12th SS Pak-40 Platoon Project

Whew!!

I do apologize for the LOOOOOOOOONG delay between posts, but when one goes to parcel-out their day, sometimes the miniatures blog needs to take a backseat. It is NEVER a permanent backseat however, and I'm back and painting strong.

This is the first installment of my 12th SS "HitlerJugend" army for Flames of War and other 15mm games that may come my way... the all important Pak Platoon!!

This was a 7.5 cm high-velocity gun, very lightweight for its size yet quite robust in the field. This weapon was comperable in performance to what the Pz Mk IV and Stg III/IV were carrying for armament, and was quite capable of knocking-out anything the Allies had in inventory at reasonable combat ranges.

THE GUNS...

...were modeled well, but the castings had much to be desired. One gun tube was mis-cast and didn't have a muzzle brake on the end. I could chance my luck and send for a replacement part, or just model the gun as being w/o said brake. This is completely plausible as they were an assembly that screwed into the muzzle of the gun. Aside from losing a bit of projectile velocity, the gun would still be servicable. In addition to the mis-cast barrel, the lower half of the gun shield on all three models had a considerable amount of flash and 'crap' that had to be cut and filed down. This proved to be very difficult.

THE CREWS...

... were by the new sculpter at BattleFront and for the most part were ok. The prone ammo handler was a disappointment as there was little face detail. Only after a wash did any appreciable detail materialize.

THE STANDS...

... were the plastic stands that come with the pack though I HIGHLY suggest that you wash them. They are just sick with release agent and paint, glue, etc has a very rough time sticking to them. Healthy doses of railroad ballast (no kitty litter) and static grass complete the package.

I still have a bit more to do to be "completely" finished, adding silfor grass, some minor details, but in all a decent package of minis.