CTS Type 97 medium tanks

These were painted some months ago but for some reason I never got round to posting the photos. They are simple plastic models - no assembly required - by CTS in about 1/35 scale.

Target in range!

I’ve just finished a pair of 3-man WW2 German gun crews - here is one of them at the controls of my 21st Century Toys 88mm gun (a pre-painted model which I bought a couple of years ago). They’re plastic figures by CTS and are a good match for the TSSD infantry figures. 

Romanian infantry WW2

To accompany my mountain troops I painted some line infantry. These figures are Classic Toy Soldiers plastics. CTS sell the same figures listed as Italians and Romanians, though the helmets are very definitely Italian in shape. So my dilemma was - do I just paint them or alter the shape of the helmets?  Predictably I opted for the easy option!

The complete figures. Enough for a weak battalion in our Sevastopol 1942 game.

A damn useful book!

Staying solemn at Sollum

I ran this skirmish game a couple of weeks ago using A Fistful of Lead rules and a scenario from a Skirmish Campaigns book. Jerry, Martin and Gary were the Italians while John represented the Coldstream Guards.

The Brits had but a single rifle section with part of a platoon HQ.  If front of the dug in infantry they also deployed some wire and a minefield. The white building is one of a batch I bought last year while the others are my recently made high-quality Libyan mud huts.

 Though the Italians looked to have a tough job ahead, things quickly went wrong for the Brits. Their Bren team was killed early on.  Here, the veteran Sgt. Bass takes to the rooftop to hose down the enemy with his Thompson SMG. The Brits were a mix of Airfix, Matchbox and Timpo.

 The photos are rather out of sequence - this one is from late on when the Brits are on the run and the southernmost Italian section is advancing.

 The Italian figures were a mix of CTS and Waterloo 1815 (HAT). Jerry seemed to strongly identify with the bare-chested machine gunner. Worrying.

 Earlier in the game. The northern Italian section (Gary) has neutralised the Bren team while the middle (Martin) lays down a hail of fire.

 Jerry’s chaps rush forward. Eventually...

 Empty positions are occupied.

 The British officer having being wounded, Sgt Bass MM was the last man standing...

 ...but it couldn’t last. Eventually he too expired in a hail of fire. A sad end and an unexpectedly glorious victory for Il Duce’s forces. On to Egypt then.....

More Jap chaps

While I was achieving a ‘quick win’ with the already painted Airfix Japs, I was also painting this batch. There are figures here from at least four manufacturers (from memory TSSD, CTS, Marx and Airfix).  They’ve been finished to my usual ‘basic but effective’ standard. 

I am especially pleased with the flags!

1/32 North Korean Peoples' Army

These chaps recently arrived from their maker - Classic Toy Soldiers in the USA.  "Why" I hear you ask "do you need such figures?"  As always with such matters, 'need' is a word open to many interpretations.  But here they are.

 Just to prove that before I set about them they were rather nice figures - here they are after cleaning and basing on my usual mdf bases.  The bag contained 16 figures in eight poses.

 

 After painting - I went for a faded khaki look - the comrades were finished off with a coat of Ronseal satin light oak varnish.

 I particularly like the chap with the DPM LMG - he really looks as if he is carrying some weight.  Having once had to carry a (replica) MG-42 up a hill I can feel his pain.

Time to dust off the TF Smith scenario again, methinks.....

1/32 Spanish Civil War Republicans

Preparing for last year's Ebro game (see this earlier post here), created some interesting challenges when it came to producing the figures.  The trick I find with converting (yes OK then, bodging) 54mm figures is to apply a fair bit of imagination to what figures could potentially be.  The comrades in the photo above are mostly CTS (ex-Marx) WW2 Japanese gently cut about and with some floppy Basque-type berets added from Milliput.  The officer is an Engineer Basevich WW2 Russian, while the bloke in the bottom right of the photo is an ACW figure who has been subject to some knife work.

I find the old Airfix WW2 Japs endlessly useful for bodges.  This lot have had their caps trimmed to a rounder profile and much of the webbing carved off.

This group contains ACW figures from at least two makers, converted WW2 US from dodgy Chinese made sets found in a Belgian supermarket, Weston Mexicans and a metal Britains recast stationmaster!

 The Red Menace contained in their box.  In our game a company is 6-8 figures so there are a couple of battalions in here.
Please let me know if you'd like to see more detail of any of these figures.

Steve's new toys

As if to prove that others do take notice of my ramblings, my old friend Stephen Briddon contacted me recently to berate me for undermining his self-restraint.  Only a few weeks later, he has sent me photos of his newly-painted 54mm WW2 figures.

The figures are Airfix, guns Britains and tanks are CTS.  Inspired by my own efforts (gawd help him!), Steve has gone for the toy soldier look.

I'm delighted to be back in touch with Steve - although looking at this lot I suspect his wife may not fully share that elation...

So how do I know Steve?  He was a member of Sheffield Wargames Society and Wargame Developments before going off to conquer new frontiers in the North American colonies.  When he's not going for the 'traditional toy soldier' look Steve can paint smaller figures in disturbing detail - I still have figures which he painted for me in the 1990s - some 20mm WW2 Germans and a load of 15mm Napoleonics.