Frosting Disaster!

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I have been painting a company of 15mm WW2 dismounted Polish cavalry: 49 figures in all.

It's probably taken me about ten hours of work to finish them: that's prepping the figures, undercoating, top coat, highlight, wash, and basing.

Finished them last night.

Went out to the garage to varnish them. Picked up the bad can of GW Purity Seal that caused me so many problems with my half-tracks (see previous post) that I'd put handy to throw away, but hadn't actually thrown away yet, and promptly frosted the lot of them!

And when I say frosted, I mean frosted:

An absolute disaster! And on my 50th birthday as well! I could have cried!

Now usually when this happens I try spraying with a gloss varnish, and that sorts most of it out. Not this time: just made it slightly worse!

So I googled solutions and was amazed to find people suggesting a thin coat of olive oil might solve the problem.

Olive oil? Are you sure?

So into the kitchen I went, and was immediately confronted with my first dilemma: what sort of olive oil. The wife has got at least three types: ranging from the cheapo, supermarket own-brand in a plastic bottle to the super-squishy, extra-extra-virgin delicatessen variety.

Well, these troops have had quite an investment of my time, so it had to be the top quality oil: nothing but the best for the Polish cavalry!

Rather dubiously, I started painting it on.

Immediate results: figures de-frosted almost as the brush passed over them, leaving them free of frosting and nicely detailed again, with just a hint of roughness caused by particles of varnish.

Extra-ordinary...and now that they are dry, they have a rather pleasing patina to them too.

Glad I used the expensive stuff!

I've now re-varnished using Army Painter seal, and will post a pic tomorrow: it's good to keep you in suspense a little!

Olive oil! Who'd have thought it.

IABSM: Germans in Poland: Most Gaps Filled

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As I said in my previous post, I have plenty of early war German kit: I just needed to re-photograph some of it to fit in with the specific Germans in Poland infantry company list.

That's now happened, (click here to go to the gallery) and I know exactly what I need to buy in order to be able to field anything I might need to.

As expected, the only real gaps are in the number of tanks and armoured cars I need...but as that's not critical, as IABSM is more about infantry than tanks and it's going to be a rare occasion indeed that I need to field an entire tank company, I can just fill these gaps with cost-effective vehicles from Zvezda as and when I feel like it.

I reckon if I bought six SdKfz 221s; five Panzer 35(t); five Panzer 38(t); and six Panzer IIs then I would have all the early war German tanks I could ever realistically need...and at Zvezda prices, I could probably get the whole lot for the same amount as one Battlefront late war tank killer box set! All hail Zvezda!

In fact, the only real gap is the two-squad infantry scouting unit which, obviously, I could represent on foot, but would like to do as cavalry: the first German cavalry I would then have. A trip to Peter Pig for them, I think, as I quite like PP's cavalry figures.

So, infantry company gallery now done: next up will be the Schutzen and the Gebirgsjaeger galleries. After I've been shopping, of course...

IABSM: Germans in Poland Gallery

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Now that I have finished the IABSMv3 1939 September War lists for the Germans and Poles, it's time to see what I have got in my collection...and therefore what I haven't got as well!

Easiest way to do that is to build galleries for each potential force: then I can clearly see where the gaps are, and how big my next shopping spree needs to be.

Well, the first of the Poles are still on the painting table (just need to finish the bases), so it's the Germans that will start things off.

Click here to see the first of the Germans in Poland 1939 galleries: that of the standard infantry company. Quite a bit of new photography to do this weekend, along with the shopping list!

Don't forget that you can download the IABSMv3 Polish and German lists from the Poland 1939 page under the IABSM tab at the top of the page. Feedback always appreciated.

IABSM: Germany in Poland 1939 v3 Lists Now Available

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I have now finished the IABSM v3 compatible German lists for the 1939 September War to go alongside the Polish lists that I posted a month or so ago.

These lists allow you to field a variety of German forces based on everything from a standard infantry company to a light trucked tank company. As with the Polish lists, they are largely taken from Anatoli's excellent work, converted to IABSM v3 alongside additional info from my own research.

Click on the pic to download the list, or visit the Poland 1939 section of this website (under the I Ain't Been Shot, Mum! tab at the top).

Any feedback gratefully received: either comment or send me an e-mail at the usual address.

IABSM: 1939 Polish Lists Updated

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I have slightly updated the IABSM v3 lists for the 1939 Polish Army, available by clicking the picture or from the Poland 1939 page under the IABSM heading.

Whilst working on the German lists for the same period, I realised that the IABSM v3 convention is to give medium mortars a crew of five rather than the v1 or v2 crew of three.

Small thing, especially as they will be off-table in most games, but now corrected.

German lists are coming along nicely: should be done by the end of the month. Wish my Polish cavalry painting was doing as well!

IABSM: First German Army Lists for Poland 1939

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I've now started work on the German army lists to accompany the "First to Fight" pdf containing all the Polish lists.

The first two, the Light Tank Company and Light Tank Company A, are now available either by clicking on the images, below, or by visiting the Poland 1939 page of the website.

Note that I will post new lists as they are complete but, after they are all done, compile them into one booklet in the same way As I have done with "First to Fight".

Any comments or critiques welcome!

IABSM: Polish Army Lists for 1939 Finished

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I am very pleased to announce that the Polish Army Lists for IABSM for the 1939 September War are now finished and available as a free download on this site.

The lists are gathered into a single, 54-page pdf booklet that follows the same format as the two late war theatre supplements Vpered na Berlin and Battle for Liberation.

The booklet contains lists for the following forces:

  • Line Infantry Company
  • Border Protection Force Infantry Company
  • Border Protection Force Mountain/Highland Infantry Company
  • Independent Reconnaissance Tank Squadron
  • Cavalry Squadron
  • Cavalry Armoured Reconnaissance Diwizjon
  • Troops from the 10th Motorised Cavalry Brigade
  • Troops from the Warsaw Armoured Motorised Brigade
  • 1st & 2nd Light Tank Battalions
  • 3rd Light Tank Battalion
  • 12th & 121st Light Tank Companies
  • 21st Light Tank Battalion
  • 2nd Armoured Battalion

In addition, there are rules for rating your Polish force, the Polish Armoury, and details of/rules for armoured trains.

Click on the picture of the front cover to download the list; or visit the Poland 1939 page on the IABSM drop-down, above.

Enjoy...and if you find any errors, or just want to let me know what you think, either comment on this post or drop me a line at the usual address.

IABSM: German Panzerspah Zug

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Having painted up an SdKfz 250-based Aufklarung platoon for my late war infantry, it was only appropriate to sort the panzers out as well with an Sdkfz 250-based platoon from the Panzerspahkompanie.

Slightly different configuration from the Aufklarung platoon: with two command SdKfz 250/5 vehicles backed up by four 20mm cannon armed SdKfz 250/9 vehicles.

As with the Aufklarung platoon, the Plastic Soldier Company could provide the 250/9s, but no-one seemed to do a specific 250/5 i.e. the half-track with the extra radio equipment in it.

This is one version of the SdKfz 250/5

So I decided to go a bit off-the-books here and make the two cars SdKfz 250/3s (i.e. the ones with the aerial cage on top) instead of 5s. This meant that they would be clearly distinguishable from a run-of-the-mill 250, and maybe there were some 5s that had the cage. Google certainly suggested a whole lot of different types of "extra radio equipment", from hoops to tall cactus-like aerials etc.

The problem, of course, is that just as no-one did a 250/5, no-one did a 250/3 either!

Searching the web, however, led me to the 15mm figure manufacturer Heer46. They produce a separate aerial cage for the SdKfz 251/3, and although the cages weren't identical, I thought this was a close enough match and ordered a couple. 

Delivery was prompt, and with a bit of bending and squeezing, the cages fitted the smaller half-tracks just fine. Okay, so they have a cross-brace in the middle, and the 250/3 cage doesn't, but maybe these particular crews fitted extra struts because of high winds in the area in which they were operating!

I painted them in the same way as with the Aufklarung (see previous post) i.e. a base of dunkelgelb then sponged on camouflage, and they turned out equally as well. The only problem was that, again, and with a new can, I've had a frosting issue with GW Purity Seal.

Don't understand it. I switched away from Purity seal as my varnish of choice about ten years ago when I encountered a really bad batch that even GW (reluctantly) admitted was crap. Then, after a few years, I switched back...mainly because of the convenience of being able to pop into a GW store to pick up a replacement. I've had no problems, none at all, since then, until now.

Now I have had not one but two cans, bought from different stores, give my figures a nasty case of dusty frosting. Don't know why, and will have to buy a can of something else to see if an overspray works to clear it. Hope so, as I really don't fancy building and painting another fourteen SdKfz 250s!

Polish Big Man

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I mentioned in the post below about the 15mm WW2 figure manufacturer, Heer46, that they produced a range of unique command figures. When I bought the aerial cages for the command vehicles of the Panzerspah company (cf) I also bought one of these "Big Men".

He has painted up very nicely (although I've still got to deal with a bit of varnish frosting) and will form the first of my Poles as the overall command figure. Now all I have to do is buy and paint up the rest of the army!

IABSM: Poland 1939: Cavalry Squadron

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Here's another IABSM v3 list for the 1939 Poles: a cavalry squadron.

I've almost finished the lists now: all I need to do over the weekend is the Armoury i.e. all the stats that support the units and vehicles shown in the lists.

Once that is done, I'll gather all the lists into one enormous pdf (it will be about 50 pages I think) and repost in a download-friendly fashion.

Then it's on to the Germans and Soviets...and maybe the Slovaks for completeness.

Click the picture or here for the pdf of the Cavalry Squadron list; or go to the Poland 1939 page with all the current lists by clicking here.

IABSM: New Manufacturer: Heer46

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Well, not a brand new manufacturer, as Heer46 have been around for some time, but a new manufacturer added to the list!

Most of what Heer46 does in 15mm scale is, as the name suggests, Weird World War 2 stuff (Jagdpanthers with gigantic flamethrowers, collosal US tanks etc) but they do produce a few useful bits and bobs for the more traditional WW2 gamer.

Very useful, for example, are aerial racks for SdKfz 251 half-tracks: something that allows you to convert a standard 251 into a proper command vehicle. Here's a pic of a recent unboxing, clearly showing two of the racks in question:

I've actually used the racks for SdKfz 250s. They don't really fit, and have the cross-bracing used in 251s but not 250s, but they will most definitely do and look quite good. More on that in a future post i.e. when I've finished the squadron.

You can also just about see a Big Man in there too. One of the other useful things Heer46 do is a selection of individual, non-standard command figures. They are very detailed and paint up well: giving you a set of unique figures to use instead of one of the mass-produced Battlefront or Peter Pig officers.

Check out Heer46 either through the WW2 manufacturers page on this website, or by clicking here to go straight to their site.

IABSM: Poland 1939: Polish 12th & 121st Light Tank Companies

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Another OB for the early war Poles: this time its for a force based on a company of Vickers E tanks from either the 12th or the 121st Light Tank Companies.

These were the armoured companies attached to Poland's only two motorised brigades: the 10th motorised cavalry brigade and the Warsaw armoured motorised brigade. 

Both companies also used the Vickers E tank: some with a single turret mounting a French 47mm gun, others with twin turrets each with a Polish machine gun.

There will eventually be OBs for the two brigades as well (the 10th is already up, Warsaw to follow probably later this week) but looking at the armoured element so specifically gives you the background to the brigade force even if it's one based on infantry with only a platoon or so of tank in support.

You can find the OB, along with the others, on the Poland 1939 page, which you can also reach by clicking here.

IABSM: Poland 1939: Polish Rifle Infantry Company

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As promised yesterday, here's what I expect will be the mainstay of any Polish force: the basic rifle infantry company.

This was a very interesting list to put together, mainly because of the unusually large paper strength of Polish infantry squads and the way in which they were armed:  how do you deal with a 19-man infantry platoon armed with bolt-action rifles and BAR on the table-top?

I suppose the place to start is with the lists in the v2 theatre supplement, Blitzkrieg! Here, Richard Clarke’s Polish infantry squads have ten men, and are split into squads with BAR and squads without. He has, however, given the company HQ an extra squad.

I have chosen to do things a little differently.

Firstly, I have the on-table strength of an infantry rifle squad as twelve. This is a decrease of the same proportion as used for German infantry squads.

Secondly, I have chosen not to differentiate between those squads with or without a BAR (assuming that BARs would be spread as evenly as possible throughout a force) but to penalise the firepower of the larger infantry squads by capping their Actions (and therefore firing dice) at ‘3’ right the way through from eight to twelve men. This represents a combination of dealing with an unwieldy number of men, the reduced ROF of the BAR versus a true LMG (without semi-automatic rifles to compensate as in later war US squads), and an allowance for the fact that a certain number of squads might be missing BARs entirely.

This seems to me to be a good compromise: especially as the large squads capped at three Actions represent units that showed no particular extra training to their contemporaries, but will effectively be braver than most as they will stick around for longer.

Those who disagree with my interpretations, above, are at liberty to field “understrength” squads of ten, subtracting one dice to any fire from a squad without a BAR.

To see the Polish rifle infantry company list, click on the picture. Or to see all currently available lists on the Poland 1939 page, click here.

IABSM: Poland 1939: 21st Light Tank Battalion

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Yes, you guessed it: it's another list for the Poland 1939 project!

This time we have an order of battle for the 21st Light Tank Battalion, equipped with French R-35 tanks.

The 21st saw action against both the Germans, at Kamionka Strumilowa, and the Soviets, at Krasne. It contained forty-five R-35s.

You can see the list by clicking on the pic to the right, or click here to go to the main Poland 1939 page.

Now that I've warmed up on the lists for the armour, tomorrow should be the big one:  the standard Polish infantry rifle company. 

IABSM: Poland 1939: 2nd Armoured Battalion

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Another list for the plucky Poles: this time covering forces based on one of the three light tank companies from the 2nd Armoured Division.

FT-17 Tank photographed at the Musee d'Armee, Paris

These units were equipped with somewhat obsolete French FT-17 tanks, some of which were still only armed with machine guns. To give you an idea of how bad they were thought, the platoon and company commanders didn't actually ride in the tanks, but drove around in field cars or on motorcycles!

To see the list, click on the pic; or click here to go to the Poland 1939 home page to see all available lists.

IABSM: Poland 1939: 10th (Motorised) Cavalry Brigade

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A third list for the Poland 1939 project, and this time it's the turn of the 10th Motorised) Cavalry Brigade.

The brigade consisted of cavalry units converted to the role of motorised infantry, and was the only fully operational Polish motorised infantry unit of the campaign. The infantry element of the brigade consisted of the 10th Mounted Rifle Regiment and the 24th Uhlan Regiment, each consisting of four company-sized motorised rifle squadrons; an HMG squadron; and an AT platoon.

This was the formation christened the "Black Brigade" by the Germans because of the black jackets worn by the Polish motorised troops.

Click on the pic to see the list.

Or click here to go to the Poland 1939 page with all the lists.

IABSM: German Aufklarung unit

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A bit of a break from Polish army lists today: some painting instead.

I've been wanting to add a reconnaissance element to my late war Germans for some time, but have been distracted by all the Arab/Israeli kit sitting on my painting table. Now that that's gone, it was recon all the way!

First up was the infantry recon element: a platoon from the Aufklarungkompanie described in both Battle for Liberation and Vpered Na Berlin. This consisted of eight half-tracks: one SdKfz 250/1 as command, one 250/10 with PaK 36, and then six more 250/1 carrying the three squads of infantry.

Command Element

With eight half-tracks to buy and paint, I decided to go the Plastic Soldier Company way: half the cost (at least) of buying them in metal, and the extra two half-tracks could go towards my next unit: recon for the panzers.

Building them was pretty easy. The only tricky bit was fitting the two crewmen into the cockpit. One stands, firing the MG, the other sits on the bench, presumably complaining that its his turn with the gun now! The problem is that it's a very tight fit to get both stander and sitter in place and, if you're not careful, you end up with Herr Stander's bottom firmly pressed into Herr Sitter's face!

The half-tracks paint up nicely. I undercoated in a dark yellow, then used one of the sponge things you get in a Battlefront blister to create a camouflage pattern with a light green and then a dark brown. In order to keep things consistent (und orderly, ja!), I made sure the camouflage blobs for each colour were in the same places on each half-track.

1½ squads-worth of half-tracks!

The crew were painted in German uniform rather than camouflage. I could have gone splinter pattern, but I felt that the contrast between the half-tracks and their crew worked better than if I'd camouflaged both. BTW, I only painted the bits of the crew that can be seen...and had to go back and paint the drivers' helmets as I forgot to do them as I did the others.

A wash with Agrax Earthshade (what did we do before Agrax Earthshade) and a bit of highlighting and the paint jobs were done.

Decals were then applied...and I've just realised that the numbering that I've used doesn't make any sense in that I have treated the main body of the unit as two squads of three half-tracks rather than three squads of two half-tracks. Doh! I have also had a problem with the backing film showing, despite using a decal softener as I applied them. It's a pain, but I shall have to learn to live with it.

The other 1½ squads-worth!

Anyhoo, a coat of matt varnish softened the colours so they looked less clown-like, and we're now all ready for some recon action. 

Nice figures: PSC = highly recommended.