 foxbat  | 13 Jul 2019 12:56 p.m. PST |
My army is nearly complete now (still lacks some M10, some M7) so I could not resist taking pics of it. Here are all my vehicles so far :
Of course, there are some grunts to ride along
and a few vignettes to show them from closer
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 JammerMan | 13 Jul 2019 1:27 p.m. PST |
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| Jcfrog | 13 Jul 2019 2:16 p.m. PST |
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| langobard | 14 Jul 2019 1:05 a.m. PST |
Wonderful! Possibly my favorite late WW2 division :) |
 deadhead | 14 Jul 2019 3:04 a.m. PST |
As you say, you do need the M10s with Marine Crews. Some red forage caps and black berets too for Spahis and Cuirassiers. A marvellous unit for any modeller to tackle. So many exotic features… |
 Legion 4  | 14 Jul 2019 6:59 a.m. PST |
Viva' le' France' !!!!  |
| Jeffers | 14 Jul 2019 9:28 a.m. PST |
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| JohnM172scale | 29 Jul 2019 1:28 a.m. PST |
Great stuff. Do you have a blog or website ? |
| foxbat | 29 Jul 2019 10:07 a.m. PST |
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| deadhead | 29 Jul 2019 12:51 p.m. PST |
Your work on the vehicles shows a high degree of research on the markings. Terrific work. Of course the crews would wear helmets, whether infantry or tank crew in action, as you show. Obviously you are right! But if they are going down the Champs Elysee, you must have a few in black berets for the Cuirassiers, forage caps for Spahis and especially the Marins in their M10s. I do admit your unit seems a bit later than August 44, but I do like your Leclerc figure. |
| foxbat | 30 Jul 2019 11:56 p.m. PST |
Well, great minds thinking alike (though mine perhaps not so great, *chuckles*)
I just converted S&S M10 crew figures to sailors to ride on my M 10s, as they were the Régiment Blindé de fusiliers Marins (Marines Armoured REgiment). Decals come from Alby, who produced a 2e DB set, with various vehicles included, among which some of the 2e DB's most famous ones. For instance, my TDs will be the Simoun and the Sirocco, who went Panther hunting on the Champs Elysées. The sailors also gave their TDs the names of the French Navy's destroyers . |
| Mark 1 | 31 Jul 2019 3:23 p.m. PST |
I'll add my voice to the praise for a well done force. Ils sont bons, les gars! Your work on the vehicles shows a high degree of research on the markings. I appreciate your choice of models too. I see cast-hull M4A1s (with 76mm) and welded-hull Shermans, although without close-ups of the rear decks I find it hard to say for certain if we are looking at any M4A2s, and what I think (!) is at least one M4A4. The M3 scout cars are always a pleasure to see in French livery. I don't really know why, but I've always liked that vehicle, and the extensive use of it by the French in ETO provides an upportunity to get these favorites onto a 1944/45 tabletop (as you have so delightfully done). And then I see the Stuart(s). Mmmmm! M3A3s! Nice! Not too many other gamers would go to the trouble to ensure they have the right version of Stuarts for the French in ETO. Well done! But we don't get to get very close to the infantry. I'm hoping there are at least a couple FM29s among 'em. More "oooohs" and "aaaaaaahs" are due if there are… -Mark
(aka: Mk 1) |
| foxbat | 01 Aug 2019 2:30 p.m. PST |
Well, thanks Mark. I agree Adrian I tried to swap a few Adrian helmets around, used some 1940 French officers, but they still look to American for the part. Perhaps someone will make 1944 Free French in the future hopefully… The Shermans are the Italeri fast build ones, they are sold IIRC as M4A2. THey looked close enough so tM4A4, but hat's why there here. Heller does make a M4A4, but that's a "true" model and I have been lazy. Quite agree on the White Scout Cars, they're Italeri and fairly hard to get now unfortunately. The Grubby one is not bad, but well… Cheers |
| deadhead | 16 Aug 2019 2:41 a.m. PST |
Must again thank you for showing these and the later posting of the M10s. I had forgotten you had already given me the info about the decals/transfers.
As a Napoleonic collector who just happened to be passing through, but who has an OCD thing about the Liberation of Paris (like Waterloo, Pearl Harbour, the Denmark Strait, the surface of Mars etc), this has caught my imagination.
75th Anniversary next week. I always thought they were M5s, because they don't look like the M3 Honeys of the desert. I did not think the White Scout Car got to NW Europe.
The You Tube films of 2eDB march on Paris are superb.
YouTube link |
| FlyXwire | 16 Aug 2019 7:30 a.m. PST |
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| foxbat | 16 Aug 2019 2:12 p.m. PST |
*chuckles* I'd forgotten as well! The Stuarts are M3A3, so yes, they are different from early war M3A1s. I just stumbled on this pdf which details all surviving M3A3s today, including pics of one in 2e DB livery link I'm near completion of the project (a few vehicles missing still) and then I guess i'll beef up the Germans |
| deadhead | 30 Apr 2020 1:56 p.m. PST |
Just came back to this, (as I have done several times for inspiration) to see what you did for half tracks. I think at the Liberation of Paris 2eDB relied on lease lend M5s, rather than M3s. Later they seemed to manage to acquire the M3 that the Us wanted to keep for their own use however! Only obvious difference is the rounded rear corners and the simpler front fender/mudguard. Did you do the La Nueve half tracks? You never did show pics of them whatever model, even on your website. I would love to see them! |
| guilhemdelyon | 10 May 2020 5:02 p.m. PST |
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| deadhead | 12 May 2020 12:01 p.m. PST |
I continue to be inspired through this "lockdown". I now have something approaching a division. Well almost. One M3 Scout car, one M5A1 half track, one M10 TD, two M3A3s, an M8 armoured car and an M8 HMC Howitzer, an M7 Priest SPG….plus a Dodge ambulance still in its box. No sign of my two Heller M4A2s yet, but they will get to me I know…..post is slow. My wife thanks you for getting me started on this project (I think that was what she said?) |
paints up some WWII Soviet aircraft.
