German Troops

This figure is one of the German Winter Relief figures.

He is made out of  a hard plastic and is a semi-flat Germans soldier with grenade.

A second item is a mortar crew and mortar.

This third set is a communications group, with field phone.

 

These are all one piece and show troops in action.  They stand up pretty well.  They all seem to be about the same scale.  Not quite enough poses to make a wargame, but interesting historic figures none the less.

Anti-Aircraft Tactics

I have set up these guns in a four gun battery.

Anti-aircraft guns often set up in a square or diamond formation.

This allows all four guns to bear on a target from any direction.

They can put the fire direction equipment in the center of the guns.

That way wire runs don't have to be long for communications to the gun directors.

When the enemy is expected from a specific direction, such as along the coast...

Guns can be set up in a long row.

This formation allows guns to cover a longer area of coastline than a square.

And it's easier to fire at multiple targets using different guns.

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German Bofors 40mm Gun

 After I came across this picture on the Internet, I knew I had to do something about it.

 Then this model came out!

WWII Bofors guy by Zvezda, in 1/72nd scale soft plastic.

Just as Caesar Miniatures released 1/72nd scale German Anti-Aircraft crews!

So I built the kit right out of the box and instead of the British crew, I used Germans.

The kit is excellent, like is usually the case for Zvezda.  It fits together well, and takes regular model glue perfectly.

After the Caesar figures are washed with soap and warm water they take gap filling super glue just fine.  If you don't wash them, the glue won't hold.

The Caesar figures come with sheet plastic, with punch outs to make the bases.  I scruff the base up with a sanding stick so it's not so shiny and glue the figures down with super glue. The clear also had some odd clear plastic film on it, I peeled that off before use.

My plan is to give my Germans a battery of four of these guns.  The British crews will likely be transferred to the American Army for the Interwar period.  There are two different seated figures.  I put a drop of regular model glue on the seat and a drop of gap filling super glue on the figure bottom and the combination seemed to work.

The Germans captured them in Poland, France, and Norway and used them both on land and on sea.  They also manufactured a few near the end of the war.

German Bicycle Troops

A few years ago, HaT released bicycle troops.

They were hard to put together, but now this new version has solved most of the problems.

First of all, wash them carefully with soap and warm water, the mold release won't let glue stick otherwise.

I used a gap filling super glue and the figures went together well.

Fewer parts in the new set and much easier to put together.

As they bicycle alone the French countryside.

Nazi German Pazner III

Just as you were starting to think my whole collection is T34s, here are a few Panzer III for you.

There are at least 20 versions here, but all are Roco or conversions.  Flamethrower, Funklenk, and ammo carrier are seen here in addition to the tank.

I have a full battaion of them here.  Including some armored recovery versions and a few "what if" vehicles with the Panzer IV 75/43 medium length gun in the turret.

The ARV is a complex model but a simple design, put a box on the hull instead of a turret.

One snow plow version with a munitions carrier on one side and a Panzer III with skirts on the other side.  Note the explosive charge carriers in yellow.

I have made several versions of the side skirts.  Most of these are painted and are likely to get more attention in 2018, I think there will be a lot of painting next year.