"German Camo Netting" Topic

I recently bought a couple of Peter Pig's Kubelwagens W/ Camo:

They are for my Stalingrad project, but it got me thinking. What colour would they be? I have gone for Dark Green inkwashed with Brown then drybrushed with lighter green, is that OK? And would they be appropriate for the Stalingrad period anyway? When did Germany start using them?

Khaki would work as well.

Cheers Kevin, I'll give that a try!

BTW, don't rule out taking fine gauze and dying it in a lt. khaki green – looks great on models . . . and much more real, too! For the best 15mm camo, like branches and leaves used in Normandy, use "sea sprigs" for the branches and SILFOR leaves from SCENIC EXPRESS. This is killer looking stuff much better and real looking as the leaves are actually cut to look like leaves on a backing material that you cut out a section, stretch it a bit and glue the portion to the sea sprig branches. The sea sprigs I got from a place in England called Antenocitis Workshop. The SILFOR line of ivy's and leaves are much better than from Gale Force 9/Army Painter and you get a lot more of it, besides. It's what Flames of War uses on their models, as seen in their supplementary books. Antenocitis also sells the camo netting, but you coulld easily make it yourself for cheaper and maybe find a finer mesh gauze if it's out there?!

- Tibor

Also, Abwehrschlacht, in case you're not aware, OLD GLORY-QUALITY CASTINGS, and SKYTREX has some nicely made white metal 15mm WW2 models. Nice trucks, better than FoW and I like the SPW bristling with radio gear (SdKfz 251D/3 Halftrack w/RTO)from OLD GLORY/QC!

link

Don't know how to paste in a photo of the vehicle to show you . . .

Cheers,
Tibor

Here's a link for the really nice SKYTREX trucks – see bottom of the page for variations on the opel blitz trucks, ambulances, radio trucks, etc. SKYTREX also has a good selcection of British trucks. I prefer FoW AFV's over the other brands, though. Some of the proportions are not quite right on some of the AFV's from SKYTREX and OLD GLORY/QC, then again some have been retooled and are quite good, but it's hit or miss.

Here's the link:
link

Hope this was of some help

- Tibor

The main issue with the Skytrex/CD and QC stuff is they are in the older 1/106th(ish) scale so rather smaller than more modern 1/100th scale offerings. Apart from the Skytex bren carriers which are HUGE.

I'm no so sure the scale is as far off as you say. I can't imagine the difference between 1/106th and 1/100th is really that noticeable. I bought the OG/QC models originally to compare to my 1/87th ROCO Minitanks vs QC's 1/106th models, and it was just enough difference that it just didn't look right. But, having said that, the difference between 1/100 and 1/106th is worth a comparison – I'm not convinced the scales aren't close enough . . . anyway . . . let me explain further.

I bought assorted Quality Castings some years ago, then compared them to recently purchased FoW, which included assorted versions of Shermans, M36 Jacksons, M36B1 and a Panther. The scale wasn't the problem though I wouldn't mix QC Shermans with FoW only because of sculpting differences or accuracy of design, but the scales matched close enough. What concerned me more was inaccurate renditions in some examples. Some Sherman versions, apparently older sculpts, were not quite right, and then some of the newer ones integrate perfectly with the FoW models. The Panther was simply not well modelled compared to the FoW models, for example, having the right length, but rendered too flat – proportionally wrong. The M36 Jackson and M36B1 were quite nice and proportionally correct, and would be indistiguishable from the FoW pieces. And, until just recently, neither of those two variants were available by FoW, but are now, so I'll just be consistent and stick with the FoW line on this one.

I can't speak regarding the Skytrex, not having a physical specimen in my hands to compare to my FoW sculpts, but I will have to see how their trucks compare since they have such nice ones. Many of these models by Skytrex and Old Glory/Quality Castings have been retooled and show big improvements as evidenced by some of the models I acquired. If the Skytrex are indeed as far off as you say, then that would be most disappointing – I genuinely hope they're not. It's worth investigating and purchase a few examples for comparison, like the German Hanomag SdKfz 251D/1 Halftrack (SPW), Opel Maultier, or the Opel Blitz trucks, for example with are much nicer than the FoW versions and all white metal besides.

I've also discovered that Plastic Soldier Company, makes a superior version of the American M3/M5 Halftrack over all others, including FoW, and includes accessories and MG toting variant parts in the kit. Zvezda also makes nice plastic models of, in some cases, hard to find models in the 15mm scale, like the British Matador truck, among others.

Hopefully, this info may be of some use. I only bring this subject up because looking at the Peter Pig sculpts, was disappointing, they just look a too crude and cartoonish. And, there's better stuff out there these days! I do like the character of their Normandy buildings and related scenery accessories, though. They make accessories that hardly anyone else makes, like furniture you can sprinkle amongst bomb-ravaged buildings and on the street, and correctly modelled concrete telephone poles, as seen in Normandy.

- Tibor