Truck and French 75

In the 1930s the US Army decided that it took up less shipping space to ship mechanized units rather than horse drawn units.

So they started updated their artillery by replacing wooden wheels with rubber tires.

Various trucks were used as the Army had a very small budget and trucks were improving constantly so they did not want to buy a lot of any one kind.

I am putting little boxes of supplies in the bed of these trucks for use by the artillery as ammo dumps.

I have also been working on armored cars.
 

RCMP and Tanks

 

Obsolete American tanks used for training by the RCMP.

The Germans swept through France and the UK could fall any time.

The RCMP might be the only defense in some parts of the country.

Bren guns were even being made in Canada.

And so the RCMP could pick up a few just in case.

Troops Training

US Army troops in training.

Making some use of cover.

Advancing.

Charging.

 Training with folks from up north.

Tank Infantry in the Forest

These American tanks are training up north.

The northern part of North America has such a long shoreline it can't be properly defended.

So troops need to be ready to push any invaders back into the sea.

Tank and infantry cooperation is important.

Training with tanks is essential for infantry.
 

Tank Training Mission

 

These new tanks were being used to train troops.

They were very good at moving across country.

This is a mass tank attack.

A training mission today.

But tomorrow it could be real.

In the Forest

The troops move silently through the trees.

They are skilled woodsmen.

They rallied to the colors.

The new tanks were a welcome help.

It will be impervious to British cannons.
 

Painting Tanks

These are the slush cast model tanks that I think were made by a company named Barclay in the 1930s.

I have stripped their paint off and removed a number of dents.  One of the tanks had a crack in it and I patched it with epoxy glue.  Since I plan to repaint these I buy old ratty dented tanks.  That way the collectors can have the nice ones and I get cheaper tanks.

One of these tanks had the gun barrel broken off.  I will replace it with a longer barrel.  My plan is to make it the anti-tank support tank for the five tank platoon.  I am ready to paint them with Rust-Oleum gray primer.  After that they will be painted olive drab from Testors.
 

Gray and Green

Despite their appearance these things seem to be able to move on rough terrain.

They came bursting out from between the rocks as the tanks approached.

The two sides close.

Overhead view of the battle.

Who are these guys?

They seem to be controlling the little gray ones.
 

Close With the Enemy

The infantry advance on the enemy.

The enemy makes a move on the left flank.

They close with some of the tanks.

Then more appear at the center.

And the right flank too!

There seem to be a lot if them!
 

War of the Worlds 1938

Tanks moving forward.

Some infantry support.

Tanks get beat up even in training.

Infantry moving through the tanks while the tanks stop and provide long range fire support.

 The infantry are a mixture of Hat WWI US Army and Strelets Early WWII US Army for my 1938 US Army.  In 1938 Orsen Wells did a radio broadcast of an adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel War of the Worlds.  Some people actually thought the Martians had really landed in Grovers Mill, New Jersey.  So I thought it would be cool to build an army to fight those Martians using a combination of toys from 1938, and some new ones too.  You can listen to the broadcast for free here on youtube.  I like it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q7tN7MhQ4I&t=2417s