Just off the painting table, this miniature represents one of the Bofors SP AA guns operated by the 1/12 Light Anti Aircraft Regiment, of the South African 6th Armoured Division.
The majority of the regiment was equipped with towed 40mm Bofors AA guns, but each battery was assigned a small number of these gun trucks. All the images I have seen appear to show them in the early-1944 "Italian Pattern" camouflage, even those photos taken after the end of the war.
On the wargames table it will be used mostly in a ground support role, hence the "posing" of the Bofors. I dont think this is much of a stretch - a number of the photographs of the South African guntrucks show them (posed for the publicity cameras or not) with the weapon at a low elevation. Besides, due to Allied air superiority during the Italian campaign, the AA units were very underemployed in their primary role, so much so that the heavy AA batteries equipped with 3.7" guns were retrained to fight in the anti-tank role.
The miniature is based on the kit by Warlord Games. It really is a kit of two halves - the truck half being an incredibly simple combination of resin and white metal parts, and the Bofors half being a fiddly collection of white metal parts that need patience and care to put together successfully. I rebuilt the sights with plastic rod and fuse wire, added the bridging number disk, and apart from those modifications, and the addition of small number of stowage items, the kit was built 'out of the box'. It is a busy little kit, especially once the crew are added, and has great visual appeal. My only criticism is that the wheels, as supplied, were a bit ovoid in shape. Not too noticeable once the model is built, but a bit of a disappointment given the detail paid to the rest of the kit. Note that the kit cannot be built in a "deployed" mode, with the vehicle jacked up off its wheels. As always, decals are from Starmer, Dom's Decals, and Warlord Games.
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