WIP Critique South Saskatchewan Rifles 1942

[user 5827]

Ciau Colin,

I am not abig fan of WWII and 1/35 but will follow this with interest....

 

[legend69]

Really looking forward to seeing this finished, I started a d-day diorama some time ago, but it has sunk to the bottom of the channel - I hope you have much more success.
Anthony

 

[Aveleira]

Waiting to see the final result of this new work Colin.
So far it has a nice display.

Regards
Pedro

 

[ChaosCossack]

Thanx Guys... I am determined to see this one through to the end. I have too many false starts sitting on the shelf. Not this time.

WWII is definitely not my usual realm but this particular subject has a connection for me... and it's a nice break from horse and musket figures. As soom as it's done though, I have a Napoleonic dio set up to go... all the figs are gathered. But that's another thread for another day.

Don't laugh, the thought of a wedgie did come up. They need to come up with another name though... "wedgie" brings up terrible middleschool memories.
Something like this?
Without the tank, does the rest look at all familiar?

Colin

 

[Colin_Fraser]

Colin - that's why I do busts....I lose interst when I hit the belt line (my wife would likely nod knowingly at this comment )

Colin

 

[ChaosCossack]

Colin - that's why I do busts....I lose interst when I hit the belt line (my wife would likely nod knowingly at this comment )

Colin

And yet you have, what? Like 14 kids?

 

[Sturm Grenadier]

Hello Colin, I like your hedgehog obstacle idea. I also like the blocks, or dragons teeth. Perhaps, (just an idea) you could combine the two, as in this photo,

It might make a good focal point for the figures. Also, a photo of a gun/observation turret that was at Dieppe. Regards, SG

 

[ChaosCossack]

SG, I've never seen them anchored like that before... I like it. I was just going to part bury the grounded ends of the girders in the gravel, maybe drape some wire across it (like the ones I have set up in my front yard).
From the pics I've collected, seems they set the steel traps from the water up the beach, then concrete pylons and then a belt of prepared wire about 50 yards deep. I've placed my guys between the last steel traps and the first row of pylons... taking cover and angling towards a gap in the wire (off scene).

Thoughts?

Started painting the figs... batch painting style. Blocking in colours across all the figs, then back to the first fig for the next colour and so on. Flashback to the days of painting armies for wargamers.

Colin

 

[Sturm Grenadier]

Hello Colin, You are right about the hedgehogs, they were generally set up in the pattern shown in the photo, with plenty of barbed wire entanglements. I like your idea, and look forward to seeing it. Regards, SG

 

[housecarl]

Ambitious project Colin.
Should be good, very interesting back story too.
Looking promising,
Carl.

 

[ChaosCossack]

Thanx Carl, seems I don't do myself any favours... I never have simple ideas

SG, great pic, I see the concrete bases on the traps well in this one. Any idea how the steel was finished? Was it just raw steel or painted? If painted, what colour? I'm thinking black or grey... either way, I figure they'd be covered in rust.

Thanx again

Colin

 

[Yuma2452]

Great diorama, my uncle Dale was at Dieppe he survived and landed at D day and survived until the end of the war. Met my aunt in UK and married and stayed here. When I was young he would tell me about the landings and how they never even got off the beach!! To be able to do something like this in his memory fantastic.

 

[ChaosCossack]

Yuma
I'm glad someone else is connected to this event. He must have been a Puys... that was a hard landing by all accounts. Do you know which regiment he was with?
I hope i do this justice.

Colin

 

[Yuma2452]

I think he was RCR. After the war joined the British legion and represented the Canadian expats in UK. Went to his funeral had a big contingent there including the Canadian Military Attaché. A great man, him and my Dad taught me so much about World War Two. I am sure the diorama will be great.

 

[ChaosCossack]

Thats what I figured... Blue Beach (Puys) did not go well for the Royal Canadian Regiment. That 20' seawall at the top of the beach was too much. The famous pic off the staircase in the wall with the casualties gives testimony to the determination of the RCR and also the futility of the raid.
I hope you enjoy this dio as it progresses

Colin

 

[Colin_Fraser]

A minor correction. The Royal Regiment of Canada was at Dieppe, not the RCR. The two are often confused. The RCR is one of Canada's three reg. force infantry regiments while the a Royal Regiment of Canada is a primary reserve battalion based at Fort York in Toronto. I only know because I served in it when in my teens and my eldest son was a subaltern in the same unit. The two are loosely affiliated and also tease each other a lot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Royal_Regiment_of_Canada

Colin

 

[ChaosCossack]

My bad... I got my RRC and my RCR reversed... Temporary Dyslexia. Funny thing was, I was looking at the map as I typed it... Duh
Would I be correct in assuming by the new avatar that you're starting a new project?

Colin

 

[Sturm Grenadier]

Thanx Carl, seems I don't do myself any favours... I never have simple ideas

SG, great pic, I see the concrete bases on the traps well in this one. Any idea how the steel was finished? Was it just raw steel or painted? If painted, what colour? I'm thinking black or grey... either way, I figure they'd be covered in rust.

Thanx again

Colin

Hello Colin, Thats a great question. From what I was able research, the predominant color was dark grey, or panzer grey. Most, but not all, were given a base coat of primer red, a rust prohibiting kind, like they used on their panzers. I would imagine they were in other colors as well, like a dark green perhaps. You would think, some would be painted in a sand color, to match the beach, but I have never seen a photo of them. Whatever color they started out as, they probably turned out looking like this photo

Of course, that would depend how long they were in the area. Hope this helps a little. Regards, SG

 

[Colin_Fraser]

My bad... I got my RRC and my RCR reversed... Temporary Dyslexia. Funny thing was, I was looking at the map as I typed it... Duh
Would I be correct in assuming by the new avatar that you're starting a new project?

Colin

Smarty! With all the stress around here I have parked my Dunn project. So I decided to try a quickie bust of Michel Ney based on the portrait on my living room wall (my avatar). I am taking pictures but am only going to post if it looks like it will get completed - I don't sculpt well when stressed. How goes the assembly line paint?

Colin

 

[ChaosCossack]

Look forward to seeing that one,
Assembly line coming along. Faces done, uniform khaki done and should have the webbing and pouches at least base coated tonight... working between periods of the hockey game

Colin