SBoat Construction Continues

The Odemars German Commanders check out the new ship from bow to stern.

The stern is pretty bare right now at this early stage of construction. There are many more parts waiting on the sprue, I mean dock, to be added to this vessel.

The bridge is highly detailed, the model sort of works from front to rear in construction.

The big hole in the front is for the gunner of a light AA gun. The armored bridge is a big improvement over the older SBoats with simple wooden bridges. This Revell 1/72nd scale kit fits together well, too bad they don't give you any crew figures. I will use the Revell WWII German Navy soft plastic figures in 1/72nd scale, but it would have been nice to have more choices by having a few guys in the model.

More S Boat

The S Boat with the sheet styrene glued to the bottom of the hull. I have to cut the edges of the sheet styrene with a craft knife so they are even with the bottom of the hull.

A better waterline view of the new hull size.

Once the bottom is glued on, I have to glue on the decks. I use XActo clamps to hold the deck and hull side walls together. They remind me of dockside cranes.

A group of German Commanders has stopped by to visit the shipyard.

Odemars German Commanders in 1/72nd scale are molded in several colors including blue. I use the blue ones for ranking naval officers.

Bosnians & Bresica

One of the Bosnian Infantry from Odemars is sneaking around the corner of a Bresica Miniatures terrain feature. Notice how nice the sand bags sag and droop, like real sandbags. I hate it when they make sandbags out of stacked Chiclets.

The Bresica Miniatures terrain is sold by Michigan Toy Soldier company and is a high quality resin terrain. It is flash free and comes both painted and unpainted. I like the step feature that allows wargame troops to be positioned exiting or entering the position without having to balance on some sloping terrain. Their products come in both 1/32 and 1/72 scales.

The really shows off a feature I really like about this terrain. The soldiers are firing over the parapet, but under a log. Troops often used logs to reinforce their positions and firing from under a log made the shooter less visible against the background.

The same terrain part from the rear, I like the work on the trench wall, good support to prevent the cave in of the dirt onto the shooters. These Odemars troops fit well with the new Caesar German Mountain Troops. These troops wear the fez as do many of the Caesar set. By combining both sets you have a nice variety for a unit of SS mountain troops. This is about the last time in history soldiers used the fez as part of their combat uniform, so they are interesting for that reason too.

Odemars are on sale until the 15th of this month, free shipping and buy one get one free, contact Yves at boiteplastic@aol.com for full details. They also sell an interesting line of buildings so check them out.

Tan Berlin Troops

One of my favorite things about Odemars is they really try had to make a good product. Their first version of the Battle for Berlin set turned out very poorly and so they were not sold except to collectors who just had to have one. The second version was greatly improved and we see that set here. A Hitler Youth boy in shorts carrying two panzershreck rockets and a man with a full beard and the panzershreck. Facial hair regulations were pretty weak for Volksstrum soldiers.

A police officer and soldier, both with stick grenades. The police officer looks good with the grenade cut off too.

A nice late war panzer hunting team, the man with the rifle has a panzerfaust on his back, the officer has an MP40 and the soldier has an MP44 assault rifle.

In the last few weeks of the war, women were permitted to carry arms to defend the nation. Here we see two typical female soldiers who have elected to carry a panzerfaust and a submachine gun. They would have faced certain death, but better than a fate worse than death many of them reasoned.

Three kneeling figures, the first one is a Hitler Youth boy in his shorts with knee socks. The second has a handgun and a stick grenade. In close fighting, you can't have too many grenades. Lastly a soldier with a rifle in late war camo smock. The Hitler Youth were allowed to volunteer as young as 16 years old, but there were a few younger boys who served as well. Growing up in America during the Cold War against the Russians, I often wondered what it would be like fighting Soviet tanks in your own home neighborhood. As a Junior Reserve Officers Training Corp cadet, I had no doubt in tenth grade that I too would fight for my home against Communist domination. One panzerfaust, or LAW rocket, fired from around the corner of a house could destroy a Soviet tank and kill four Russian crewmen. In the last weeks of the war, thousands of Soviet tanks were lost this way.

Another German police officer and a soldier wearing a gas mask. The Germans used their gas masks as air filters. When using the bazooka, operating in areas of fires caused by bombings or ground combat, it was not unusual to see them wearing a gas mask. The police were used as soldiers when combat came to their district, but until then they performed normal police duties. Responding to domestic disputes, auto thefts, barking dog calls all has to be done, even if the Soviet Red Army is at your doorstep.

A reminder that Odemars troops are still on sale until February 15, 2009, buy one for $10 or 10 Euros and get one set free, including postage. Contact Yves at boiteplastic@aol.com

Zombies By Odemars

Some folks over on the HaT forum were discussing Zombies and so I figured this would be a good time to visit the Odemars Legion of the Undead. Remember, Odemars figures are on sale, buy one set for $10 or 10 Euros and get one set free, including postage!

Contact Yves at:
boiteplastic@aol.com

Pirate and American War of Independence.





Early WWI German and Landskenect. Love that picklehaulb!

American Civil War and Roman?

Mexican bandit and man with halberd.

This Amazon does not deliver books! One of the Three Musketeers!

Sumo wrestler with stick grenade and Viking. These Zombies are not the kind to shuffle along the strangle you, they will blow you up!


Christian preacher and another zombie. Very unusual to get both sides in the same set! The Zombies are valuable not only right out of the box as zombies but also as fodder for conversions. The Mexican bandit for example could have his hat donated to other figures, like Revell and Imex Cowboys or Imex North Koreans and they could serve as living Mexican bandits.

A couple boxes of these guys mixed in with the Twilight Games Zombies would provide a huge Zombie Army for minimal cost. Toss in some of the Caesar Undead you have a whole other world of undead adversaries for your regular armies to fight off. Odemars sets come in several different colors of plastic so you can make a varied and colorful zombie army without painting. I would recommend a simple dip of Minwax or similar to make them look a bit more undead!