PSC SdKfz 251, some discoveries...

Undercoated and ready to roll - note the masking tape loop
it's tacked on to.

One of the side-effects of yesterday's scenario writing is that I decided the German CO needed a SdKfz 251/10 (the 37mm PaK variant).

Usefully, I have a stash of Plastic Soldier Company boxes sitting on the shelf which includes at least 2 boxes of 251/D's, as well as the box for the conversion kit which allows you to turn the vanilla 251 into a Stummel (75mm short), 37mm, Flamm or 81mm mortar carrier.

Have to say, nice kit: goes together easily barring the external MGs, which can be a little fiddly to get off the sprue without damaging them. Still, it looks the part, and shouldn't take long to pretty up to tabletop standard. As an aside, the 250 kit is IMO slightly better as you get more variants (any at all, in fact!) in the vanilla box.

Discoveries:

1. a loop of masking tape, sticky side out in both directions, makes a great holder for a model when you're wielding spray undercoat. Tip nicked from the folks at Crimson Guitars, who actually usually superglue two bits back-to-back for the same effect - basically reasonably sticky but low tack tape.
2. Revell Contacta and PSC plastic is for some reason not a good combination - for me at least the solvent doesn't produce a sticky surface very fast - in fact it makes their plastic stick to fingers better than to itself
3. Thanks to Tom Webster-Deakin for the tip on how to unblock a liquid poly nozzle - hold it in a gas flame till it's red hot, and the glue vaporises, then dunk it in cold water. Works a treat.

Some half tracks - yes, I actually did some modelling today...

... in amid the domestic chaos that is usual on a Sunday.

Three PSC SdKfz 250/9's - that's the recce version with the 20mm cannon in a turret. Dead easy to put together - typical nice PSC kit, very hard to get wrong.

One Flames of War SdKfz 250/5 - that's the 'Rommel' command blister. Resin and metal, and absolutely bloody horrible to work on. The tracks didn't fit without some pretty ruthless application of a file, and the bedstead aerial requires you to be capable of microsurgery, as far as I can tell. As I grumbled on Twitter at the time:

At risk of sounding like a bit of whinge, really not sure how ordinary people are supposed to attach the bedstead aerial on the FoW SdKfz 250/5. Essentially its five bits of whitemetal held on to the resin hull by 8 0.5mm^2 tiny dobs of glue and much prayer and cursing.

— Trouble At T'Mill (@TaTM_blog) March 17, 2019

   To add insult to injury I dropped two of the stanchions on the floor somewhere during the third and fourth attempts to get everything to stick, and completely lost them, so two of them are actually thin bits of MDF. For future reference, a cheap UHU clone and lots of patience actually works better then superglue + accelerator.

That said, they're all now undercoated with AP Desert Yellow (my goto Dunkelgelb/Mittelstien) ready for a quick camo job tomorrow lunchtime. I should also note that unlike, say, PSC and FoW Shermans, they are pretty much exactly the same length to the millimetre.

More on the 15mm PSC Churchill NA75 conversion

Just a quick note: if you're planning on doing this, by far and away the best source for the 75mm parts is the PSC M4A1(76)Wet kit.

Why?

Well:

a) the bits you need are specifically marked as 'not required for this kit'. (Good old PSC 'almost generic' sprues!)

b) the British used the Sherman IIA (aka M4A1(76)W) in Italy, so you can use the rest of the kit.

Problem solved :D

15mm PSC Churchill NA75 conversion

OK. I was going to blog one of several outstanding IABSM battle reports, but I'm feeling a bit smug just now, so here goes something else.

Churchill sprue

After the fall of Tunis during WW2, there was a certain degree of dissatisfaction among the Churchill crews, as it was felt that the 6pdr gun fitted was a bit light on range, but more importantly its HE performance was inadequate for an Infantry tank. To this end, Capt. Percy Morrell of the Royal Engineers came up with the devious idea of fitting an M3 75mm gun (from a KO'ed Sherman M4) to a Churchill IV. You can read the whole story (in his words) here, but let's just say it was an interesting feat of engineering.

Battlefront actually make one of these, but that's kind of not the point, since they're probably a tenner a pop after postage, and I have boxes and boxes of Shermans and several spare Churchill sprues from PSC.

M4A2 sprue

The conversion turns out to be very like Morrell's only in miniature. Build the Churchill body, set it aside. You'll then need the marked pieces from the Churchill sprue, and also from the Sherman sprue (I used an M4A2).

Assemble the shell of the turret, and then take a file to the front to flatten off the curve. Affix the trunnion, the (thin) mantlet and the 75mm from the Sherman, then add hatches and commander to taste.

And then, as they say, here's one I prepared earlier. I left the tank off the back, as several other folks models don't have it, and it's a pain to make fit.

Morrell? Got a promotion to Major and an MBE.

Enjoy!

New Plastic Soldier Company 15mm German paras

And I quote:

15mm Late War German Fallschirmjaeger.

Company sized 15mm Late War German Fallschirmjaeger box set. Contains: 141 figures, including 3 x panzerschreck teams and panzerfausts. All you need to build a 3 platoon company (including company HQ).

Had I not already stockpiled a box of the Battlefront ones, I'd be grabbing these like a shot. 

The Great War

Well, you were going to get an unboxing series on the PSC Great War box which arrived today (OK, it arrived Tuesday but I only picked it up from the sorting office today) but my camera's flat, the wife has nicked the iPad charger and my iPad's flat, and my iPhone camera needs to go back to Apple as its autofocus has stopped working....

... so you'll have to wait. :(

Also. watch out for a fun announcement for an upcoming Meeples episode :D

PSC D-Day anniversary sale

Book early to avoid disappointment. 25% off most products through midnight on Sunday.

Kickstarter watch - PSC's The Great War

An interesting one to wake up to this morning. Plastic Soldier Company have announced a Kickstarter for a Command and Colours Great War variant - link at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1992455033/the-great-war-0

It looks rather interesting - not the least the new range of plastic 15mm British and German troops to go with it. I have pledged - after all, it's a boardgame, so my New Year pledge doesn't count ;) will be interested to see how the figures compare to the Battlefront ones. 

PSC Sherman M4A1 75s, finished

A bit cold to be out in the workshop, but I wanted to get these finished...

Vallejo gloss (brushed) varnish on the areas where the decals were going to go, and then fortunately the next bit didn't involve smelly paint, so I got to do it at the kitchen table.

The decals are waterside ones from Decal Details, who do a pretty decent and cheaper than Battlefront range, via an eBay seller who I'll be using again. It took me a while to get a process going I was happy with, but floating them off the backing with a brush after an initial soaking seemed to work pretty well.

Next stage was a matt varnish (GW Purity Seal, as I had some to use up; outside, as I still don't have a spray booth!), and then quickly back inside in the warm so the varnish didn't frost.

Once that was dry, out into the workshop (smelly stuff alert) for a brush on of some Humbrol enamel weathering washes (I WILL get some PSC ones but they spent ages out of stock - and oh look, they are AGAIN!): brushed on pretty liberally, left to dry for about 20-30 mins then wiped off quite roughly with a cotton bud, leaving it in the crevices and areas that'd gather dirt. This mucks up the tank quite nicely and also blends the transfers in even more, taming the rather stark white. It also leaves a slight sheen, which to my mind isn't bad thing. (I will, though, probably give them another light coat of matt varnish next time it's not windy and cold out!) The tanks are probably muckier than they should be but, know what? Don't care :D they look ok to me.

WIP (cont'd): PSC 15mm Shermans

Done. Well ... done to the 'I can put 'em on a wargames table tomorrow' stage - assuming the cat doesn't knock 'em on the floor while they're drying by the radiator.

PSC US Armour spray, drybrush with 50/50 Vallejo Brown Violet/US Field Drab, wash with Army Painter strong tone ink. Commander's jacket is US Field Drab, tracks are AP Monster Brown drybrushed with 50/50 AP Uniform Grey/Gun Metal.

US stars and MicroSol/Set on order this week, at which point I'll also weather them with some of the Humbrol enamel washes I have.

Review and WIP: Plastic Soldier Company M4A1 75mm Shermans

My ... rather large stash of 15mm vehicles is starting to take a dent, slowly. Today (as I need them for Monday's IABSM game down the club) I dug out a box of the PSC M4A1 Shermans (not to be confused with their M4A1 (Wet)[1], M4A2, M4A3 or M4A4 Shermans!).

You get 5 identical sprues: three part track assemblies, top/bottom/front hulls, top/bottom turret, three part hatch, three part gun+mantlet, tiny bow MG and a choice of US or UK commander figures.

It's a bit fiddly, but practise helps, and I am going to have to get used to it, since I have at least ten more of various marks of PSC Sherman to assemble. 'Yellow' liquid poly (you know what I mean) works fine: the trick with the tracks is to do them first, glue the bottom half onto the wheel assembly and then don't touch them till you've done everything else, before adding the top half of the tracks :D

The first one took me about 20 mins, I was down

Models bought from PE2Collectables

to under 10 for the last couple, even though the last one included fitting a commander and the open hatch.

By the time I was done, though, it was dark and way too cold to paint, so it'll be out with the PSC Armour spray at lunch time and a quick detailing and weathering session later on tomorrow.

With hindsight, I should have glued a couple of coins inside each one for weight - they are plastic, and obviously very light. Other than that? Nice kits, very clean, not that hard to put together.

---

[1] Which I have a strong suspicion is exactly the same sprue as the M4A1 except with different parts marked as 'not for this kit' and a different box :D

PSC Pz38(t)/Marder III recall

Just a heads up if, like me, you picked up a box of the 15mm PSC 38(t)'s this past week or two. (In my case, because I wanted some Marder IIIs, which were supplied by Reuben from PE2 Collectables). According to PSC:

"Really sorry everyone but the 15mm Panzer 38t and Marder frame is not right and we have stopped the production run to modify the tool and get it right. The mods will not take long and we will be back in production next week. All those you have received a pre-modification kit will be sent a new improved kit. Anyone who bought an early kit from a retailer - please contact your retailer next week."

Oops.  Ah well. Guess I'll hang on before assembling mine :D

PSC 15mm British

Just got back from Church carol service rehearsal, which was 3 hours stood up with one of three basses round my neck (yes, I really do need three!), and I am somewhat worn out :D

Was going to run the Dux Brit battle report from Monday, but I was waylaid by a mail forwarded via Carl, our club treasurer. It seems Plastic Soldier Company are getting there with their 15mm Late War British infantry.

We have managed to slip the new 15mm Late War British Infantry 1944-45 box set in just before Christmas. I think all those who have been patiently waiting for 15mm Brits will feel it has been worth the wait.

Company sized 15mm Late War British Infantry 1944-45 box set. Contains: 144 figures, including 3 x 2 inch mortar teams and 3 x PIAT teams. All you need to build a 3 platoon company (including company HQ).

We have carefully re-designed this set to create a whole new set of one piece sculpts (except the bren firing teams!)

Released next tuesday 17th December but pre-order now in the Plastic Soldier webstore www.theplasticsoldiercompany.co.uk.

Fortunately, I'm safe, as I have a British company from Battlefront about 2/3 painted. But these look very good! Also, yay one piece sculpts. I don't mind assembling 28mm multipart figures - 15mm gets tricky even with my new and less rubbish eyes!

New from Plastic Solider Company...

Just announced on Facebook:

15mm US Heavy Weapons:

4 x 1917 MG teams, 4 x 1919 .30 cal teams, 4 x .50 cal teams, 4 x 60mm mortars, 4 x 81mm mortars, 4 x 4 inch chemical mortars and 4 x bazooka teams. 

Should be available today (as you're reading this) at Warfare in Reading, with luck.

As will this interesting things:

[…] high quality weathering washes in both spray form and brush-application pots. Designed to complement the existing Plastic Soldier Company Army Sprays paint range and can be used on any painted models - historical, fantasy or sci-fi. A quick, easy and effective way to give your vehicle models and tabletop scenery a realistic "battlefield" look. Initially, 2 weathering sprays (Dirt Brown and Light Brown) and a box set of 8 x 30ml weathering washes (Light Brown, Dirt Brown, Dark Earth Brown, Khaki Green, Light Grey, Dark Grey, Soot and Rust Red).

[Me? I should be about to be 'done' about now…]

Friday news roundup

A few odds and sods that have filtered through during my rather mental week at work.

• Plastic Soldier Company's 15mm Churchill's are imminent - sufficiently so, you may see some at SELWG this coming Sunday. £19.50 for a box of 5.
• Neil Shuck's been busy
• A new episode of View From The Verandah with Henry Hyde - always good for a long journey, this one includes a tribute to the late Don Featherstone
• A new Meeples and Miniatures - I had no hand in this one, but it includes a review of Dead Man's Hand (which I saw and really liked at Partizan) and an interview with its creator Stuart McCorquadale from Great Escape Games.
• The Winter War Kickstarter has finished, raising over £50K. I foresee some serious painting in my future. 
• Mantic's Mars Attacks Kickstarter is doing what Mantic Kickstarters do. I'm resisting this one :D

Friday news roundup

This may become a habit: we'll see.

• If you enjoyed the Meeples and Miniatures review of the game with myself and Mike Hobbs, you need to know that Mongoose have put up some previews of the new Judge Dredd rulebook. It'll still be available for download but if, like me, you like having a physical copy to play out of, this is the one to have. It's due out Oct 18th.

• Plastic Soldier Company are having a 30% off sale on all 15mm vehicle box sets from now through to midnight on Sunday 22nd. Must... resist...

• Upgrading to iOS7 as we speak. I wasn't going to, but one of the family members for whom I do Tech Support has been seduced by the siren call of the magic words 'Update Available', and now can't find anything... Argh!

• Just finished undercoating all my Home Guard. For anyone else interested, Pat has just put up final draft 2 of the unofficial list for Chain of Command, which should become official soon.

• Tomorrow I get to play Sharp Practice for the first time with Tim D.

Have a good weekend!

Plastic Soldier Company 15mm Churchill

Ok, this is definitely worth shouting about :D

Plastic Soldier Company have just put up sprue shots of their 15mm Churchill on Facebook - like all PSC 15mm tank kits, it comes in a box with 5 sprues, which will make:

• Mk III
• Mk IV
• Mk IV 75mm (Mk VI)
• Mk V 95mm Close Support 
• Mk III AVRE (woohoo!)

Definitely going on the shopping list!

Brief Review - Plastic Soldier Company Warsprays

At least, that's what I assume they're called. The cans are labelled very prominently 'Army Sprays', but the supporting literature calls them "Warsprays".

Anyway - to the right we have British and US tank sprays as well as British khaki and German Feldgrau. Initial impressions? Cans feel slightly chunkier than the Army Painter ones, and are a damn sight easier to open.

The colour is indicated by three things:

• the icon on the can (which helps you distinguish half the range from the other half)
• the coloured ring around the spray head (which probably helps you distinguish most things, but I'd hate to have to tell US, British and Russian tank colours apart in poor light)
• a printed description on the coloured ring, which looks like the same kind of print 'Best Before' dates are put on things like milk cartons with. I'd be a little concerned as to whether it rubs off before I've emptied the can!

The only one I've tested is the Feldgrau, on a company's worth of 15mm Battlefront metals and plastics - in fact the force for the second scenario in the IABSM rulebook.

Impressions?

Covers well, sprays nicely, dries pretty fast (tens of minutes tops). If anything it feels a shade thicker and stickier than the Army Painter stuff its apparently based on, but this isn't a problem. Looks like it should be a decent match for the Vallejo Feldgrau should I need to do any touching up.

In summary? You need to paint WW2 stuff? Go out and buy some! Does what it says on the tin :D

Bank Holiday weekend, and upcoming Plastic Soldier Company stuff

Hopefully I'm going to get stuck in on some scenery building over the Bank Holiday weekend, as well as a Saturday trip into the Fens to visit Tim for another game of Dux Britanniarum (he promises me he's ditched the nonstandard rulers!), and with a bit of luck recording the rest of Episode 2 of the podcast. In order to show willing, I'll be going home from work via the garden centre to pick up some bedding plants for the wall by the garage first, though!

While pondering what to do this weekend, I picked up another couple of eBay bargains to augment my slowly amassing stockpile of 15mm WW2 for IABSM/Blenneville or Bust, and almost pressed the fire button on a couple of Forged in Battle M8 GMC's. However, I happened to have just opened a tab on the PSC website to check if they had a shipping date for the War Sprays I'd ordered, to find a new 'new items' update!

By D. Miller (Flickr: M5 Stuart Light Tank)
[CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Now, I love the stuff PSC do, but, dear Lord, they need to get someone to design and maintain them a more readable website that gets updated a bit more regularly. To save anyone else from having to pick through the 10 pixel high unformatted list of new stuff....

Out now(ish)

• War Spray paints - mid-May is what I was told for my preorder (and the main reason I'm holding off on painting the pile of tanks I have!)
• Zvezda 15mm British Matilda I Tank 
• Zvezda 15mm Russian KV2 Tank
• S Model 1/72nd British A13 Cruiser Tank. Due end of next week
• S Model 1/72nd German Kfz 13 Armoured Car. Due end of next week
• Minairons 1/72nd Russian T26 A and B Tank
• Minairons 1/72nd German Befehslwagen IB Command Tank 

"May"

• 1/72 M3 and M5 haftfracks

"June"

• 15mm and 1/72 M5 Stuart (YES!!!!)
• 15mm M8 GMC and Jalopy (also YES!!) as separate kit (unclear when, but it appears they were originally going to try and make it part of the Stuart, as it shares the same chassis, but aren't now)

Work "starting" on:

• 15mm Cromwell

After that

• US heavy weapons
• 1/72nd Sherman M4A4
• 1/72nd Sherman Firefly
• 15mm and 1/72nd Churchills (YES!!!)
• 1/72nd 251/D variants kit.