Jeeps with trailer.

Probably the last painted for this year. Jeeps with trailer.
They are 15mm miniatures and from Forced In Battle. It are nice mini's and easy to paint.
None of the 4 mini's are sculpted the same. Only the drivers and passengers are all looking the same.
These will be a nice addition to my US 101st Airborne Division Battlegroup. Used as a Supply Column.

Thanks for looking.

Another book added to the collection.

I was looking for this book for a long time and now I finally found one for a reasonable price.
Always had an interest in the 101st Airborne Division since my youth. That's also the reason I have a 15mm painted army of them. Wich is currently in revision because of wear and tear. More about that later.

Thanks for looking.

Easy Company.

Painted just before 2013 comes to it's end. Easy Company.
It took me ages to paint these miniatures but they are finally done.
Not my best painted miniatures by far but it has to do. I didn't paint the tags on the helmets for now because every-time I tried to paint them it became a blurry mess. Maybe I will try it again in the future.
They are pained so they fit in with the rest of my 101st Airborne Division and not in winter theme.
Painting these miniatures made me realise that I no longer can paint without glasses.
The pictures aren’t very well. Somehow I can't take pictures at the same standard as in the past.

Easy Company

Captain Richard Winters with Captain Nixon

Lieutenant Ronald Speirs

First Sergeant Carwood Lipton

Corporal Darrell 'Shifty' Powers

Private Eugene Roe

Toccoa Sergeants

Thanks for looking.

Home-made Devastating Bombardment Template.

As I recently painted a Rocket Battery, RCA it now also means that I need a Devastating Bombardment Template. When I looked at the Battlefront webstore I was a bit shocked by the price of this template. €30,00 for a template that I probably won't use that much. Also at the moment I can't afford this amount money.
As I need this Devastating Bombardment Template coming Saturday at a tourney I had to come up with an alternative. So I decided to make one my self. The intention was to make one out of plywood but because I am overloaded with work this week I never could get one finished in time if I would use plywood. Thus I choose sturdy cardboard as an alternative because it is easy to cut and is much faster to work with. Later on I can use the cardboard one as a template when I am making one out of plywood.
I started to colect all the needed materials. Cardboard, sharp hobbyknife, ruler, pencil (not on picture), tape (wich I forgot to use), something to cut along to get nice straight lines, I used a trip of iron, something to use as stands (pictured are poles from the BF aircraft but later I decided to replace these with not used rivets because the aircraft poles weren't tall enough). And set to work.

Materials collected

Because the corners of the cardboard were at a nice 90 degree and all side were perfectly straight it meant that I only had to cut 2 sides to get a perfect 30cm x 30cm square of cardboard. Note: on the pictures it not always looks as a square but that is because of the angle the pictures are taken.

30cm x 30cm square of cardboard

Next thing to do, drawing lines. Starting with drawing lines from corner to corner to get a big cross to determine the centre of the template. Beside these lines I draw 2 extra lines 1cm (later I changed that to 1.5cm) apart from the middle lines. Using the small bombardment template I draw the square in the middle. Now I knew which parts I have to remove. From the corners of the drawn square I went 7cm up and draw a line to indicate where I want the poles to be placed.

Drawn lines and more lines

Cutting out 4 triangles. This is done to get a better view under the template making it easier to place the template on the centre of the team / model. With a needle which I pressed through the cardboard I marked the positions of the poles and the centre of the template. Now were the markings are I drilled a hole by hand at the right size. Here is were I forgot to use the tape. Intention was to stick tape on both side were I had to drill so the cardboard wouldn't fray to much.

Template with cut-out triangles

Then suddenly we have something that looks like a Devastating Bombardment Template. With the rivets that I now use as poles the hight of the template from bottom to table is 4.5cm.

Home-made Devastating Bombardment Template with the new poles

Home-made Devastating Bombardment Template with poles in places

Thanks for looking.

Tank Destroyer Platoon, M18 Hellcats.

This platoon took me 5 Years to paint. I started painting the first models at the beginning of 2008. But when I realized that I, at that moment, couldn't use the platoon for my army I set the platoon aside. Three models painted. The first Scoutcar was painted somewhere between the middle of these 5 years. With the release of the NUTS armybook I finally had a reason to finish this platoon. Bought an extra Hellcat to get a platoon of 4 and Scoutcar and set to work. Only difficultly was to paint it in the same (ugly) style as I painted the first models 5 years ago. I think I succeeded in that pretty close. The last painted Hellcat is the second on the left and the last painted Scout car is the one on the left.

M18 Hellcat

Tank Destroyer Platoon

Tank Destroyer platoon (top view)

Security Section

Tank Destroyer section

Thanks for looking.

Updates for a few armybuilder files.

The following armybuilder files had an update to version (3v1.1).
US Airborne:
NUTS - 101st Airborne Division Parachute Rifle Company (3v1.1)
NUTS - 101st Airborne Division Engineer Combat Company (3v1.1)
NUTS - 101st Airborne Division Engineer Combat Company (3v1.1)
A reader of my blog, Lancelot, pointed out to me that in these files the points for the M18 Hellcat tank-destroyer platoon were wrong. These are fixed now.

US Files

UK & Commonwealth:
Market Garden - Canadian Division Rifle Company (3v1.1)
Market Garden - 52nd (Lowland) Division Rifle Company (3v1.1)
In these files I found that the .50cal MG of the transport section of the Rifle platoons showed no stats on the OoB sheet.
And 1 Canadian Armoured platoon and 1 Canadian Armoured Recce platoon didn't show the Motivation and skill in the OoB sheet.
All bugs are fixed.

UK & Commonwealth Files

Now back to the painting table.

Thanks for reading.

Finally the long wait is over!

Although it was still cold outside and the wind was blowing the garage was, because the sun was shining through the windows, at a suitable temperature to prime my miniatures. So with no moment to loose I grabbed my black spray-can and my miniatures and went to the garage and started to spray. Finally after a long wait.


At the back we see from left to right, A staff team for my Canadian Artillery. This one was never painted because I didn't need it. Now with the new rules it may come in handy. Then in the middle there is a M18 Hellcat tank-destroyer and a scout car. These are the last models for my tank-destroyer platoon. The rest of the platoon I already painted about 5 years ago but because I never were going to use them I never painted the last models. Now this platoon can be used with my 101st Airborne Division from the NUTS book which give me reason to paint these models. At the right is a Stuka D for my Mid War 90. Leichte Afrika Division DAK army.
Next row we have 3 25mm SA-34 guns + Command team for a 25mm Anti-tank gun platoon. An addition for my Early War French Escadron de Reconnaissance Compagnie. These were a gift. Thanks Les.
In front of those we have a Rocket Battery, RCA with 4 Land Mattress and 2 Command teams and 2 Observers. For my Market Garden Canadian Infantry Company.
And last in the front row, Easy Company. An addition for my 101st Airborne Division. Also from the NUTS book.

The plan was to paint the M18 Hellcat and a scout car first but because the weather put me behind schedule and I am going to play in a small tournament in June using my Canadian Company, I have no choice then to paint the Rocket Battery, RCA first.

Market Garden, Bridge by Bridge and NUTS army files.

The last several weeks I have been making a lot of new army files. This mainly because the weather overhere is too bad to do any painting (can't prime the models). So instead of painting I spend more time on making army files. The reason it is such a long list of new army files and I have not posted them earlier is because I also needed time to place them on my own webpage for download. By placing them on my own website it is easier to download the files. Each army has it's own webpage, links to these pages can be found below my blog name. There is one page for the US Files, one for the UK & Commonwealth Files and one for the German Files. The Allied Files link will still bring you to the old page for download but will also get a new webpage soon. This also means that links that brought you to my pages in older blog posts no longer will work.

This has been the first time I made some German army files so I started with some easy ones.
From the Bridge by Bridge armybook:
-Bridge by Bridge - 107. Panzerbrigade Panzerkompanie (3v1.0)
-Bridge by Bridge - 559. Schwere Panzerjagerabteilung Schwere Panzerjagerkompanie (3v1.0)
From the NUTS armybook:
-NUTS - 653. Schwere Panzerjagerabteilung Panzerjagerkompanie (3v1.0)


And then there is a long list of British army files from the Market Garden armybook:
-Market Garden - 1st Airborne Division Parachute Company (3v1.0)
-Market Garden - 1st Airborne Division Airlanding Company (3v1.0)
-Market Garden - Frost's Perimeter Force (3v1.0)
-Market Garden - Commando (3v1.0)
-Market Garden - 11th Armoured Division Armoured Squadron (3v1.0)
-Market Garden - Guards Armoured Division Armoured Squadron (3v1.0)
-Market Garden - 2nd Houshold Cavalry Armoured Car Squadron (3v1.0)
-Market Garden - Inns of Court Armoured Car Squadron (3v1.0)
-Market Garden - 52nd (Lowland) Division Rifle Company (3v1.0)
-Market Garden - Canadian Division Rifle Company (3v1.0)

Then last for the US Airborne from the Market Garden armybook:
-Market Garden - Airborne Divisions Glider Rifle Company (3v1.0)

And for those who have missed it an update:
-Market Garden - 101st Airborne Division Parachute Rifle Company (3v1.1)

For download just click on one of the links below my blog name that correspond with country the army file belongs to. 

Thanks for reading.

Market Garden US Parachute Company Army-files.

I built the first army files from the new Market Garden book. Yep I bought the set with both books. But before I go the files I like to tell a little about these new books.
First Market Garden. This book contains all the allied army lists from the old "Hell's Highway" and "A Bridge Too Far" books and old Market Garden PDF briefings. The book also contains new army lists, army lists based on the Battle of the Scheldt. These are mostly Canadian lists but also a few British.
The Bridge by Bridge book. Like the Market Garden book this book contains all the army list from the old "Hell's Highway" and "A Bridge Too Far" books. Beside that there are several new lists included that saw action during Operation Market Garden. There are no specific lists for the Battle of the scheldt.
In both books the old army list from "Hell's Highway" and "A Bridge Too Far" books and PDF briefings have been updated with new stats, new points and even some new Company diagrams.
The look of the books. The layout of the books is great.The books have a hard cover and a sewn spine. They are sturdy. The lists in the books are, in my opinion, nice lists. There is not much wrong about these.
The biggest problem I have with the books is the many errors they contain. A few errors I don't mind, nobody is perfect, but there are more then just a few errors and some are just big errors. My personally opinion is that the proofreaders did a sloppy job. By just opening the book I already saw some errors, I didn't even have to read the book to see them.

On to the army-files I built.
The first 2 new army files from Market Garden I built are;
-Market Garden - 82nd Airborne Division Parachute Rifle Company (3v1.0)
-Market Garden - 101st Airborne Division Parachute Rifle Company (3v1.0)
In the "Hell's Highway" book the Parachute Rifle Company was 1 army list in which you could select which division you liked to play with some different options. In the new Market Garden book it are now 2 different army lists and both lists are now very different compared to the old one.
Something I like to note is that you should read the Notes sheet of the files because these contain important information.

Links to download both army files can be found here: US Files

I now going to slowly work my way through the book and update the old allied "Hell's Highway" and Market Garden PDF briefings to new army files. In between I will also built some new ones. If I will built army files for the Germans in the Bridge by Bridge book is something I doubt I will do.

Thanks for reading.

Glider Field Artillery Battery.

After a long hiatus I finally painted a new platoon for my US Airborne Company. It is a Glider Field Artillery Battery platoon containing 6 105mm Howitzers M3.
The 105 mm Howitzer M3 was designed for use by the US airborne troops. The gun utilized the barrel of the 105 mm Howitzer M2, shortened and fitted to a slightly modified split trail carriage of the 75 mm pack howitzer.
Beside the airborne units it was also issued to cannon company's of infantry regiments.

Because I have lots of models and teams in my bits box I decided, instead of buying a blister from BF with the Artillery HQ, to make my own HQ section. The platoon commander used to be a command team from the Tank Destroyer platoon (SP) which, with the new rules, no longer need these command teams. The Observer team is made of 2 models I found in the bits box. The Staff-team is made of 2 models that were also from a command team from the Tank Destroyer platoon (SP) and 2 models from the Infantry Aces pack.
Some pictures are a bit shiny but that has nothing to do with the varnish used to seal the models but with the lighting when I took the pictures.

105mm Howitzer M3

Glider Field Artillery Battery front view

Glider Field Artillery Battery

Happy New Year

For 2013 I have no specific plans made or goals set. I just take it as it comes. There will be no New Year's Resolutions. But as usual that doesn't mean that there is always something that must be done before a certain date. And this certain date is getting closer rapidly.

On the above picture we see a Hellcat, a Scout Car and an US Glider Field Artillery Battery. As I have a great tourney on the 23 February, more about this later this year, and there is big possibility that I need this platoon and models, these models must be painted before that date. This is the first must of the year.
On the background there is a Stuka D for my 90. Leichte Afrika Division gladly this one can be painted later on in the year.

Next we have a blister containing Easy Company. There is a possibility that a few teams are needed from this blister for the tourney but it looks that I can paint all models in this blister sometime this year without any pressure on me that it must be painted soon.

Home made Barbedwire and Minefields. I made these about 31/2 years ago but because of bad handling it is time to repair and improve these. Probably going to make complete new barbedwire. This is also a must do because I need these for the tourney. I already know for sure that I will take 1 platoon with a supply vehicle.

For the rest I will just see what this year will bring me. One thing is certain I am going to enjoy it as much as possible because life is too beautiful to just let go by.

Thanks for reading.

NUTS. Army file for the 101st Airborne Division. Part 3

OK this ain't funny. For the second time in a row I had to update the file. I really hate this.
The Rifle platoon gave the wrong total points in the OoB.
Updated file is available since yesterday.
I do feel sick about this and hope this was the last update for a long time.

Thanks for reading

NUTS. Army file for the 101st Airborne Division. Part 2

Although the file was checked many times on errors I still found a little bug. The points for the Support Section of the Airborne Divisional Recon Platoon were wrong. A new updated file is already up for download. Because I left the version number the same you have to check if you already have downloaded the new version. Checking is very easy: If you select the Support Section of the Airborne Divisional Recon Platoon, the points for the Support section must be 110 points and not 60 points which was the case in the old file.
Sorry for the inconvenience.

Thanks for reading.

NUTS. Army file for the 101st Airborne Division.

Here it is the new army-file for the 101st Airborne Division to use with the new Flames of War army-book NUTS. With this army-file you can build a Parachute company, an Airborne Engineers Combat company or a Glider company.
Before I go on I first like to thank dvang, 1stBn and lap1964, all three members of the Flames of War forum, for helping me to check for mistakes and errors and to point out what I should add, what is unclear, and what to change.

When you open the file you will see a new (second) Notes sheet. This one is labelled "Important Notes". It is very important that you read these notes first. Compared to the other army-files a lot have changed and new things are added. One of the most important parts to read is the one about how to select your Tank company. At first I wanted to add the text of the "Important Notes" sheet in this blog post as well but because it is such a large quantity of text I have decide not to do so.
An other thing you will notice is that the Company sheets have a complete new look and lay-out.
Not much has changed to the Order of Battle sheets. The only thing is that I added something new to these sheets. You can read all about that in the "Important Notes" sheet.

As usual there is an Excel and ODS version of the army-file.
The links to new files are here : Files. Or you can click on the Files link at the top.
As the list of links to the various army-files on the page is becoming very large, I have decided that when I upload a new army-file or updated army-file I will write, in red, "New" behind the link. This to make it easier to find the right links.
May you have any questions after reading the "Important Notes" sheet and looking through the army file you can ask these questions here.

Thanks for reading.

The big update operation of the army files to the V3 rules part 8.

Final.
Last 3 updated army files to V3 are added to the list:
Turning Tide - US 2nd and 3rd Armored Recon Divisions (3v1.0) Approved
Turning Tide - 7th Armoured, 4th Canadian Armoured Division Motor Company (3v1.0) Approved
Turning Tide - 7th Armoured, 4th Canadian Armoured Division Lorried Company (3v1.0) Approved

2 Files that are updated because I found errors in these.
Turning Tide - Canadian Armoured Recce Squadron (3v1.1) Approved
Turning Tide - 3rd Canadian, British 3rd, 50th T&T Infantry Divisions (3v1.2) Approved

2 Files that just had a very minor update
Turning Tide - US Airborne Divisions (3v1.2) Approved
Hell's Highway - US Airborne (3v1.2) Approved

Use the Files link under the title-header for the full list of links to download the files.

Maybe in the future I will make a few new army files but it won't be many.

Now I finally I can spend this extra time on painting my FoW models.

Thanks for reading.

The big update operation of the army files to the V3 rules part 4.

As promised.
I updated the below mentioned files.
The self defence Anti-Aircraft guns like the AA MG and the .50 cal AA MG now have the stats included for shooting at aircraft.
Also the stats for the Anti-aircraft platoons have been changed.
And in some files I fixed a couple of errors that I found while I was updating the army files.

Hell's Highway - US Airborne (3v1.1) Approved
Turning Tide - US Airborne Divisions (3v1.2) Approved
Turning Tide - US Light Tank Divisions (3v1.1) Approved
Turning Tide - US Medium Tank Divisions (3v1.1) Approved
Hell's Highway - 30th Corps (3v1.1) Approved
Turning Tide - 3rd Canadian, British 3rd, 50th T&T Infantry Divisions (3v1.1) Approved

And 2 more army files of which I had to correct some things that I uploaded earlier but not have mentioned about it here on my blog before.

Turning Tide - British Armoured Squadron (3v1.2) Approved
Turning Tide - British Armoured Recce Squadron (3v1.2) Approved


The next files that will be updated from the V2 to the V3 rules are:
Both the Turning Tide US Ranger battalions, and the Turning Tide Task Force A.

News from the painting front is that there is no news. I am in a painting dip. Somehow I can't get myself motivated to do some painting. 

Thanks for reading.

The big update operation of the army files to the V3 rules has started.

Now that I have the Know Your Enemy book I have started with the big operation to update all my army files to the V3 rules version.
So far I have done four files.
-Turning Tide - US Airborne Divisions (3v1.0) Approved
-Hell's Highway - US Airborne (3v1.0) Approved
-Turning Tide - 3rd Canadian, British 3rd, 50th T&T Infantry Divisions (3v1.0) Approved
-Hell's Highway - 30th Corps (3v1.0) Approved
These were the easy ones because I already had an Under Review version of these files.
As usual there are two versions of each file. An Excel one and an ODS one.

The links to the files can be found Here.
Or just just click on the Files link under the title-header of the blog.

It will take a while before all my army files will be updated. Even that these 4 files were Under Review, which meant that a lot of work was already done, it still took me almost a day to update them. Most other files that I have to update don't have an Under Review version. So it can take some months before all files are done. I hope you have the patience to wait. :-) I will do my best to have updated all files as soon as possible!

Thanks for reading.

The Firefly VC painted.

Got the Firefly VC painted. This makes the Guards Armoured platoon, that I can use with the 101st Airborne division from the Hell's Highway book, complete.
The model looks a bit shiny. That is because the places where the decals are added have a layer of gloss varnish over them and I also have to seal the model. This will done when the next platoon is ready to be sealed.

Thanks for looking.

Corps Armored Field Artillery Battery

The Corps Armored Field Artillery Battery is finished and these are the results.
First a list of the problems I faced.
- The mini that operates the Machine gun on the Priest doesn't fit well.
- The 2 minis that are operating the main gun on the Priests had to be pinned. The only base to glue them are there feet.
- The driver and machine gun operator of the M2 Half-track didn't fit at all. Had to come up with all kind of tricks to make them fit.
- The M4 Sherman. This one had a lot of flash on both the hull and tracks that i had to remove first.

On to the pictures.

Corps Armored Field Artillery Battery (1 section)

Click on the Read More link to see more pictures.

Chemical Mortar Platoon

A new platoon is added to my US Airborne Company. The Chemical Mortar Platoon.
I can use this platoon when I build an Airborne Company from the Turning Tide handbook or, if I wish from the old D minus 1 handbook.
Normally I paint a platoon like this in a day or a weekend but now it took me more then a week. I was and still am glad that I already can paint for an hour spread over the day. I am not that happy with the end result but for me it is good enough.
The platoon also has the option to include a jeep with a .50cal AA MG and jeep with trailers. But because I won't use these I have decided not to included them at this point but will buy them later on.

The pictures.

Chemical Mortar Platoon

4.2" Chemical Mortars

Command and Observer teams

Bazooka teams

Last I like to welcome the following new followers to my blog: Laparson, Tecian, Ken dawg, Frederik Hansson, Matt D, William Yankausky and Rens vanVliet.

Thanks for looking and reading.