D Day Demo part 2

 The second day started with some German reinforcements, only PIVE’s and a platoon of Infantry with a Marder. If we had more time I would have added  a platoon of PIVH and  a platoon of 12th SS Infantry. As it was the Allies raced to take three objectives out of four. They had to touch the objectives as no Germans were near them. I managed to stop the fourth objective being taken by the lucky draw of a mine card which blew a DD tank blocking the road.

I was very happy to have this collection on display and had some interesting conversations about the models and the war. A few people mentioned that they had relatives involved in the landings. 

D Day Demo part 1

 Last weekend we put on a Demonstration game of D Day using Battlegroup rules with my 20mm collection. I intend to post this report in three parts.

I had not intended to play myself as there was a fair amount of organising the models for players who were unfamiliar with my collection. It turned out that the two German players could not make the weekend due to unforeseen circumstances. This meant that I had to play the German side which turned out to be not too much work. 

The landings took extra time as we had not used the D Day rules before and it was split into three waves on three beaches. Normally the game flows really well on land battles.

The 1st day was spent doing the landings which had just reached the Sea Wall and had some of the beach cleared.

Compressor box

 I built a box to hide my compressor in and attempted to quiet it down with some foam. Unfortunately it is still too noisy and drowns out the radio. I will have to use ear defenders when I use it. I also need to buy some catches for the cover but for now the couch holds it on.

The chip board was donated by the club when they cut down some full sheets to make 6x4 tables years if not decades ago. Everything else I had on hand.

The chipboard was first covered with wallboard sealer which was leftover when I decorated the games room. The paint is Rustoleum paint and primer bought as they no longer sell black primer. I bought two cans of this and found that it’s not Matt and hopeless for coating miniatures. It also takes about three top coats to cover properly. I had no other use for it so no loss to cover the box and the table legs.

I built a spray booth

 I have been a bit busy up cycling some random stuff at home. My eye sight is struggling to see in my dark garage which has no windows so thought I’d better move my airbrush setup into the games room. 

First I started with an old drinks cabinet which was in the dining room when I bought the house. I had previously removed it and used it for storage, but it’s ended up full of junk. Luckily I had a 3 metre led strip I had bought for the garage but never used. I thought the paint would stain the wood so applied some text book plastic bought ages ago. It was a real pain to fit as I could not hold it properly and ended up with lots of bubbles. Unexpectedly his had the added benefit of reflecting much more light.

I then set about using an old redundant bathroom ceiling fan on a removable base to remove the smell. I bodged up a filter with some foam and granny grate. The unit fits into the box when not in use. After using an airbrush I found the smell of brush cleaner outside really noticeable but was ok inside the room.

Next job is I’m repainting an old typewriter table to use with my air compressor. I hope to fit the compressor underneath with a hush cover. Apart from the spray paint this whole project has cost me nothing. Although I may have to replace the pipe later on as it has been joined and is probably a bit fragile.

The Casino Sword Beach

 I wanted something to represent the Casino on Sword beach. I had a second Airfix beach defence bunker I got with the DDay boxed set and an old Dapol shop. So set about combining them. I first cut up the bunker to make it narrower and then set about making some walls with the shop kit. I had an old Fujimi 88mm gun in my scrap box to make up the dummy gun. I haven’t decided if it will be operational for the game yet. I know its nothing like the real thing or the movie version but neither does the beach I'm portraying.

3D printed DD tanks

One of the German players on our upcoming Demo game printed these DD tanks and an Armoured bulldozer for me . He has since printed another one of each. They painted up really nicely.

I had to scratch build a Priest as I had been trying for ages to buy a Matchbox version. I used an Airfix Lee/Grant. I had some left over bits from previous Kangaroo conversions. I think the barrel must have moved when the glue was drying. The crews came from the Airfix 25pdr kits and an Airport refuelling kit.

It would be remiss if me to not post the WIP photos.