More Work Bench

More of the Esci WWII Afrika Korps Germans in hard plastic in 1/72nd scale.

Notice the different color accessories on some of the men. I have done a lot of figure conversions in this group.

Some, like the man in the middle got new arms.

Bad photo, but the silver color mass in the background is about 100 PAeL Automatons.

I even dug a few metal figures out of the spares box and armed them with plastic machine guns.

Also, look at the man in the right corner, he is a Matchbox Afrika Korps figure in hard plastic with an Esci USMC flamethrower!

Whats On Mikes' Workbench?

I am working on the Esci 1/72nd scale hard plastic Afrika Korps set. It includes an 81mm mortar. I am also working on various other hard plastic WWII Germans from the spares bin.

Here are most of the mortars. I am mounting them on sheet styrene so they are sturdier for wargaming.

Some of these mortars have seen a lot of combat and are in bad shape. Others are brand new out of the bag. Here at the top is one glued to the styrene.

Notice the small bits of plastic sheet with boots glued to them. This is for the unit cobbler.

Some generic WWII Germans impressed into mortar crew duty.

Blinded Them With Science

Ykreol German Scientists working on important projects for the Fuhrer.

The Major speaks and The Assistant takes notes.

The men from the Gestapo are never far away when secrets are around, they are too!

The floors and walls are clean and the men and women work in a modern laboratory.

Science in 1/72nd scale. Little people working on big projects!

BCB

Recently I ordered a bunch of bits from Black Cat Bases, all in 28mm. Now I don't do 28mm but I figured I could use this stuff one way or the other. This is an exam table, I cut the legs down and mounted it on a plastic sheet.

I wanted to make science stuff. My Battle of Berlin game will include the race to capture Nazi scientists and science for Camrade Joe Stalin. Beakers, bottles, microscope, science stuff.

Using the bits of the table legs I made a rim for the table. This Eagle Games "tank" is a future Nazi tank under development.

More science stuff. I added the metal tube between the bottles.

My science will include Army, Air Force, Navy and SS scientists. Each working on UFO's, tanks, zombies, Egyptian magic, and who knows what?

Brewer Show

This is the big item I got at the show. A few years ago for the 40th anniversary of GI Joe Hasbro came out with some playsets that were similar to those issued 40 years before. This one had the tent and machine gun.

It also included a GI Joe who was a replica of the original ones, very poseable. He had the soft cloth cap rather than the stiff plastic cap most of the early Joes had. It was a great find.

Kit Show

What did I get at the Brewer Brothers Kit Show? The first item I got is this old kit, in 1/72nd scale. The Curtiss Condor was a US airliner used in the years running up to WWII.

The H-16 helicopter was tested by the US Army in the 1950s. It was a huge helicopter. I actually saw one at the US Army Aviation Museum at Ft. Rucker, AL. While never fielded it makes a good alternate history chopper.

While this kit is actually a bit smaller than 1/72nd scale the real helicopter is so huge it looks okay on the wargame table. I got two at the show and already had one. I would like to get a couple more for my Pentomic Army.

The Douglas World Cruiser was used by the US Army to set an around the world flying record. Several of the planes few in a flock together to make the trip. It is a big kit, I have a couple of them. On each of these kits I had cash and was able to get a good deal on the model. Bring small bills to shows since many vendors don't bring much money, it also helps to negotiate a bit.

I added a bit to my 1/6th scale army by picking up an MP44 and a PPSH from some vendor selling GI Joe size stuff. They always have a nice variety of items at these shows.

Soviet Attack

Soviet troops move ahead despite heavy fire from the enemy.

Different units get mixed together in the heavy fighting.

Zvezda artillery lends fire support to the attack.

The NCO points out targets to the artillery.

In the fluid combat of the Eastern Front infantry guard the guns from German stay behind units.

Soviet Infantry, PSC

Soviet troops from Plastic Soldier Company, with a comrade from Esci, all in hard plastic.

A light machine gun takes up position as an NCO directs targets.

Troops take cover behind rubble.

Soviet troops in the advance.

An officer directs the men towards the enemy.

Soviet Infantry

Plastic Soldier Company 1/72nd scale hard plastic WWII Soviet Infantry. Nice kneeling troops, same basic pose but one with a rifle and one with an SMG. Standing firing and crouching soldier.

The Soviets seem to have slightly large heads, but when compared to an old hard plastic Esci Soviet Soldier the helmet size is the same and so is the figure size.

Two leader figures, an officer and perhaps an NCO. I really like the man firing the PPSH. He is one of the two part figures. He fits together perfectly.


Light machine gunner team. I like that they give you both men. In my rule set you get a bonus to hit when you have full crews for weapons.

SU Inf

The Plastic Soldier Company hard plastic 1/72nd scale WWII Soviet Infantry.

The figures were just shy of $19 and in California with sales tax, over $20, but there are 57 troops per box.

Three of the troops, the man with the LMG has a separate arm.

I like the minor variations like the helmet and soft cap seen here or the different weapons.

Female soldier, medic and grenade thrower. Grenade guy looks a bit awkward, still good troops with great detail.

Plastic Soldier Company

As these instructions imply, these figures are easy to assemble but many are one piece figures and don't need any assembly.

Plastic Soldier Company makes these hard plastic WWII Russians. The box art is great and has nothing to do with the contents of the box. There is no heavy machine gun, there are no dead Germans or Russians, and the officer does not have a PPSH SMG.

Their website is very good and they have a big window in the back of the box so you can see many of the figures before you buy, I like this packaging.

Figures are molded in light color gray plastic. No flash and the attachment points to the sprue are very small is it's easy to put these guys to work right away.

Like their 1/72nd scale Germans some of the poses are a bit stiff, but none are bad. The helmets and heads are a bit big for my taste, more on that later. They fit perfectly and will soon be joined by Russians with heavy weapons. The Germans are their second set and it's obvious they are learning as the Germans are better than the Russians, but the Russians are very good. The style is a little chunky so they won't look good with Pegasus, but should look okay with Esci/ Italeri, especially the newer Italeri sets which are also chunky.