Sledgehammer Project; Preparation Pt IV - Crew Comparison

As the diorama concept comes together for the Sledgehammer, my thoughts have turned to the crew. I know that I will need to do quite a bit of modification on some of them, especially the ones from the infantry squads, to fit them in. I decided that a comparison between the Reaper Bones crew and the Victoria Miniatures Resin crew was in order. 

A couple of things really stood out here. The Bones plastic crew has nearly the same sharpness of detail as the Resin crew. I was certainly not expecting that and my original thoughts were to have the Bones crew in supporting positions. Since the level of detail is nearly the same I don't need to be nearly as concerned as I was prepared to be. That being said it is a lot easier to modify and convert the Bones crew so any modifications I need between these will definitely be worked on them. At this point I'm wishing that the old Reaper Boneyard existed for the Bones miniatures, I would likely get another whole set of them just for conversions.

The other detail that stands out is that almost all the Bones crew are taller than the Resin crew. That will help differentiate between the miniatures with a little less effort. Which is something else I was already thinking about when I made the order. A set of male and female militia heads to swap out with the squad heads to add more visual interest. Hopefully it will all come together, I can see the scene in my head, its the translation that is difficult.

The resin artillery crew from Victoria Miniatures. They are in the same poses as the Bones artillery crew from Reaper. Unfortunately it looks like I'm missing a hand for the gentleman on the far right in the photo.

The gentleman on the left is slight different with his right hand cast separately. He is a single casting in Bones.

There is quite a difference in height between these two.

These pair is much closer in height but will be on opposite sides of the gun so it won't be a problem

These two are also pretty close in height, but I'm likely to only use one of them unmodified.

I didn't line this one up quite right, the man on the right is actually significantly taller than his compatriot.

It was hard to line this pair up, I think the Bones version is still a bit taller.

And here we actually see the resin officer is taller than the Bones officer.

Sledgehammer Project; Preparation Pt III - Work & Acquisitions

I managed to slip in a bit of time on the Sledgehammer (very little time actually). I spent that time filling a few of the injector marks, from the mold, that might be seen by a judge. I basically went on the premise that when in doubt fill it. I still need to go back with the file on those pieces. I also spotted a few pieces that still have the remains of mold lines, in particular the shells. They are  particularly obnoxious to clean up. I think they are going to need some filling after all.

A nice package arrived in the mail yesterday as well. My order from Victoria Miniatures arrived. The sledgehammer will be the centerpiece of a diorama. This will definitely be the biggest one I have done which leads to the inevitable need to fill some very empty space. I have a couple of nice reference photos for the Soviet B4 Howitzer in firing positions during WWII as well as some links to some really nice artillery dioramas on the web. The key to the bigger base will be creating vignettes that will add interest and yet keep the focus on the Sledgehammer. A lot of the order from Victoria Miniatures were purchased with that idea in mind.

The Sledgehammer comes with a crew of five plus a commander, but they are in the softer slightly bendy BONES plastic. The casting is really pretty good on these and they will  serve as the basis for some of the needed conversions. In addition I purchased the resin version of the crew along with the officer to supplement the ones in the box. To go with that I a purchased a 5 man Rausenburg Siege Corps squad as well as a 5 woman Rausenburg Siege Corps squad most of which will also end up as artillery crew. For the Sledgehammer itself I picked up the blast shield (which I may or may not use) along with the crawler tracks which I will definitely be using. The rest is just extra bits to use for the vignettes; backpacks, bread bags, weapons, etc.

I'm still looking for additional parts for the Sledgehammer itself as well. Right now it looks like most of those will be coming from model railroad manufacturers but its been a bit frustrating researching the parts. I have decided that the model railroad manufacturers are years behind everyone else in getting their products on the web or when they do they don't have a site even remotely resembling a modern web site. I know what I need I just need to find a place to buy it! I might make a trip out to Caboose hobbies and see what they have on the walls. I have checked their website (which keeps improving) and didn't really see what I wanted though and its a long haul for nothing then. Be assured though that the gun itself is going to get a lot of dressing up!

The gun supports, these marks will be on the inside, but can be quite visible unless I do some serious work on the "interior" of the Sledgehammer.

This is the bottom of the "wooden" walkways over the wheels (I don't think I can use them with the tracks). I'm waffling on if I want to use these or not. I'm think of replacing them with some etched brass walkways instead. I'll carve out the supports if I go that route since they already fit in the slots on the gun carriage.

The last few pieces that I found with potentially visible injection marks. I didn't bother with the ones in the wheels, those will be completely hidden once the wheels are assembled. I am unlikely to even use the wheels since I have the tracks.

Four bubble wrapped packets from Victoria Miniatures

On the top the 5 "man" squad. Left to right; jerry cans, male militia heads, entrenching tools, and the blast shield.

From left to right (more or less); Crawler tracks, BFG shells, grenades, ammo boxes, biker stowage, and breadbags.

Resin Gun Captain

From left to right (more or less); Kneeling legs with greatcoat, backpacks, female militia heads, and the resin version of the crew. 

From left to right (more or less); "Bren" guns, Sniper rifles (I think I ordered the wrong thing, oh well), 5 "woman" squad and two of the three Svargan Snipers

Sniper closeup. I have no idea what I will do with these. You received on free for every $50 and I really have no use for them. I delayed my order a day to avoid getting the even more useless Highlands Moss Piper. They are great figures but since I don't play 40K so they will get stuck in one of my many boxes of random figures.