Wednesday 24 April 2013

20mm Fallschirmjager Army- Part 1

With a cupboard stacked with model kits and a not inconsiderable lead pile, I thought it was about time to pull together my Fallschirmjager force for the Mediterranean theatre, in 20mm. This will be suitable for World War 2 battles in North Africa, Sicily and Italy.  First off, what I have to work with/complete to make this project a reality:

Ok, I'll admit that I bought the The SdKfz 222 armoured cars and
the new S-Model Nebelwerfers  for this project... the rest I had in my stash.
The figures are from AB and are excellent.




I started with some 75mm Pak guns. These come as an extra in the Fujimi Panzer 1 kit, which I bought for my long-running (read: never finished) Spanish Civil War Nationalist Army. 

The kit is technically 1/76 scale. From previous experience I know
 that the AB crew will fit perfectly with the model.
I carved and cut out the recoil mechanisms on all 3 guns. You can see the
 un-alterred one on the right.



Next I built me a couple of the new S-Model Nebelwerfers. These are made in China and you get 2 in each box. The kit represents the 21cm Nebelwerfer 42, which has 5 rocket tubes.

I also made a start on the Esci Werfers. This old kit has been sitting around in my cupboard since last century and I have to say it feels good to finally build it. It comes with crew figures in Winter gear that I'm not going to use. You get 2 launchers in the box. It represents the perhaps more familiar 15cm Nebelwerfer 41, which has 6 tubes.

S-Model Werfer. I used some thin copper wire to add the electrical firing system.
Some putty to thicken the attachment points. This extra detailing is in no way
necessary for wargaming models, but really enhances the look of the launchers.
I thinned the ends of the launcher tubes on the Esci Nebelwerfer using a sharp 
blade, then a large drill bit. You can see the un-alterred launcher on the right, with
 way over-thick launcher tubes. The S-Model kit is state-of-the-art and has nice 
thin-walled tubes straight out of the box.
I'd like to have a battery of three 21cm Nebelwerfer, so I'll need to pick up another box.


That's all for now! 
Since AB does not make a Nebelwerfer crew in tropical gear I am beginning to think that I'll have to sculpt one...  I'll have updates on this project as time allows between my regular sculpting posts.  










6 comments:

  1. The extra detailing really lifts the models. And I had to laugh at the last century remark!

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    1. Well... I'm going to make a concerted effort to complete a pile of modelling projects that are either half finished or in my stash, lots of which have been sitting around for a looong time!

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  2. very nice so far, and a good idea about the wefer tubes they do look much better drilled out, look forward to seeing more.

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  3. Thanks Extraordinarii. I've made a good start but there is a lot more to do.

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  4. Can't wait to see them finished. Any plans on sculpting your own 20mm figures? ;)

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    1. 20mm World War 2 is pretty well served for miniatures I reckon! It's likely I'll sculpt some crew for the Nebelwerfers or maybe stuff I need for my own projects, but not much else.
      Thanks for your comment!

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