Click pic to enlarge

All painted and finished by myself except the 6 man command (purchased on ebay). In due course I may replace replace them with another command just so I can say I painted the whole lot

After a nervous 16 hours wait it seems as if the Silicone has cured OK and the large Church window mould is complete. A few scrappy edges here and there to clean up but generally it's turned out very well. In hindsight I used way too much silicone (and it costs a fortune), I now kmow next time I dont need to make the mould quite so deep, but I was worried about making the mould walls too thin. Next step is to cast, still undecided whether to go plaster or resin (or maybe even metal).....will have a think as will not be casting till after my holiday.

Flush with my mould making success I ve started work on carving a set of stone walls from blue foam that will form the the Graveyard wall. I looked at buying enough plaster walls to make the graveyard and estimate that it will cost me about £30.00, the same cost as the silicone is to make my own moulds.

As plaster costs are relatively low, this will give me freedom to use the moulds to make walls for the whole of the town, and produce a few extra stand alone for the club/ebay at very litle cost.

For paints used see entry 2 or 3 below in blog. click pics to enlarge:

Now that the last of the Germnan force is finished I can carry on with the Dutch Town, specifically the Church. I ve decided that as there will be at least 8 main windows and 4 or 6 smaller windows in the building, and that as I want them to be a true frame that I can stick printed OHP to the back of (giving the ilusion of stained glass) the easiest way would be to try my hand at casting these in resin or plaster so I don't have to make a dozen or so ornate windows by hand. This is the first time I have used RTV silicone or resin but I understand it isnt that tricky, and it will also enable me to make other ecclesiatical buildings as and when the need arises (I feel a line of 28mm ruined chapels comming on for Ebay )

First off I looked at the reference photos I took at my local church (see post below), made a few sketches and worked out the required proportions, before making a basic window master from wood.

This was really fiddly becuase of the size of the arches but after 3 attempts I got it. In hindsight I perhaps should have used platicard or similar, but this is the first time I have made arched windows and at least I will know for next time having wasted an hour. The master was then glued to some foamcard and a foamcard wall built about 5-10mm away from the master to hold the silicone. The wall was glued with lots of PVA and the corners secured with milliput to ensure limited leakage.

Once the milliput has cured and the glue dried the RTV silicone will be poured in and left for about 24 hours or so to set, thus creating our mould for the resin. I am a little concerned that the window frame is very thin and may distort under pressure from the resin, but trial and error is part of the fun of building your own building. Regardless, I am sure I will be able to use the mould, even if it is for making damaged Church windows in walls and ruins. More pics to follow......

Click pic to enlarge

Before anyone says it, yes I know there are no PAK36 stats in the rulebook (other than the 37mm gun on page 136). However, after some discussion with the guys at the GEG forum, in particular with reference to the PAK 36 being used with the much more effective Stielgranate 41 ammo later in the war we have agreed amongst ourselves on the following profile:

Weapon: PAK 36
Type: AT Gun
Range: 90cm
SR: 0
LR: -2
ROF: 1
EXP Mod: -1
AP: 4+
AT: 11 (with Stielgranate 41)
Notes: Cumbersome, Support Wpn, AT or HE Blast 1, Smoke.

There are a number of other AT pieces and AA pieces that were used for AT duties but arent listed in the ROE book; over the next few weeks we will be trying to come to some sort of mutual agreement on their profiles. I'll post them here as a final PDF when finished.

I decided after all to forget the planned camo for the STUG and instead to paint a badly distressed and rusted one:

Click pic to enlarge.

Black undercoat for whole model, then:

Vehicle Body
Citadel Foundation Charadon Granite
Drybrush 75/25 Chardon Granite/GW Codex Grey
Drybrush 50/50 Chardon Granite/GW Codex Grey

Grime on Tank Body

Drybrush 50/40/10 Black/GW Codex Grey/GW Boltgun (used sparingly on edges main body of tank)
Drybrush with 90/10 Black/Usa Tan Earth (used sparingly to simulate oily patches)
Mud as below

Rust
GW Dark Flesh
GW Vermin Brown
GW Snakebite Leather

Rags
Vallejo USA Tan Earth
Citadel Badab Black Wash
Occasional Drybrush with 90/10 Black/Usa Tan Earth to simulate oily patches.

Tracks
50/40/10 Black/GW Codex Grey/GW Boltgun

Mud
Vallejo Flat Brown heavy drybrush
Drybrush 75/25 Flat Brown and Vallejo USA Tan Earth
Drybrush 50/50 Flat Brown and Vallejo USA Tan Earth

Stowage

Various, GW and Vallejo as required

50p for this.....GW I think, retailed at about £15 if I remember correctly. With a little rework I may be able to bastardise it for my Dutch town's church graveyard:

Click pics to enlarge

and 25 p each for these......with a little work will be good as barns for the farm on the edge of town:

Also spotted a great kids carpark that would have converted into a really nice clock tower, but the wife reminded me how many modelling projects I have on the go at the mo

Click pics to enlarge

After last nights couple of battles at the Portbury Knights club (thanks David), it became apparent that my 16 point German Platoon could do with a little extra firepower, which was just the kick up the arse I needed to get my PAK36 and STUG III Ausf G underway. The STUG has been built and numerous bit of stowage added, along with some green stuff modelled into thin sheets which will be camo when finished. To be painted this week with any luck.

Click pics to enlarge

So I finally finished the additional Grenadier squad on bikes as a +4 point recon team.

Composition as follows:

In the sidecar
NCO KAR98
Loader KAR 98
Gunner MG34

On Bike 1
NCO KAR98

On Bike 2
KAR98
KAR98

Last night I tried them in the heat of battle at Portbury Knights Club (thanks David). First off a game of take and hold centred on a bridge (me V David's Canadians). I lost my sidecar combination very early on in turn 2, and the 2 man bike in turn 3 after making a high speed dash across open ground towards the bridge. Unfortunately despite the -1 to hit (I was travelling 30cm) the Canadian infantry sat behind a wall popping shots off as I approached and took me out. This left just 1 NCO on a bike for the remainder the game; so as a squad they were in-effective for much of the game.

Game 2 was a rearguard secnario with my Germans in defense of the town. My intention had been to remove the Canadians HMG from the left flank and then move my hidden bike squad from behind the ruined church to out flank the advancing Canadian infantry squads. Unfortunately due a run of crap rolls by me the HMG was persistent until turn 6, meaning that by the time the bikes could move without being cut to ribbons the infantry were almost on top of the front of the church. Despite a gallant effort by my squad of German Grenadiers in a ruined house beside the bridge (who took out many of the Canadans) the sheer force of numbers were too great and the bikes eventually were the last squad standing and I had to admit defeat. To be hoenst not an ideal scenaro for a recon squad (would have been better if I had been the advancing squad with the Canadians in hiding).

Conclusions

The additional squad as recon on bikes makes for great fun, but does require quite a different appraoch to play as they can't move and shoot in the same turn. They are incredible for covering open ground quickly and are more difficult to hit as they are -1 when moving, however they are quite expensive in terms of CE points (+3 for the extra squad, +1 for recon). 4 points is quite a lot when your platoon for the night is just 16 points!!

It is also vital to remember that you have the recon skilll and use it when you have the opportunity (ie when first being fired on) as I realised on my way home last night that it might have saved my MG mounted on the sidecar!!

The table we played on was very heavily populated with walls, buildings and hedges making it difficult to use the bikes to their full effect, however I would imagine that in a more open table they would be great. In dense urban games I hink the best way to use them is to get to strategic cover ahead of the enemy before dismounting the squad and entering on foot. All in all a good alternative additional squad to use when the play is likekly to be open with less cover or you could do with the advantage of spotting hidden troops more easily. However, for most games I am not sure if 6 men on bikes is a better use of points than the 2 HMG, 1 Mortar and a Sniper which is what I could have taken instead!!

Click pics to enlarge

+1 support choice for my Germans, painted and based on a foamcore movement tray.

Spot the error? The pic has been taken with the mortar facing backwards!!!

Thought I would share this with you....a very simple tutorial showing you how I make command posts/bunkers from an old miniature blister packs. More "How to's " to follow:

Click on the PDF to download:

The Command, Squad 1 and Squad 2 of my German Platoon are assembled and painted (see below), the 6 man recon squad on bikes, & the mortar and sniper teams will be finished this week. After that I have a Pak 36 and STUG to work on, before heading back to the build of my Dutch town.

Click pics to enlarge

RAL colours to Vallejo Etc

http://www.miniatures.de/int/colour-ral-farben.html

In August 1944 the factories were instructed to add the following camo to combat vehicles:

Ral 7028 Darkyellow
Ral 6003 Olivgrün
Ral 8017 Chocolate

This "ambush camouflage" was used mainly to hide the vehicles under trees, from allied air attacks. Will be added to my StuG when built.