From FrederickC: Reinforcements for the 4th Indian Division and the 8th Circle of Hell [Fraud] (315 points)

During last year's painting challenge I painted up several units of the 4th Indian Division in North Africa. However I felt that they needed some additional troops. For this week's submission I  have added another six-man section of the 4th Battalion, 16th Punjab Regiment, two Sikh Vickers machine gun teams, two Sikh 3" mortar teams, two Sikh two-man forward observer teams, and four Indian Pattern wheeled armoured carriers, each with a three-man crew inside. The final figure is a bit of a conundrum - an Italian NCO lost somewhere in the desert.

The section of Punjabis are from an 8th Army multipart sprue by Warlord Games. All the Sikhs and the armoured carriers are 3D prints using STL files from MyMiniFactory. Some of those figures were also multipart. While I liked the general animation and sculpting of the 3D prints, the designer got a number of the small details wrong such as buckles were there shouldn't be any, and missing buckles where they should be. Also the Bren guns are a little stubby, and the 'Lee-Enfields' look more like a Mauser than the SMLE used in North Africa. These complaints are just my OCD for historical accuracy kicking in, but most people probably won't notice when the figures are deployed on the tabletop. 

All the single figures were assembled and mounted on 25mm bases, and some fine sand was added using PVA glue. In the case of the support weapons and their crews, and the crews of the carriers, they were glued onto a popsicle stick with a small dab of PVA glue to give me something to handle while priming and painting. In the case of the carriers, only the wheels were separate pieces, and these were glued on after painting, but before any washes were applied.

All the figures and vehicle were primed with Vallejo Desert Tan Surface Primer using an airbrush, expect the wheels which were primed with Vallejo Black Surface Primer. This made painting the tires so much easier than trying to do it with a paintbrush. The soldiers' uniforms were left the base colour of Desert Tan. I then painted the rest primarily with Vallejo acrylics as follows: faces, arms and legs - Cork Brown; webbing - Iraqi Sand; canteen covers and ground sheets - US Field Drab; rifle stocks - Beige Brown; boots, beards, bayonet scabbards, and metal weapons parts - German Grey; socks - Khaki; gas mask bag - Tan Yellow; turbans - Dark Sand; machine gun water jackets and tripods - Camo Olive Green; mortar tubes - Tan Yellow, bayonets - Gungrey. Once completed, everything got the ol' "Army Painter Strong Tone Quick Shade" treatment. When that was dry, the support weapons and crews were glued to their bases using Super Glue. Here's the final result.

Reinforcements for the 4th Indian Division

 

Section of the 4th Battalion, 16th Punjab Regiment

Vickers machine gun teams (front)

Vickers machine gun teams (back)

3" mortar teams (front)

3" mortar teams (back)

Forward Observer teams

One of the more interesting items in this submission are the four Armoured Carrier, Wheeled, Indian Pattern (ACV-IP), known also as the Indian Pattern Carrier or other similar names. It was an armoured car produced in India during the Second World War based on the Canadian Military Pattern truck chassis. It was typically armed with a Boys anti-tank rifle and a Bren light machine gun. Those produced by Tata Locomotives were called "Tatanagars" after the location of the works. A total of 4,655 were produced, and used by Indian units in the Far East and Mediterranean and Middle East theatres, typically in the divisional reconnaissance regiments. My friend who did the printing for me only produced five storage bins for the back of the vehicles, so I filled in the space on three of them with various tarps and fuel cans I had in my bits box. I also had to do some trimming off the back corner of the seats of the driver and anti-tank gunner in order to get them into their slot inside the vehicle without breaking something. These were painted using the Caunter camouflage scheme similar to the vehicles I did last year. The Vallejo colours used, going from lightest to darkest, are Ivory, Stone Grey, and German Field Grey. The vehicles then got a wash consisting of a mixture of 3 parts Citadel Seraphim Sepia, 3 parts Citadel Agrax Earthshade, and 4 parts water. When that was dry, they got a liberal application of Vallejo Wash FX Desert Dust.

IWM photo of an Indian Pattern carrier with Caunter camo dated April 1942

 

The last figure in this submission is one I was gifted by fellow Fawcett Avenue Conscript, DallasE. It is an old Battle Honours mini he acquired two decades ago from either Bartertown or eBay with the purchase of a mixed bag of what was advertised as British 8th Army and German DAK, of which an Italian NCO is neither. You would have to be well into your cups in order to mistake one for either of the other two. If you buy North Africa Brits or Germans, you don't expect to get Italians. A bit of fraud being perpetrated by the seller, if you ask me. So, I am going to claim this figure for the 8th Circle of Hell - Fraud - as it is clearly 'something claimed to be something it is not'. When I got him, he was still shiny metal. He has now been 'redeemed', and will join my North Africa Italians from last year's challenge.

An Italian NCO in North Africa passed off as part of the 8th Army or DAK

'Ciampolo the Barrator Tormented by the Devils - Fraud' by William Blake

The points being claimed are as follows:

 

35 x 28mm foot figure @ 5 points =  175 points

 

4 x 28mm crew served weapons @ 10 points = 40 points 

4 x 28mm vehicles @ 20 points = 80 points

1 x Circle of Hell - Fraud = 20 points 

 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Sylvain: I know I will repeat myself, but your descriptions are top notch. It shows your love for the subject you are painting and it makes your whole posting even more interesting. Your vehicles especially, got my attention with the perfectly lined up camouflage pattern. Another remarkable submission!