More progress on the Israeli Defence Force.
First up some conversions for Ugdah (Division) commanders. From L to R we have unnamed commander for Jerusalem front, Elad Peled, Avriham Yaffe, Israel Tal, Arik Sharon.
The M50 and M51 Sherman fleet eventually got MGs added to turrets.
Finally sorted out crews (not yet added) and did a little more on the M7 Priest SPGs.
Making good progress, for sure! Your armor has a lot of stowage and kit on board.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jonathan.
ReplyDeleteI've based it on photos of the real thing; they carried a couple of large tarpaulins and netting, including a distinctive circular "snailshell" roll. It helps to cover a multitude of sins in conversions!
Shermans had a standard set of kit on the hull sides, including jerry cans, track link, storage boxes and spare wheels.
The Centurions and Pattons look sparse in comparison.
Neil
Your armor looks fab, Neil! My comment was an observation that they looked heavily loaded with gear.
DeleteJonathan, yes, just felt the need to explain ☺
DeleteLots of stowage seems to be a particularly Israeli thing, especially on Shermans and halftracks. I know WW2 vehicles were often covered in stuff such as the odd bicycle, but IDF photos show all sorts of tarps and boxes, barrels and oil drums; they even added a couple of shelves to the rear of halftracks and tanks and SPGs have one added. They often carry rolls of barbed wire on tanks - no idea what they use it for!
Neil
nice job. Converting almost every miniature must take forever. 😀
ReplyDeleteSadly, the IDF figures on the market are "not quite right" for 1967; 1982 no problem, but earlier....
ReplyDeleteThe closest are Platoon 20 but they suffer from a limited number of poses and some of the heads are a bit big. I was going to use them for the pure infantry brigades.
The mechanised and armoured need figures that are a bit smaller. The Combat figures are the right size but the helmet doesn't look right so it would bug me; look OK for paras.
These figures are supposed to resemble the commanders; they started life as Platoon 20 French in Indochina or US Marines.
I know it's mad, but is harmless!
Neil
You are steadily building and painting up quite a force.
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter. It has taken a while but I have converted vehicles that I didn't think I'd be able to do when I started. It has been a case of trial and error, coming back to models and working out what's missing and needs adding, or what doesn't quite look right.
ReplyDeleteI had a picture in my mind of what some things would look like (such as the commanders) and have steadily worked at making it real. I'm starting to visualise them painted!
Neil