Fungus Fighters

US Army in the attack.

Fungus Fighters!

Weird War Two as Japanese Fungus Fighters take on the American troops!

They are small but they take a lot of killing!

Automatic weapons fire is the best thing.

Heavy slugs ripping into them.

But the monsters keep coming.

It's hard to kill something that does not bleed!

Armored Division

Sherman tank and crew.

Covering fire while others work.

Thompson, Grease Gun, and Colt .45 all use the same cartridge. 

Lots of activity in an armored division.

Maintenance to perform.

Repairs to be made.

Halftrack

This set includes troops working, and operating the vehicles and shooting.

Man in the turret and man loading.

Dismounted tanker with pistol.

The version of the M3 halftrack was ordered by Patton when his troops were training in California.

He was always looking for ways to aid the troops.

Overhead cover with a slit to look out for all round vision.

Still, exit out the back and top would have been slow.

Tank Crews

Orion USA Tank Crew in Summer Dress in 1/72nd scale.

Consider the name Summer Dress, perhaps a Winter Dress in the pipeline?

Tank crews have maintenance to do all day, every day.

A log to give more traction.

A giant wrench to remove a bolt.

Hard work for one, no work for the other!

Wake Island, Bataan, Corregidor

Early American WWII troops by Strelets, set 2.

These figures would work from about 1930 to about 1942.

Like set one, a lot of firing poses.

A good mixture of weapons too.

US troops used the Springfield, M1 rifle, Thompson, shotgun, and .45 caliber pistol in the early war period.

Sniper rifle.

Troops moving up.

WWII US Army

In the first six months of World War Two the US Army fought all over the Pacific.

Until now we had to use metal figures or WWI troops.

These figures fit well with the WWI HaT and Airfix troops.

I am very happy with these troops.

Early WWII American Soldiers 2

Strelets new Early WWII American Soldiers set 2 in 1/72nd scale.

This set is the perfect companion to the Early War set 1.

We get another guy with a Colt .45 pistol.  American horse cavalry operated in the Philippines and they wore the Montana Peak hat and carried the .45 caliber pistol.

This set has a heavy weapon in the shape of a water cooled .30 caliber machine gun.

A great action packed single piece casting.  Usually requiring a crew of three, the single man crew shows the desperation of the troops on Bataan.

Standing firing soldier, no flash, great pose.

Early WWII US Army

More figures from the WWII Early War American Army set from Strelets.  Two solders advancing.

 Two men kneeling and firing, one with a Thompson submachine gun and one with a rifle.

Lewis gunner, and standing grenade thrower.

The US Army conducted their last horse cavalry charge on Bataan and they wore the Montana Peak Hat.  They all carried .45 M1911 handguns, just like this soldier.

A very nice selection of soldiers.

P51 Mustang

In WWII American planes sometimes when down in German held territory and had little or no damage.  I am building a P51 Mustang and I am going to do it in German markings.  I got a P51 about 20 years ago for $2 at a kit show.  It was missing a few parts.  Including a set of landing gear.

And the landing gear cover over the other gear.  So into the spares box and out with these blue ones.

It was also missing a horizontal stabilizer, so another one from the spares box.  It was originally a lot bigger but I whittled it down and shaped it to fit the P51.  The panel lines won't match but I can live with that.  Ironically it's from a WWII Stuka kit.  I will just say it was a replacement for the one the flak gunners hit causing the US Army pilot to crash.

The spinner came in three parts but two of them were missing.  So I had to cobble something together with sheet plastic.  Primary work here, I gotta trim it off and file it down.

This is the sheet plastic bit I saved after cutting off the spinner part.  Save everything because one day it will be useful.

Work so far.