HQ elements, South African 6th Armoured Division, Italy 1944

Somewhere along the line, my South African 6th Armoured Division project stopped being just about wargaming, and started to become more about building miniatures. I am no longer concentrating on vehicles and figures that are needed in a wargames army, and the chance of some of the miniatures ever seeing time on a wargames table is remote. Does that bother me? Not so much. I am really  enjoying the modeling opportunities.

AEC 'Dorchester' Armoured Command Vehicle

First off is an AEC 'Dorchester' Armoured Command Vehicle - a large and imposing vehicle based on the Matador truck chassis. It was almost the length of a Sherman tank, and a fair bit taller. Used as a forward command post, it carried a crew of at least 5, a number of radios, and a healthy attempt at a map table. The division had six Dorchesters on strength, so I assumed at least one would be assigned to each brigade. My model depicts a vehicle assigned to the HQ of the 11th Armoured Brigade - AoS 50.

I used the Perry kit for this project, and what a wonderful kit it is. Lots of character, a detailed interior (or at least detailed enough once viewed through the open hatches and doors) and four well-sculpted crew. It a big chunk of resin and metal. However, nice as it is, it could have quite easily been a lot better. Casting issues aside, the fit of the roof was poor, the masters of the wheels looked incomplete, some of the baggage details are suggestions at best, and the wall thickness (of details that should be uniform) differed. A little bit more attention to detail would have turned a good kit into an excellent kit.

Some might argue that the work put into the interior is wasted, but I am very pleased that I made the effort. The pools of light from the hatches and doors afford great "glimpse views" of the interior detail, and give the vehicle - an otherwise great big slab of armored plate - a lot more interest.

Morris 15cwt Radio Van

By the time the division got to Italy in April 1944, their Morris vehicles would have been long in the tooth, and rare, aside from specialist artillery tractors and Bofors AA trucks. They dont appear in many photos - while you see plenty of CMP, Bedford and Dodge trucks. However, I have seen an image showing South African troops examining the wreck of an 88mm in mid 1944, and, lurking in the background appears to be a Morris radio van. Its on this basis that I added this miniature to my force.

Based on the Company B kit, this model also represents a vehicle of the 11th Brigade HQ. It was, for the most part, a straight-forward build. I added a rolled tarp of green stuff, and rear steps, radio aerial rack and aerial mounting from plastic card. A neat kit, if a little fiddly and fragile for the gaming table. I had previously built the GS version of the same kit. (The reduced level of weathering on this recent build was deliberate - they are HQ vehicles, after all, and due to their proximity to top brass would be kept as neat as possible at all times, I figured.)

Jeep

Ubiquitous. What more can I say about it? This is the third one I have built for my SA 6th Armoured force, and this one depicts a divisional HQ vehicle, along with its high-ranking passenger.

 

This is the first one I have built from the Rubicon Jeep kit, and its a wonderful bit of plastic magic. Neat, detailed and easy to put together. Its a touch larger than the original Warlord resin offering, but not so much out of kilter that you couldn't field the two together. In addition to its passenger (the Rubicon crew member with a officer head swap) I added a radio set and battery.

Norton 16H

GS trucks aside, the most numerous vehicle in the division. As with the last one I built, this a mix of the Foundry motorcycle with the Perry figure, thus solving the scale problem of the Perry motorcycle, while retaining their superior rider figures.

As always, decals are from Dom's Decals, Starmer, Warlord and Rubicon. Paints, washes and varnishes are from Vallejo and Tamiya, pigments from MIG and Secret Weapon.