British Doorknocker

A few months back I got a Zvezda 2-pounder for my BEF project (still plodding along with that one; with a bit of luck they will be ready in a couple of months). Just when I had given up on getting a plastic 2-lb anti-tank gun, Zvezda came to the rescue. To my understanding, it is not entirely accurate for France, since a lot of units used a French 25mm anti-tank gun (almost as useless), but hey, it is too good to pass up. I used it as it, adding another figure from the Zvezda Vickers machinegun kit.

Lovely little kit, as most if not all of Zvezda's offerings are. I need to finish my command stand, the rest of the artillery and the Mathildas, and I will be pretty much done. Not everything will be entirely accurate, but it promises to be a fun little army on the table top.

Here is the state of the bench as of this afternoon. Most of the stuff is commission work.

That's all for now from Athens. Keep modeling!

German Early War Battalion Support

In addition to the three companies of line troops and the heavy company of machineguns and mortars, I've added some support elements. These were sourced from the excellent Zvezda mini-sets, with some additions from the venerable Esci Wehrmacht.

Here are three platoons of combat engineers. In order to differentiate different classes of troops, I've opted for basing two instead of three figures per base, so that it is readily apparent that these guys are special (and thus a great target for artillery fire). The two bases are mine detector teams, using one figure from the Zvezda set and one from the Esci Germans. The Zvezda miniatures are exceptional and although more petite than their Esci counterparts, they look OK on the same base. The third base is an Esci flamethrower and a simple infantryman.

Anti-aircraft support (where's the bloody RAF poms?) is a 20mm gun from Zvezda. Not much to say, except that the fit is so tight that I prefer to assemble the model and then run some Tamiya extra thin cement along the join lines. Capillary action takes care of the rest. This will probably spend more time shooting at infantry than planes.

The ubiquitous early war doorknocker provides the battalion with some much needed anti-tank firepower. Granted, it won't penetrate a Matilda, but other than an 88, nothing else is available 'till they invade Russia. Again the model is from Zvezda, with an extra crew from the Caesar 150mm howitzer.

Finally these guys. Nope, they aren't Wehrmacht. Any idea where they're heading?

That's all for now from cool, evening Athens.

German Early War Battalion

I've finally found some time to write up on my projects. Real life and the renovation of my old apartment have taken up too many hours of the day for me to blog. Still, I've been painting steadily and my early WWII German battalion is finally complete. It's been complete for a while now, but SWMBO has had other plans for my time. Kitchen appliances, bathroom fittings, you get the idea. Anyways, back to the figures. I used classic Esci and Revell for these. The Esci figures (reboxed by Italeri) were as perfect as when I used to buy them in my (very early) teens. The Revell stuff had a lot flash. I did not remove all of it, lazy sod that I am. After lots and lots of Feldgrau they were ready.

  Here are all nine platoons. The figures mix well together and have great detail as all of us know. There are still enough figs left over for another two companies or so.

 

The machinegun platoons were Esci and Zvezda. Zvezda are a bit more accurate with their sustained fire tripods but I like the old-fashioned stuff as well. 

  

Mortar platoon is Zvezda. Great little kit, not at all fiddly.

  

And  finally the command stand. All Esci. Radio man, officer (for once showing some common sense and wearing a helmet) and NCO.

This was a surprisingly pleasant experience. I thought that I'd be bored to death after all this feldgrau, but it was very zen in a way. No worrying about what design to paint or which colours to use. Just plain old field grey. Eventually all of these guys will get transport. I'm thinking about a mix of 251's, trucks and motorcycle combos. With the crisis in Greece its getting difficult to find a lot of stuff so I'm stuck with only 2 Opels, one for the battalion AA (a 20mm gun) and one for the AT battery (one door knocker). Still, better days for styrene are bound to come.

This is all from the Greek Geek household and a pleasantly cool Athens evening.

This is Sparta!

My first unit of Spartans for Basic Impetus is completed. I went for the 8cm frontage and 10 figures per base for the phalanx part of the army. All the figures are Zvezda Spartans, but I think I will add some of their older Ancient Greeks on the following bases.

I've also completed my first company of early WWII Germans (who will doubtless see action in later war battlefields as well). After the glorious colors of the Spartans and the kilts of the Highlanders, these seem kinda boring, but at least they are easier to paint. All are Italeri (ex-Esci) and Revell.
And for something more vibrant, here are the first of my Immortals. The Spartans have to have someone to fight (although Thebans will eventually be added to the list). I think after the German battalion and Immortals are completed, I'll do some vehicles just for a change of pace.
That's all from chilly (for once) Athens. Oh, I almost forgot. Blogger has been acting up and I can't post on other people's blogs, or even my own for that matter. Am I the only one with this problem?

Russian Tank Park

With the young master being ill almost constantly (the first year of kindergarten or day care or whatever you call it is hell on kids and parents alike), I've spent a good amount of time home working on my Russians. I had a bunch of different Russian tanks in various states of assembly (some still in the box in fact) and I decided to finally do something with them. Three weeks, five tanks.

First of all, the Pegasus BT-7s. Great little models and they've been assembled and ready for paint for the last year or so. If you are into early war Eastern Front they should be definitely in your "to buy" list. Easy to build, great detail, cheap. What's not to like?

Chronologically next is the Zvezda T-34. It's a 1943 model T-34 and one of the best snap together kits out there. Yes, no glue required, but I went ahead and glued it anyways. It's not particularly cheap (10 euros), but it looks great and there is absolutely no hassle involved. Italieri T-34 is about a euro cheaper but the amount of filling and sanding somehow detracts from the whole experience. The Armourfast T-34s are half the price but they look like crap. I think that next to the Matchbox T-34, this is the best one (with a 76mm gun that is; Pegasus and Revell have superlative T-34/85s)

Next up, the JS-2 (fast build) and ISU-152 (normal build) from Italieri. Don't. Seriously, don't. The normal build ISU was not so bad, other than the six-piece auxilliary tanks (6 pieces? 6? and they still look like crap?) and the the link-and-length tracks that don't really fit. The fast build kits look like they have a permanent erection. They're OK to bulk up your forces, but Pegasus stuff is just so much better and at almost the same price (about a euro's difference per tank). The only thing that I like about Italieri is their decal sheets.

Right now I'll go back to fantasy for a spell (I have some 15mm Irregular ratmen ready for paint) and then go back to WWII, probably to paint the hordes of Russian infantry I have based. Plus I'm running out of space. IKEA didn't have any more of those cool boxes I picked up last time and now my Russians are sharing space together with Cylons and Elves.

That's for now from Athens, where all hell is probably about to get loose.

The Red God of War

Reading WWII history will vividly illustrate the importance that the Red Army placed on artillery. The weapon densities, especially in the last part of the war, were mind staggering. Unfortunately Russian artillery was not well served in 1/72 plastic, up to now. The Art of Tactics series by Zvezda has done quite a bit to rectify this shortage.

First up is the Zvezda 122mm howitzer. An easy kit to build, comes with a premade base (duly discarded) and 2 figures. I added one more from the old Revell Russian set (a tanker if I am not mistaken, but he looks cool with the map and all).




Next is the 45mm anti-tank gun by Plastic Soldier Company. This is one of the best gun models out there. It's simple, pretty well detailed, but most importantly, the crew poses are excellent. They look exactly like a gun crew in action, preparing to fire at a German tank or strong point.



Finally, the Zvezda Katyusha model. Yes, it is a 1/100 model, so I'm technically cheating. However, since this will be used only as an off-table asset (having anything over a 75mm IG on the table is overkill in my view) so nobody should care much about it. This is a finicky model to assemble (I ruined one making some dumb mistakes). The soft plastic doesn't help much either. I also had some problems with the mat varnish as well, but nothing to worry about.

That's all from Athens, were fall is surely setting in.