Tag Archives: Tanks

25/01/2026 · 01:16

Spuddling 007 – Tanky Stuff

 

"Nobody told me it was a ferry, not a bridge!"

“Nobody told me it was a ferry, not a bridge!”

It is a damp wet British winter. I have a plastic sprue tree to prune. Roll on the good times! Plastic Soldier Company kits normally come four to five to a box in 15mm, So I started with the four unmade Panzer IIIs that were left after I made a single Ausf N to accompany my Tiger.

"Now that our Panzer IIIS have been upgraded with long cm guns and spaced armour we will surely win the war!"

“Now that our Panzer IIIS have been upgraded with long 5cm guns and spaced armour we will surely win the war!”

I decided that they should be Pz III Ausf. Ls to fit in for the battle of KURSK in 1943. Posting them on a private chat group elicited this response from a good friend :  “Power gamer!” It’s a fair cop Guv, as most of my armour trends towards the rubbish stuff. However, the next build was of four Churchill Mk IVs for the Italy campaign, so now I’m straying into building heavy tanks that won’t even land in theatre until 1944.¹

"Oh! They have heavy tanks that can climb mountains!"

“Oh! They have heavy tanks that can climb mountains. Mensch!”

The next build of three remaining Tigers dug me in even deeper. On a whim, I bored the barrels out with a 0.9mm drill bit. at 1:100 scale, that makes them 0.02mm overscale. Trebian reckons that it is the least NQM thing that I have everdone, having previously been on record saying that painting rifles brown after black is superdetailing. 🙂

Don't be a Tiger bore!

 Don’t be a Tiger bore!

I haven’t told anyone yet that the 0.01mm layer of spray paint has closed them down to exactly true scale.  Clearly, Tigers are the gateway drug for superdetailed modelling! 🙂

This is what power gaming looks like!

This is what power gaming looks like!

And finally, the prize for “Most tiny beige parts pinged off the sprue and recovered from the carpet” goes to ….. The Airfix 1:144 scale MiG 21-D “Fishbed.”

MiG 21-D "Fishbed" with fun riccochetting parts action.

MiG 21-D “Fishbed” with fun riccochetting parts action.

Footnotes

  1. The production of Churchills was going to be wound down, but lobbying from manufacturers caused production to be continued. As it happened, the Churchill’s ability to reach places in Italy that the Germans thought were impossible for armour proved very useful.

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01/07/2025 · 08:00

WIP 130 – Box 034, Winter is Coming …

Box 034 Panzerkorps in winter plumage.

Wait! What? It’s June! I was feeling hot and bothered, so pulled out Box 034, My Work-in-progress Winter Panzerkorps box. It has benefitted from all the shuffling around of troops and a purchase of Peter Pig SS troops in baggy camouflaged smocks – perfect for winter camouflage.

Box 034 First Infantry Division.

I used my new makup sponge nipple to help apply the white paint. All in all, they don’t look too bad. I’m off for an icecream now.

Box 034 Second Infantry Division.

There are the usual collection of stand-ins and mythical beasts lurking in the ranks. My favourite is a spare 7.5cm Pak 40 that I mounted onto an A10 chassis to make a Marder IV (no, they never existed). The Panzergrenadiers need beefing up.

Box 034 Panzer Division, with reduced Panzergrenadier complement.

It is living in the Panzer Division on the far left of the picture above, but eventually, the Bombastians will purchase it after the war, I’m sure.

Box 034 Panzerkorps Troops and HQ element.

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25/06/2025 · 22:13

WIP 129 – I’m a Panzerkorps and I’m okay …

Box 055 216 Infantry Division (Hannover).

A bit of box sorting has gone on recently, so my Panzer Korps and Infantrie Korps boxes have had a few additions, touch-ups and general tidying. Monty Python would approve :

I’m a Panzerkorps and I’m okay,

I work all night and I hide all day!

I chop down trees for camouflage and daily ride my bike.

I wish that I had Panzers and petrol like Das Reich!

Box 055 383 Infantry Division “Rheingold”.

Box 055 18 Panzer Division. I have one more Panzergrenadier regiment than would be normal for this division and can swap out Panzers for the appropriate stage of the war.

Box 055 LV Panzerkorps Troops.

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18/06/2025 · 21:53

WIP 128 – Sidetracked by airbrushing

Cardboard box spray booth. Cheapskate? Me?

I’m supposed to be thinking about the forthcoming Conference of Wargamers and Pygges in Spaaace , but it is easy to be sidetracked when you have a brand-new airbrush sitting in the corner, with a pile of rattle-can undercoated trucks and tanks sitting in the painting queue!

PSC Tiger and Panzer III AusfN – at last a proper escort for the Tigers. Three colours sprayed on and brown sponge stippled.

Here is the result of an hour’s spraying and sponge stippling. I’m dehydrated now – time for a beer!¹

Two FOW Panzer IVs nearest to the camera, with one PSC behind. The pink nipple is a makeup sponge.

A PSC Jagdpanzer IV with a FoW Panzer IV behind to emphasize how much lower it is. The Churchill IV was ordered for the Argenta Game at The Other Partizan.

You can never have too many trucks.  L to R – Two Opel Blitz Maultiers  and four Mercedes L 3000 trucks.

Footnotes

  1.  Every year in England, the weather becomes schitzophrenic sometime around the middle of May to the middle of June. We are guaranteed a cold spell more typical of early spring, followed immediately by baking sunshine with no chance to acclimatise in between. We do what any sensible, civilised nation would and consume more beer!² The idiots all strip off and get sunburn.
  2. This does not mean that consumption of tea goes down, quite the opposite. Sugary drinks are for children and hyperactive teenagers.

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13/02/2025 · 13:25

Spuddling 001 – a Grand Midwinter Day in

England has settled in for a week of dull, drizzling, foggy, damp, chilly weather that sets the teeth and joints aching. Excellent! British wargamers recognise that this is perfect spuddling¹ weather – a day for fossicking around in boxes to pull out half-finished projects, looking at them and then rearranging them into another box to slumber away for another year or so. Perhaps we might look through online catologues to dream about starting a new project, or rearrange our Ospreys back into numerical order.

My day started with the arrival of three Plastic Soldier Company boxes of tanks, ordered in September because PSC announced that they were back in stock. I suspect that demand exceeded supply and mine were the second wave of reinforcements to arrive. The three boxes produced a Churchill MkIII with exposed front tracks (Needed for the Italian campaign with 2nd Northants), a Pz III Ausf N to accompany Tiger tanks, and an early to mid production model Pz VI Tiger, again for use in Italy.

I took the opportunity to stick the Rubbish German Cyclists onto bases, pinning them with brass rod for a bit more durability on the wargames table. I’m still thinking about how I am going to fit Montecassino onto a three foot run of tabletop for the Northamptonshire Battlefields Society in May at Partizan.² Pygges in Spaaace had a bit more work put into it, or at least, some thought short of actual work!

The day included numerous distractions for coffee, a biscuit, staring out of the window at the grey sky and rain on the windopanes. I realise that weatherwise, Canadians will be busy shovelling snow up on the southern border to form a Game of Thrones ice wall manned by mounties. Australians and Floridans will be fishing Crocs or ‘gaters out of the swimming pool to chuck on the barbie with a few raw prawns, but here in England we’re just making the most of the lovely weather.

Footnotes

  1. Spuddle. Recorded 1904 –
    1. To loosen and dig up stubble and weeds left after a harvest with a broadshare or similar device, and (by extension, chiefly dialect) to shallowly dig or stir up in an unsystematic manner.
    2. (obsolete, Southern England) To make a lot of fuss about trivial things, as if they were important
    3. Middle English (obsolete) :  To assiduously give the appearance of being very busy, whilst achieving very little.

Spuddling is one of those words that should never have died out in common usage and clearly is due a revival in the modern world of office bureaucrats sending out endless circular emails calling for reports on paperclip usage.

2. 2025 update. See how I did it here.

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21/11/2024 · 09:00

Review 073 – 15mm/1:100 PSC Resin AEC Mk I Gun Carrier ‘Deacon’.

15mm PSC Resin AEC Mk I Gun Carrier ‘Deacon’.

For a while,  I was making do with an ersatz Deacon, then a model of a Syborg 3D FDM Austin K5 or Bedford QL portée 6pdr gun carrier came along to replace it. CMP chasses were also used. Now The Plastic Soldier Company and others have started to print the Deacon in resin, so I bought one. The standard of printing was excellent, with no misprinting and the model is reasonably accurate, measuring 60 x 26mm against a recorded 6.39 x 2.36m. The missing 39cm might be significant?

One puzzle is that the gun housing cannot traverse 360 degrees, being blocked by a casting of a box on the rear gun bed. Online plans, possibly from an Airfix Magazine but with copyright claimed by Hubert Cance agree with the model, that a pair of ammunition stowage bins restrict forward traverse and this is supported by a factory picture that shows the locker as a factory fitting.

Deacon – Factory showing fresh forward gun lockers.

As the rear corners of the mount are cut short at 45 degrees to clear the stowage bin but the forward corners are not, it implies that tactically the cab was positioned facing away from the enemy with the gun to the rear, so there was no need to have much more than a 180 degree traverse covering the rear ARC. Alternately, one picture shows that the gun is pointing almost forwards, so it may be that the missing 39cm on the model should be on the gun bed to allow a full traverse. The Milicast 1/76 model rotates freely.

The gun has clearly gone past full forward locks on both clockwise and anticlockwise.

Wikipedia claims that production started in December 1942, so they would have missed ALAMEIN, but WW2 Talk claims the following production dates in an unreferenced discussion, so it may be that some were present at ALAMEIN, possibly  in 84 Atk Bty RA of 10 Armd Div, which is where my new model is now going:

“Output 1942

Apr 0
May 30
Jun 44
Jul 40
Aug 0
Sep 0
Oct 25
Nov 1
Dec 0

Output 1943

Feb 10

Total 150

After this the 6 pdr AEC Armoured Car Mk.II comes in during Feb ’43. There were reputedly 175 Deacons built, but I don’t have figures prior to April, so it may be that there were 25 built before then.”

Deacon – Full forward anticlockwise lock.

 Gary Kennedy posted a War Office note for proposed establishment dated,  15 Sep (1942), accessed on the same WW2 Thread but otherwise, all references seem to be repetitions of the two citations below at 2 and 3.

“WO169/3858

Under the heading ‘Proposed allotment of A.Tk guns to following formations by 15 Sep (1942); 10 Armd Div, 8 Armd Div, 2 NZ Div, 1 Armd Div’

Guns available –
2-prs x 82
6-prs x 226
Deacons x 16

76 Atk Regt is on the list for 1 Armd Div, but does not appear to have any Deacons reported. 84 Atk Regt in 10 Armd Div has its holdings of 6-prs split into two lines, 32 and 16, with a capital ‘D’ against the latter, so presumably these were Deacons.

Same WO ref, ‘Artillery Equipment situation in ME on 31 Aug 1942’

6-pr AEC/SP – distribution;

84 Atk Regt x 16
Ordnance Depots x 16

At sea x 32

Total in and for ME x 64

Same WO ref, ‘Anti-tank programme for 10 Oct to 27 Oct 1942’

84 Atk Regt; complete to 100% 6-prs (48 x 6-prs, 16 Deacons)

73 Atk Regt; same as 84 Atk Regt

WO169/8355

Under the heading ‘Artillery Equipment situation in ME on 31 Mar 1943’

6-pr AEC SP – 73 and 76 Atk Regts, each 16
Coast defence – 6
Reserve – 7
Total – 45″

Deacon – Full forward clockwise lock.

They are credited with a victory at El Hamma, in March 1943 during Operation Supercharge where the 76th (Royal Welch Fusiliers) Anti-tank Regiment, Royal Artillery, as part of 1st Armoured Division saw off a tank counterattack by 21st Panzer Division.¹

To conclude, I am very happy that I have a model of the Deacon in my collection, even if its operational history as a stop-gap is patchy and the model has a potential flaw built in to it. However, I was wrong about the QRF Bedford QLB Field Artillery Tractor, and I could be wrong about this model too.

Footnotes

  1. 76th Anti-tank Regiment, RA was equipped with towed 6pdrs at ALAMEIN, converted to towed 17pdr ‘Pheasants’ by February 1943 before moving into Tunisia. This thread on WW2 Talk states that DD Battery had Deacons, being taken directly from the Wikipedia Deacon entry, but this quote from The History of DD Battery states :

“The 21st Panzer Division was attacking with about twenty tanks in order obviously to cut the axis if not to cut up the Divisional ” soft skins ” moving to the rear. ” ZZ ” Battery (Major Crouch), R.H.A., of the 76th Anti-Tank Regiment, had a most successful engagement, destroying several tanks and 88 mms and completely repulsing the attack.”

… suggesting that ZZ Battery was equipped with Deacons. As can be seen above, regimental histories tend to record personalities, stirring deeds and casualties but are usually light on details of equipment.

Of interest too, is the clear conviction of the narrator that the Panzers’ target was the rear echelons and logistic train, not the fighting head of the division.

  1. 76 A/T Rgt at RA 1939–45 [accessed 17/11/2024]
  2. Playfair & Molony, Vol IV, p. 320; Appendix 9, p. 499 referenced in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Flintshire_Rifle_Volunteers#76th_(Royal_Welch_Fusiliers)_Anti-Tank_Regiment,_RA [accessed 17/11/2024]

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29/08/2024 · 09:00

Review 072 – 15mm Panzer IVs

Flames of War Panzer IVs rolling out of the Kleineskruppsfabrik.

Flames of War Panzer IVs rolling out of the Kleinekruppfabrik.

Flames of War (FoW)

Thanks to a fortuitous bring and buy purchase recently, the Krupp factory has just churned out seven Panzer IV Gs from Flames of War. These are their injection moulded kits, which assembled easily, with everything fitting beautifully. Thoughtful touches include the tracks only being able to be assembled one way, by use of differently-shaped locating keys on each track. The Shurzen plates can be trimmed with a razor saw to simulate damage, as separate mounting rails are provided, along with two sets of plates, one pristine and one slightly askew. The models all have Zimmerit paste moulded onto the surface, so are really only suitable for December 1943 to October 1944, if you are picky about detail.

Panzer IVs frontal view L-R CD, PSC, FoW.

The dimensions of the tank are L – 5.92m,  W – 2.88m, H2.68m according to Wikipedia. I presume this is from front to back mudguard flap, being the longest part of the hull. The FoW model measures L – 6.1m,  W – 2.9m, H2.9m making it the longest and tallest, with the extra height in the hull and tracks and the turret being squashed vertically a little to compensate for the commander’s cupola, which is too tall. The difference is not noticable next to the other models at gaming distances but becomes apparent in comparison photos. It is worth  noting that every FoW model that I have measured comes out taller than scale, due to the game’s habit of putting infantry on bases but having vehicles free-standing. The muzzle brake is the beefiest of the three models – good if you like your tanks to be intimidating, but so are the wheels and tracks.

Panzer IVs side view L-R CD, PSC, FoW.

Panzer IVs side view L-R CD, PSC, FoW.

Command Decision (CD)

My three old CD metal long-barrelled models have stood the test of time well. Detail is good and they are satisfyingly hefty. No Zimmerit, so more versatile, but no variation possible in a one piece-hull. They come ready for KURSK with intact Shurzen. Dimensions are L – 5.70m,  W – 2.80m, H2.8m, making this the visually smallest model, and fractionally too tall. Visually, it is a good match for the PSC Panzer IV.

Panzer IVs top view L-R CD, PSC, FoW.

Panzer IVs top view L-R CD, PSC, FoW.

Plastic Soldier Company (PSC)

The PSC model had more variation and could be made up as a long or short barrelled variant F-H, but I note that the 15mm five-model box is no longer on offer on the website. Instead, a resin print is listed with a full choice of variants, with or without Zimmerit. My models measure L – 5.90m,  W – 2.90m, H2.60m making it spot-on due to the limits of my ruler and estimating fractions of a millimetre on the model. I have no idea if the resin model will be as accurate, but have no reason to suspect that it will not.

Zvezda

Zvezda will not be reviewed.

Conclusion

All the reviewed models are well up to standard for wargaming and visually close enough to put together on the table, although perhaps not together in the same unit. PSC offers the most variation, with resin models. FoW is the only plastic kit on offer.

In Proportion

Back in April 2017  and June 2020, I ran some very  rough calculations to estimate the proportions of German tanks. Overall for the war, proportions looked something like this:

Panzer III :  5

StuG III¹ :  5

Panzer IV :  8

StuG IV¹ : 2

Panzer V : 6

Panzer VI : 1

This is not to say that these figures were constant. The proportion of the tank fleet was roughly 1 x Pz III : 1 x Pz IV in 1943 and 1 x Pz IV : 1 x Pz V in 1944-45 in the Panzer divisions, with small numbers of Pz VIs ( 8 battalions on the Ostfront) at Army  level from 1942.

I now have 9 x Pz IIIs, 6 x StuG IIIs, 11 x Pz IVs, 1 x StuG IV, 1 x Pz IV and 1 x PzVI. In case you think that the blog is becoming far too mechanised, my latest project is making a few more wagons and looking again at German M1944 divisions, which stripped transport back out of the divisions and reduced manpower to three regiments of two battalions each.

Footnotes :

  1. The Figure for StuGs includes StuHs and Jagdpanzers.

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10/05/2024 · 00:18

Review 071 – Skytrex Churchill Crocodile and AVRE

Skytrex 15mm 1:100 Crocodile (Front) and AVRE (Rear).

Skytrex 15mm 1:100 Crocodile (Front) and AVRE (Rear).

With the Argenta Gap Battle coming up for Partizan, I needed a Crocodile and an AVRE in a hurry. Butler’s Printed Models have them, but they are printed to order.  The Plastic Soldier Company are out of stock in 15mm, and the last time that I ordered from Old Glory, it took a while to complete the order.

Skytrex have a reputation for prompt delivery and Dave was as good as his word. The order arrived in two days in a large letter envelope. The AVRE modelled is the earlier Mk IV with a rounded cast turret and square side access hatches. The Crocodile is the later Mk VII with a square turret and round access hatches.

Both are solid pieces of metal with minimal flash and mold shrinkage. The only reason that cleaning is onerous is because the mold line runs across the midline of the side sponson top plates, which have transverse stiffening ribs, so about thirty minutes work was needed for the two models. each model comes with a choice of three crew and hatches that can be modelled open or closed. I may have to shorten the trailer coupling so that the whole model can fit onto a 100mm base.

I elected to model the Crocodile battened down as they had to close with enemy positions to within 120 yards to flame them, but usually closer. The technique was to put a burst of flame close to the bunker, then if it didn’t surrender, a round from the main gun through the aperture followed by flame. They were rightly feared, and a brutal solution to the problem posed by fortified positions. Even the training films show them operating battened down. I don’t suppose the commanders wanted a face full of napalm spatters if the wind was blowing in the wrong direction!

Off to find something to set fire to!

Off to find something to set fire to!

The AVRE (Assault Vehicle Royal Engineers) fired a 40lb demolition charge, again, at ranges not exceeding 230 yards but more usually 80 yards, from a 29mm Spigot Mortar (sic), the calibre of which was 230mm.¹ During the war, cast turret Mk IIIs and IVs were used, with post-war Mk VII hulls coming into use. The spigot was very accurate, as you might expect at such close ranges. This contrasts with the Wehrmacht approach using the “Stuka zu Fuss“! and the Flammpanzer.

By the time I arrived in Hameln in the late ’70s, Centurion hulls were being used.

More of what I call research, but everyone else calls stumbling over photos on the internet, unearthed these pictures. When these Priests were converted to Kangaroos, the Gunners continued to operate them. They were probably grumpy about losing their guns.

THE BRITISH ARMY IN ITALY 1945; A Priest Kangaroo personnel carrier of 209th Self-Propelled Battery, Royal Artillery, transports infantry of 78th Division near Conselice.

This fascinating photo below of a vehicle identified as a Sexton crossing two ARK hulls in the River Senio – I say ‘in’ advisedly! Of note are the flood banks that have holes in them. Whether these are embrasures built by the defenders or holes from suppressive fire by the attackers is difficult to say. I suspect the former due to their regularity. Either way, it is a formidable obstacle to cross.²

Footnotes

  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wne2AUKseuA&ab_channel=ArmouredArchives
  2. Having thought about the holes a bit more, I think they were dug by the first wave of attackers upon reaching the far bank. the fans of soil would not have been left by defenders, but are consistent with shell scrapes dug in a hurry, possibly under fire. Added 14/05/2024.
  3. I have since found a picture showing British troops occupying  the holes after the crossing was established. Added 02/03/2025.

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06/10/2022 · 10:00

WIP 112 – Half-baked Tray

For obvious reasons, the NQM Eastern Front Campaign is on pause. I have little appetite for fighting a campaign along the DNIPRO (Dnieper), when a real conflict is raging there. A tray of new models has been sitting in a half-finished state since the war started.¹

Garry at Paint and Glue Miniatures, and Simon at Syborg 3-D printing continue to produce excellent prints, increasingly in resin. A couple of Peter Pig castings are lurking in trenches on the left. I am busy filing and filling the 1/144 Kittyhawks, IL-15 and Hs 129 as the print lines on curved surfaces are quite obtrusive in this scale.

My wargaming time is currently being profitably being spent over on the Pygges in Spaaace  blog, where things are getting very stabby with Tibetan cataphracts and brass spears. No, there was no real blood!

Footnotes

  1. Putin’s attempts to dress an illegal invasion of a sovereign nation by calling it a “special military operation” fool no-one except himself. He needs to lose badly, and be deposed. By threatening nuclear use, he has demonstrated that he is not fit to speak for the Russian people, who have an honourable tradition of resisting foreign invasion themselves, whilst being subject to oppressive regimes at home. Russia will be better without him.

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26/08/2022 · 16:21

Review 065 – Panzer IV Medium Tank

From time to time, I review books. Here is one for the Panzer IV in Normandy. The Tankcraft Series is pretty well known and doesn’t really need reviewing, but I do them anyway.

Tankcraft 35

Panzer IV Medium Tank

German Army & Waffen – SS, Normandy Campaign, 1944

Dennis Oliver

This volume covers the Panzer IV in Normandy in the usual meticulous detail that is the hallmark of Dennis Oliver’s Tank monographs. Sumptuous colour photographs of kits by expert modellers, and colour side profile artwork provide inspiration for the AFV modeller. The author has made a close study of contemporary photographs to differentiate the different marks and variations of the Panzer IV in theatre, tying the photographs to individual units where possible.

Of interest to wargamers and military historians, is the introduction with an operational level map showing the seven tank divisions in Normandy, with a timeline of significant events as they affected the Panzers. Brief unit histories set the equipping and operational use of the Panzer IVs in context, together with tables of issue and orders of battle. Oliver will state reliably where he is not certain of details that are open to interpretation.

In summary, a very useful book for wargamers and modellers interested in this Wehrmacht workhorse.

In other news, The Twang Dynasty are at it again over in Pygges in Spaaace. No kitten pictures this time though 😦 , so here is one of a Pz IV. It is one of the three oldest in my fleet, and shows the various scars of tabletop battles. It is not in bad condition for a workhorse that has seen in excess of 25 years use. As far as I know, none of the real ones lasted longer than six years in operation, except perhaps in Syria?

PzIV Ausf H CD

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