Bolt Action Late War German Grenadiers [6]

A while back I set out my plans for a Bolt Action German platoon to use against my existing late war US platoon. The original idea was to model a Volksgrenadier platoon but, as I already have a load of Artizan figures in greatcoats and winter smocks, I decided that this would be a regular Heer grenadier platoon without the obligatory assault rifles. The Bolt Action game at the weekend has reminded me about this project so I've been fiddling around with a painting schedule and colour schemes.

While I was in Cornwall at half term I picked up a Flames of War paint set for late war German infantry which, together with my existing collection of Vallejo and Foundry paints, will form the basis of my approach to these figures. They'll be in a mixture of Autumn camouflage smocks and greatcoats, which will fit in nicely with my winter equipped Americans. I have also been working out what I will need to fill out the ranks, with the Easter holiday as a good time to base them all up.

One thing which I don't have is a tow for my PaK40, so this has been on my list of things to get hold of over the last few months. I prefer 1/48th scale diecast models for this sort of thing but hadn't been able to locate anything suitable. As a result, I decided to try out a Blitzkrieg Models resin vehicle, in the shape of an SdKfz 251/1 Hanomag half track, which seemed ideal for the purpose. The model arrived today having been ordered late on Monday and I have to say I am suitably impressed.

The casting is nice and clean with no air bubbles or distortions, although there s a little bit of flash around the hull and in a few corners. The model itself is nice and chunky, which means that little bits are unlikely to snap off in action, which is a problem I've had with some other resin models. The internal detail is also really good, with various bits of kit strewn around the crew compartment and hung from appropriate locations around the hull.

A really nice model in my preferred scale and, at only £20 a go, not too expensive as along as you don't want a whole Panzer Grenadier company of the things! I will definitely be looking to the Blitzkrieg range for more 1/48th scale AFV's, especially an M5A1 Stuart or M10 tank destroyer for my late war US infantry, both of which I'd really like to add to the platoon as recce and anti-tank fire support respectively. These aren't available yet but I'm hoping will be scaled up for the 1/48th scale range before long.