Kfz. 222 Panzerspah Patrol

As painting on my Infinity models continues when I have the time, I have decided to show off in greater detail models I'd previously finished.

The Plastic Soldier Company is doing a monthly painting competition, and I decided to submit a patrol of DAK cars.

Based off the Zvezda 222, the three have been extensively converted, with the central vehicle a conversion to a 223. (I have used so many paperclips in my time...)

Almost all the stowage on the vehicles is my own conversion. The Jerry cans on the 223 are plasticard; all wound by modeling wire as a tow cable; extra Jerry cans strewn about along with puttied tarps and rolls; a tinfoil Nazi flag; and a customized (plasticard) MG turret on the 223.

The rifle on the 223 is from a spare that came with another PSC kit, as is the spare tire (you have to look closely to see it doesn't quite fit the vehicle, being made for a Hanomag Kfz. 251).

The entire patrol was done up with the DAK typical sand colour, and had grey sponged on  to look like the sand colour being rubbed away. The vehicles often showed up in the desert the typical German grey, only to be hastily covered with any sand-coloured paint the troops could find. Since it was applied in bad conditions, any use, bumping, or rubbing would cause the paint to flake off, so high edges and common crew handholds would go back to being the basic grey. It's a uniquely German thing, and helps to make their vehicles stand out from the others.

Soon, more Infinity, I promise. I've done some work, not really finishing off anyone, and just need to photograph them. Here's hoping the 222s win!

How to Make More Accurate DAK

I finally managed to get pictures of my Schutzen, and some of them even came out! I figured rather than just showing them all, I'd talk about something that's 'missing' from the Afrika Korps. For the sake of the cold nights, every member of the DAK was issued a winter coat. Often, they would wear these even during the day. I'm not certain if this was convenience or temperature, but nevertheless, in photos of the DAK, you often see a mix of winter coats and helmets, winter coats and hats, etc.

To get my full three platoons, I purchased one of the Winter Panzergrenadiers, and two of the DAK Schutzen. Before painting any of them, I split them up so each platoon would have a roughly equivalent mix of greatcoats to tropical gear: Again, roughly 2:1, but with leftovers, it skewed more to non.

Replacing the heads was also fun, trying to clip off desert hat heads, and putting helmets on the ones I clipped. Of course, AFTER I get them all finished, I get the artillery set, and an abundance of heads without helmets. Bandanas made a great way to add some distinct colour to what would otherwise be a very sandy coloured everything else.

 

Pic-dump Time!

 

8.8 Flak 36 Limbered

While the T16s are being painted, I figured I'd show some photos that were posted on Flames of War, but not necessarily on here yet. Here's a project I did along with a Schutzen Kompanie a while back.

In Flames of War, guns that are limbered to a truck to move are just dragged behind. In some cases it doesn't seem too odd, but I still find it a little strange to have a fully deployed gun with its crew, somehow surfing behind a truck or halftrack.

Where this is especially strange is the 8.8 Flak 36. It is a huge gun on a cruciform mount, and until it's attached to its wheel limber, wouldn't move short of a tank hitting it. I did not want to have such a look, and the Flames of War model thoughtfully comes with limber halves. I set about converting the rest to have limbered versions of my unlimbered guns, for when they're dragged behind their halftracks:

 First up was the relatively simple limber and mounting. This was done primarily by tracing the metal one provided by Battlefront, with extra pieces for the most part using leftovers. The centre of the limber has two pieces of tinfoil, as well as some extra sprue bitz and small cut triangles. The front and back are the metal provided limber halves.

Next came the gun. For this, I got various sizes of plastic rod, combined them with carefully aplied pieces of tinfoil, and modelling wire, and carefully glued each piece, again using the BF one as a guide.

Here's the breach end. Thin plasticard, as well as a thicker clump grooved out simulated the actual breach, with remaining detail being a mix of plasticard, wire, and tinfoil.

The base of the gun went next, and involved a bit of guesswork. The detail is simplified from the real gun, as I hope in most games to not ever have to use their limbered versions! Again, the BF gun shield made a great trace proxy for the custom version.

Here's the full limbered gun, pre-painting. The gun wasn't glued facing down that far, but rather straight ahead. In the background you can see the deployed 8.8, and why I didn't want to have it just 'surf' behind the halftrack.

 And here it is painted up! The 'barn doors' have been painted with a grid pattern, which simulates how the deployed one was painted. While its detail is not exactly on, it does bear enough of a resemblance that from 'table distance' they're indistinguishable.

 Here as well is the only place it's distinctly not the BF version. From the gunner's seat, a couple of the detailed control knobs are just cylinders. Otherwise I'm very pleased with how it turned out, even if they sadly (luckily?) have yet to make it on the battlefield.