Warning: Small Pics Ahead

My current camera setup (mobile phone camera and sun/room light), while delightfully cheap, certainly has limitations when trying to capture smaller models or group shots. It doesn't help that I'm not a photographer by any stretch of the imagination. Nonetheless, I have recently discovered *new features* on the phone cam which will grace future updates...

The 2 mm tanks now based on 20 mm round washers. Not done much else in this scale, but I have the models, just need to get the paint on them.

In another herculanean effort, I have finally finished my Afrika Korps platoon for Chain of Command. I had a shock halfway through the painting process when I re-read the platoon list and found out the Gruppen (squads) are 12-strong and not 10-strong, necessitating 6 additional chaps for the whole platoon. Now that was a pahlava! For a similar reason, although I have a lot of support options left over from the Crete gaming, I haven't yet found the nerve to do an additional support section of 12. Some other time.

Finished the Afrika Korps platoon for Chain of Command in the North African desert. Airfix plastics leavened with metals from Britannia Miniatures/Kelly's Heroes (from Grubby Tanks).

In order to get enough prone poses to avoid repetition, I attempted to salvage a couple of older Airfix models whose brittle plastic limbs have succumbed to the ravages of time. This was achieved by hacking a few bits of sprue (I believe from an old Airfix Napoleonics also inherited from my Uncle) into fore-arms. The results are rather like an low-polygon early 3D video game, but fortunately at 1/72 scale you can get away with quite a lot and, as an old issue of White Dwarf told me, "Paint covers a multitude of sins".

Had to craft new forearms for these two from bits of sprue, I'm quietly proud of the job.

Speaking of Chain of Command, I've been wanting to move on from single games and play one of the many "pint-sized campaigns" available for Chain of Command. Partly due to a lack of appropriately scaled houses, and partly due to my own independent spirit, I tried to adapt one set in the battle of Kursk to El-Alamein (to go with the models) despite never having played a campaign before. I've read a lot of campaign reports though! Hoping to get some playtesting done over Christmas but that does depend on being able to get people in the same space for long time periods.

Officer type plus a couple of dramatic bayonet poses. I agree with Plastic Soldier Review that the Airfix Afrika Korps set is arguably their best. (Officer is an unrelated metal model).

I think I've run out of steam here. Painting has once again outstripped blogging, so expect a new update soonish with tanks. To finish off I have a few photos of the individual Gruppen from the Afrika Korps platoon.

First section. The two teams can distinguished because one of them is standing up and the other isn't.

The platoon leader again plus second section.

Final section, featuring mg team from Kelly's Heroes on 40 mm base.