Review: Zvezda Panzer II

As regular readers will know, I have been working on a DAK tank force for FOW V4 MW. I have so far painted up a commander, 2ic, a platoon of Panzer III short 75s, 8-rads and some Panzer IVs. I ground to a halt after my order for some Panzer IIs and Panzer IIIs was delayed. The good news is that these last 2 units have arrived and I can start work on them. So, without further ado, here is a review of the Panzer IIs.

History:
In 1934, the Panzer II was designed and entered production when delays to the proposed Panzer III and IV became known. The Panzer II was equipped with a single 20mm auto cannon and a coaxial machine gun. Far from a temporary measure, the Panzer II was the must numerous vehicle during the invasion of France. It also served in Poland, the desert and the eastern front.

By 1942, the vehicle was obsolete. New Panzer IIIs and IVs were the main stay of the German forces. The Panzer II chassis were re purposed for new designs like the Marder II. Likewise, in typical German recycling fashion, the Panzer II turrets were used for gun turrets in defensive positions.

Review:
Being that I only wanted three Panzer IIs for my starting force, I went with Zvezda who sell individual models. Each box only contains a single tank.

To say this is a simple model is an understatement. There are only 5 pieces! The turret, the hull bottom, the hull top, the left track and the right track. My assembly only took a minute or two. There wasn't much in the way of cleanup and the pieces all went together well. The longest part of the process was trimming the moulding attachments from the pieces.

The model is well cast and there is a reasonable level of detail. Like all Zvezda kits, there have been come compromises made and some of the detail is very boxy. However what is modelled is clean and crisp.

Conversions:
Like all Zvezda kits, there is no flexibility. No stowage, no open hatches, no commanders. This is well known and not really an issue. I chose to add a commander and model an open hatch. I used a spare plastic soldier commander who I removed the circular base from. I then trimmed down some spare hatches from the spares box to create the 2 halves of the open hatch.

Finally, not happy with the simple clean model, I used some spare PSC stowage and added spare track, spare road wheels, crates and jerry cans. I think this will tie the models in with the rest of the army.

I hope you enjoyed this review.

Flames of War at Cancon

Cancon has always been the highlight of my gaming year. It is a chance to get away, catch up with mates, have a few beers and play some games. Cancon is only just around the corner and I know many - including me - are planning their Cancon weekend.

Crowd Shot from Cancon, Photo from Cgs.asn.au

Cancon is also the largest gaming convention in Australia and as such has the most on offer for the gamer. From dinosaurs to gladiators to Star Wars X Wing there is a tournament or demonstration game for everyone

There are also a ton of traders offering all sorts of goods to spend your hobby dollar on.

If you haven't been to Cancon, I can recommend it as a great event.

But let's talk about Flames of war. This year there is:

Flames of war nationals - Early war 1550
Flames of war nationals - Late war 1625
Flames of war nationals - Team Yankee 100

Night Flames nationals - Late war 1000
Night Flames nationals - Arab Israeli 1000

War in the desert - Campaign event 

I understand there are less spaces available than there were last year, so if you intend to play, you should consider registering at the CGS website Here. Once the total cancon entries hits the venue limit, entries will close.

I hope to have more posts before, during and after Cancon. See you there!

Panzer IIIN Conversion

So, I need some Panzer IIINs with schurzen for a game on the weekend. Somewhere in the lead mountain, there must be a box of these.

There isn't.

However there is 4 Gaming Models PzIIIL/M without Schurzen. So lets have a crack at some conversion work. How hard can it be?!?!

Panzer IIIN


Photo from worldwarphotos.info

The Panzer IIIN was the last production model of the Panzer III and entered production in 1942. It was armed with the short barreled 75mm gun and 2 machine guns.

So, onto the models. Gaming models (http://www.gamodls.com/) fall into the cheap and cheerful category. They are all resin, come fully assembled and undercoated, have a huge range and work well as wargaming pieces. They are not showcase models. I have used them in the past as a good way to get a large army on the table cheaply, to test a new army or to use as a once off.



These have been sitting in my cupboard for years and were purchased when i first got into FOW as part of a huge batch of tanks that could quickly get me onto the table. Sadly, they have sat in the cupboard ever since. Being that I need some Panzer IIIs for the weekend, it seemed like a opportunity to get these out and at least use them.

So, I need to cut the barrel down to make it look like a short 75. Yes, I know that the L and M had a long 50mm but at 1:100 scale, is there really a difference? I also need to find or construct some schurzen.

I had some plastic solider Panzer IVs schuzen in my bits box. So these might do the job. I cut off a panel, removed the supporting rail and dry fitted them. It worked. I then just cut the bottom of the last panel and the first side skirt was on.

There should also be skirts on the turrets but this was more time than I was willing to spend. I said that I might only used them once, didn't I? I am happy that anyone will see them and know that they are equipped with schuzen.



Being that these were to be used in a LW list, I expect they have been in the field for some time. I wanted them to look battle worn, I have therefore removed a few panels to simulate battle damage.



So, with that, the conversion work is over. Next up, painting.