15mm Sdkfz 231 series heavy armored cars

At the start of the year I was lured into building a German late war armored recon force using the new Battlefront 234's and PSC 250's. You can read more about that here. 

To compound the evilness, PSC released a box set of five Sdkfz 231 series armored cars. This really tugged at my sense of nostalgia. One of the first model kits that I really did well was a Tamiya kit of the Sdkfz 232 8-rad with the box antenna and spaced armor shield. I've always liked the look of the 6-rad and 8-rad armored cars - the functional, angular armor and fenders are the stereotype of German automotive engineering.  So how could I not pick up a box?

The Sdkfz 231 series had a long history in WWII serving from the Poland campaign, through the end of the war. There's a good overview here on Wikipedia.

This weekend was the assembly phase. Opening up the box, we find five (5) identical sprues with the parts to build one (1) model of a Sdkfz 231 series 8-rad heavy armored car.

The basic sprue with all the parts to build a 231 series car

This is a really well thought out kit. Yes, there are a number of parts, but there's a lot going on here. Unlike a Zvezda kit, it doesn't feel like there are detailed parts just for the sake of having detailed parts. The parts build up into functional assemblies which all fit together into a function model designed to be used as a gaming piece.

There are two wheel assemblies. Each consists of the axle assembly and four (4) wheels. The transmission details are modeled on the frame and fit into the transmission details on the lower hull. Wheels snap onto the posts. A little ABS cement and we're on our way. 

The lower hull part with the wheel assemblies attached. 

The 231 series upper body attached to the lower hull. The front and rear hull parts each mate with a headlamp assembly before being attached. Once that is done, the side fenders are attached. 

The 231 with the retrofit armored shield. These were refit onto the first generation of the 231 to improve protection. The later generation of 231 had additional armor as part of the hull from and rear.  The shield was easy to attach, though it is a four part assembly. 

Side view of the 233 version of the model. This model uses a different upper hull and requires the gun and gun pedestal to be installed before attaching the upper hull to the chassis. 

I'm starting to realize just how ubiquitous the 75L24 gun was in the Wehrmacht. These guys mounted it on almost everything. 

Last up - a group shot featuring some members of my armored car force. From left - Sdkfz 222 (Zvezda), Sdkfz 233 (PSC), Sdkfz 231 (PSC) and Sdkfz 234/2 (Battlefront). 

Terrain for my 15mm inner brown coat.

While at the Game Haven (just one of my FLGS) for a Wings of Glory event, I spied a copy of Yahtzee on the shelves.  While I am a fan of most dice games (I'm a gamer for Pete's sake) I'm not normally a fan of Yahtzee. But this one was different....

That's right...Firefly Yahtzee. Now I couldn't care less about the dice in the game. What I wanted was the cool 'collectible' dice holder and rolling cup that just so happened to be a nice plastic version of the freighter Serenity from the old Joss Whedon series "Firefly".  My first thought was, meh, nice, but too expensive. Then I noticed it was 'on sale' for 40% off.

SOLD!

went home, took it out of the box and dragged out some of the 15mm stuff to see how well it scales with the model.  I think it'll work fine.

Here we are parked next to a Matchbox 'Russian' interceptor that is intended to be rebranded as an aerospace defense fighter.

Same as above, but with the Ground Zero Games high tech grav tank added to the mix.

A Vargr (right) argues with two civilians while a port security officer tries to sort things out without resorting to violence.  Air car is from the Laserburn range offered by Alternative Armies. 

Traffic at the local startport changes a lot. Here's a "Doe" gunship from Khurusan Miniatures. It's just had a base coat of desert tan applied. 

And with a 15mm Battlefront Jagdpanther, again for scale.

Assorted ground vehicles including a 'not-air raft' from Laserbun and a light recon grav AFV from Ground Zero Games. 

More activity at the downport. Another small freighter arrives - bigger than the Firefly class, but with a similar configuration.  (This is a kit-bashed Hunter-Killer toy from the Terminator:Salvation movie. It usually serves as a drop boat for the Mobile Infantry in my Starship Troopers games, but can pull double duty as a ship for 15mm games).

So the Firefly model should work well as a gaming piece. It's clearly on the 'terrain' end of the scale, so if it's a little small that's okay. It'll serve as a nice objective or spice up the downport setting for the table top game.

Spring into model building!

Well it's spring 2017. And that means break out the airbrush and start painting models. And then...


...oh...yeah.

Okay, so let's start with BUILDING all the models acquired over the winter and THEN get to the painting. Yeah. that's the ticket! So what's up first. Halftracks and Panthers? And oh, the Panthers have the options to build JagdPanthers? Well...that's different.

So off we go.

First up are these two Battlefront JgdPzer V models. Nice details and an easy build. Should look good on the table.

The same two models from the front end. The big ol' 88 is nicely modeled. 

I got cheap. I had a spare Plastic Soldier Company Sdkfz 251D and spare parts from Battlefront's Puma box set, so I thought - time to scratch build another Stummel. 

An Old Glory dedicated 251/10 in front with the Battlefront model behind. Both are nominally 15mm, but the Old Glory model is showing the effects of about 20 years of scale creep - the Battlefront model is clearly larger. 

While I mounted the 75L24 and the side armor skirting, there's a bit of work left for filling and sanding to get a better look. Still though - good enough for the tabletop!

In the next installment, the models get painted! 

15mm German armored cars for '44-'45

Battlefront released the box set of plastic Sdkfz 234 in December. I could resist picking them up.  One thing led to another...like a box of Plastic Soldier Company Sdkfz 250's and 251's and some Zvezda Opel Blitz trucks.

Here are the PSC Sdkfz 250 hulls. Two 250/9, two 250/1 and a 250/7.

The 250/1 with an Old Glory 251/9 and the PSC 251/1 in the rear.

The Old Glory 251/9 is close to twenty years old. It's showing it's age to the PSC model. The Old Glory model runs a little smaller that it's modern cousin. 

The Zvezda Opel Blitz is pitched as a 'snap tite' kit. But a good glue helps.

The recon battalion force. Three companies with a radio truck. Good screen for the panzer battalion.

Achtung, Panzer!

Picked up a copy of TANKS by Gale Force 9. Fun little game. Very stripped down WWII game with total focus on tank combat.

Yes, it's a game, but this is clearly designed as an introductory WWII armor miniatures game. The game provides two Shermans and one Panther as plastic model kits (the same 15mm kits produced by Battlefront). The models are clean, well cast and easy to assemble. All pluses that will hook the budding model builder. Heck, I've been building models for decades and I enjoyed putting the models together.

As a game, it's well written and easy to pick up. At the same time, there's a good degree of strategy and planning required. It's initiative system is reminiscent of Star Wars or X-Wing. High initiative units move last and shoot first. You get data cards for a variety of tanks for the major powers - the United Kingdom, Germany, the Soviet Union and United States of America.  No Italian, French or Japanese tanks at this time.

There are modifiers in the form of crew and equipment cards.

Game play is straight forward. The game may start to bog down with more than a couple of platoons of tanks on each side. Terrain and cover are both represented with simple easy to grasp rules.

Overall this is great for casual play by grognards and veteran gamers and as noted above a great intro game for gamers new to tabletop gamers.