Wednesday 2 November 2016

Bergepanther and King Tiger for Flames of war.

I finally found time to paint the Peter Pig Bergepanther recovery vehicle. It's a hefty model once assembled, and I found it made a nice change from painting the more standard model tanks. I added a Peter Pig command figure plus a couple of spare wheels in the top. Next order to PP I will get the crew set that goes with this model to complete it, I'm also awaiting decals via eBay. Recovery vehicles do have a role to play in FoW such as dragging tanks that are stuck or bogged back out. My only slight gripe here is that the model does not feature side skirts to protect the upper tracks, OK I guess for a non combat vehicle, but it does leave an annoying gap showing between tracks and hull.






The 2 'King Tigers' were purchased via eBay at a bargain price and arrived with a flat coat of matt sand. I'm pretty sure that they are Forged in Battle models from the resin bases. A touch of cammo followed by a wash of Sepia ink to blend things together, tracks painted and upper detail added improved the look. I also fitted rare earth magnets to the hull and turret to steady the heavy turrets with their massive 88mm guns as they were a bit wobbly! Again I'm waiting for decals to arrive to finish them off and will add the hull machine guns from pins. As I already have a platoon of 3 Tiger 1's I had not intended to add the Tiger 2 because they are just too powerful on the table top and nothing can stand against them, but I seem to have become an enthusiastic model tank collector, the 15mm collection having grown to in excess of 70 models German, Soviet & US.

Compare the Flames of War stats of the King Tiger to those of a Mk V Sherman!

Sherman V:  Front armour 6, top armour 1, side armour 4, anti tank 10.

King Tiger: Front armour 15, top armour 2, side armour 8, anti tank 16.

The massive frontal armour was sloped to deflect shots, a lesson learned from the encounters with the T34's during the Russian campaign.

Hull MG's will be added from pins.










7 comments:

  1. Konigstigers are awful in FoW! Well, facing them that is. :) Even my Fireflys could only take them with a lucky shot... THey look suitably impressive though.

    Bergepanther is smashing though! Lots of character and I really like how you've painted it. Good stuff Lee.

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    1. Hello Dai,

      Even in model form the Konigstiger looks impressive, especially when I compare them to the early mark 1 & 2 Panzers!

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  2. Nice work on the Bergepanther. They come into their own in skirmish games.

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    1. Thank you CK, I'm pleased with how it turned out.

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  3. I do like the big old plough on the berg panther, it just looks like it can dig out anything. All nicely painted? I guess you just have to wait for Tiger 2s to run out of petrol !
    Best Iain

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    1. Cheers Iain, they were certainly petrol guzzling beasts at a time when fuel supply was a major issue .... luckily enough for us I guess!

      I have not forgotten the T34/85 btw, always takes me ages to get round to anything but it will get to you soon! I dug it out the box last week when I was having a sort out, it's been sat there so long unused. Please bear with me :)

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  4. Hi Lee, don't worry I'm not really in the UK till mid December so whenever you get around to it this year or next it's a delightful bonus as far as I'm concerned!
    Best Iain

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