Another JS2 (AK47 )Tank

If you are having de-ju-view all over again I might be to blame.  This week I went to Rochester gams and models and one of the impulse buys was ANOTHER Zvezda Js2 Tank. I now have 2 and this one is painted in the same colours as the last to help to fill out my AK 47 force.  I promise it is not the same tank Photographed again!

Other than a BTR I am done with this project..... that is until something else catches my eye.  It could (and is most likely) to happen. But as I type this and in my head I am done! I know they are famous last words but I kind of mean it!

So that's it for today. A quick post and finished in plenty of time to watch the football! So  get any painting done this morning and if you hate football get the shopping in in empty stores this afternoon.

Take care have fun and enjoy what ever you decide to do. All the best Clint

Blurry Photo time!

Yeah when I took these it was dark and they just did not come out as well as I hoped. Still never mind you can at least get the idea.

Two more Zvezda tanks. First u is the Panzer 38T.

The model kit was simple as they all have been so far, and straight-forward in that is you tried really hard you could put it together badly. That would however require a concerted effort, as itgoes together the correct way without difficulty.

German tank commander Otto Carius, did command one before progressing as the war went on to a Jadg Tiger (when captured by the Americans). Commander Carius is also reputed to have 150 "Kills" which makes him Germanys equal 2nd rated Tank ace. (Michael Wittman is either 4th or 5th depending on what you read.) Either way you look at it for the time it was used the Panzer 38T was still an impressive tank well up with it's contemporaries. In What a tanker this is one of the tanks I aspire to progressing to. fast and with a good gun the 38T was in its day a vey good tank.


And Tank 2. Well a Tank Destroyer, a STUG III, Based on the Panzer 3 chassis it was armed with a short 75 at the beginning of the war. This was still a very good gun but in mid or late war they needed more power and penetration so a longer 75mm gun was used. In game terms it has a LOW PROFILE so an extra acquisition dice is needed to acquire it. being a Tank destroyer it may also change one of its dice to a Aim dice which can make it very flexible. It also has very good armour so in early war great crew survivability. The main draw back is no turret so quite often you have to move in order to get sufficient options in aim. But as shown in the last game this is a lesser consideration as long as you have other tanks running interference. If we stick to early war I would hope after 15 or more kills to swap in to one of these as they can be quite deadly. Not a starting tank in the game at all but one to aspire towards.

As with all the Zvezda kits (so far tried) it goes together easily and is just about impossible to get wrong UNLESS you deliberately try to. So with almost no flash it is easy to recommend the 2 kits.

The last 2 pics are of them bother side by side. This clearly shows both the height and width of the 2 models. However both are very welcome in my collection as they were a joy to put together

That's it for today. I plan to finish reading the Maximillian 34 rules and review them next time. So with luck see you Friday and until then remember to dream big as it does not cost you any more!

BTR APC 15mm for Ak47

yes another vehicles  for AK-47 despite the face I have not played it for over 2 years! I was not a fan of the re-write and as such it as a game fell out of favour with me. yet despite this I am still building up an army. Sheer madness I tell you but what else is knew!

This is actually the Zvezda kit of the BTR 80 at 1/100th scale. yeah I know it if not true 15mm but it is close enough for me.  We can all get perdantic. This is my first and Only (so far )armoured personnel carrier for AK 47 But I hope to get one more. Like all the Zvezda kits they are easy to put together and assuming you have at least 1/4 of a brain you will get all the pieces in the right place. I am not saying they are idiot proof but pretty close!

Overall a worthy addition to the AK force. And while only (in the rules) able to carry 4 stands at least that is 4 stands they will not have to walk to the battlefield!

Yesterday I went to Rochester Games and Model shop Yes here is a horrible Face book link. (I say horrible as I do not like Facebook) Link and I am sure if you live in the Medway towns you are at least aware of them. While there MHWC (Sittingbourne wargames club) and they had a game of Rapid fire going on. this is turn 1 and 2 in the photos I had real life to get back to.  As usual with ww2 game far to many tanks. A realistic ratio is 1 tank to 600 soldiers.  But we all do it.
Things when I left were not going in anyones favour. Yes the allies had lost more vehicles than the Germans But the Allies were ambushed and they would be able to replace their vehicles which at this stage of the war the Germans would not. My advice to the allies would be pull back and call in air support and let the infantry move it to mop up. hell but no one asked me and I was not playing so it was all up to them. But at this stage of the war the Germans could not afford to loose tanks or Fuel so no matter how the game was played the Germans were bound to loose!

A very Jaundiced view I realise, but that was the truth at this stage in the war. Why through away lives, call in air support and sit back and make a brew!

Should have some figures painted by Tuesday so enough of Tank and Tank things for a while. All the best and enjoy the long weekend!

A couple more tanks

yes two more 15mm tanks for "What the Tanker!" A panzer MK III and a T-60. The Panzer 3 is the big one (Not words I have needed to say before!). As we tend NOT to think of a Panzer 3 as being a large tank.

It looks like I have surcummed to peer pressure at the club, Or as others would say seen the light. As such this will be the last Russian tank for this project for a while.

Instead I will swap to Early war France for now and see how that goes. I did after all get 2 kills and would not just throw them away! The T 60 in particular while fast not fast enough to be rated as a FAST tank is interesting in the rules as it has a low profile. In the rules this means it will need an extra acquisition dice in order to acquire it. This is I my opinion and if used correctly quite a bonus.

 But As I will no longer be focused on the Eastern Front (no more snow for a while) I have re-painted the Panzer III to fit the colours of France (and the Low Countries) in 1940.

 Therefore this is the repainted Panzer 3 in a mid-dark grey. Now I find it interesting that the German tanks were repainted after the Spanish Civil War to be a Grey. As they fought the Russian tanks which were then Grey (I believe the Russian tanks were shipped via Mexico and they may or may not have been painted there!

As a side note Russian tanks were painted Green after the SCW so it seems that they swapped colours. What actually happened I don't know but to me it seems odd! There are 2 more Zvezda kits on the paint table. So it is likely that at least 1 more will be in the next post.

BROADSIDE SHOW: As a club we shall not be running a game this year. We have had a string of bad luck and were down to 2 peeps to run the game. Therefore with regret we have been forced to pull out! I shall still be at the show of course so either hide from me or say hallo whichever suits you best. I shall possibly be on a Flea market stall.

Until next time. Take care, have fun and get something done for the hobby. (AND NO EXCUSES!)

Zvezda T-26 (I/100)

On Friday I purchased a Zvezda 1/100th scale kit of the T 26 Russian tank. here is it finished! Yes that is it in front of the box in the pic.

Let's be honest the kit only had 5 pieces to it, so it was just about impossible to get wrong if you applied just the slightest bit of common sense. The turret was a single piece, the hull came in 2 pieces (top of hull, bottom of hull) and there was a left and a right wheels and tracks. It really was that easy and should not challenge anyone. The kit was very clean with no flash or mold lines and all the pieces fitted together very well. Being honest I was impressed. simple and effective.

So here is how I painted it!
Step 1: Knowing I wanted a Russian Winter feel I sprayed it with white primer.  I was not too precious with it and it was in parts patchy as the primer applied from a spray can was not all that even. I could have given it another light coat but to e honest I wanted it to look rough.

Step 2: A "Black green" wash was applied. It went on too heavy but oh well never mind.

Step 3: I over brushed with white. This covered up most of the black green where it was too heavy.

Step 4: I painted the tracks. First with a bronze, then a gun metal and then in part with a white and rust..

Step 5: The rubber on the wheels was added with a black

Step 6: I applied the rust. Anywhere and everywhere I thought rust would be.

Step 7: Glued it to an MDF base.

All in all took about 25 minutes including drying time and assembly. I think it looks pretty good for the time and effort spent on it. Yes when I do the next one it will not turn out exactly the same, maybe it will be better and maybe it will be worse. Who Knows! This is the basic started tank for Operation Barrbarosa used by the Russians and yes I do intend to get at least 1 more for club games of "What a Tanker". While not the best tank of the period it was still a good tank and as a starter tank what else could you ask for.  I know a lot of players will want to start with powerful tanks but then they would also be fighting powerful tanks. Therefore by starting with the T-26 it should give me a foundation of how I want the tanks to look.

East Bonus Round.

On Sunday the "East" Bonus round was carried out. Originally I was going to do some "East Africa" WW1 figures. But as we all know they did not arrive in time (my fault I should have ordered them earlier). So I had a rummage and painted a "Ferdinand" .

For those few who do not know the Fedinand was the version of the "Elephant" used at the battle of Kursk. It did have a few drawbacks and those that survived the battle were fitted with an mg 34, Zimmermit paste and improved vision as well as a copla with another mg for the commander to use as well as upgraded armour.

2 were captured during the war, One by the Russians at the battle of Kursk and one (an Elephant) by the Americans at Anzio. Both are now restored and on display. Only 98 were ever made so this beast will almost never see action on the table top. It is just too rare to make many appearances and still count as credible. While MOST were only used in the East some were used in Italy.

As the Zvezda model kit only cost me £2.75 though having this as a 15mm option is still acceptable to me. Needless to say if I was to pay more the result would be I would need to justify it more and put it on the table for games more.

The camouflage is simple 3 colour camouflage and should (I hope) break up the contours of the machine when on the table. But only time will tell. Clearly I have not slavishly copied the camo from the video but the colours should at least be close even if the pattern is not!

The Video just shows the American Elephant arriving at Bovington. (on Loan). There are plenty of other videos so feel free to either watch or skip this as you see fit.

Thanks for looking and more again in a few days time. Until then take care have fun and do some painting if you can.