DUTCH - Bridging Equipment (Part Four)

Update from Shed HQ where I have got some more work done on some of the Dutch Bridging Units.

First up two units of the DAF Treadway Bridge in two sections towed by a H&R BM60 Leyland DROPS with Container and a H&R BM34 1 Ton Land Rover.

Next up is the DAF YGZ 2300 Bridging Unit using H&R BM61 Leyland Flatbed and Scotia BM0046 Alligator Ferry Ramp.

The three bits that are used, the small triangular piece comes with the H&R Leyland Flatbed.

I glued it to the end of the Scotia Container to represent part of the launching mechanism.

The three vehicles of 105 Pontoon Bridge Company

Next up I have to try and work out how I am going to make this? Any suggestions using existing 6mm models? German MAN 7t Truck done by H&R maybe have to scratch build the rest.

Thanks for looking.

DUTCH - Bridging Equipment (Part Three)

Next up is the DAF YGZ 2300 Bridge which I will use for larger bridging operations during CWC games like the ones performed by US and French forces at the 2014 game. 

To represent this unit in 6mm I plan to use three H&R BM61 Leyland Flatbed, this has 8 wheels but is the closest to a Leyland DAF truck available. To this I will add the container from the Scotia BM0046 Alligator Ferry Ramp (which if you have seen Steve Graham's look more like a M812 5ton Ribbon Bridge) and glue the small DROPS piece you get with the H&R Leyland Flatbed to the container and I think I should have a good representation of this vehicle for my Dutch.

With regards to the DAF Treadway Bridge, after speaking to my fellow Dutch player Mark Fry, he suggested that maybe the single bridge section could be towed by a smaller vehicle so for a bit of variety I have decided to have one section towed by the Leyland DROPS + Container and one section towed by a 1 Tonne Land Rover. 

Pictures of both these will follow as soon as possible. Thanks for looking.

DUTCH - Bridging Equipment (Part Two)

As if by magic! Postman Pat has just delivered my H&R order so I had a quick trip up to Shed HQ to make a start on the DAF Treadway Bridges. I had ordered some of the new Leyland DROPS trucks from H&R and I wasn't sure whether to use these or wait and get some GHQ Leyland DAF trucks. The H&R models are really nice so I decided to go with the DROPS with Container as the tow vehicle. The bridge sections are made from the H&R B54 Churchill SBG just cut in half and wheels added. I got enough SBG's to do two units of these including a deployed version which I shall just use the SBG.

DUTCH - Bridging Equipment

For the game in September I am working on a 1980's Dutch army using the excellent  http://www.orbat85.nl/ which is a great source of information. One of the problems is finding suitable models in 6mm for some of the Dutch equipment, especially bridging equipment. Along with fellow Dutch player Mark Fry we have been researching Dutch bridging equipment and have come across some interesting equipment.

First up is the DAF YEE-2000 SB Treadway Bridge which was used by several units in the Dutch Armed Forces

DAF Treadway Bridge with YP-408

The bridge is towed in two sections which are then joined to form the bridge. You can see the tyres in the picture above. The info didn't show what vehicle was used to tow the bridge but after asking on several well known forums the consensus of opinion was it would be towed by a DAF truck. 

Two pictures showing a unit on display at the Dutch Engineers Museum.

Now the next task was how to represent this unit in 6mm for Cold War Commander. An order was sent to Andy at H&R and when the bits arrive I will post some pictures of WIP as soon as possible.

TERRAIN - More Fields

I have managed to finish another 3 fields. This time I have started to rebase my corn fields as storage in Shed HQ has not been kind to my fields based on vinyl floor tiles so I have decided to rebase them on MDF and make them a bit more interesting. Like Richard C commented on my last post the 6mm wargamer is sadly lacking in a lot of the little bits of terrain and battlefield debris that the 20mm and 28mm gamers have in bucket loads. However in 6mm you can 'get away' with things that in the larger scales would look wrong and they can add so much to the terrain. Simple things like the addition of some sheep or cattle from Irregular Miniatures can make a big difference. I have tried to get some 6mm horses to have in the fields but can only find horses with tack and harnesses or carrying loads, but I did pick up some 6mm Unicorns from Irregular again and I hope to use them (less horn).

But for now are three more fields finished.

One of the rebased corn fields on a bigger base with a couple of other fields. One with some more 6mm Irregular sheep.

Another rebased corn field with a ploughed field made using corrugated card from Hobbycraft. Need to add a scarecrow to this field I think.

A small field with a couple of bases of 6mm Irregular cattle

Next up a horse paddock using the 6mm Unicorns from Irregular and hopefully a new sports field to replace the original that appeared at the the very first Crisis Point which is a bit worse for wear now.

Thanks for looking.

TERRAIN - Fields

For the game in September I want to make the terrain even better than last years. One of the things I am working on is a large amount of fields as a lot of the area we will be fighting over is agricultural. My plan is to have fields around the edges of villages and towns to give the impression of an agricultural landscape without having to completely cover the table in fields. So first up are a couple of fields to show what they will look like.

Irregular Miniatures sheep graze in a small field.

I wanted to have some agricultural machinery but no-one makes a tractor in 6mm so I decided to use a WWII Russian Artillery Tractor which I picked up at WMMS in a box of GHQ stuff that was being sold to raise money for a Cancer Charity. With the addition of a GHQ trailer and a suitable looking bit from the Bits Box I think it looks ok as some sort of crop sprayer.

Irregular Miniatures cattle graze.

Closer photo of the Irregular Miniatures sheep.

Double field with cattle and agricultural machinery.

I've got a lot more in production, including rebasing my corn fields, and will post pictures soon. I will also post some pictures of a village with fields to give everyone an idea of what I am trying to achieve. As always thanks for looking.

JOY OF SIX - On the Workbench

Quick update on progress for the Joy of Six show in July. I am rebasing my old Naval Infantry to match my newer stuff just a few photos of some BTR-60's and T-62's on the workbench. Not sure if all these will make an appearance at Joy of Six but some of them definitely will.