FoW in 1:72 plastics

[SteveJ]

Or the moment he bursts into song with a lusty, knees up rendition of 'Roll out the Barrel".
Looking good G.

[Gungnir]

a. I have three watches. One is in the trash can next to me. The second is on my desk in front of me. The third is still in the mail from China.

b. I only do C&W. Okay, and the occasional Buddhist chant, but only during ceremonies.

When its done I'll take a pic with some figures and more regular vehicles so you can get a better idea of the size of the beast.

[Gungnir]

Beast I is completed.





And for size comparison:

[Gungnir]

This afternoon, when I was buying some styrene, I also quite accidentally bought a German reconnaissance team, by Zvezda.

The box showed only the communal base, on the left, but when I opened the kit I also found individual bases. That's good, because I think a bit of distance between the forward element and the radio guys should at least be an option.



As usual with Zvezda sets, everything fitted quite well. The figures are all hard plastic multi-part, which explains the natural poses and ease of assembly.

There is a separate rifle for the writing guy, the only one not carrying a weapon in his hand or having one strapped to his back.

What I'm missing is spare helmets for the two bareheaded guys. I would like to have those, if only to put next to them. I guess I'll slaughter two of the useless poses from another set so get them.

Not sure yet if I'll use them as an infantry recon section, or as forward observers for my yet unpainted battery of 75mm infantry guns.

Usefull kit for only €3.50. These small sets really help customizing and/or completing units.

[SteveJ]

Don't you find these sets a tad on the expensive side G?
It's a shame they've neglected their basic 50 man soft plastic sets- they seem to be focusing almost entirely on these small sets to complement their rules.
Nice set though.

[Gungnir]

Oh, I'm not buying their regular infantry, that doesn't pay.

But their heavy weapons sets, individual guns with crews, etc. are great for making the usually unbalanced or incomplete normal soft plastic sets into actual wargaming units. And for that, without a clutter of done-before regular troops just to fill up a box, I think these are good value.

It's a pity their armour and trucks are all 1:100, there are a few I really could have used - some of the Zis trucks, for instance.

Perhaps PSC will fill that gap.

[SteveJ]

You think you've got problems- I'm strictly a 1/76 man.

A lot of the polyethylene manufacturers produce 'specialists' sets these days- you can get artillery and crew sets, recce sets, mortar sets, and M/G sets, etc. Have you looked at the Plastic Soldier Review site lately? Might be worth a shufti if you haven't.

[Ronan the Librarian]

Is it me, or do the helmets look more Soviet than German? Nice little set otherwise, though.

[SteveJ]

I must admit, I thought they looked a bit American.

[Gungnir]

You think you've got problems- I'm strictly a 1/76 man.

A lot of the polyethylene manufacturers produce 'specialists' sets these days- you can get artillery and crew sets, recce sets, mortar sets, and M/G sets, etc. Have you looked at the Plastic Soldier Review site lately? Might be worth a shufti if you haven't.

I do, but there's also the problem of availability. There is only one decent store in Groningen, and even there the stock on offer is hit and miss. Furrun postage often is prohibitive. I stock up on stuff at Crisis and the Arnhem FIGZ show, but there's only so much I can bring home each time without being executed on the spot.

[Gungnir]

Finally finished the second T-35.

Quite unsurprisingly, it's much like the first one. Still, a brace of them looks more impressive.

[SteveJ]

Looking good- are you painting these G?

[Jeff]

G,

Two weeks ago, I dropped by The Works in Aber. They were selling 1/72 die cast Russian tanks and armoured car for £2 a piece...they looked nice. There were a couple of T-35s, T-34, and IS2s (lots of them).

If you want, I can have another look and get some for you. Let me know what you are after.

[Gungnir]

Steve, yes, they will be painted, eventually.

Jeff, thanks, but not now. If I buy anything else before painting some more my trusty IKEA shelves will collapse.

Nice price, though!

[Gungnir]

To my utter amazement I actuall finished a unit last week.

Well, except for the basing, natyurally - that would be overdoing it.

It's the partizans:



Behind the platoon itself are the platoon and company commands, and the komissar team. At the side are four demolition teams.

These are not on the FoW list, but since I had the figures I figured I'ld find a way to fit them in a scenario somewhere somehow.

This is my extremely modest Crisis loot:



A set of three PSC Pz38(t)'s, with lots of extra parts for the two Marder versions, and a sprue of figures each. There is no such thing as too many gun crew figures, so undoubtedly I'll find a use or two for them.

From Minairons 2x2 early T-26's. Very basic models but okay, except that I think there is something wrong with the B or single turret version - the one I need.

I'll get back to you about that whever I start building them.

Right now I have for all three armies (Germans, Poles and Soviets) one infantry platoon each plus a weapons platoon, plus the Partisan platoon shown above. I'm working on a second platoon each.

I bought suitable armour for all three, plus lots of extra stuff, like AT, infantry guns and the odd AA gun, and at least one platoon of Soviet guard cossacks.

Slowly it's beginning to look like something.

[SteveJ]

Looking forward to seeing these built G!

[subedai]

And me.

[Gungnir]

And me.

[Gungnir]

Built the first of the T-26's to see how it would go.

I hereby retract all doubts I had about this model. Everything went together smoothly, and with onl 6 parts - 7 if you use the commander - it's not a challenge beyond my capacities.

Needless to say with so few parts it's more of a wargaming than a display model, but since I plan to use itt for gaming that's not a huge problem.

Here it is next to its bigger cousin:

[Gungnir]

The first of the PSC Pz38(t)'s.

Nice model, only about a dozen parts, very easy build.

Comes with some extra parts like tools, spare track sections and a jerrycan, so you can give each tank a little extra detail.

There are a few figures on the figures sprue that will do as the commander figure, but there's also an optional command turret with a closed hatch.



Oh, and three for 17lbs, with tons of spare parts for building the Marder options, so economical as well.