Messages

1

General Discussions / Re: Colour photos of WW2 armour

« on: January 31, 2017, 08:20:57 pm »

Thanks so much for posting those pix.

I really like that apparent series. Its conjecture, but I enjoy the idea that a series of pix of a unit, all taken on a particular day, with one camera, one lens, hell, possibly even on only one roll of precious color film, are now our link to that particular past...

In terms of color reference, they are very useful, but not definitive. The various color casts caused by the limitations of 1940s film stock, and the bleaching of exposure, processing and printing, (let alone the scanning, color modeling  and compression processes they went through to get them onto our - variable - computer screens) make some of them difficult to "translate". (I read some of the the German images as having a distinct pink color cast in the highlights, for example)

For what its worth, the road sign pointing left appears to me to be a 6 character name, starting with O or G, third character a descender (q, g or y) with a distance indicator (7 or 1 km) immediately after.

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Showcase & Gallery / Re: Various Tanks

« on: January 17, 2017, 01:30:03 pm »

Lovely stuff. Thanks for doing battle with the tech to show us these projects!

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Showcase & Gallery / Re: South African M10 Achilles

« on: January 16, 2017, 10:52:28 pm »

Thanks for the feedback. That the berets are reading as red shows there is quite a bad colorcast on the image - the color is a reddish brown.

The M10s were part of the artillery units.

In the Union Defence Force (as it was then), in many cases the beret colours pointed to the history and origins of the units. Armour/cavalry regiments = Black, Field artillery = (dark) Blue, Infantry = Green, etc. (There were exceptions, so the Imperial Light Horse, for example, despite being a mechanized infantry regiment in Italy, wore the black beret which pointed to their cavalry origins). I couldn't find a color image of the 1/11th, so worked backwards from current regiments and compared them to other support regiments. The modern antecedents of the 1/11 use a red-brown, so it was a toss-up between blue (field artillery) and red-brown (some support regiments). Local military historians that I asked were not sure, but agreed the density of the berets in the black and white images looked more like red-brown than blue. The sappers and other B-echelon forces had the khaki beret, as far as I am aware. Short version: I am ready to be proved wrong... 

As for the variation in tank color, the South African division showed a huge variation in vehicle color in Italy , with General Orders re: painting applied on an "as and when possible" basis. They were under command of the US 5th Army towards the end of the war, (a bit out of sight of the British General Staff) so a mix of Olive Drab and SCC 15 was evident, as well as the Light Mud/Blue Black "Italian pattern", and even the desert "Light Stone" (with various disruptors) and "UDF Olive Green" (the color used in East Africa, home front and Madagascar).

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Showcase & Gallery / Re: South African M10 Achilles

« on: January 16, 2017, 08:23:26 pm »

Thanks.

One figure is metal - from the old Warlord resin M10; the other is plastic - from the Warlord Universal Carrier kit. Both slightly bashed around to fit.

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Showcase & Gallery / South African M10 Achilles

« on: January 16, 2017, 06:59:39 pm »

Here is my effort at depicting a vehicle of the 1/11 AT Regiment of the SA 6th Armoured Division in Italy, 1945. There is no record of these seeing combat (they were only converted from 3-inch-equipped vehicles in April 1945). So I kept the weathering to a minimum. Crew from Warlord, decals from a range of sources...

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Wish Lists / Re: Allied Stowage set 2 wishlist

« on: January 16, 2017, 06:13:24 pm »

Brilliant.

Thanks, all of you, for the input. Appreciated.

So Rubicon, please add the C2351 to the list of pressed steel cases in the next stowage set.... 

And that it is a 3.7 inch AA ammo case makes sense. Both of the images I posted show South African 6th Armoured Div vehicles, and - there was a battery of two of 3.7 guns in the division, which had been trained – and were deployed in – the anti-tank and field artillery role, so would have been involved enough for their discarded ammo cases to find their way onto other A-echelon unit vehicles ...

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Wish Lists / Re: Allied Stowage set 2 wishlist

« on: January 16, 2017, 02:16:36 am »

Another view (so the "top" as fitted to the carriers):

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Wish Lists / Re: Allied Stowage set 2 wishlist

« on: January 16, 2017, 01:08:47 am »

Is it a Panzerschreck box?

Here is what I was thinking of - another style of British/Allied pressed steel case:



Apologies for the poor picture - but it should be good enough to show that it has the recessed handles, and clip closures.

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Wish Lists / Re: Allied Stowage set 2 wishlist

« on: January 15, 2017, 08:40:08 pm »

I would add my vote to including pressed steel ammo cases. The were used extensively on vehicles for storage, and many have distinctive pressing.

In particular - British cases B166, B167, C225, and P59. These is also another ammo case style that appears on many vehicles - a long flat case, probably used as a toolbox - but I dont know the code for that style...

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Showcase & Gallery / Re: South African M4A3 105

« on: November 09, 2016, 02:44:47 am »

Interesting.  There are photos of British units in Italy fielding a mixture of Sherman Vcs and Sherman IIAs so it seems likely the South Africans did too.  They had 126 Sherman IIAs, apparently.

Thanks. Thats useful. Records show 255 total Shermans on strength at war end. Unfortunately they dont distinguish between various Sherman models.

For what it's worth, Fletcher's Osprey book on the Firefly says the South African Fireflies were probably concentrated in the HQ Squadrons of 11th South African Armoured Brigade, and were probably painted dark green towards the end of the war.

I think that is correct for later in the war (the Firefly in the foreground of the PR parade pic has HQ squadron markings). Apparently they were originally issued at 2 per squadron, and I have seen photos of SA Fireflies with B and C squadron markings from earlier in the war.

I'd guess any Sherman IIIs were replacements from British stocks - they were much more common in Italy than in NW Europe, and many soldiered on to the end.

That makes a lot of sense.

Thanks for all the input. Appreciated. And thanks for indulging my geeking out on these details...

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Showcase & Gallery / Re: South African M4A3 105

« on: November 08, 2016, 11:39:26 pm »

Thanks for the reference - will see if I can track it down.

[geek mode] The most authoritative sources I can find on the division in Italy are William Marshall's articles in the SA Colours Series, and his two books on the SA 6th. But his research is ongoing, and he has from time to time revised his descriptions of the SA 6th TO&E. I have corresponded with him, to ask him to help me to try to fit particular photographs into particular timeframes, and it is by no means an easy process... (Example - there are no known unit records of the division ever having had Sherman IIIs - yet there is a photo of 2 knocked out SA Mk IIIs near Perugia... when did they arrive?)

There are plenty of photographs of SA 6th Fireflies in Italy. The timeline is approximately this: The Fireflies weren't used in training (in Egypt) so most likely were issued once the division was already in Italy (i.e. - sometime shortly after April 1944). The Fireflies all appear in SCC 15, unlike the bulk of the division's other tanks at that time which were in the Light Mud/Black Grey pattern - applied while still in Egypt. In November 1944, the division was pulled out of the line for rest and refit at Prato, and the bulk of the Sherman Vs were replaced by the Mk II 76's. The unit's historical documentation suggests the Fireflies were also at this point replaced by Mk II 76's, but that is not supported by all the photographic evidence... (as I said, there is a photo of both being used by the Pretoria Regiment, at a parade in early 1945 to mark the division's farewell to the 24th Guards Brigade - which had served under command of the SA 6th)... [/geek mode]

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Showcase & Gallery / Re: South African M4A3 105

« on: November 08, 2016, 04:23:37 pm »

Thanks. Fixed...I think...

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Showcase & Gallery / Re: South African M4A3 105

« on: November 08, 2016, 04:10:12 pm »

Thanks for the feedback 

For the most part I used Vallejo. Base was a 50/50 mix of Olive Grey and Russian Uniform Green. Washed for depth with Vallejo Wash for Dark Green, and then highlighted back up with Russian Uniform+White. Weathering mostly mist sprays of various Vallejo browns/ochres and then MIG pigments for the dense areas of dust...

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Showcase & Gallery / South African M4A3 105

« on: November 08, 2016, 02:02:24 pm »

Here is my interpretation of the Rubicon Sherman - modeled to depict a 105 in the HQ squadron of the Pretoria Regiment, South African 6th Armoured Division, Italy 1944-45. It was the only version of the M4A3 hull that was used but the South Africans - the bulk of their force was Sherman V and cast hull M4A1 76mm Shermans. And yes, my rivet-counting friends , the commanders hatch is correct - pix show the Pretoria Regiment's 105s equipped with the "vision cupola".





And together with another Pretoria Regiment vehicle - a Sherman VC (using the old Warlord resin kit).



More pix and build details on my blog

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Wish Lists / Re: Dodge Trucks revisited.

« on: August 15, 2016, 03:02:44 pm »

Just found this post, after starting a new White Scout Car request.. apologies.

The Rubicon list is good.

I would put the White Scout Car on the top of the list, with the Horch, WC-51, and Kubel/Schwimmwagens following.

Maybe a CMP Ford, and if you are going to make a 15cwt truck for the Brits, we can get the Morris in resin from a number of suppliers - how about a Bedford MWD instead.?