More Pictures of my 2mm/3mm Battle of the Bulge Units

This first unit is the 707th Tank Battalion, part of the 28th Infantry Division. This is my first American unit. It is made with Sherman tanks, a truck and a jeep from the 1/700th scale Skytrex set Vehicles on the Beachhead. The building is from Oddzial Ozmy. I have the Shermans moving cross country en echelon and some of the vehicles focused on a distant target! This unit should also include M5 light tanks, but I liked the look of the large group of Sherman tanks.

This unit is the 130th Field Artillery Regiment of Panzer Lehr. In reality, this Regiment had one self-propelled battalion and two towed battalions. My model features the self-propelled battalion. In my planned game, German artillery regiments will be one stand and American battalions will also be one stand. This will account for the availability of artillery ammunition for each side. American artillery was more effective during the battle and fired vast quantities of ammo. In fact, I would venture to say that American artillery effectiveness was the key to victory in the battle. German artillery played less of a role. The first vehicle in my road column is a 1/700th Hummel 150mm SP gun made in metal by Pit Road. Beautiful model!! The Wespe SP guns and the Kubelwagen are from Oddzial Ozmy. The house is a wonderful plastic kit that came in the 1/700th European Buildings kit made by Pit Road. It painted up much better than it looks in the raw plastic.

This is another view of the 130th Artillery Regiment of Panzer Lehr. Parked near the building is a command radio truck from Oddzial Ozmy. The regiment's command team can just be made out on the hill. The truck and command team are from Oddzial Ozmy's German command set. The command team has an officer, a man with map, a dog and another man with binoculars. Smashing stuff!

This is the 130th Aufklarung Battalion (recon) of Panzer Lehr. Unfortunately, the armored cars I used here were not the types assigned to the unit, but the sdkfz 250 halftracks are correct. Also correct is the sdkfz 251/9 "Stummel" halftrack with a short 75mm gun. There is even a 20mm SP flak gun on this stand. Everything, including the building, is from Oddzial Ozmy.

Finally, here is a sample urban area I built from scratch to be used in this game system. It is not appropriate for the Bulge, but included here to give you an idea of what my urban areas/villages will look like. They are, of necessity, a much smaller scale when compared to the units.

This post is a tribute to all those who served, fought and those that made the supreme sacrifice in this epic battle. December 16th was the 67th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Bulge.

Battle of the Bulge in 2mm and 3mm

These stands are 60mm x 60mm and are meant to represent battalions.

This first pic shows a Panzergrenadier battalion of Panzer Lehr. All of the miniatures, except the telephone pole, are from Pico Armor/Oddzial Ozmy. That Pak40 75mm antitank gun with crew is awesome!

This is the 243rd Sturmgeschutz "Brigade." These were added to Panzer Lehr before the German offensive, since Panzer Lehr was low on armor. Again, all of the miniatures are from Pico Armor/Oddzial Ozmy, except for the halftrack that came from a 1/700 Pit Road kit.

Here we have the 130th Panzer Battalion of Panzer Lehr. The battalion was a mix of Panthers and Pzkw IVh's. Again, other than the halftrack, these are all minis from Pico Armor/Oddzial Ozmy.

Another view of the 130th Panzer Battalion.

Finally, a shot of the 559th Jagdpanzer Battalion that was also attached to Panzer Lehr for the offensive. The Jagdpanthers and halftrack are 1/700 plastic minis from Pit Road. The barn is scratch built. The snow effect was achieved using a different method from the other stands. Which do you prefer? Well...there you have it. More pics to follow. These stands are a joy to make. I wish the Pit Road models, both in plastic and the harder to find metal, were easier to obtain. The Oddzial Ozmy minis are quite nice though and the range is extensive and growing! Their infantry are simply the best.

More 1/6000 Modern Ships

Here is a profile view of three ships. From front to back:
A British Type 42 destroyer by Figurehead
A Chinese Type 052 destroyer from Shapeways, in the WSF material. I added styrene plastic bases to the Shapeways models.
A British Type 21 frigate by Figurehead

The white spot on the rear of the bases is intended for labels.

Modern 1/6000 Ships

Some photos done with my I-phone, better pics using my Nikon camera will follow. The carrier is the Kuznetzov by Figurehead. It is painted as the new Chinese aircraft carrier. The number 10 is probably wrong, but I think it looks fine. The models are entirely hand painted by me. The escorts are Type 052 destroyers from Shapeways. They are a rather rough plastic (white, strong and flexible material) and don't look really good when you click the image for a closeup. I think these models are fine for gaming though!! The frosted ultra detail material offered by Shapeways is smoother and much better for ship models.