From looking at Second World War German forces as depicted in Wargames one would think that they were mostly superbly equipped elite troops. Far more SS Panzer troops than Ostbattalions, more Hanomags than horses. I suppose it is a general trend that Wargamers tend to choose better troops but that seems to go much further with Second World War Germans. Of course in reality most infantry fighting on the German side was, at best, average and relied on horse transport right up to then end.
Whilst my British forces depict specific units of 11 Armoured Division, with named individuals for the Infantry commanders, I always intended my Germans were to be anonymous and general purpose to represent the variety of opposition that 4 KSLI encountered.
My British HQ base has a Jeep and a camp stove but what to provide for the Germans? A Kubelwagen, let alone a half track, suggests one end of the scale whilst a horse places it at the other. John Boadle suggested a Citroen Traction Avant but the only one I could find in 15mm or 1/100 is a rather crude representation from Peter Pig that would be great to add some interest to a barn or garage but doesn't quite cut it for an HQ base.
John's other suggestion was the iconic Field Kitchen, 'Die Gulaschkanone'. Again depicting that in model form is a challenge. QRF actually make a 15mm model of the complete kitchen set up, with both wagons, horses and cooks but I wasn't happy with the level of detail and sharpness of the model and didn't think the figures would blend in with those I have from Peter Pig. Scratch building was the only other option but I needed some dimensions and that proved difficult. There is a book which appears to have detailed plans or I could have bought a copy of the Tamiya 1/35 kit and down-scaled from that but those seemed rather expensive and wasteful options for a novelty feature on a command stand. Finally I struck lucky and found a photo of the parts for a 1/35 scale resin model with a ruler for scale so my model dimensions are based on that.
Although small and fiddly, making the model was quite straightforward. It is basically a cuboid of laminated plastic sheet, 10 x 13.5 x 4.6 mm with things stuck on it. Most parts are simple rectangles so it is just a case of cutting them neatly and getting the sides square, vertical and burr-free. This takes practice but I've had plenty of that scratch building parts for 1/1250 scale waterline ship models. To help with this, I used a simple MDF jig, that I'd originally made for those ship models. It allows me to hold small parts at a fairly accurate 90° or 45° angle whilst sanding them with fine sandpaper fixed to the side of a wooden block.
When working with such small components it is vital to keep a clean and well-ordered working area if you hope to achieve accurate, clean and sharp details. Not to mention to minimise the risk of losing small pieces on the floor.
Alternatively, let a large ginger cat take up residence whilst you are making a cup of tea, then spend ages looking for lost pieces that have been relocated and re-make those that are irredeemably lost.
The 4 round components for the cover on the main cooking vessel were quite a challenge as they needed to be specific diameters of quite thin plastic. The solution I came to was to cut a rough, slightly oversize circle and superglue it to the head of a round nail. I then held the nail in an electric drill and gently pressed a sanding stick against it whilst it rotated. Every so often, I'd stop and check the diameter with a vernier. It took a bit of trial and error to get the technique but I soon got the hang of it and I was able to do the dome of the top piece and rounding off of 2 of the lower sections by the same method.
I cheated with the wheels and just used some of approximately the right size - I think they were originally from a 17th C artillery limber by Museum Miniatures. They just needed a bit of filling and filing to clean up some dry parts of the casting qnd make them narrower.
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| Completed model sitting on a one Pound coin. |
That's a great little model, Nathan. It's the kind of thing that does need to be all neat and square to look right, and your ship modelling experience has enabled that. It looks very much the part, and will provide some much needed sustenance for the 15mm Germans, setting them up for a good day of artillery stonks and Jabo attacks.
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