Blitzkrieg in the West (France 1940) Sept. 18 2011 - March 1 2012

My father flew Martin Marauders from England to Germany in WWII.  He was shot down 3 times.

Twice he crashed back in England,once in France.The entire crew survived, and were safely returned to fight another day through the help of the Free French or underground. Absolutely true.

Vive la France

(I hope I spelled it O.K. or close enough )

tread

P.S.   there is a lot to learn for this build.. still don't know for sure if the tri color camo is for me... not that it is too difficult, but it looks rather 'busy' to me and maybe a distraction, aesthetically,  from the actual build...there are some schemes where the hull is 2 colors and the turret, being built and painted at a different factory, is tri color.. I like that... don't know what you guys would say if I told you I am also QUITE interested in the mono chromatic gray scheme à la JEAN BART  #492......

Interesting story about your Dad Tread . I'm surprised at the camo options on these French vehicles . Painting my Pz 1 in panzergrau is going to look boring .

Shellback

Interesting story about your Dad Tread . I'm surprised at the camo options on these French vehicles . Painting my Pz 1 in panzergrau is going to look boring .

not boring at all Shell.... I find single color paint jobs quite challenging ..they hide nothing... the eye can only concentrate on the details of the build and weathering... thats kinda what I was trying to say in the P.S. on my post and about the all gray JEAN BART. Some times less is more.

My dad was a highly decorated war hero, but a very humble man about it....I didn't even learn that much about his war epics until after he died (I was 20)... I was left his DFC, oak leaf clusters ,newspaper clippings, pictures and diary...from those I learned.

Panzer gray ALWAYS looks good to me

tread

Tread , i'm sure you heard this before but its always a shame that we dont get the stories of our heroes written down for those of us that really enjoy reading their experiences . All i know about my Dad experience in WW II is that he was a merchant marine ...............thats it sadly .

Did the French capture any Pz.1's ? Maybe they camo'd it if they did ....................

LOL Shell ... I think the Axis did ALL the capturing!

Hells Bells Shell... War ain't it's all cracked up to be in my opinion.... merchant marine.. foot soldier,Rosie the riveter....every body had a job and they did it...I admire them all

Hello Tread ,

Yeah very good story . thanks .

Vive la France  , is perfect . . Sometimes in American forum i read Viva la France and this is wrong

Anyway , i would like to build a Vought V-156F Vindicator in 1940 , but my skill level is not too good i think.

So i tell you my choice this week .

I search in my stash

Has anyone found any good color plates of the Somua in there searches?  Not sure if I'm going to use the one I have.  The link that JC has posted has many intresting pics but would be nice if could find some in color.  Also was there individual names and markings and what not for the Somua like there was for the B1?  Thanks

Shellback

Interesting story about your Dad Tread . I'm surprised at the camo options on these French vehicles . Painting my Pz 1 in panzergrau is going to look boring .

A good opportunity to try the color modulation that is all the rage. Wasn't there some talk earlier in the thread about brown also being used with the panzer grey?

Hello

http://www.minitracks.fr/s35_tr11.htm   I have this book . Apparently no names for the may-june campaign.

Jc

i try to find something for you

Hello Guys ,

Rob i found this for you

http://www.2emecuirassiers.com/Somua%20S35/index.htm

the two pictures in color are from the somua preserved in Musée des blindés at Saumur.

http://www.museedesblindes.fr/

Jc

PANZERWAFFE

Has anyone found any good color plates of the Somua in there searches?  Not sure if I'm going to use the one I have.  The link that JC has posted has many intresting pics but would be nice if could find some in color.  Also was there individual names and markings and what not for the Somua like there was for the B1?  Thanks

hi Rob : )   I have a real nice color picture of souma S-35 , but it is a restoration... if your interested I will scan it and upload it.... it is really pretty cool looking tri color camo

tread

Shellback

Interesting story about your Dad Tread . I'm surprised at the camo options on these French vehicles . Painting my Pz 1 in panzergrau is going to look boring .

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Hey there Carl, just as a heads up on the camouflage patterns for early war German tanks.

Anthrazitgrau/Signalbraun Pattern, 1935-1939
RAL 7016 Anthrazitgrau - Factory Base Coat
RAL 8002 Signalbraun - Disruptive Pattern

Vehicles drafted in 1939 were painted in this pattern. The base colour dominated the disruptive pattern by a factor of 2 to 1, with soft contours between colours.

My Pk.Kpfw.III Ausf E will fall into this timeframe and will get a two tone camo scheme to break up the plan grey look.  Also a few simple filters as well as a little tonal shading will break up the scheme as well as add some interest.

Cheers

tigerman

Shellback:

Interesting story about your Dad Tread . I'm surprised at the camo options on these French vehicles . Painting my Pz 1 in panzergrau is going to look boring .

 

A good opportunity to try the color modulation that is all the rage. Wasn't there some talk earlier in the thread about brown also being used with the panzer grey?

I havent seen an exanple of the "color modulation" Eric . I'll look . And yes Bill and Rob provided me with some reference pics of Pz.1's with the base panzergrau and disruptive dunkelbraun over that . I'm just dreaming out loud .

Darson , thanks for the info and help !   Painting is a loooooooooooooooong ways off so i still can use all of the info and research available .

Carl, wish I could recall Rick Lawler's Tamiya 1/48 Marder that he did about 2 years ago. Not sure which issue it was in, but I'm thinking 2009 summerish. His article was about color modulation to give the vehicle depth by I think going dark to light from the bottom of the vehicle up. Might be able to search the archives here.

tigerman

Carl, wish I could recall Rick Lawler's Tamiya 1/48 Marder that he did about 2 years ago. Not sure which issue it was in, but I'm thinking 2009 summerish. His article was about color modulation to give the vehicle depth by I think going dark to light from the bottom of the vehicle up. Might be able to search the archives here.

Thanks Eric  .Maybe i can search by using Rick Lawler .

Shellback

I havent seen an exanple of the "color modulation" Eric . I'll look . And yes Bill and Rob provided me with some reference pics of Pz.1's with the base panzergrau and disruptive dunkelbraun over that . I'm just dreaming out loud .

While it's probably not a great example of the technique here are a couple of shots of my 1/48 Crusader that I painted using "color modulation" as an experiment.

Also here is a nice little article that explains how to do it. Click Me

Carl, do you have a subscription? I found it! It's in the September 2009 issue.

JC - Thanks, more great stuff!  Looking at the link with the book "TRACK STORY", I'm liking the one thats o the cover of the book and the second page one in the color plates.  Decisions...?  The other link showing all of those great pics of the interior is making me want to build an interior.  Not sure but think will pass on that though being that had just finished a complete scratch built interior on my STUG over in the Pz III and variants GB.  Still, great information!

TREAD - Would love to see your picture of the Somua!  Even if did not use it would be nice to see.  I've only seen one real Somua.  Here she is:

Figured throw these in to

DARSON - Great info on the paint colors for the Panzers.  Thats a fantastic looking Crusader!  I'm happy some of these early British tanks are coming out in 1/35.

Check this picture out

Off to do some more research on the Somua.

Hi gents. I'd thought I'd share a couple of pics of my recently finished Tamiya Pz IV J

I'm not overly happy with it, but it sure beats the crap out of my Monogram one I built back in the early 70's.

The washes don't show up as well as I thought they would in the pics. This is outdoors too. I might go an add another wash or two to it on the upper hull. I did dot filters to the sides. This is the Normandy camo scheme and it was freaking hard. This is the second attempt and I just said "Good enough" LOL I was missing one of the spare track holders on the right side, hence the hole in the middle of the upper hull. I did buy some schurzen, but they kind of sucked, so I nixed it. Anyway, my armor WIP's are kind of done, so now I can focus on the H 39. 

Very nice Panzer Eric.  I have that kit in the stash.

Is the zimmert putty based, resin or PE?  Either way, it looks great.

Thanks Bob. The zimmerit is Cavalier. Love that stuff. The decals are Dragon Cartograf. Those things rock! Tamiyas are for you-know-what.

I was just glad to finish it. I started it for Dupes 1000 Wheel Gb, but my AB went poof late last year. Since I've had some extra time available, cough cough, I painted and did all the detail work on it in the past couple of weeks. I think I really need another wash or two on the upper hull. I pin washed the heck out of the lower hull.

Rob,,   Thanks!    for the pic of the Pz I command tank.......  that's my build!!!     I'll have to start digging for more info. I hope to get started in the next few weeks.

Bill

Yeah, it's good to finish a project.  I tend to take entirely too long....short attention span I guess. 

You can always add another wash or two.....I've taken several built kits and 'added' as time went by.  I have a Tamiya Panther G Late that is in some dire need of extreme weathering.  Maybe once the snow starts flying & soccer season is over....hopefully soccer season ends before the first snow flakes fall.

Still haven't decided on a build yet.  Right now it's between a bf109E-something and tracking down a Tamiya Dewoitine D.520.  Seems that the D.520 is a little scarce at my on-line sources.  I'm going to check with my LHS and see if he has a source.  With most everyone building French subjects, I'd like to support the cause...if possible.  If not, somebody has to provide cover for the Stukas......

Im just curious but is there going to be a badge?

if you don't mind tigerman im going to change my subject to a 1:35 Char Leger.

Good point about a badge. Are there any graphic designers here? How about something that incorporates the French flag? Just saying. 

Not that I'm going to find anything applicable from the RAF side, but would the Dunkirk evacuation be included for this GB?

Eric- Great looking Panzer IV!   Bet it felt good bringing it across the finish line.  I have to try one of those Cavalier Zimm set as I have an Ausf J from Dragon in stash. 

For the GB Badge, either a map of France invasion like Ostofront GB or for something different and fun, we can make a badge of Germans surrendering to the French...

bobbaily

Not that I'm going to find anything applicable from the RAF side, but would the Dunkirk evacuation be included for this GB?

Absolutely. It was in the time frame of the entire campaign. 

Andy thanks. I think maybe the Eiffel tower could be incorporated since that is the symbol of Paris , is it not? I'm open to all ideas. I don't have photoshop, so I'm out of the loop.