In which I blog about my miniature wargaming and whatever else takes my interest!

In which I blog about my miniature wargaming and whatever else takes my interest!

Monday, December 10, 2012

Kangaroos

While painting up the PSC Shermans I also worked on the conversions to the now demobbed Sherman Ic models. As suggested earlier, they were converted into Grizzly Kangaroos.

kangaroos and wasps 002

The conversion job was a simple of matter of using some card and gluing it between the tracks to close off the hull and make the open ring into a troop compartment. The sides of the compartment aren't perfect (you can see the tops of the tracks in places if you stare in), but I gave everything a light grey paint job and then painted up some standing Canadian infantry from my spares box (mostly extra Old Glory Bren gunners). With the squaddies in there you can't really tell.

What I'd like to know is how you were supposed to fit an entire rifle section into one of those?
kangaroos and wasps 001

But I've split a bag of Old Glory 17 pdr AT guns  with Brian and am waiting the arrival of some Peter Pig crew before I paint them. The Kangaroos will be used to tow these.

Another support asset I've just added is a section of Battlefront Wasp IIc flamethrower carriers. These are nice little resin casts with two crew. Since reading Zuehlke's books on the campaign in Northwest Europe (Breakout from Juno, Terrible Victory and On To Victory) I've been wanting some. By July 1944 one or two sections in the carrier platoon were equipped with them and it seems that every company attack was supported by these useful little vehicles. The mere appearance of them would often make the Germans surrender.
kangaroos and wasps 003

The cardboard flame template from Warhammer is a bit naff, but I'm not sure how to make a 12" jet of flame and smoke just yet.

8 comments:

  1. James,

    Would like to post a link to your blog on my own Maiwand Day blog, where I've been working on some Afghan/NWF sangars, inspired by yours, which were in turn inspired by John the OFM over at TMP. Would have contacted you privately but not sure how to do so! Just want to get your OK before I post an exceprt (credited of course!!!) from one of your own posts -- "Soldiers of the Queen-Empress part five" -- explaining how you built yours. You can post a reply here, or over at my MaiwandDay.blogspot.com blog. Thanks in advance for your time!

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  2. Oh that would be smashing! Excerpt away!

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  3. Very nice looking vehicles! Great work...
    Phil.

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  4. James:
    As always, very inventive and well done. As much as I worry about you becoming a harcore treadhead and have been planning an intervention, I applaud you for working through the perplexing problem of the Sherman Ics and finding a creative way to reemploy them. Hardening your infantry in Kangaroos will pay dividends on the battlefield, I am sure. As for fitting a whole section in, I am sure it was cramped. LAVs and Warriors post the same question today. Regrettably, there probably weren't all that many full strength sections riding around in Kangas.
    Cheers mate,
    Mike

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    1. :^D I'm already pondering how to get enough to lift a complete platoon...

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  5. Very nice models, however just an observation, the Kangaroo was a conversion of the Canadian "Ram" tank. The Ram and the Sherman did look somewhat similar having the same ancestry.

    A Crazy Canuck

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    1. Not always. Although many (perhaps most?) Kangaroos were converted from Rams (which yes had a different look to the front glacis)some Kangaroos were made from Shermans or the Canadian built version of the Sherman, the Grizzly.
      And I do specifically say these are 'Grizzly Kangaroos' not 'Rams'.

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  6. Sidney Roundwood has done some great flamethrower bursts for WW1 28mm gaming with foam foliage around a length of wire - he's got a bit of a tutorial at http://sidneyroundwood.blogspot.ca/2012/08/flaming-holidays.html

    Something similar as a marker for flamethrower tanks in 15mm would be dramatic!

    &mdash Brian

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