fait with Allied materiél of WWII: is this

a British vehicle, or a bit of lend-lease from FDR and Uncle Sam?

Old news this, for me, really...

But... back in October 2012 my wife and I visited Duxford Imperial War Museum. I took tons of pics of (almost) everything that caught my eye. But one of the things I was most keen to photograph was a Normandy 1944 diorama, built by members of the London branch of the MAFVA (Miniature Armoured Fighting Vehicles Association), using AB figures, many sculpted especially for the diorama, by one of my figure-sculpting heroes, Anthony Barton.

I believe this is a Morris C8 Quad and 25 pdr artillery

team. Stopping for a well-earned lunch break.

Tony Barton's figures are just fabulous. So naturalistic!

One reason I haven't posted this until now was that I've been meaning to contact Duxford and see if I can arrange a visit to take some much better pictures. My pics were taken with a selection of devices, none of which (our digital camera, a Canon IXUS something-or-other, and my iPad, chiefly) are that good. I also took the pics of the model as it is, under glass and poorly lit.

Looking East, from the formerly German-held end.

Looking west, towards the ruined building on the high ground.

A watercolour sketch, by Dan Taylor and Malcom Mayes,

used in preparing the layout of diorama. [2]

But when I started researching the model, I discovered this very interesting article:

http://www.militarymodelling.com/news/article/normandy-diorama/3299#

... which tells a lot about the building of this excellent diorama. And the pictures of the finished model in that article, clearly taken using flash are (no offence to the photographer), even worse than mine! So I thought what the heck, I'll post and be damned. Though I have to confess, I do still harbour a deep desire to go back and get some much better pics. This fab diorama definitely deserves better! The pictures directly above and below this section of text are from the Military Modelling website, and are offer a wonderful glimpse into how the model was designed and executed.

MAFVA member Bruce Harron

works on the terrain, in situ! [2]

Thanks to the Military Modelling article I learned that the scenario depicts an imaginary scene from the Normandy campaign, set in 'a period of post D-Day, but just before Operation Goodwood, the theme being 'Components of an Army'. In this case for 'components' read vehicles.' It's also fascinating to learn about the planning and time-frame involved. I've always loved dioramas, and long harboured the desire of building one. But the closest I've ever got, so far at any rate, was owning an Esci diorama kit (never finished) and the Airfix Hougoumont set, as a kid!

This project was conceptualised in 2002, and commissioned with a brief to be finished by 2004, for the 60th anniversary of the Normandy campaign. Given the general eastward thrust of the Allied movements against the Germans I'd assumed that this would also be, excuse the inevitable pun, the axis of the action on this model. But it turns out it's actually a north/south alignment, shown lengthwise. If you like the pics here, you really must read the Military Modelling article, which is highly enlightening.

The hub of the action: what a great diorama! So much

going on. And the real feel of a campaign underway.

The foot soldiers slog slowly past vehicles that are

starting to pile up in a picturesque bocage traffic jam.

It ain't all fun and games. Here we get a

glimpse of the cost of combat.

Since returning to model-making I've begun to go back to those youthful dreams of occasionally doing it as a possible source of income. Idle speculation, perhaps? Well, it looks and sounds like a dream job to me, although I expect for most who do it supplements other and better more reliable incomes. Still, I smiled when I read this, in John Rulton's article: 'With a need to achieve a realistic view a short holiday in Normandy proved beneficial.' [3]

Due to the nature of the commission, which was designed in part to contextualise some of the vehicles that the Duxford IWM collection has in the Land Warfare Hall, within a scene of British troops behind the front line, the Germans aren't so well represented on this diorama (whilst they are in the collection of real vehicles). What little German content there is is limited to some abandoned materiél and a few hapless prisoners, all that remains of the once triumphant Whermacht in this part of northern France.

Not so much 'Achtung, Panzer!' as 'Kaput, Sonderkraftfahrzeug!'

An abandoned 88mm Flak gun, with the bogies detached,

and a nice mess of empty shell cases lying strewn around.

The 'master race' subjugated. The indignity

of it: even my pic of them is crap!

It's fascinating to read the scenario that's envisaged by the team that built this superb model, and the various processes involved in realising it. I discovered that most of the vehicles were made using commercially available kits, almost all of which were souped up considerably. But there were also some scratch built elements, from the beautiful farmhouse, by Dan Taylor, to a Fremch farmers cart, and even some of the vehicles; for example John Rulton did the Morris C8 Quads, which were then cast in resin by Milicast. 

I didn't know this initially, as I thought all the figures were AB, but the MM article says there are also a good number by Milicast. There are about 400 figures on the diorama in total. I haven't counted the number or listed the types of vehicles. But I think I might try and do so on my next visit! The model itself is 8 feet by 4 feet, and was made in four 4' x 2' modules. When time allows I'd like to fill in a bit more detail about the model and the scene it depicts. But for now I hope you might enjoy the pics.

An MP directs another artillery team into a field.

A close up of the beautiful figures in the officers area, 

a couple of dispatch riders chat to an MP.

Loading the ambulance. Are those the dead on

stretchers at rear, respectfully covered?

The beautifully built destroyed farm.

Damn those reflections!

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NOTES:

[1] It's from this same Latin term for 'bundle of sticks' that we also ultimately derive the word fascist.

[2] Thanks to Robin Buckland and Military Modelling for permission to use these pics (and one or two helpful pieces of information about the content of some of them as well!).

[3] Destinations in current 'research' itinerary: Waterloo (Ligny, Quatre Bras, etc.), Smolensk, Maloyaroslavets, most of Austria... and now New Zealand, so see the Peter Jackson / Perry Twins Chunuk Bair diorama!

Painting Progress: AB Napoleon, Generals & Staff - Pt. I

More Work In (Very Slow) Progress

Mounting the horses on lolly sticks, and starting to undercoat.

Riders also undercoated.

As mentioned in a previous post, I intend to have command stands for the generals in my Russia 1812 wargaming, where my armies will be in 6mm & 10mm, in larger scales as well, as Callan and Schneider do in the Callan movie. To this end I have recently purchased a bunch of figures from the AB range, in 18mm, as well as some Perry/Foundry 28mm.

Blocking in base colours on the horses.

Barton can certainly sculpt horse-flesh!

As already detailed in several prior posts, I worked on an Allan Perry Napoleon Crossing The Alps figure, based on the famous and iconic David painting, in 28mm. That was my first proper venture into this area. Well, actually... I did also buy and paint up the Warmodelling 15/18mm Borodino Nap, some time back, which minis I may return to (at some point!). Anyway, putting to one side concerns over strict chronologies of past activities, I'm currently painting the 18mm AB figures, which are fabulous little masterpieces, sculpt-wise. I got Napoleon and staff (8 figures), Ney as an individual, plus Poniatowski with an ADC, all mounted.

The next three individual close-up pics demonstrate the beauty of the AB figures, I think (please make allowances for the unfinished state of my paint-job!).

Marshal Ney, sans chapeau! At this point I've superglued the riders to their horses.

Poniatowski (a one-piece casting).

Poniatowski's ADC (another one-piece).

I decided to do Anthony Barton homage in my approach to painting his little wonders, and undercoated them in Humbrol matt white enamel. As he rightly points out in a painting tutorial he did for Eureka Miniatures (which you can find here: Painting Small Figures by Tony Barton), the current fashion for undercoating in black isn't an approach many (if any) self-respecting fine artists might employ, as a dark undercoat kills the luminosity of any brighter colours layered over the top.

There's also what he refers to as the 'scale/distance effect', or some similar term, whereby small objects, which by their size appear farther off, need to be brighter than normal in order not to appear dull, etc. The guide is an entertaining as well as informative read, as for example, when, having lambasted black undercoat ('I realise it’s one shortcut to lining out the various parts, but I think it produces a very coarse effect') he goes on to damn drybrushing as 'another unrealistic abomination'!

Boney & bodyguard.

Roustam & another bodyguard.

Given his prowess as both a figure sculptor and painter, it's got to be worth reading this guide, although whether Barton's ideas will suit dyed-in-the-wool abominators conditioned by years of black undercoating and drybrushing is a moot point. Certainly I have seen for myself how much brighter colours are on miniatures when painting over a white base coat (but as a Fine Art graduate I knew about this anyway), but I have to say that in other respects - chiefly the fact I often felt I needed to do more to achieve darker under-painted areas (e.g. behind detail like fancy lace or braid) - I'm not sure if his approach isn't a bit too labour intensive for my purposes. 

With thousands of miniatures to paint, I can only contemplate this approach for these few showcase command stands.

More blocking in of base colours... slowly but Shirley...

I intend over this and the next however many posts to document the work on these minis. This might be a bit piecemeal, as I can't find the camera on which I took the first few pics, so (as things stand at the time of posting this) the pics showing now represent the second or third stage. Stage one was basing and undercoating in white. Stage two was blocking in the main colours.

I eventually decided to remount the figures individually, as the paint was rubbing off in various places when I was working with multiple figures glued to lolly sticks. I've re-based them, using UHU, on wine bottle corks, cut into two or three pieces. This means each mini can now be handled separately, and will hopefully therefore require less of the repeated touching up I was doing before.

They're such gorgeous figures they really do deserve the individual approach!

Lolly-sticks abandoned in favour of individual wine-cork mounts.