"Hetzers in Ambush!" Topic

Hi All,

I was talking with my bud Dave H. this past week, and we got around to discussing our favorite period WW2 as usual. Dave mentioned he had recently painted up some GHQ Hetzers he's had sitting around (Dave's always been one for the details).

Here's some pics he sent me this morning, and 1st thing I thought – well heck, get these up on TMP!

Those are excellent, FlyXwire! Dave went to great lengths to bring out the details in these great little models. The building looks great too.

Did he tell you what he used for the cobblestones? I am always looking for good cobblestone effects in this scale. I have some Noch cobblestone roads but they are scalloped and not straight as in this picture.

Pete, I can ask him!

They sort of look like from plastic shingle sheeting (from someone like Plastruct)?

Thanks, FlyXwire! The building looks like Timecast.

I agree they look fantastic, and nice job kn drivers of the 2 left machines getting them in place and not wrecking the shrubbery.

And will Mention The Chieftain says they were miserable vehicles to work with.

Pete and 14Bore, I'll thank you for Dave!

Pete, I got a reply from Dave, and it's pretty in line with what you were thinking -

"I did that building diorama over 15 years ago. I believe it was from the Noch railroad scenery Z scale item called 'Paved Places". The 'Paved Places' is no longer made in Z scale, only HO and TT now. You might be able to get away with using TT (roughly 12mm) on 6mm layouts if you use it selectively. There is a z scale cobblestone road by Noch, but the blocks are not straight – they are curved."

Thanks very much, FlyXwire!

I do have the "scalloped" cobblestone road by Noch although I have not actually used them as yet. I am still on the lookout for some good and preferably textured straight standard cobblestone roads in 6mm.

I appreciate it!

Absolutely Pete! :)

Here's a few views from an Eastern Front game Dave put on pre-Covid, using our Tank On Tank club rules, which we co-cobbled together (we're often a tag-team when it comes to hosting WWII games for our area, frequently doing successive scenarios "I-GO-U-GO" so to speak).

First shot from one of those Hetzers….that poor greenhouse ist kaput.

The glazing effect on the house and the greenhouse is really clever.

Great looking game.
Hard to believe those Hetzers are 6mm. Skillful and effective painting.

The pictures of Dave's game are excellent, FlyXwire! This is the kind of detail I strive to have in my games from a visual effect and Dave has pulled it off really well.

I believe that if people like what they see, the more likely they will be to want to play.

Pete, you're artfully defining one of those reasons we pursue this hobby, and the means by which we try to connect with our audience (it's a performance art).

Dave and me were talking last week about board games, which we both like, and a few we've also converted into 3D versions. On one board game podcast there was talk that miniatures gamers are 'misdirected' pursuing the crafting side of this hobby.

I think the opinion above doesn't understand the performance dimension of what we do when we present our [stage] craft……as a game.

Hi FlyXwire! I admit to playing both boardgames and miniatures games. I enjoy both aspects of the hobby.

Generally, for tactical level WWII and Modern games, I prefer miniatures and focus on these two periods for my miniatures gaming due to the time and effort to paint the minis and create the terrain. I have played in other miniature games such as Civil War and Napoleonics but do not currently have any painted miniatures for either period or other periods.

I do have a large collection of boardgames which covers many different periods and scales.

Great looking figures and scenery! Those tabletop photos look awesome too.

Rob, my friend Dave H. [he's off-line], would no doubt thank you for your kind words!