First post - WIP Malaya 1941/42

[MABO]

Inspired work in my opinion .

The Empire troops are excellent .

You might find Mr Bond very useful for your project.

You will need to look out the Japanese sections but here is a link to get you started.

He is a genius.



http://iagsmgm.blogspot.com/2021/11/

Best wishes,

Chris

Thanks for sharing, Chris!

[SiHorspool]

Inspired work in my opinion .

The Empire troops are excellent .

You might find Mr Bond very useful for your project.

You will need to look out the Japanese sections but here is a link to get you started.

He is a genius.

Many thanks for the kind words and the link Chris.

Mr. Bond is a genius for sure. Some great examples to take inspiration from. Looks perhaps like our larger 28mm cousins but I'll let him off [smile]. I could loose a lot of time browsing his superb site!

I have made spider holes for my Nam setup but did not fix any figures, as I like the abandoned hole to be there to be searched. There is a chap on Twitter/X who has just done some 20mm Japanese fighting positions which are really good also.

https://x.com/PainterTactical/status/1705931858347962456?s=20

[SiHorspool]

Progress Update - Japanese Battalion

The First batch of Japanese are now at the stage ready for the Army painter wash/varnish (base colours on, weapons washed black)



Nearly enough for a Battalion of four companies plus MMG Company (need one more MMG at least)

















Mars 75mm Mountain Gun for the Regimental Gun Platoon. Not a bad model - wheels are a bit thick but serviceable. Comes with some Matchbox knockoffs and some terrible crew.



Luckily the Strelets Japanese Weapon sets give me more options and I am looking at other metal options. Will trial the flag man with some printed flags as he is not a bad figure, unlike the very thin crewmen.

British Armoured OP vehicle Crew options: Looking at options for the officer. Tried the range finder but prefer the binocular options but I'm loath to cut the kneeling 8th Army chap to get him to fit in the front of the Carrier (no such qualms about the Strelets rangefinder chap [smile]}. May use the Emhar WW1 officer pointing but he is very tall...





MG Loader will be the chap with the Arty Range Board. Radio operator is from the very nice Airfix Australian set.

[JurgenH]

Nice figure composition. But pay attention to the sizes. The Emhar officer is much too big for the 76 auusie radio operator. But the ideas are good. Do not be afraid of the butcher work with arms and heads. Try them on an old figure. I find the work very creative when you have practiced a little.
Juergen

[Susofrick]

Very nice to see these old ESCI-Japanese painted! Had them, but never got around to paint them.

[SiHorspool]

Many thanks for the comments!

But pay attention to the sizes. The Emhar officer is much too big for the 76 auusie radio operator

Noted. I agree that scale can be an issue as I reported with regards the Lledo trucks but I am not a purist and think that sometimes a figure can be used together - after all, I work with people much taller and much shorter than me - but it is equipment size which breaks the deal for me, not so much figure height.

However, I am not yet convinced the Emhar chap is usable but he could just be a tall Guards Officer making everyone's lives a misery...[smile]

Very nice to see these old ESCI-Japanese painted! Had them, but never got around to paint them.

I quite agree - I am a fan of Esci as the quality is usually lovely and they do paint up a treat!

[SiHorspool]

Update - The Japanese are now varnished and off the lolly sticks. Will apply a matt varnish once based.



Dry run on the tagged bases. Alas, a box of Esci Japanese Infantry does not provide the full Battalion so some bases remain unoccupied, and some have new figures to test compatibility.

Regiment HQ:



The colonel, staff telephone and flag platoon stands with an Infantry Gun platoon with Type 41 75mm Mountain Gun (originally Fujimi I understand but from a Mars set). The additional figures for the staff radio are from the Strelets Imperial Japanese Army Heavy Weapons Team. The flag is from the Strelets Imperial Japanese Army in Attack.



Not sure yet about cutting the flag away and using a printed version or painting the model flag - I prefer to paint but will try both options.

The metal gun crew are Lancashire Games 20mm.

The Battalion

Battalion HQ:





Command stand for the Battalion Major and the 70mm Infantry Gun Platoon. The Gun is the Waterloo 1815 70mm gun. Alas, the crew are on the large size but more on that below.



Machine Gun Company should have three stands but there is only two MMG in the Esci set. I have two more boxes so will make up the difference in Japanese Infantry batch 2.

Rifle Company







Dry run on tagged bases - the company will have a Command Infantry platoon, three rifle INF platoons and a Weapons Platoon. 4 Companies are forming but I'm short some weapons team LMGs for the 4th Company as the Esci set only includes 3 teams. Will add in Batch 2 as above.





Some companies have more charging and close combat chaps for some variety and to use what is available in the set.



Support stands for Regiment and Battalion and the limbers and supply carts will have to follow. The figures I want for the supports are not currently easily available but I hope they are still in production. Otherwise, alternative non-combat figures will need to be found.

Scale

Alas, the Waterloo 1815 70mm gun (which is quite a nice delicate model) comes with some large crew figures. They are nice but I found them a bit too large. I had already sourced the Lancashire Games 20mm crews as an option and like them - they are chunky and have thick bases but will paint up nicely I am sure.





Some comparison images with the Esci and Lancashire Games figs and the Type 41 75mm Mountain Gun.

I have a similar issue with the British/Indian gun crews. I wanted to get some 8th Armt chaps to fit the theme and obtained an old Esci 25pdr gun for the crew. But these are also quite tall - I haven't opened the bag yet though and will find a use for them somewhere (apologies to JurgenH [smile]).





The Lancashire Games figs are probably the favourite at the moment - three crews in the stash for the 3.7-inch Mountain Guns and the 2pdr Anti-tank gun. Chunky compared to the slim Airfix classics but I'm happy with them.

Many thanks for watching, your regular programmes will resume shortly...

[Peter]

Very nice project!

I saw the netting and like it. But you are looking for smaller, so I'm thinking on what they use for a fly screen. Just a thought.

[SiHorspool]

Many thanks for the kind words and constructive comments, as always.

so I'm thinking on what they use for a fly screen

I have some but have found that the door screen material is too stiff for this - but may look again. The stuff I found is mosquito netting and is very flexible. I realise that the net bag you get garlic cloves in would also be an option.

Japanese Update

Support stands (which represent generally non-combatant support such as cooks and medical staff - losing these can affect the morale of the fighting arms in the game): As my target figure sets are no easily available (but hopefully not out of production), the bitz box has come to the rescue - possibly. Several old Hasegawa Japanese aircraft refuelling crew will now stand in with one figure per base and some barrels and boxes.



British & Indian Forces update

While the Japanese battalion batch two are undercoated it was back to the Brits and Indian Army and some artillery support in the form of two Milicast 3.7 inch Mountain Guns to form a mountain battery in direct support.

My first resin kit - a bit daunting but actually went together quite well.






They are quite delicate so will be mounted on bases



Having mucked about with various 8th Army gun crews I have reverted to the old Airfix 25pdr crew. These guys may be retired eventually if I find replacements but I actually quite like them now they are painted.



Painted ready for varnish

The Battery command and FOO group also progressed to a stage ready for varnish. The Strelets 8th Army officer looking at his watch is a lovely figure.




The Emhar WW1 officer didn't fit in and will be returned unfinished to the WW1 project stash.

Gun Crews and Battery HQ varnished and on bases for a dryrun




Battery Subedar Major will form a support stand for the battery.



I could not get the gun base to work with figures fitted so the crew is on a separate stand but in game terms they will be assumed to be on the gun stand.


Two Sapper stands have also been completed ready for basing and final matt varnish.




Armoured Observation Carrier update

So the AOP (mentioned in Brigadier E.W. Goodman's memoir) is a rescue 1/76 Airfix carrier. Its a bit knocked about but will do. The old green paint was rubbed down a bit and a new coat of Tamiya RAF Dark Green applied. Some touching up in Humbrol enamel 159 afterwards. I also trialled some AoS, and T-number, and vehicle name markings - I can't get on with printing my own transfers yet so its a simple paper print (the regs did say these could be on thin plate [smile]), and I am happy with the result for the AoS but will probably redo the T-number later on.





Named after an Indian Mountain as fitting a mountain battery. Note trial printed flag.
Two AoS as parent unit might also be carried - certainly for Royal Indian Army Service Corps so why not artillery.

Comms cable wire spool - AOPs would have a cable spool to run a cable from the battery to the OP position. The bitz box let me down for the first time so it was a scratch-build job. After a bit of mucking about trying to cut tiny discs I found that a standard hole punch created the exact thing I needed - with a bit of sprue an effective spool was created.



One fitted spool with bracket and one extra wire spool in the trunk test fitted to the carrier.




Looked okay to me so fixed and painted





With the AOP crew done ready for a matt varnish, I tried the options again and decided to go for the range finder officer in the front seat (the kneeling chap with binoculars only fitted in the back and I don't think even the usually egalitarian RA officer would ride in the back - he will now become Command stand Sapper). Some Malaya maps were added for fun.




Full crew decided on, so I fabricated a range card and waterproof cover for the gunner assistant and added the wireless operator, range finder FOO and OP assistant. All a bit busy and terribly exposed but I am happy with the result.

"Fire Mission Battery!"





Many thanks for watching looking. Next up is completing the Japanese battalion, and then some transport...

[MABO]

Creative use of figures in vehicles! Great project!

[Minuteman]

Splendid work. I like the 3.7 inch mountain howitzers and the converted/re-purposed Airfix Bren Carrier AOP very much indeed. These all look very convincing and reflect some imaginative work and fine modelling on your part. Well done!

[CliosPaintingBench]

Love seeing this army coming together, the latest armoured observer is great, very realistic.

[Susofrick]

Seeing what you have done with the Brits I am very much looking forward to see your Japanese!

[C M Dodson]

That Bren carrier with the maps is excellent.

Best wishes,

Chris

[Peter]

Nice project indeed! I like it a lot.

Netting: garlic netting could be a good idea, but then youwill smell them, no?

[SiHorspool]

Happy New Year to you all!

Apologies for the long gap in posting - the latter part of 2023 was very busy professionally for me and I failed to find the time to post - but some progress was made although more reading research was done, to be honest.

Many thanks for the kind comments!

Netting: garlic netting could be a good idea, but then you will smell them, no?

Luckily I love garlic (and as I do all the cooking I use a lot) [smile]

I did a comparison of the netting and the Garlic packaging is much bigger and less flexible but might be useful for vehicle cammo perhaps.


The Japanese filler frafts were completed including the Flag stand - I decided on using printed flags instead of paint:



MMG crews are ready for basing so the 1st Japanese Battalion is done:



Gun Crews and other support stands also done:





and the 70mm infantry Gun got some TLC:



Next up was an idea for the Japanese transport - not as mechanised as the British so lots of carts in the Orbat. Although there are options for up to two motorised transport companies in the Division, as well as pack mule companies so lots to consider.

For a basic cart, I looked at the options and found that based on a photo from China pre or early war, the Hat French two-wheel ambulance was perfect (but could do with a shaggier pony):

With some modifications to create a flatbed and some printed stowage via eBay, a very viable cart is achieved in my opinion.


I got a few packs of the stowage as this can create supply dumps for the game as Ammo supply and logistics are important campaign concerns:


For the British and Indian forces, more reading revealed a suggestion that the Indian Artillery units formed Anti-Tank troops using Italian 40mm Breda guns captured by Wavell in the Western Desert so the Waterloo 1815 set which included this was purchased. It's a simple but effective model:


The original idea was to use a 2pdr ATG - and the Zvezda kit is in the stash - a beautiful model but huge game scale-wise on the base so will use the Italian option initially:


The Indian mountain gun crews and Sappers were based and some new engineers have had their helmet netting started so the full field company can be deployed:



Note the chap who might have been in the AOP Carrier now a Sapper Officer...


So, I need to get my study tidy after a hectic end to 2023 and decide on a priority to progress in 2024.

I trust you all have a very Happy New Year!

[C M Dodson]

Very nice work indeed on this under represented theatre of conflict.

Best wishes,

Chris

[Peter]

Very nice additions!

Netting, just a thought:

[SiHorspool]

Blimey, where does the time go... It's been a while since my last posting. It was a busy year, but progress was made on my Malaya scheme - I just didn't ever seem to get any time to post anything. So here goes for some updates from 2024.

First, a tale of disaster.

My Japanese horse transports had made it onto the table. I had been searching for a specific set of Strelets figures for the support stands (which I have subsequently found), but was progressing with the interim figures.


I used my usual technique of undercoat, etc., and it was a total failure. The undercoat peeled off the HAT horses, as well as the Accurate limber and horses. The undercoat and base coat just flaked off. Two attempts and the same result. So into the bath of shame they went.

This did knock the project off for a bit as I tried to reason why this had happened.

Empire Progress - Krohcol expands

The 45th Field Company, Royal Bombay Sappers & Miners was understrength so new stands of sappers were started, including more netting to helmets:



Along with the anti-tank gun crew from 10th Mountain Battery:








Sappers are allowed a Medium Truck and a Light Truck, but as my die-cast purchases had included more Heavy Matador trucks than I need, these lucky fellows have managed to acquire one in place of the medium truck. In its die-cast desert yellow:


I also started the motor transport for the 10th Mountain Battery, two medium trucks with flat-beds, and an ammo truck.

Here, all are seen in base spray (Matador also has the tilt painted):

Tyres were then painted. Example truck:

Number plates, bridging, Tac and other signage were then added:









10th Mountain Battery has a car in the HQ Battery, which was next up. Another lovely 1/76 die-cast Tilly:

It came out rather nicely:




Brigade (Column) HQ has additional vehicles which are purchased but not yet painted. Staff car for the Boss, and a radio truck for Sigs (Staff radio Truck):


Some rescues were also undertaken from a set of made kits I got from eBay years ago - an ambulance and a fuel/water bowser. Bowser had lost wheels, which had to be pinned, but the ambulance had a new coat of paint and a bit of TLC and it's back in the column:







The fuel bowser remains unpainted at present but will be added as the Column orbat requires fuel and water trucks and the die-cast fuel trucks are hellishly expensive...
So, I have acquired some larger bowsers which were more affordable and will act a stand-ins (or targets for the Japanese [smile]):


The 4/15th Punjab Carrier Platoon was also progressed.
There are two carriers in the unit - 1/76 Airfix, of course. Out of the box, except a large light added to the front, seen in a Malaya photo:



My main issue with the Airfix kit is the crew, so some work was done on the crew using Airfix 25-pounder and 8th Army figures, and of course, helmets with netting:

Pin added

Commander 1

Both commanders


Drivers nmade form the 8th Army mine detector chap, with new/repositioned head


The carrier crews with a chap for the back compartment


Some greenstuff added as scarves etc to hide the pins


Another classic Airfix chap with Bren Gun, I used another spare to see if I could create a gun for the carrier. The result was promising, but the figures are too close to the port for it to work. I imagine the stock is removed from the fitted Bren, so I may have to rework it - some research required:

Test crew positions in the carriers - Note the unpainted aftermarket flimsy fuel cans that will be added as stowage:



Next up for the Bn is the Motor transport:

and more RASC lorries


Imperial Japan Update

The Japanese Battalion was nearly complete with support weapons, etc., and it had been looking promising to get the supports done, but to no avail.


Having temporarily abandoned the Japanese equine transport, I moved onto the Japanese motorised transports. The game allows a Japanese Division, eight Draft Companies for logistics. Two Draft Companies can be swapped for a Motor Company, or two Pack Companies; with a maximum of two motor companies allowed (four medium truck models), and four Pack Companies.
For me, the base Japanese truck would be a 1/76 die-cast Ford Thames truck. These would be landed at the assault port or could be locally sourced by Japanese army intelligence as part of the buildup to the invasion.

Prepped for spraying

Base coat done - tyres get painted later.


I have started looking at Japanese marking but that is as far as I have gotten for the motor transports.
I need to source some pack mules, and solve the issue with the painting of the Draft Company wagons and animals.

Apologies for the awful delay in updates, but many thanks for looking and Happy Easter!

[C M Dodson]

Truly exceptional thinking and modelling in my opinion.

The results and standard are superb.

I have posted a message regarding gluing heads with the Locktight two action system.

It seems to work very well and you do not need pins.

Your experiences with Hat plastic is not unusual.

You have transformed the Airfix stuff.

Digressing for a moment, Plastic Soldier Company have started to release British stuff that has been printed. They are superb and no doubt 20mm will be in the pipeline.

You have got me thinking…oh no.

Best wishes,

Chris