June 26, 2022
This week was all about Italian equipment for my 15mm WW2 North Africa collection. I completed the second armored car company with AB40s by Battle Honors and AB41s by Command Decision.
I did several AS-37 trucks by Gaming Models. I added cargo using Legos covered with facial tissue. The drivers are Peter Pig with new heads taken from Command Decision Italians. I also did more TL-37 tractors and four Lancia trucks. The TL-37 and Lancia trucks are also by Gaming Models.
I finished up the last of my Italian armor with three Carro Cammando armored command vehicles by Command Decision. I gave each of them tank commanders by Peter Pig.
June 19, 2022
I opened the workbench week with four Lancia 100mm howitzer trucks by Gaming Models. I gave each gun an artillery crewman from a pack of Plastic Soldier Company Italian 100mm howitzers.
Last Sunday I found a slightly broken Hasbro Razor Crest spaceship from Mandalorian. All that was missing was the rear load door/ramp. I made a replacement using Evergreen and Plastruct plastic. I’ll paint it and the ship later.
With the Razor Crest repair done, I returned my attention to my 15mm Italians and did two FoW Lancia da 90/53 guns… essentially the Italians’ version of the German 88mm AA/AT. They are complex pieces because they are composed of 24 pieces for each of the tiny models, but they look great when done.
My next Italian project was a FoW pack of motociclisti.
I closed the week out by painting three Italian Autoblinda 40 armored cars by Battle Honors… one for each platoon of my second AC company.
June 12, 2022
This week I continued working on my Italians for my 15mm North African collection. My focus began with the M11/39 medium tanks of the fifteen-tank company I am doing for Operation Compass. In December 1940 the Italians had approximately 70 of these tanks in North Africa. They were the only Italian medium tanks to see action during Operation Compass and by the end of that campaign they were all out of operation either as a result of mechanical breakdown or destruction by the British. I did six of the fifteen with tank commanders in the turret hatches. Because those hatch covers were cast closed, I sat a commander on the closed hatch cover and cut an open cover out of Evergreen plastic.
With the M11/39 tanks done I turned my attention to some later Italian armor, the Semovente 75/18. These began arriving in North Africa in January 1942 and the upside down yellow and black triangle represents the first unit to arrive and served as part of Ariete Division, one of the two Italian armored divisions in North Africa. Its arrival was too late for Operation Crusader, but it was available for Gazala in 1942. Like the M11/39s, both of the Semoventes’ main crew hatches were closed, so I again set a tank commander on a closed hatch of two of them and made open hatch covers out of Evergreen plastic for those two Semoventes.
I closed out the workbench week working on Italian command cars. For this purpose, I used Battle Honors’ Fiat 508. My use of this is a bit of a stretch because the car I used was the Polish version of the Fiat 508 command car. The Polish version came without doors, but it is as close as I can get in 15mm to the Italian version of the Fiat command car used in North Africa. I carefully removed the cast steering wheels that were on the left and glued one back into one of the cars, but on the right side, which is correct for the Italians. I wanted one car empty. I added seated figures. Those are Peter Pig Germans. I removed the Peter Pig heads and replaced them with the heads of Command Decision Italians.
June 5, 2022
I opened the week painting tanks for the second (blue) company of medium Italian tanks (M13/40). On these tanks I added tank commanders to the turret hatches (the tank commanders are by Peter Pig).
I next decided that I would make some removable cargo tray options for the 4 Gaming Model Lancia trucks I had with open cargo areas. Two were made with cargo pieces from a Plastic Soldier Company German Stowage pack, and two were made from Legos covered with facial tissue. This gives me three options for these trucks: empty cargo areas, transports for L3/33 tankettes, or these removable cargo trays.
With the cargo trays done, I returned to the last of my 15mm Italian medium tanks (M13/40). With those completed I have two M13/40 tank companies of fifteen tanks each. They will be my Italian armored force for the Operation Crusader and Gazala 1942 elements of this collection. For the Operation Compass phase of this collection, I still need to paint one company (15 tanks) of M11/39 tanks.
This week I also cleaned up the Fisher Price windows I removed from the Beach House toy I bought at the swap meet a couple weeks ago. They are now ready to be used in the interiors I plan to build for the Gordon Institute campus.
