BEF - Work in progress

So I spent the better part of my Sunday paint session rearranging the paint table, trying to clean up a bunch of paint bottles & to take stock in what I actually have. OK lots of paints from several lines. And quite a few paint brushes for when the current ones have faltered in their fine painting usefullness & are relegated to dry brushing. 

However I did pull out several more vehicles to support the force I am building & am cleaning them up & prepping them for priming.

I have 5 Vickers MkVI B's/C's from 2 different manufacturers. The one of the left in the image is from Army Group North Miniatures & is pretty much a complete vehicle sans a couple small metal bits to be added. The one on the right is from the 3 I bought quite a few years ago from Ian Crouch.

 

There is quite a bit more work on those ones as I need to glue the spring suspension onto the wheels....ugh! I also discovered that Ian's didn't come with the longer gun, so I am using the 2 from the AGNM ones & will make the last from a paperclip.

I also have 4 of the earlier Mark 1 Universal Carriers, 2 each of 2 variants. These will be great for use in the Calvary units & I can use the finalized standard version for the Infantry (thus allowing for their use in later periods as well.) These are all from Army Group North Miniatures. Each comes with 3 crew with the gas mask bag on their chest.

 

Otherwise the third squad is still on the paint table & I have also been busy with my resin printer (having placed a space heater nearby) to begin printing a bunch of figures from Bob Naismith for use in Stargrave. 

BEF - 2nd Squad Bren Team

Today completes the 2nd Infantry Squad for my BEF force. Here we have the Bren team of 3 members.

 

All are Warlord Games metal figures. One of the things about the BEF era of the British is that there are only a few manufacturers who make them. This makes it a bit of a challenge for alternative sculpts. I did think about using some of my spare German 1:35 scale model food bags & then doing some greestuff to fill them out, but that just seemed to be to much work at this time.

 

I noticed the brush hair stuck to the bren gunners helm when I saw this photo. That scrim has now been removed.

So up next is likely the 3rd squad to complete my platoon. As well, I have the 2nd Matilda 1 on the paint table. 

BEF - The Arrival of the 12th Lancers

While I work away at the infantry elements, I am also working on some more of the vehicles I have for the force.

Today I completed 2 Morris Armoured Cars, which were exclusively used by the 12th Lancers. There were a total of 38 of them deployed to France in 1939-40

 I used the same colour palette as the other Infantry tanks, as they were not part of the Armoured Division.

 

I replaced the lead axles with wood toothpicks to make them stronger, however when it was all dried, I noticed that the chassis must be somewhat skewed, as the wheels don't fit flat. It is the same for both vehicles, but something I can live with. Any complaints will see a German solder placed under said raised wheel.

These vehicles were armed with a Bren Gun & Boys AT Rifle in the open topped turret. 

STARGRAVE HAS LANDED!

Sorry for shouting that out, but after one my friends received his order over a week ago, I was elated to finally receive my Stargrave order today. Starting with the nice Hardcover book

 

As with most of these releases I jumped into the Nickstarter without a 2nd thought. Snagging 1 of each of the box sets 

 

There was also the added extra's that were included with the Nickstarter packages of extra metal miniatures, a figure sprue for more modding, etc.

Now I just need to finish my BEF force before tackling these figures...but that won't stop me from perusing the book & maybe working on some crews on paper in the meantime. 

BEF - 2nd Squad Riflemen

Just a quick post this eve as I've completed 4 more Riflemen for my BEF force.

 

Again these are all Warlord Games metal figures

I alluded that I expected to have them completed by the weekend, & this has allowed me to keep my word on that.

As I looked at the squad shaping up, I realized I was missing 1 Rifleman for the Rifle team, so will be adding one to the Bren Team for the squad to complete it. 

BEF - 2nd Squad forming up

Slogging through the infantry elements, I completed 3 more Infantry. These are members of the 2nd Squad. 

Here we have the Squad leader (centre) & 2 Riflemen.

 

Again these are all Warlord Miniatures metal models.

 

I've got a good portion of 4 other riflemen well underway on the paint table & expect my lunchtime paint sessions will see them finished by the weeked.