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German Tank Riders – Ardennes 1944 (35411) 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd Getting a lift on a tank was a treat for the foot-soldier that occasionally turned sour if their lift came under fire from an enemy tank, especially if the turret starts to rotate and the crew begins using the main gun. Sometimes they’d ride into battle on the back of a tank, using the turret as temporary cover until it came time to dismount, usually off the rear avoiding the exhausts, other times it was a case of sitting somewhere flat on the hull of the tank for a well-earned rest, and saving some boot-tread whilst still getting from A to Battle. During winter periods, especially in the freezing cold of the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge, a seat on the warm engine deck would be prime real-estate, helping to defend against the biting cold that required heavy uniforms and great-coats, of which the Nazi invaders were woefully short. The Set This set arrives in a figure-sized box with a painting of the four figures that are depicted on the front, and annotated portions of the painting with part numbers and colour call-outs added to facilitate construction and painting of the figures. Inside the box are seven sprues in grey styrene, the sprues having wisps of flash here and there, although very little encroaches on the parts themselves. The parts for each figure are found in separate sprues for ease of identification, and parts breakdown is sensibly placed along clothing seams or natural breaks to minimise clean-up of the figures once they are built up. The sculpting is typically excellent, as we’ve come to expect from MiniArt’s artists and tool-makers, with natural poses, drape of clothing and textures appropriate to the parts of the model. There are three sprues that are devoted completely to a substantial quantity of accessories that include Small Arms, Stahlhem helmets, pistols in and out of holsters, ammo pouches, bags, satchels and map cases, water bottles, ribbed cylindrical gas mask canisters, entrenching tools, and bayonets in and out of scabbards. The weapons range from MP40s, Karabiner Kar 98k rifles, Walther P38, and an MG42 with various magazine options, open or closed bipods, and a length of link that can be carefully heat-formed to shape. The colour call-outs on the rear of the box are given in Vallejo, Mr.Color, AK RealColor, Mission Models, AMMO, Tamiya, plus swatches and colour names to assist with choosing your colours. These refer to the blue colour numbers on the paintings above the chart. Conclusion Another realistic set of figures for your late war German AFV projects, with so many accessories you’ll be spoilt for choice. Detail and sculpting is first rate, and what we’ve come to expect from MiniArt. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hi, This is my Tamiya 1/48 M20 US armoured car (delayed build from the Armoured Car GB...Finally removed from the shelf of doom!). The snowchains and some stowage is from a set by Blackdog. I have also added a metal machine gun barrel by RB, Hauler photoetch and some Tamiya figures. Scratch built base set at time of Battle of the Bulge. Thanks for looking! Stuart

Hello everyone, I wanted to make a little break from my "build all WW2 vehicles in North Africa" mission and I wanted something completely different. I chose King Tiger because I never build one. And I chose Battle of the Bulge because it's a different period and different theatre. The model I built should represent Tiger II "332" of 501st Schwere Panzer Abteilung, part of the infamous Kampfgruppe Peiper. It was completed on 11/9/44 with chassis number Fgst 280043. It was originally issued to Wehrmacht s.Pz.Abt.509, and then passed on to s.SS-Pz.Abt.501 in early December 1944. It was captured in the Ardennes on 26/12/1944 and there are several different accounts of its capture, but most agree about the following: It was captured by a 3rd Platoon of D Company of the 740th Tank Battalion when a leading Sherman commanded by Sgt. Glenn D. George, while patrolling on the road near La Gleize noticed a single King Tiger. They stopped and waited but the tank was silent. They fired a star shell, and to their surprise, the crew, probably sleeping at the time, quickly bailed out to the nearby forest. Now there are different accounts, some of them claiming that tanks were taken by US crew and driven along the road until they ran out of fuel, others claiming it was left there until morning. Anyway, it was recovered the next day by the 463rd Ordnance Evacuation Company with their M 19 tractor-trailer combination, nicknamed 'Tank Taxi', which is the combination of M20 Prime Mover (Diamond T 981) and M9 45-ton Trailer. Accompanying it were two T5 (M32) ARVs and an M1A1 Heavy Wrecker. The tank was then moved to the Stavelot Railway Station in Belgium where it was loaded on the captured railcar, and moved to Antwerp, from where it was shipped to the US and transferred to US Army Ordnance proving grounds at Aberdeen. While at Aberdeen, the vehicle was extensively tested until the mid-1950s and then moved to the Ordnance Museum. It was exhibited there until the 1990s when it was moved to Patton Museum, and after that, in 2011, to the National Armor and Cavalry Museum workshops in Fort Benning, where it is now, but not in public display. The model should represent a vehicle as it looked after being captured (hence the white markings added by the 463rd Ordnance Evacuation Company). The model is based on the Revell kit, which is not bad, but the detailing is quite weak, so a lot of AM extras were used. For details, you can check the WIP thread here. Painted with a combination of MRP, Hataka, and Vallejo paints. There's no definitive conclusion about how it was painted, except that it was factory painted in 3-tone camouflage. Looking at the photos, I decided to go with the soft-edge camo. And some detailed shots here. There are many photos of the real tank, so a lot of reference material. Here are some of these. Thanks for watching, for following my WIP thread, and thanks for your comments. Cheers, Nenad

Hello does anyone know which model of Mk.V Panther Otto Skorzeny, and Panzer brigade 150 used to make the M10 clones ? I wish to build one of these for the Panther Single type build next year. So im trying to gather up info and materials now. Any information and help of course is greatfully received. Thank you in advance. Dennis

Happy new year guys, read an article on Bodenplatte earlier thought it would be a cool topic for a GB, having said that stevehnz suggested to make it A Battle of the Bulge 75th Anniversary GB, which I think is a good idea and it gives the GB a broader appeal. Some interest now with: Blitz23 (myself) Brad Corsairfoxfouruncle jrlx Ozzy TEMPESTMK5 franky boy Valkyrie Arniec Sabre_days stevehnz SimonT modelling minion Plastix Badder Atom.uk SleeperService Cookenbacher nimrod54 Hockeyboy76

The Ardennes Battlefields ISBN : 9781612005348 Casemate UK I think I like a lot of people know about the Battle of the Bulge, but only generally from watching a few films and the excellent Band Of Brothers min series. However like a lot of things there is much more to it once start to get under the surface. By late 1944 the front was all but stationary in the 85 mile area of the Ardennes. It was here on the "ghost" front that Hitler would stage his final gamble to halt the Allies push into Germany. In what was a risky plan carefully hoarded reserves of men and equipment would be thrown through the heavily forested Ardennes into weak allied positions with the aim to be at Antwerp within a week. Through almost total secrecy the attack came as a great shock to the allies but in the end they were able to rally their troops, and a combination of this, the weather, and poor German logistics saw this last hurrah defeated; and then the way into Germany was more open than it was before. This book from Casemate looks at the complete battlefield. It is A4 hardback with 192 pages. It is lavishly printed through out with Black and white contemporary photos, complemented by colour photos of the areas today; and many colour maps of the battles which took place. The authors have looked at all aspect of the battles; the original German plan, the units on all sides, the attacks and counter attacks. The photos also look at the many memorials which litter the towns in the area, and which are still kept in excellent condition to this day. Conclusion This is very much a complete look at the Ardennes Battles fields, the photos and maps show how the battle panned out, and the modern photos show in some cases how little things have changed. If you are interested in WWII history then this book is a must. For the military modeller the wealth of contemporary photos give a very good idea of how the vehicles and troops looked at this time. Highly Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hi all, I'm after some assistance please. I have done a fair amount of searching today and my brain is fried with me barely any further ahead than when I started. As well as scale modelling, I play a ww2 miniatures game and figured I would combine the two hobbies. I am wanting a USAAF aircraft to support my Winter American troops. I like that the Americans adorned their craft with nose art as this has the potential to let me create something with a bit of colour on it, compared to the rest of my scale models being their typical camouflage or light grey. It needs to be something with ground attack capability, and flown during the Battle of the Bulge ~December '44 - Jan '45... and of course American. My searching has turned up an engagement during the early days (Dec 17), while the weather was atrocious and had grounded most aircraft. Two P38 Lightnings identified a German battle group with ~3500 men and ~150 tanks in Belgium and these were promptly halted by an attack from P-47 Thunderbolts from 365th and 368th Fighter Groups. The trouble I'm having is finding any reference to what version P-47s these would have been, and what serial numbers would have flown. This is mostly down to my lack of knowledge on the subject, this being the 1st time I have ever researched USAAF aircraft at all. The USAAF structure itself is throwing me, let alone the sheer volume of different aircraft they flew during the war years, and then number of versions of each is staggering. (I'm sure it's not too many more than the R.A.F. but I've been interested in that and absorbing information for a few decades now!) I'm waffling now. The gist is that I'm not set on it being a P-47, and am after a nice kit, with aftermarket decal options for some nice nose art, possibly even push the boat out with some pin-up nose art if I find the right one, but I'd like to know it flew sorties over winter Europe at the end of 1944. Really appreciate any help. Cheers all. James