DAK photoshoot on the Desert Terrain

Hello There! I took the opportunity to photograph some of my DAK desert forces.

I have various plans to add to my desert collection, but I do have to start from the 'bottom up' and complete the terrain first.

I had airbrushed some dust clouds to put behind vehicles many years ago. I used some of them in the last Bir Hacheim game I put on, but I feel I need quite a few more for my first game in the cabin.

I made a large number of explosion markers in a number of variations and these go well with these models.

The commander on this model is an AB figure. A splendid figures which fits very well here.

I hope to use these explosion markers for mortar fire and to show hits on vehicles.

After Christmas I shall add some more photos of Commonwealth forces.

MAFVA Show 2025

Hello There! I decided to get out of the house for a while and the MAFVA show was about an hours drive away.

I have not been to this show since it was at the Duxford Military Vehicle display and coincided with the book fair.

I was very pleased and surprised to find a much bigger show than I was expecting. Spread across a large sports area and other rooms, including an upstairs area with a bring and buy sale. 

The first club who had their models on display, had a very wide range of desert vehicles which was a good presentation of some lesser known or seen axis vehicles.

The diorama back ground was from a matchbox kit. I like the way the desert round was represented.

This was a partially scratch built and the source vehicle was the matchbox Krupp Protz.

I have a coupe of 'Diana' in my DAK forces. The pictures I have seen include a number on the chassis next to the driver and a small elephant motif on the rear fender

An Sdkfz 254. This was present in the desert and used as a scout car.

An addition to the wide range of German ambulances. I did not see what make or mark this was.

I was told that this is an SHQ model. I have not seen this in their catalogue and it is a large model. I wonder if it is still available from the Grubby tanks list, or where the SHQ range will go when Andy Grubb retires next year?

The fascines on this model appeared to be made of individual lengths of bass broom bristles. The figure was an AB miniature.

Another AVRE made from a combination of an Airfix and Matchbox kit.

There were some lovely Desert Air Force aircraft. The Airfix Kittyhawk was one of the first model kits I ever made.

I would love to learn how to use an airbrush to this level and create a mottled camouflage pattern.

I liked the idea of having a background story to some of the models that were on display. This was a great idea from the Brampton club.

This was a very different idea to use the Airfix tank transporter for!

Here was another combination of desert vehicles, this time using 28mm figures.

I also have a Deacon in 20mm which requires decals and a crew. This photo was to remind me!

This was a very detailed figure and was a change from the normal selection of models that were on display.

Almost hidden away in a side room was a further group of model clubs displays. As I have a proposed project for the Aegean conflict in 1943 I liked seeing this selection of vessels.

The aircraft on the back was so small and well detailed!

And finally a further selection of desert vehicles.

Overall this was a great surprise to see a wide range of suppliers that you do not normally see at wargames shows. Also they were very helpful. I was expecting a much smaller show as I was comparing it to the Duxford show. It was a pleasant surprise! Well worth a visit next year!

Vapnartak Show Spoils

Hello There! Well another quick post with some pictures of new and forthcoming painting work.

First up, I have a few Allied tanks and other vehicles planned for North West Europe. I have done some research into the colours used and after experimenting with a few Vallejo paint mixes and browsing the AK website, I have taken the plunge and bought the above.

The paint sets cover Normandy and Late North Africa with a spare SCC15 as I feel I may need a lot of that!

The weathering powders are for the next group of tanks as after using some other shades on the Waterloo building recently I have decided to try them out on a few other things.

The tufts do make coving figure bases a lot quicker and add to the realism. I have used static grass manually placed into a dab of PVA glue, coconut fibre from a broom, sweet chestnut cases made to look like clumps of flowers and various items from the Woodland Scenics range of products in the past, and still do to add a variation to the foliage seen, but the above do save a lot of time as well. 

Although rather expensive, I also use the range of triad paints from Wargames Foundry. I purchased two different Confederate blues and greys, Prussian blue and a butternut, again for the Confederates.

ABC Brushes were also in attendance and I replaced some brushes previously purchased from them, which only started to give out after a long period of use. 

I also wanted to give the larger white handled brushes a go for dry brushing. I keep hearing reference to borrowing the girlfriends wake up brushes for this so will see how they perform.

Another pack of AB Miniatures, WW II desert Sikh troops. These are the usual very high standard from AB. I also caught a glimpse of Tony Barton on the stand. I was diverted to another stand and did not get back in time before he had departed. Shame as I would have loved to have a chat!

Wargames Foundry WW II desert DAK. I have used a couple of these packs in the past and wanted to recruit a few more German troops. I am still keeping the bulk of my Axis desert forces in the same proportions, nationality wise as the Italians made up to 80% of the Axis forces in that theatre.

And some Italians in the Colonial helmets. These are to go with the Mirleton troops I already have. 

To save getting a phase of the 'OOhhh Shiny@ syndrome I also went to the show with a list of what I needed and had preordered what I really needed to complete existing things and resisted and careless spur of the moment purchase decisions.

The day was very productive and we even left just after one pm after doing everything we wanted to, photographed some games and felt like we had been there a lot longer!