THE 319th GLIDER FIELD ARTILLERY BATTALION, B Battery
My 'Odds' box contains metal and plastic bits for scratch builds, repairs and conversions. At regular intervals I attempt to reduce the box contents, particularly of any larger items. My hope being something useful can be constructed for the gaming table.
A few months back Mark (Man of tin blog) kindly sent me a bag of unwanted Airfix WW2 figures. While I already have the American 82nd Airborne represented in my WW2 collection, I still wanted to increase their support weaponry. So the unwanted parachutists offered a possible solution, I would convert them into an artillery crew.
The 319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion was attached to the 82nd Airborne. It served in Italy, the Normandy Landings, and the Battle of the Bulge. This unit operated M1A1 75mm Pack Howitzers.
I'm not claiming this is anywhere near a perfect model, but it passes muster to my eyes. And it saves me the expense of buying a 1/35 scale model kit. It is also stronger, being mainly metal.
A broken lead stile provided the artillery trail.
Small arms removed, human arms repositioned.
Royal Canadian Artillery Museum photo
Gun Mart magazine. Over 800 75mm howitzers were also supplied to British and Empire forces.
Wikimedia Commons. Carriage holes were occasionally covered by handspikes/tools.
Chris kindly picked up the following TO BUY online. Not cheap, but it answered some missing items I was keen to have in my miniature town. The cost was £19.99, which included delivery. My plan is to paint strip the brown bench and the dog, and then attach a bold red bench to the railway station, and the original green to the Railway Inn. The lead figures are a nice bonus and I'm keen to increase my street lighting. The seated boy is thought to be a Crescent or Charbens casting (?) and I will keep its original paintwork, with some repainted shoes.
SOME PLASTIC FARM FOLK
Popped into the Collectables shop on November 26. Picked up two Britains farm workers, a collie dog, and a Timpo milkmaid. Not quite a bargain at £5, I was still pleased to acquire the early Timpo milkmaid (code 1080, unbreakable, England). Have repainted this figure as the red paint errors everywhere looked rather sinister!
BLACKSMITH WORK
Have repaired the missing hammer from the lead blacksmith. After paint stripping I carved out the hand, superglued a piece of steel rod, and superglued again when dry. Drilled a piece of pewter for the hammerhead. Primed the figure, and then painted. And then another coat of superglue before basing and varnishing. It is now stronger than the original casting. The blacksmith's hand was too thin to risk drilling.
A FEW MORE AIRFIX JAPANESE ARE COMPLETED
My Japanese WW2 army is presently being reconstituted, and some new figures were required. Here is a light machine gun crew for a planned redoubt. And I painted a mortar man in pale green to fit in with seven Deetail Japanese.
(Christmas upload in a few weeks.)
MGB
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