World war 2 Terrain

 Its been an interested month.  I've half-painted about 30 figures and assembled some french cavalry but I've been Pretty unmotivated about actually finishing anything. this past weekend I was looking in a box and I found a 4Ground Polish Rural Dwelling model, and a pack of 4Ground Yard Panel fencing with Gates.  both of these will work well for eastern front terrain so i decided to get them assembled and based up. I also had a pack of Wizkids Deep Cuts log piles, that I tossed into the pile to work on.

4Ground Polish Rural Dwelling with
scratch-built fence

I built a wooden fence using 2 types of balsa wood(posts and planks) and  matchsticks(crossbeams).  i used a steel wire brush to accentuate the wood texture.  the building kit came with fur for thethatch roof.  I soaked it in PVA to harden it and then I highlighted it with light cream colour. i then applied patches of GW Agrax Earthshade wash(brown) and Athonian Camoshade( green-brown) wash to mottle the colour a bit.  I also added a pile of stacked wood from the deep cuts pack to one of the walls on the opposite side of the base from the fence, and added a trio of matchsticks to the peak of the roof to cover up the seam of where the teddy bear fur pieces meet. Otherwise the building is unmodified, other then some Scenic Express  Super Turf  texture foliage around the base to make it look less like a building glued to a piece of HDF.

4Ground Polish Rural Dwelling internal detail.

 this kit is well designed and is much nicer looking then some of 4Grounds early, more simplistic looking buildings. the interior has a nice stove/fireplace and the front door opens and closes. it also comes with matte board blue shudders.

Wizkids Deep Cuts Wood Piles(3). I fixed the
stacked woodpile to the building.

I left the remaining 2 wood piles lose so they can be placed as needed. they aren't big enough to affect anything so they are just around to add some character to tables. still they are nice and not hugely oversized like some end up being. the Wizkids Deep Cuts line is as always wonderful. 

4Ground Yard Panel fences with Gates.

 

The Yard Panel fencing is nice looking and easy to put together, but badly designed.  They have the fence panels situated along one edge of the base, with no overlapping bit to improve stability. As a result if left unmodified, they fall over if you breath a little too heavily.

lower angle of 4ground fences for height comparison

As you can see below, I added some pebbles I have kicking around to help counterbalance them. this makes the fence sections much more stable. the fences are tall enough to lock infantry LOS, and give concealment to even large-ish tanks. I didn't check but it may actually completely block a 1/56th BT-7 or T-26.

Rear view to display rocks needed for stability.

If anyone is interested in what makes the models i used for size comparison, the tank is an Army Group North Miniatures T-28 medium tank, the infantry in front of the panel fences are Crusader Miniatures  Soviets, and the soviet infantry inside the fences are 1 each of The Assault Group and Black Tree designs.  the AT gun on the building base is a 47mm at gun I got from AGNMiniatures (old force of arms model?) with crew from Warlord Games and Black Tree Designs.

Given my fickleness with painting, I'm now aiming to have at least one new post a month. if I'm in the painting mood, I'll post more often. when the mood strikes me I paint a ton, so I'm sure I will end up with a good deal more then 12 posts in 2021. But i think otherwise that is a more reasonable way to ensure I get some progress done on something regularly.

WW2: Early(ish) Soviets

So here is the last of the WW2 armies that I currently own.  I've had most of these soviets for about a decade now. most have been painted for that time.   They are mostly Crusader soviets, along with some TAG and some Black tree mixed in. The Engineer flamethrower team, 50mm mortar and a few random gun crew are Bolt Action/Warlord.

I've re-arranged the platoon into 15 man squads for 1939 to fight my Japanese  on the Mongolian border. along with 2 extra models to bring teh squads up to 15, I've added the BT-7s, 45mm AT gun, 50mm Mortar, and  engineer 2 man flamer team.

AGNM BT-7s

AGNM BT-7s from a different Angle

Full Platoon and support shot.

Infantry Squads

Platoon Command and Support

I really want to pick up a platoon each of Rubicon T26s and BA-10s. other then that, I have more then enough Infantry support teams.  so the infantry Component is definitely done.

In  the future, once I have money again,  I am considering doing a USMC Parachute battalion. These are a really poorly represented group in miniature gaming, and they have some very unique gear.  I'd be using Brigade games USMC raiders as they have a pack or two with the right weapons and the raider style uniform is the closest to the USMC Parachute battalions.  The 1st parachute battalion was with present with the 1st Marine Raider battalion at the battle for 'Edson's ridge". they also fought earlier on Guadal Canal, and at Bougainville.  The 3 parachute battalions were disbanded, having never made a combat jump,  and later formed to the core of the newly raised 5th Marine Division.  Many were awarded medals for the fighting at Iwo Jima, and 2 of the former "paramarines" were in the famous picture raising the US flag at Iwo Jima.  I like obscure topics, and this little-known USMC formation fits the bill perfectly.