Thursday 4 January 2018

From KenR : 28mm Matilda Tanks (50pts)


My first two entries this year have involved my war on the WW1 Mesopotamia lead pile, today sees the first dig at the WW2 Desert mountain, a mountain made mostly of resin. For those of you who missed it Blitzkrieg Miniatures have had a number of 50% off sales in 2017 and its safe to say I took advantage, the resin pile growing in direct proportion to the reduction in my bank balance !


Presented here are three 28mm Blitzkrieg Miniatures Matilda II tanks painted up for my early war North Africa British. 2 of the tanks have visible Commanders and both these figures are from Perrys.

For those of you who don't know the camouflage scheme they are painted in is known as Caunter, introduced in 1940 it was in use throughout 1940 being gradually phased out by the end of 1941. The camo has been hand painted on with no masking used if you see any mistakes, that's my excuse  !


There has been much debate over the colours of the scheme over the years, too much too go into here, but locally sourced paints and the reaction of the paints to prolonged bright sunlight led to lots of variations.

Each vehicle type had it's own official template for the scheme, most of which can be found on line. The scheme was then applied by the crews or at the service depot leading to many minor variations on a theme.


Each British tank at the time was given a name, some units had naming conventions, names beginning with A for A Company etc or names based on a letter of the alphabet so 7 RTR used named starting with the 7th letter, G.

Those of you with excellent memories might recall I did a Matilda for one of the bonus rounds last year and I described my naming protocol then, it's based on the novel Wind in the Willows (because when I did the first tank I immediately thought of a Fat Badger) so continuing that theme, here we have Mole, Ratty and Hedgehog.


So that's three 28mm vehicles at 15 points a piece with 2 28mm figures at 2.5 pts a piece for the Commanders for a total of 50 pts.

On the paint table at the the moment is my nearly complete Flight entry before I return to WW1 and a full British Battalion, 1st Ox Bucks Lt Infantry. Probably won't get them done before next Thurs so I will see you in a fortnight.

What a spiffing set of tanks!  And handpainted camo without masking tape?  I salute your dedication sir!  I can never get lines to stay straight enough.... I do like the names you've given them too, just the kind of personal touch I can imagine the crews adding to their vehicles.

And an excellent set of information for people like me who don't know the background of these mighty beasts.  I'll probably get into trouble for this, but all the arguing about shades of colour in historical wargaming leaves me a little baffled... I'm not entirely sure how people are supposed to know exact shades given the uneven quality of photography (if it existed), the effect of the elements and the difficulties inherent in mixing the paints/dye in the middle of wartime!  Still, each to their own.  These colours look splendid to me and certainly fit the period.

I've adjusted the points down a touch as each crewman counts as half a figure, but an excellent return at 50 points nonetheless!

40 comments:

  1. Always liked the a Matilda and these look very sharp

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  2. Lovely tanks Ken :)

    Surely Toad would have been a more obvious name choice than Hedgehog though?

    It's lucky that you aren't one of Ray's Wednesday victims as your mention of a "Fat Badger" would have caused him conniptions and you the potential deduction of points! ;)

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    1. Hi Tamsin, the other 3 are Fat Badger, Tubby Toad and the yet to be painted Portly Otter, I must get out more 😂

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  3. The Matilda 2 has goto be one of my favourite tanks, especially as many found a new lease on life in the Pacific after becoming obsolete in ge ETO.

    I really like the Damo, well done

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  4. Very very nice a well earned 50 points I say

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    1. Thanks Galpy, I would go for hard earned, but I'm biased 😊

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  5. Nicely executed paint scheme and a favourite of mine too. And if you ever get sick of them - a respray in Russian Green and renewed service on the Eastern Front as lend-lease tanks! Great job

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    1. Cheers Paul, nice idea but I think I would have a little cry if I needed to spray over the Caunter!

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  6. Great work! Perfectly made camouflage!

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  7. Lovely work, excellent camo!
    Best Iain

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  8. My favourite tank ever, period. Wonderfully painted Ken!

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    1. Ta Millsy, I am a sucker for a Tiger I myself but really love this early war "junk".

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  9. Wow Ken, you're just killing it this year. These are just superb. I did Matilda's in Caunter in 1/200, but can never muscle up the cajones to try them in 28mm. An all time fave AFV, beautifully executed.

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  10. Oh yeah! The Brits had so many awful vehicles in the war, but the Matilda has that kind of ugly beauty that is iconic, timeless and cannot be matched - you see them and you want to fire up a game ASAP. And they look great under your skilled brush!

    Excellent job on the camo too. I would rather drink broken glass than attempt Caunter camouflage, so my hat is off to you, especially for doing so free-hand - inspiring stuff!

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    1. Cheers Greg, early war British stuff looks bad until you look at Italian Armour

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  11. Wonderful stuff, love the Caunter, and the tank names are inspired!

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  12. So awesome - I really like your take on the camo. I love Blitzkrieg's stuff, especially as they produce Man-Sized 1/48 scale versions of their range, as opposed to the usual (and often too puny) 1/56 scale stuff. Well done, Ken.

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    1. Cheers Kurt, Blitzkrieg Miniatures have started to take over my house !

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  13. Very good fellow Thursday painter. Always liked the Matilda partly because the name just doesn’t conjure up a metallic beast of war!

    The camo is fabulous especially with no masking tape.

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  14. This is what the punters have come for - some of your famous Caunter work! Great to see that Fat Badger has some company - (good thing Ray isn't your minion, he'd have marked you down for using the 'b' word!).

    You played a blinder, lad!

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    1. Nice one Evan, your welcome anytime. I might start using "famous Caunter work" as my tag line from now on !
      Might post a picture of the old Fat Badger on FB see if Ray bites 😂

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    2. I could have done with your step-by-step guides back in the 1970's when I painted my first Matilda II - I followed the Airfix instructions and used pale blue rather than the mow more generally-accepted grey!

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    3. With not very reputable local suppliers and the baking sun anything is possible, it's only in the last few years that the pale blue grey I use has been accepted. Veterans insisted it was right but it was never an official colour. Recently discovered German photos of the time show it.

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  15. Ken those camo colours are spot on mate, great stuff!

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  16. The camouflage is perfect to my eye, Ken! Very well done as well!

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  17. Late to the party, but these are lovely!

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