Monthly Archives: November 2021

Battlefront 15mm M7 Priest Field Troop – British 8th Army Desert Rats for Flames of War

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Battlefront 15mm M7 Priest Field Troop - British 8th Army Desert Rats for Flames of War, 1:100, 1/100, What a Tanker, Battlegroup

Well, at least September’s models were quick to get through – and now we’re doing October. So with a table-functional set of Panzers for my DAK force set up, my choices when planning to add those Panzers was to paint those models, then shove the whole lot back into a figure case and forget about them again for several years, or spend the time to build up an opposing force for the Afrika Korps to battle. As you can see, I went with the latter. The tanks I started with were two platoons (well, A Company HQ and one platoon) of the ubiquitous Sherman tanks that saw extensive use across many updates and variants with the Allies throughout the second half of the war.

After painting the Shermans with the camouflage pattern I chose for them, I was in no mood to continue that particular scheme across an entire force. So I went a-googling to see what I could find. I found several variations on the pre-painted display model kit above, and I really liked how it came across so I eventually chose to base my Priests on it.

Later on, I actually found this colourised photo, which I can only assume was the basis (in some form) for the model kit. Photographs from The Desert War being what they are, I can see how the shading on a black and white photo like this could end up being interpreted as either shadows or a different colour in the camouflage. I did assign my unit to the 7th Amroured (Desert Rats) rather than the (UK) 1st Armoured Division as in the photo and reference model.

Battlefront 15mm M7 Priest Field Troop - British 8th Army Desert Rats for Flames of War, 1:100, 1/100, What a Tanker, Battlegroup

Again, a pic to show the four sides of the camouflage pattern applied…

Battlefront 15mm M7 Priest Field Troop - British 8th Army Desert Rats for Flames of War, 1:100, 1/100, What a Tanker, Battlegroup

…and an “aerial” shot.

Oh, and I’ll be counting these four Priests as 12 models for this month. Why? The crew. Even though I don’t tend to count commanders sticking out of a hatch, or spare/additional/turrets. as you can see from the pic above, these crew were painted as distinct individual 15mm models. With not counting commanders and turrets, etc, I figure it evens out – and besides, it’s all about personal motivation, so it’s not like anyone else should give too much of a shit either way! 😉

Battlefront 15mm M7 Priest Field Troop - British 8th Army Desert Rats for Flames of War, 1:100, 1/100, What a Tanker, Battlegroup

And here are the completed Priests on the “Desert” flats.

 

Battlefront 15mm M4A1 Sherman Armoured Squadron – British 8th Army Desert Rats for Flames of War

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Battlefront 15mm M4A1 Sherman Company - British 8th Army Desert Rats for Flames of War, 1:100, 1/100, Battlegroup, What a Tanker

Well, at least September’s models were quick to get through – and now we’re doing October. So with a table-functional set of Panzers for my DAK force set up, my choices when planning to add those Panzers was to paint those models, then shove the whole lot back into a figure case and forget about them again for several years, or spend the time to build up an opposing force for the Afrika Korps to battle. As you can see, I went with the latter. The tanks I started with were two platoons (well, A Company HQ and one platoon) of the ubiquitous Sherman tanks that saw extensive use across many updates and variants with the Allies throughout the second half of the war.

Battlefront 15mm M4A1 Sherman Company - British 8th Army Desert Rats for Flames of War, 1:100, 1/100, Battlegroup, What a Tanker

I did a bit of a look around for how to paint these. As I’ve written before, as much as I like the look, going for a plain desert sand colour for my 8th Army force(s) isn’t the best option for models that will be facing off against a broadly similarly toned opposition with the Gelbbraun/Desert Yellow German forces.

After quite a bit of looking at options and really being surprised at just how many different and varied camouflage schemes were used in The Desert War amongst different units and forces within the British and Commonwealth forces, I decided that I liked the look of this particular four-colour scheme. I wasn’t expecting how unpleasant the two-colour “lining” would be to actually paint over the course of a half-dozen tanks!

Battlefront 15mm M4A1 Sherman Company - British 8th Army Desert Rats for Flames of War, 1:100, 1/100, Battlegroup, What a Tanker

I thought it worth showing the different angles of the camouflage on the Shermans, including the overhead view.

Battlefront 15mm M4A1 Sherman Company - British 8th Army Desert Rats for Flames of War, 1:100, 1/100, Battlegroup, What a Tanker

Even though I’ve completed this batch of Shermans, I’ve now started building a third platoon to add on to these as opposed to my original plan of filling out the second platoon with a different type of tank. I now just need to complete adding the stowage and then I’ll be able to spray, and then start actually painting. So hopefully they’ll get painted in November?

Battlefront 15mm M4A1 Sherman Company - British 8th Army Desert Rats for Flames of War, 1:100, 1/100, Battlegroup, What a Tanker

To finish – here’s the HQ and 1st platoon together – my first batch of completed British 8th Army forces. More to come! 😀