A few festive bits and pieces

Over the festive break I managed to do a bit of painting whilst avoiding getting myself any more wargaming stuff (there are 3 armies in the paint queue already...), and also fit in a trip to Guernsey.

The end result is a rather random mix of WW2-themed photos for your delight and delectation! 

First up is a pair of Sdkfz 251/9 engineer vehicles in 10/12mm scale from Redders at Red3. These complement the rest of the German force I painted up last year, and give me some guys to jump out and blast their way through any field defences I might encounter in BKC or O Group.

Next up was a dog-walking excursion to Batterie Dollmann in Guernsey - strangely enough the first time I've managed to get to it on many trips. The restored French 10 tonne, 22cm gun sits overlooking the coast in the nicely restored open bunker

There is also of course also the nearby Pleimont Observation Tower, which I think is open for visitors during the summer months,

The battery is defended from the landward side by a load of refurbished trenches, and what looks to me like it could be a Somua turret (although I've since had it suggested that it's more likely to be from an FT17) dug in as a bunker.

You can get into the turret from the adjacent trench, but as it was about 6 inches deep in water when I visited, there was no "Madaxeman in a Bunker" photo opportunity this time around!

More bunkers make up the complex, overlooking some seriously impressive cliffs. 

The biggest risk now however is not the big guns, it's falling into the well-camoflaged trenches!

Back on the small scale stuff, these M3 half tracks with British crew from Red3 again were a joy to put together - this shows all of the bits, as vehicle is pretty much cast as a single piece, with the turret gunner and cupola all cast as a single drop-in item. 

Using Vallejo Bronze Green as a base coat is pretty simple - and here you can see the cute strips of crew as well all painted up in British Khaki ready to be glued in. 

 

Some weathering and a few stars that I have accumulated over the years - most of these are spares from the Victrix Shermans I did last year I think

And this is the full set of 6, ready to take the Tommies into battle.