July 31, 2022
As noted last week, while hunting around for something else, I came upon a pack of the Pulp Figures’ film crew… unpainted and missing their camera (used with something else). I decided to make a new camera out of Evergreen and Plastruct plastic. Here is the painted result.
Another unexpected find was a pack of WWI Peter Pig command post figures. It included two motorcycles. I decided to paint one up for my British WW2 North Africa forces.
After more than a year of working on the figures and equipment for my 15mm North Africa collection, I can now turn my attention to terrain. Since there is an overlap between terrain, equipment and figures with the bunkers I will be using, I decided to begin there with eight Italian AT bunkers. I have read numerous times that the Italian defenses at Bardia were 18 miles long with regularly spaced AT and MG bunkers. For my AT bunkers I decided to use some that are made by Gaming Models (Hex #4). According to what I have read (I have not seen any pictures of their AT bunkers), they were roofless, so I left off the roofs that GM provides and turned the GM bunkers upside down because placed that way their gun openings were perfect for the Command Decision Italian 47mm AT guns. I gave each of the bunkers a floor made from Evergreen plastic that I textured with putty. I then gave each bunker a surround of Milliput that I textured using a toothbrush.
I followed up the AT bunkers with four Italian heavy machine gun bunkers. Again the bunkers are modifications of bunkers by Gaming Models (Hex #3) and the figures are by Command Decision. In terms of color, they came with a gray primer. The colors I use are Vallejo Model Colors. I gave them a base coat of black. I then dry brushed them with German Cam Orange Ochre. I followed that with a lighter dry brushing of Ochre Brown. I then gave them a lighter dry brushing of Saddle Brown mixed with German Cam Orange Ochre and then a light coat of Beige mixed with a little German Cam Orange Ochre.
With the bunkers done I decided to take a break from North Africa, and I turned my attention to some early, very Pulp-era armored cars in 28mm. The first one I put together was the Panzer Garage MTM-2 which is a “homemade” armored car used in the Spanish Civil War. The second armored car is the 28mm Copplestone Castings’ Rolls Royce armored car. Both of these will probably find their way into the Gordon Institute vehicle pool.
By the end of the week, I decided it was time to make some rubber molds for terrain I will be using with my North Africa collection. These are not dramatic pieces - a couple of low berms, one with and one without sandbags. I got the makings at Hobby Lobby which may have been more expensive than necessary. I made the frame/box that the mold material was poured into out of Duplos. Six hours later the molds were set and ready to use. I haven’t done this in years and probably wasted a lot of the compound in the process, but it was a learning process, and the Duplos worked great, didn’t leak and came apart easily when it was time to remove the rubber mold.
Among the hundreds of period photos I have looked at in preparation for my North Africa project, I noticed that entrenched tents seemed to be a common theme... providing protection from both the elements and the enemy. Consequently, I decided to do a few for my collection. The ground surface and sandbags are all Milliput. The entrenched tents are old Civil War tents that I had on hand (have lots of them for my 15mm Civil War collection). I surrounded each tent with Milliput, then textured the ground surface with a toothbrush and added Milliput sandbags.
July 24, 2022
This week I completed the last of my 108 Italian riflemen. With those done I turned my attention to the completion of the Italian light machine guns. By mid-week I finished most of my Italian mortar teams. I say most because I would like two more Peter Pig Italian medium mortars (one pack), but Brookhurst is waiting for a restock so I am waiting for their restock.
Two Lancia 100mm gun trucks are due in the mail from Gaming Models this week. They will mark the last of my North African equipment for the Italians, Germans and British. When the Peter Pig medium mortars arrive (one pack with two mortars… four figures), they mark the end of the based figures with the exception of eight 47mm AT gun bunkers and five Italian machine gun bunkers… still waiting for the last of the bunkers to arrive from Gaming Models. That may seem a lot, but it’s really only about a week’s worth of work.
With the above 15mm situation as stated, I decided it was time to start working on some terrain for the North Africa collection. I’m beginning by making a piece that will serve as a master for resin defensive positions. The master is made of Standard Milliput (yellow grey) scored with a toothbrush and with Milliput sandbags added. I also did a simple berm and an entrenched tent.
At the close of the workbench week the two Lancia 100mm gun trucks arrived from Gaming Models. Unlike the four I had previously done, I wanted these with drivers behind the wheel. While looking for Peter Pig driving figures I came across another figure at a radio communication table and modified an unused Italian mortar crew figure to be part of that small communications-command vignette. That search for drivers also turned up three Peter Pig Germans having lunch, and I modified them with Italian sun helmets. With those unexpected figures completed I turned my attention back to the Lancia trucks and finished them as well.
My final project for the week was completely unintended. I accidented upon a pack of the Pulp Figures Film Crew. I have a number of these that I have completed over the years, but I immediately noticed that I had apparently used the camera for another project and then didn’t find a use for the crew members which remained in the bag unpainted. I decided to build a camera for them out of Evergreen and Plastruct plastic. I think that once it is painted it will look just fine.
July 17, 2022
The workbench focus this week was all 15mm Italian for my North Africa collection. The work included a medical unit, heavy machine guns, 47mm AT guns and advancing infantry (72 riflemen). I also did a group of Italians surrendering. Since no one I know of does Italians surrendering, I used the bodies of the Peter Pig Germans surrendering and gave them heads taken from Command Decision Italian figures. In the process of painting Italians, I discovered one unfinished German… an officer in an overcoat with a head replacement. I painted it and set it on a single small base.
July 10, 2022
I opened the workbench week painting two batteries of Italian 75mm towed field guns. When I bought most of this collection (almost two decades ago), I was clearly interested in representing both Flames of War and Command Decision. This is evident in the fact that I consistently purchased representations of equipment by both companies. In the case of the 75mm guns they are not size compatible. I will deal with this by using the Command Decision guns with the Operation Compass collection and the FoW 75s with Operation Crusader and Gazala. With those done I completed one battery of British 25 pounders (Command Decision) as captured Italian guns. I know that by Gazala 1942 the Germans were relying heavily on captured British 25 pounders because they were experiencing serious supply problems. Those same supply problems would have had the same impact on the Italians, so they would no doubt have been using captured British equipment as well.
Over the course of putting this collection together I have made a couple of errors in equipment purchases. These were not big errors (a pack of FoW Lorraine Schlepper self-propelled guns and a pack of Command Decision Bishops), but it turned out that they were not appropriate for the period(s) I am focused on. For a while I thought that was the case with a pack of Command Decision Marder III SdKfz 139 SPG 7.62mm guns, but as it turned out, they would have been available for Gazala 1942 so this week I painted them up as well. Because the firing compartment was large enough, I added two crew members in each which isn’t always easy in some 15mm pieces.
I ended the workbench week painting four Italian HQ bases.
July 3, 2022
This could be a limited work week at the Workbench because we’re having some plumbing work done that requires the removal of part of the garage floor and the garage is where the workbench is so I might not be spending much time out there this week.
Before the plumbing work began, I decided that I would do some modifying of a couple of items I bought on Saturday at the Brookhurst Hobbies’ Bring & Buy. The Bring & Buy is one of those events that I look forward to. It comes around once or twice each year. I sometimes find great treasure, but almost always find something(s) worth buying, and the prices are usually great. Two of the pieces I bought Saturday are the Dreadfire Portal and Eternity Stair by Games Workshop. I believe they are currently out of production and when found on eBay they are extremely expensive. These were not new; they were made and painted (not particularly well done). They were dirty and the Eternity Stair was missing one of its gargoyle supports. That said they were only $20 for the pair and, believe me, that is a good price. I moved one of the remaining gargoyles to a more central position to give the three remaining gargoyles a more balanced look. I cut off a lot of random skulls and covered a huge skull on the Eternity Stair’s base with Milliput to look like rock. The sides of the Dreadfire Portal were lined with skeletal reapers that I also covered with Milliput to look like rock. Both pieces have a central platform the center of which was embossed with classic GM images that I don’t treasure so I covered them with a plastic disc made of Evergreen plastic and scored to look like wood. Once they were cleaned, repaired and modified, I gave them new paint… mostly simple dry brushing.
With the Bring & Buy GW pieces done, I returned to my 15mm North Africa work. The Italian armor and soft skin vehicles are done, so I am starting work on the Italian towed artillery. I’m beginning with two batteries of 100mm howitzers. I think these are the only plastic pieces I have ever done by Flames of War. They are nice pieces (good detail) and easy to put together, but they are delicate which probably isn’t the best thing that can be said for something that the manufacturer is selling for using in wargaming.
I next turned my attention to two more batteries of towed Italian 100mm howitzers. One of those batteries is the old-school Flames of War blister pack metal version. The forth battery is the Italian Stroda 100mm field gun by Command Decision.
