High Power To Berlin

The Sov Arty Div is finally completed with the arrival of its High Power Regiment. The toy is an Airfix 5.5in gun converted into a 152mm Gun/Howitzer as per the teachings of Tim Gow. The tractor unit is converted from a toy road mender I found in a bargain bin my local toy shop. The crew are left over toys from the Italerai ZiS 76mm guns and Zvezda 85mm AA gun kits.

And the gun commander has only got one hand. How heroic is that?

MB Soviet Artillery Division

My first, and only, Sov Arty Div is nearing completion. I have resorted to modifying a civilian tractor into something resembling a suitable prime mover for the High Power Regiment.

So far the division comprises:

• 1 x Light Artillery Regiment (76mm gun model)
• 1 x LOG truck/tractor
• 1 x Light Artillery Regiment (76mm gun model)
• 1 x LOG truck/tractor
• 1 x Howitzer Brigade (122mm gun model)
• 1 x LOG truck.tractor
• 1 x AA Regiment (85mm gun model)
• 1 x LOG truck/tractor
• 1 x Guards Mortar Brigade
• 1 x TBC
• 1 x LOG tractor

Back Row - LOG trucks (the white blob is the cab not the work of the censor)

Front Row RtoL - Guards Mortar, 122mm, 76mm, 76mm, 85mm

Updates as they happen!

MegaBlitz Sitrep

That nice Mr Gow has sent me a copy of the MB rule book. Which I have read several times and am now gagging to take part in an MB battle.

I've decided that the period 1939-1942 is the most fruitful in terms of armies good, bad and indifferent. The chance to field utterly crap tank units in simple block colours was too hard to resist, so I didn't.

The Soviet artillery division is nearing completion. All is in place save a High Power Artillery Regiment and LOG tractor. I think Irregular Minis & FrontLine will be my friends here. I'll post up some pictures of the toys tomorrow. The second Soviet tank corps is also nearly done. Sporting a mix of medium and light tanks I think it looks quite the 1941. 

The 1940ish German infantry division has its three infantry regiments in place plus a horsedrawn LOG column. The 1940ish German panzer division is coming along nicely: pictures below.

Milling about waiting for a start date are my BEF and French toys. Updates as they happen!

Polarina Oil Seconds Before The Hostile Wehrmacht Takeover

1940ish Pz Div (part)

Back Row R-L: POL Column, Pz Abt 1, Pz Abt 2, Motor Inf Bn 1, Motor Inf Bn 2

Front Row R-L: A/T Battalion, A/T Bn LOG, AA Battalion

Танк корпус Ура!

I have finally completed, with help from SUH, the first of my MB Sov Toy Tank Corps. It is looking likely that there will be either three Tank Corps or two plus a Mechanized Corps. This is in addition to the two Rifle Corps and the projected Artillery Division. Interesting times in the toy factory.

Back row from the left:

Recce Battalions, AA Regiment, SPA Regiment + LOG Truck, SPG Regiment, Corps POL Truck, Corps LOG Truck

Front row from the left:

1st, 2nd, 3rd Tank Brigades, Motorised Rifle Brigade, HQ

Happy Easter!

PS Someone has done a  +1 on this post. Anyone know what this means? I think it's a good thing but I don't know why.

Logistics Is The Key (As Well As Fear)

Regular readers will recall I knocked up a couple of Soviet rifle corps a few weeks back. I was stumped for suitable LOG vehicles until quite recently. There's a stall in Birmingham's Rag Market which sells crockery, dvds and Days Gone By vehicles for cheap. I bought the two panje wagons pictured below for £1 each, not bad I'm sure you will agree. They are, possibly, a little too sophisticated: the one has rear doors and a cover for the driver. The other was a milk float in a former life but has been re-imagined into a socialist realist vehicle for LOG purposes. Besides the milk would have gone off by now.

Urrah!

Self-Propelled Artillery Goodness

Pegasus comes up trumps again with these beauties! Just a pic of the box for the minute but trust me I can hear engine sounds from within.

The Angels Wore Red

I've not been well the last few days. Managed, for months, to dodge all the flu & noro-virus malarkey all my friends have been laid low with but then I catch a cold! Bah!

You can tell I wasn't well while doing these Soviet air regiments. They look scruffy and at least one decal is hanging off the tail of the lend-lease Hurricane. Even the bases look poor to my streaming eye. The toys are all from Zvezda's 1/144 scale range for Art of Tactic. The LaGG-3 was a very poor aircraft despite its attractive lines. I was surprised that the Hurricane was quite noticeably larger than the LaGG and not much smaller than the Il-2. My favourite is, of course, the Sturmovik although even its combat performance was, apparently, propaganda enhanced. No matter, I weep for the toy Germans when they appear over the Megablitz battlefields.

Welcome to my new follower, kitnoob, I hope you enjoy what I do!

Time Spent On Reconnaissance Is Never Wasted

Early this morning Aggers asked via Test Match Special's FaceBook page what people were doing while listening to the match commentary. So I told him: 'I'm painting 1/72 scale tanks & troops for a Megablitz Soviet tank corps.' This went down enormously well with Aggers and Virgil. I know this because they read out and discussed my post for a couple of minutes. Fame at last and a bit of free publicity!

And which toys in particular? Why the recce battalion of course! I bought a boxed pair of BA-10s (Pegasus) yesterday along with the Art of Tactic Soviet Recce Troops. I wanted a mixed battalion of armoured cars and recce troops. Luckily I'd also scored a bagful of the Days Gone By toy trucks so transport, for once, wasn't a problem for my brave lads.

I made a tilt for the truck after rubbing down and washing the paint work. I'm definitely getting better at this task. The brown paper works very well but I discovered that a drop of Vallejo WW2 Russian Uniform mixed with white glue gives a really worn tarpaulin look. I'm not shy with this mix either: use loads of it to really soak the paper and mould it onto the tilt frame.

The BA-10 was made straight from the box minus its spare wheels. It's a nice simple kit but with quite a good amount of detail. I noticed that the white glue/black paint mix I use as an undercoat and key has produced a nice rough finish on the toy's surface. Really armour-like.

The toy troops come as a 4-toy team. I decided to split them up into pairs. Undercoated with a mix of white glue and Vallejo brown. Once dry I painted their camo suits with Vallejo Russian Green with a drop of Vallejo WW2 Russian Uniform. Once dry I used Revell Dark Earth for the camo splodges and a final wash of GW Dervlan Mud.

TTFN!

Tank Destroyers!

After resolving the production difficulties at No 1 Tank Factory, Birmingrad, manufacture recommenced. I'm actually quite chuffed with these two SU-85s. I think they look quite deadly. Especially to fascist vipers.

SU-85 & T-34 Brigades

Death To Gitlerites!

Read & Understand Before Building!

I bought a box of 1/72 SU-85 Tank Destroyers from ArmourFast the other day and last night I started the build. Armourfast you say? Oh, they practically build themselves don't they? Well, yes and no. The instructions on the back are straightforward enough provided you actually study them. Not the 'I'm-a-MAN-quick-look' which I did.

I put the first one's hull together with little difficulty until it came to the gun mounting. Not only did I glue it on upside down I also glued the top cover for the mounting behind the gun mantlet. I gazed at the big hole on top of the mounting and then the penny dropped. Cue much gentle slicing and prising to correct the error. And I had to make another top cover out of plasticard. Silly James

After that it was a piece of cake...........

PVA Glue & 'New Mod' In Place

TTFN!

SitRepRed

I've done a lot of dancing this week: three classes as of last night. To be honest I think I may be over doing it a little bit. My left Achilles tendon is a bit sore and it kept me awake all last night. I also had an argumentative follower to dance with last night. The maxim in swing-dance, as in any kind of partner dance, could have been coined by Stalin himself: FOLLOW THE LEADER. Don't stop dead in the middle of a move because it didn't follow the pattern you think it should. Follow the leader.

Anyway, talking of Stalin one's thoughts turn automatically to my ongoing Megablitz project. Which, as Tim Gow hinted at, is taking on a life of its own. My initial plan was to have two Soviet Rifle Corps, one Soviet Tank Corps and one Soviet Artillery Division. I think it will be bigger than that. And then there's the Germans. At least I'm  the leader...........

Here's some pictures of the latest toys to roll off the production line:

Revell's M16. Built straight from the box as an AA Regiment for one of the tank corps. A fairly straightforward kit. No single track link nonsense here. Undercoated in black; painted with Vallejo Russian Olive Green; weathered with Revell Earth Brown & Vallejo Dark Sand. The red stars are 20mm Hinchcliffe I got from ebay. The cover over the cab is a piece of brown paper envelope cut to fit and then painted with a mix of Vallejo Russian Uniform and white glue. The whole piece was then washed with GW Dervlan Mud. I use cork tiles to base my toys. I found the tiles placed outside a neighbour's house for disposal. I decided their future lay in other directions besides landfill. The base is painted earth brown; the toy glued on with it's magnetic square. Once dry I paint white glue on the base and shuffle the toy in my flock box. Spray of matt varnish and done.

1/76 Fujimi T-34/85. Built straight from the box as a Soviet tank brigade. Painted and based exactly the same as the M16. The tracks were a right bugger to get on. In the end I used lots of glue and cocktail sticks to wedge them in place. I tend to leave off stuff like headlights, aerials, AA HMGs and the like. They're fiddly and pointless given that I want these toys to play Megablitz and Crossfire with. Not exhibit them. Some may disagree and that's completely fine; I'm not changing.

Finally some pictures of the queue for the workbench:

Su-85 Tank Destroyer Regiment and Matchbox LOG truck with tilt frame in place.

Hanomags & Tank Destroyers

I've got some Italian stuff too............

RKKA War Correspondents

Soviet War Correspondents

Left foreground is Mikhail Sholokhov. Behind him is Yevgeny Petrov and to his immediate right is Alexander Fadeev. Photographed somewhere on USSR's western front in August 1941.

I'm putting together a Soviet officer's uniform and equipment to represent a comrade correspondent with The Red Army during The Great Patriotic War 1941-1945. The Soviets do not appear to have had a dedicated war correspondents branch. This is unlike the British, Germans and Americans who did have such service branches. So the uniform will be a standard Army one but with a Soviet camera or two. I'm told I'll be issued with a PPSh for self defence as the need arises. Soviet kit is, in comparison to British, German & US, cheaper, more comfortable and practical. 

I've started the ball rolling with a pair of officer's boots. This is because I believe that all worthwhile impressions start from the feet up. Not head down. 

URRAH!

A Gift

My dear old Strange Uncle Hugh sent me some stuff yesterday. He's a smashing old buffer and it seems he has even more Soviet stuff he no longer needs. Kit that will soon be in my sweaty paws!

He sent:

1 x Zis 3 a/t gun plus servants. So that's two guns plus maids and butlers. Nice!

3 x Metal tank commander types

2 x strips of metal bags, bedrolls and broomsticks

3 x metal loggy things

3 x sheets of Red Stars and Soviet tactical markings.

All in 1/72 &/or 1/76 scale

An impressive haul, Thank you, Uncle!

Tank!

As promised here are the tank brigades for my upcoming toy tank corps. I've gone for a mix of Lend-Lease M4s & T-34s to reflect the large numbers of EmChas the Soviets received. It also reflects what models I had available at the start of this project! Always an important consideration for a make-do-and-mender like myself. All the toys are from Armourfast. Which is, as far as I'm concerned, a glorious company. One that releases quick build toys with the minimum of faff and the reduced potential to send me into a demented frenzy is ok by me. Unlike the Revell PzKpw III/M which I'm building at the moment......

Some pics!

On to Berlin!

Ronsonski

Urrah!

More when I have it!

Toy Trucks 4

Finally! Things have been a bit chaotic since my last post. Happy to report that stability is being regained along with some forward momentum too!

I've finished the Motor Rifle Brigade for my developing Tank Corps. Wiki kindly provides a list of Soviet Tank Corps from WW2. Now I've just got to pick a suitably heroic one to base my toys on. I'm now working on the Tank Brigades and AA Regiment. So, a full parade is in the offing. Stay tuned, Megablitz-hounds!

TTFN!

Toy Trucks 3

Production moves inexorably forward to painting, weathering and red-starring. Just the bases to go. Plus some work on the appalling tyres of the truck on the left in the first pic.

I've had a request from Alan/Tradgardmastare for details on how I weathered these vehicles. It's very straightforward mainly because I want it done quickly with the minimum of fuss.

I use Earth Brown, a piece of paper and trimmed down largish paint brush.

Dip the brush in the Earth Brown; skim most of it off back into the pot; then I work the brush back and forth on the paper to get it almost dry.

Then with light back & forth strokes I work from the front of the vehicle. Ideally the brush should lightly touch raised surfaces. Repeat as needed until you're happy. I try to think logically where muck would accumulate. That includes doors and running boards where chaps get in and out of the vehicle.

I then repeat the process with a pale sand colour paint. This time I only brush over upper surfaces like the front of the cabs and the tilts. I also dry brush the windscreens with the sand to get a filthy window effect.

And that's it.

Trucks Deluxe (apart from the tyres)

More tyre trauma

Propaganda & Radio Trucks

Urrah!

Toy Trucks 2

The idea that mass production was developed by the criminal Ford is clearly rubbish. Soviet ingenuity and expertise has the answer. For everything.

Trucks reach the undercoat stage of their journey to the front:

Staff Car & General Transports

Trucks For Lorried Infantry

Toy Trucks 1

Based on the wise maxim of 'in Megablitz you can never have too many trucks', I have been scouring the trash toy troughs of my local charity shops. As usual they came up trumps and I am now the proud owner of a batch of trucks. They vary from the roadworthy to the 'you're not actually going to ride in that are you?'

That's where the Birmingrad Motor Repair Facility Number 1 comes into play. The appended photographs shows the busy shop floor and five of the trucks. Three of them are destined for service in my Soviet tank corps; hence the tilts. One tilt I salvaged from a £shop toy. The other two tilts were made from plastic T-bar sections. Brown paper, liberally dosed with white glue, was fitted over the t-bars. The inverted truck has had its front axle housing rebuilt and will be a LOG job. The white vehicle needed a new roof: hurrah for plastic card!

Chopshopski

Tilts fitted and paint work sanded down

I'm quite pleased with the way the tilts have turned out. Fitting wheels to the inverted truck is problematic but  Soviet can-do will overcome. Or else.

TTFN!

All I'm Saying Is.....

........Fiddly!

PS I still think Zvezda's AofT is ace.

PPS Welcome to Steve's Wargames Stuff. His blog seems to have disappeared for some reason.