PaK 40 auf RSO

Between tournaments I will be building a new Platoon of Veteran Tank Hunters of PaK 40's auf RSO.

Those Germans put PaK 40's on everything that moved...

PSC offers a great kit that includes parts to make a PaK 40 and three versions of the RSO (Raupen Schlepper Ost), one of which is the PaK 40 auf RSO. Sadly, you cannot build them both at the same time.

Fortunately I had a couple of spare PaK 40's from the Battlefront Puma kit. These are a perfect fit.

I previously built the PaK's to go with my Grenadiers (which are going to be painted soon, I swear).

Neatly magnetised with magnets that are way too small...

Review: 15mm Panzer IV Plastic Soldier Company

Now that my Company is ready for it's first tournament I figured I could do with another review... I need another Platoon of Panzers for the next tournament. Besides, you can never have enough Panzer IV, and I really like this kit...

This is by no means a new kit, as it has been around for a couple of years now (according to the PSC website it was released back in 2011). 

The Panzer IV from PSC comes in a box of five (they are also available seperately). The box will retail at around £20,00.

The PSC Panzer IV kit allows you to build three different variants: the Panzer IV Ausf. F1/2, G and H. Suitable for service in mid to late war.

I will be building the Panzer IV H as an addition to my -all plastic- German Flames of War Company.

The sprue is packed with options to build all three different variants, two crew and some optional stowage, like spare tracks and jerrycans... The box also offers a one-piece track option, which is very nice. Especially the older PSC kits have tracks that are made of several parts, nothing too difficult, but the single piece saves some time.

All parts cut out of the sprue and laid out... To the left are all the pieces that are extra, either as optional stowage or those that are needed for the other variants.

The PSC Panzer IV uses a straight-forward pin and hole to connect the turrets to the hull. I prefer to magnetise all my models. This step takes a bit more time, but ensures for a smooth turnable turret and lines up with my magnetised smoke plumes which I use as destroyed-markers...

The rest of the kit goes together in just a couple of minutes. For this I highly recommend plastic glue!

All the parts fitt really well, there are no glaringly visible gaps. The Schürzen will be glued on after painting, but could also be glued on prior, whichever has your preference...

This wasn't my first Panzer IV from PSC... 

I don't know if it's a deliberate fix or just a happy accident, but the dimples in the gunmount are gone... All my previous models 'suffered' from this little flaw.

Pro's:

Highly detailed yet easy to build

Three variant options, crew and some optional stowage

Doesn't cost an arm and a leg

Cons:

The box comes without any decals

Golden Grenade tournament

I've finished my Company for the upcoming Golden Grenade tournament...

This will be my first V4 tournament and my first proper tournament in almost two years... Come to think of it, I have only played three games of V4 so far...

 At 1200 points, it was quite a puzzle coming up with something that was reasonably balanced and for which I had the models available (I don't have that many Germans, yet)...

Decals? Check! Crew? Check! Weathering? Check! All finished and ready to go...

In about a month I will be taking this list and expand it to 1650 points for the next tournament... Just need to paint some more panzers...

A new Flames of War Project

With the release of V4 Flames of War I decided it was about time to re-boot my all-plastic German Army for Late War...

Triggered by the appearance of the plastic SdKfz. 231 8 Rad from PSC (which is an excellent kit, by the way) I set out to build an Aufklärungskompanie. I sold my old Company (Hermann Göring Panzerkompanie) and started building a new collection.

With an ever growing number of plastic kits to choose from, there are just so many options. The three main brands I have been using are Plastic Soldier Company, Battlefront and Zvezda, with PSC being my main supplier... In addition to these three brands I also use Shapeways to get 3D-printed models to fill the gaps between the main three ranges.

As the project is well underway already, I will start with a sneak peek of a selection of painted models...