Kubelwagen, SWS and Others

Roco Tiger II, HO scale, this kit is probably 50 years old.  Roco kept them in production for decades.

Slightly different view, I have a lot of these and have formed most of them into battalions.  Three are 4 in a platoon, 14 in a company, and 45 in a battalion.  Of course, late war finding a whole battalion together in one spot was pretty rare.

This was an experimental vehicle and no more than 5 vehicles have ever been claimed for production, with other sources claiming three, and most sources saying none were every completed.  I opted to have one in my late war German army as that seemed reasonable.

German infantry man a roadblock.  I like to have as many different vehicles in my collection as possible, but when it comes to experimental vehicles I prefer to limit the numbers to no more than a platoon of 5, 4, or 3 depending on the type of vehicle.

Another Roco Minitank, this time a Kubelwagen.  This particular model I got used and was pretty beat up.  I fixed several problems and now it soldiers on.  Infantry from Caesar Miniatures.
 

SWS and Ruins

German Hetzer light tank destroyer and E25 heavy tank destroyer cover the intersection with the support of infantry.

The building in the back with the green plants is Stately Wayne Manor from Funko Pop Town.  I don't think it is based on any specific Batman series but several of them from the animated versions look like this building.  I think it also makes a good government building from the WWII era.

SWS halftrack from Roco and the E25 from Filament Fighters, 3D printed model.

The SWS has been detailed by adding a machine gun to the front of the cargo compartment and a Jerry can to the rear side.  It is a very old model but with a good paint job and a little extra detail I think it holds up well for being 50 years old.

I have a wire mesh table that is oval shape, so I took a couple 2x4s and two sheets of chip board and bolted them all together so my table is about 4x8 feet outdoors on my gravel patio.  It looks towards the property boundary which is marked by a barbed wire fence and treeline.  I spray paint outdoors on this tabletop and make no effort to protect the top from overspray.  It makes for a varied table color and with the irregular surface of the chip board works well for urban ruins.  I have no idea what the other buildings are, they have been in my collection for over 20 years and I source building from wherever I can find them.
 

Late War German City

Very late war, Germany.

Could be Berlin.

Maybe Hamburg.

Perhaps Cologne.

By the end of the war the cities looked all about the same.
 

HO Scale Military Vehicles

French 75s in two by Caterpillar tractors.  These are 1938 versions with the pneumatic wheels, upgraded for high speed towing so they could be towed by trucks or high speed tractors rather than horses.

Filament Fighters Burma Jeep crane and truck, and Cadillac staff car.

I make pallets of supplies that fit my Roco trucks, mostly US 2 1/2 ton and Opel Blitz trucks.  Greens and grays for general cargo, wooden for general cargo, but could be civilian, red for explosives, and white for medical supplies.

Filament Fighters M18 Hellcat, and customized Roco trailer.  With a dome on top it can be used as a mobile aircraft control tower.

Roco 2 1/2 ton cargo truck for my medical unit on laundry day.
 

Army Staff Car

 WWII US staff car.  These should be olive drab in combat zones, but glossy olive for US Army, and glossy gray for US Navy in the United States.  Painted in glossy black they would probably work as a car to transport FDR or President Truman.

https://fidelismodels.com/collections/3d-filament-fighters-models/products/cadillac-series-75-staff-car

 

Cadillac staff car used for high ranking officers in World War Two. They were actually very common in Europe after the Normandy invasion, with olive drab paint jobs and full tactical markings.

 

This is a 3d printed Filament Fighters model sold by Fidelis Models in HO 1/87th scale.

 

I have about 50 Filament Fighters models and generally I like them a lot.  This particular one comes in a front and rear half.  It requires a little bit of sanding to make the roof as smooth as I like but it's not very time consuming.  I have one so far but I am sure I will get more of the staff car. 

Filament Fighters & Various Stuff

Rust-Oleum Flat White Primer.  I get it at Wal-Mart and Lowes.

Filament Fighters German WWII truck in HO scale.  I get them from Fidelis Models.

https://fidelismodels.com/collections/3d-filament-fighters-models

Filament Fighters Italian primer mover.

 

Hungarian tank by Railroad Connections.  3D printed but not a great model.

German heavy halftrack, 3D printed.

Filament Fighters 3D printed Hungarian tank, note the better detail with the wheels.

Hungarian tank turret.  I make these boards with large and small holes in them to hold tank turrets and other parts so they can be painted without the parts moving around.

Tank turret.

Resin cast trucks.

More resin cast trucks I have had these for decades but they needs wheels and assembly.
 

Hungarian Tanks and Crew

M40 Turan I Hungarian WWII tank.

It was 3D printed by Railroad Connections.  I did not like their stuff enough to buy more than a few of their vehicles.  Lots of little excess strings that are hard to remove and the striations are very bad.

This is a Filament Fighters 3d printed tank sold by Fidelis Models.  The same Turan tank as above but about three years newer.  The striations are much smaller and the detail is much better, and no excess plastic.

A much improved model.

I was happy to get these new Hungarian tanks since Orion just released their 1/72nd scale Hungarian Tank Crews set.

Tanks are HO 1/87 scale like the old Roco Minitanks.  Figures are 1/72nd scale, I have played mixing these two scale for about 60 years, so far.

Troops resting.

Chatting and planning.

Having a cup of coffee.

Alert!
 

Type 97 Tank

Orion 1/72nd scale Japanese WWII tank crews with a Filament Fighters Japanese Type 97 tank.

Tanks require a lot of maintenance and constant attention to stay running.

These tanks were quite the terror in China where the Chinese almost never had armor or anti-armor weapons.

Some troops rest while others work.

Three supervise while only one has a shovel.
 

Type 97 Chi-Ha Medium Tank

 

Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank used by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War Two.

More than 1,100 of them were made between 1938 and 1943.

They participated in combat in China, Philippines, Corregidor, Saipan, Guam, and Okinawa.

This 3D printed model in HO 1/87 scale comes unassembled in gray plastic.

It is sold by Filament Fighers from Fidelis Models.

I painted it green without first using primer paint.

I will get a few more and some will be camouflaged.

The tank was intended primarily for infantry support and the gun suffered from short range and poor armor penetration.

The leaning here is caused by the angle of the photo, not the tank!

Crew was four with a bow machine gun and a rear turret machine gun.  This kit is easy to assemble and will be a great wargame model.