Hi Everyone,
I started on the base, the main base in going to be polystyrene with sculptamold over the top, The buildings are straight out of the mold very little tidying up done on them. I have decided to add a prone Bren Gunner............ Now I know what you are thinking, shouldn't he behind cover? Isn't he or the Tommy gunner going to shoot their own troops? Well I have the idea that the Bren gunner is droping down every so often to cover his mates, then up and at em firing from the hip. The Tommy gunner is shooting off the odd burst at anyone the Bayonets miss.
I have now built some doors for the shed, they are made out of stirring sticks and left over PE fret.






All comments welcome

Hi Andrew

So far so good. it looks to be shaping up real well. What figures are you using ?
Harry

Hi Harry,
Thanks for the comments. The figures are from Airfix's 1/32 8th Army and British Infantry sets. So far I am very happy with them loads of nice details.

One thing - lose the beret on the Bren Gunner; the beret was mainly worn by Armoured units and didn't become widespread in the British and Commonwealth armies until after the war.

Many wartime pictures that show British and Commonwealth troops wearing 'beret'-like headgear - they are actually wearing 'Caps, GS' which was made of khaki wool, much the same as the battledress uniform, and consisted of several separate panels and wide headband; an ugly, shapeless and unpopular piece of headgear, by all accounts.

For the period, a more likely form of (out of action) headgear would be the Cap, FS (sidecap) or even the Lemon Squeezer.

However, if you really don't want to show your Bren Gunner wearing a tin hat, I'd suggest putting a 'cap comforter' on his noggin - this is the 'commando' style soft stocking cap, which could have come from a parcel from home, as many of these were knitted by wives, mothers, etc and sent as 'comforts for the troops'; there's photographic eveidence of these being worn by NZ troops during the disastrous campaign in Greece, so it's feasible for the Bren Gunner to have one.

One other thing - where's the Number Two on the Bren Gun..?

acav out

I kind of like the Bren without a number two in this scene, especially with the one rifleman running so close. Add the number two or not, its your choice. There is plenty of evidence to support both, and either would look good.

Andy,

There's a useful shot of a Galatas street here which has some nice detail of drains and the like.
Thought it might be useful for you.

cheers
acav

Thanks for the comments acav and Kevin.
Acav I have had other people say lose the beret......so consider it lost! lol He now has a tin hat.
On the number two for the Bren gun, I decided against not using the No. 2 because at the time so many men had been lost that it was pretty everyone did what need to be done to get the job done. There also some good stories about Bren Gunners running down the street blasting away.
Also Thanks for the photo Acav, I already have that one and am using it along with this one below as the inspiration behind my base.

Since taking these photos I have switched around the figures and are happy with the way it looks, they are in more realistic positions comparative to each other.

Nice one, Andy - reckon this'll turn out nice.

As a matter of interest, I've just finished reading 'Winged Dagger' by Roy Farran, who was a British tank commander operating in support of the Kiwis at Galatas - his observations of the battle are very interesting.

I can lend you the book if you like, just PM me and we'll discuss details...

acav out

Acav,
From the sounds of it Roy Farran was as Brave/Crazy as the Kiwis! PM inbound.
Another book of interest is Galatas: 1941 By Lynn McConnell, A great read that gets into the minds of the men that were there.

G'day Andrew,
Looking very good so far.
One thing i would do is move the Bren Gunner to the Archway and have him covering the aussalt. Place a couple of empty/full mags at the side and a bit of brass about the place. The Tommy gunner could be clearing the room with the wooden doors.

Look forward to see more of this one.

Cheers Jason

Hi Andrew

Just a idea about the 2nd on the Bren gun, I know you have decided to leave him out. How about showing him down. Either dead or wounded. Not alot of blood but enough to get the idea across. I can't wait to see this one done.
Harry

Harry has a good idea here Andrew. This would add to the impetus of the all out assault by the troops and how exposd they were... Even in a state of fallen, but unclear to the viewer as to whether he has been mortally wounded, or suffered a fleshwound and will get to his feet again to continue...
Don't know if you have used any reference for your doors, but I reckon the PE is a little too long. These are hinges after all, and therefore only need to be half the length shown? Just a thought...
This is coming together nicely mate, and by the sounds of it you have had sufficient feedback to re-jig ideas and add to the scene as a whole.
Good stuff
Brad

Thanks guys,:-H
Jason, I like the idea of moving him to the archway, and specially the empty magazines(will have to hunt some down). I will leave the tmmy gunner charging, because the first wave left the clearing of buildings for those coming up behind them.

Harry and Brad, Let me get back to you on the Wounded/dead guy, I am going to have think this one over, I like the idea, but my sculpting/scratchbuilding skills leave a lot to be desired lol.

hey andrew,nice dio going on there,i picked up a dvd from the wharehouse called "The second world war volume XVII,battle of kursk and the battle of crete".the battle of crete has videos of new zealands over there which maybe some help for your dio,and only $13

matt

Great!

Cheers Matt and Desertfox, Matt I will keep and eye out for that DVD next time I am in the warehouse.