Plastic Soldier Models - SdKfz 251/1 C

I received PSM's newsletter announcing that they would be running monthly contests for their models. I had these halftracks sitting on the shelf and I have been thinking about working on my 15mm DAK army again so I figured I would break these out. There were a few SdKfz 251/1Cs in the motorized infantry regiment of the 21st Panzer Division. I need a grand total of four so this box is plenty, at least until I need to started doing the conversions to 251/3s.

While I realize that reviews of these kits have already been done to death I figured I would still through out my construction photos and comments for the world to ignore. On to the pictures!

The box! Contains enough parts for 5 SdKfz 251/1Cs. Works out to about $6.50 each.

The sprues plus the "instructions"

A single sprue with everything you need to build one halftrack

I cut out all the main parts for the halftrack and cleaned them up. Mold lines were only serious on the front tires, which is kind of expected.

Putting on the tracks. Hard to mess this part up

Front wheels and both tracks in place

Ready for the rest

The "bathtub" portion of the model. 

The "bathtub" attached and everything back to right side up

Adding the driver position and the benches

The backrests are in, still looks uncomfortable

The side storage compartments in place

Dropping on the top. I did not glue this piece on yet, I want to be able to paint the interior and it will be a lot easier without the top shell in place.

I left off the MGs and the MG shield as well. Somethings are just easier to attach after the painting is done.

The sprue after I cut everything out. Plenty of extra pieces for stowage.

This kit was a snap to put together (its not a snap together kit though, use your favorite plastic model glue). I spent more time taking pictures than I did actually assembling and cleaning mold lines. I could probably build the entire box inside of an hour. Feels pretty sturdy so I think it will hold up to the rigors of the gaming table quite well. I'm looking forward to getting out the paints and starting on the little base diorama I have planned.

Charity FOW Tournament

One of the members of LEG (my gaming club) has a daughter that was diagnosed with leukemia. The club decided to hold a charity FOW tournament to raise some funds to help with the medical bills. This was probably the first time I had played FOW in two years or so. The tournament was late war and of course the only army I have is my DAK mid war army. For the tournament they had to masquerade as the Aufklarungs unit of the Hermann Goering division. Three games later  I managed to get completely crushed once, a narrow victory and a narrow defeat. Here are some pictures from the game:

Attacker against the Russians

 Defending against the British 7th Armored (Steve would go on to win the tournament)

 

 One of those mutual attack/defend games against the Americans. This is one of the 16 game boards I painted for a La Salle tournament in 2010. Unroll and add buildings and hills and you are good to go.

A quick view of my Hermann Goerring Aufklarungs disguised as DAK troops. There are a couple of proxies in there because no store in the area had the last Wespe I needed and I had to sacrifice a pack of Panzer Lehr troops to get the Panzerschrecks I needed.

Miniature Wargaming

Like every miniature gamer that I know I have far to many unpainted miniatures and interest in far to many periods. This year I'm trying to cut back a little and will probably have some miniatures that will end up being bartered or sold off. I think I have narrowed my periods down to the following: WWII, WWI, ACW, TYW, Napoleonics, LoTR and 40K.
For WWII I have a 15mm DAK army for Flames of War and I'm slowly gathering the components to do a later war army based on the Hermann Goering Division again for Flames of War. I actually prefer the Command Decision rules but I know with FOW I can always get a game in.
For WWI I'm working on an American force in 28mm. I'm focusing on the 5th Marine Regiment of the 2nd Division. I have a lot of unpainted pewter for this force right now.
I have an 15mm ACW Union Army that is just about complete. I need to finish up some more cannons and do the cavalry and that one can be called done. They are mounted for Fire and Fury. Currently we are playing the newer regimental rules but I still have my old brigade level rules too.
The  advent of some nice plastics for the Thirty Years War/English Civil War sucked me into this period. I'm working on the Danes for the TYW, of course nothing is finished yet and there are some more miniatures to buy. Maybe with the tax return this year.
I have British in 15mm for Napoleonics. This army is actually almost finished as well. Originally my group (the League of Extraordinary Gamers or LEG) was playing La Salle, I think we are leaning towards going back to Napoleon's Battles. The infantry is just about finished which leaves a small amount of artillery and cavalry to round things out.
Lord of the Rings is my fantasy rules choice and I'm working on a Dol Amroth force that I hope to have ready for Mayhem in the Mountains later this year. It will be a double duty army in the end so I'm painting more troops than I can field so it could be used as Rangers of the North or Rangers of Ithilian.
The final piece is my 40K army. This is not something I'm really gung ho about but both of my boys play 40K so it would be nice to have an army to play against them. I have been collecting Legion of the Damned figures as the basis for my own chapter. I have been slowly accumulating kits and miniatures for this army, most of which will end up being pretty heavily converted.