Thomas Gunn Miniatures: July Germans

New Second World War Germans released by TGM in July, 2015. Enjoy!

New Releases for July!
WWII German

• FJ020A -- Anniversary Set - Fallshirmjager Team Manning an MG42 - Normandy - Reminiscent of our very first set released 6 years ago but this time with better sculpting and painting! A two figure Fallshirmjager team man an MG42 in distinctive camouflaged Jump smocks and prepare to take on the enemy. Limited to 100 in the Normandy version, 50 of the Winter and also 50 of the Desert version being available. 
• FJ020B -- Anniversary Set - Fallshirmjager Team Manning an MG42 - Winter
• FJ020C -- Anniversary Set - Fallshirmjager Team Manning an MG42 - Desert
• LUFT019A -- Erich 'Bubi' Hartmann playing cards with Theodor Weissenberger - Two of the greatest aces of WW2 with over 550 victories between the pair. A little history below for those of you not familiar with these 2 pilots: Hartmann (in the brown jacket) completed his fighter training in January 1942 and managed to rack up an amazing 352 kills, his last kill being a Soviet fighter on the 8th May, the very last day of the European war.
  Earlier as the war drew to a close Hartmann was ordered to fly to the West to avoid capture by the Soviets, but refused as he had a deep attachment for his ground crew. This was despite him being newly married with a young son waiting for him at home. Hartmann was handed over by the Americans to the Russians, who convicted Hartmann on trumped up war crimes. He was sentenced to 25 years in a Soviet Labour camp and suffered appalling treatment. Eventually the Russians tried to encourage Hartmann to join the fledgling East German Air force, but he refused and was eventually released in 1955. Hartmann joined the West German Air force but left in 1970 due to his concerns over the Lockheed Starfighter programme.
  Hartmann died peacefully in his sleep aged 71 in 1993 and is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest fighter pilots of all time.
  Our second figure Theodor Weissenberger was a Knights Cross recipient with over 200 aerial victories mainly flying on the Eastern Front but with over 30 victories on the Western Front, including 3 flying Fortresses in one day over Berlin. Weissneberger flew a variety of aircraft including the ME 262 in which he claimed 8 of his victories.
  After the war Weissenberger went onto become a racing car driver but was unfortunately killed in 1950 racing on the Nurnburgring circuit.
  This beautifully painted set is limited to 100 in number, a B version with 2 generic Luftwaffe officers in tropical gear is also available but limited to 50 sets worldwide.
• LUFT019B -- Luftwaffe Officers playing cards (Tropical Gear)
• LUFT020A -- Rudi Sinner Lighting a Lady's Cigarette - Sinner Man! Rudi Sinner sweeps in for his latest kill whilst offering a light to a pretty young lady with a cigarette, could be occupied France, an airfield or the streets of Berlin. 
• LUFT020B -- Rudi Sinner Lighting a Lady's Cigarette (Tropical Dress) - the tropical version of the above set suitable for warmer climes or if you simply prefer your ladies in pink! Rudi Sinner was born in Austria in 1915 and enlisted into the Austrian artillery in 1936 but transferred into the Luftwaffe in 1940. He served in the Middle East before being posted back to the West where his final score stood at 39 kills in just over 300 missions. Sinner was awarded the Knights Cross and survived the war despite serious injuries inflicted by USAAF Mustangs in April 1945 when they downed his ME 262. Limited to 100 in the A version and 50 of the B version, these figures will look great in a diorama of your choice. 

WWII German forces

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King and Country: July Dispatches

A small selection of the German releases from K&C in July. Further information and images from the usual places; the company website and TSC to name but two

http://www.toysoldiersclub.com/2015-07-KC-EN.html

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John Jenkins Designs: June Germans

WWI - German Army

Although Germany was slow to develop its own tank force, there was a need to produce a range of methods aimed at neutralizing the effect of the Allied armour. This included concentrated charges, armour piercing bullets, individual field guns in a close combat role, and finally anti tank rifles.

Sharpshooters or snipers were often used to pick off tank crews or their accompanying infantry after the initial damage had been done by the other weapons.

• GWG-010 -- German Army, Sniper

German Army

Knights of the Skies

The Fokker E.III was the main variant of the Eindecker (monoplane) fighter aircraft of World War I. It entered service on the Western Front in December 1915 and was also supplied to Austria-Hungary and Turkey.

The E.III was the first type to arrive in sufficient numbers to form small specialist fighter units, Kampfeinsitzer Kommandos (KEK) in early 1916. Previously, Eindeckers had been allocated singly, just as the E.I and E.II had been, to the front-line Feldflieger Abteilungen that carried out reconnaissance duties. On 10 August 1916, the first German Jagdstaffeln (single-seat fighter squadrons) were formed, initially equipped with various early fighter types, including a few E.IIIs, which were by then outmoded and being replaced by more modern fighters. Standardisation in the Jagdstaffeln (and any real success) had to wait for the availability in numbers of the Albatros D.I and Albatros D.II in early 1917.

Fokker production figures state that 249 E.IIIs were manufactured

Developed in April 1915, the Eindecker ("Monoplane") was the first purpose-built German fighter aircraft and the first aircraft to be fitted with synchronizer gear, enabling the pilot to fire a machine gun through the arc of the propeller without striking the blades. The Eindecker granted the German Air Service a degree of air superiority from July 1915 until early 1916. This period was known as the "Fokker Scourge," during which Allied aviators regarded their poorly armed aircraft as "Fokker Fodder". The Eindecker was based on Fokker's unarmed A.III scout (itself following very closely the design of the French Morane-Saulnier H shoulder-wing monoplane) which was fitted with a synchronizer mechanism controlling a single Parabellum MG14 machine gun.

Anthony Fokker personally demonstrated the system on 23 May 1915, having towed the prototype aircraft behind his touring car to a military airfield near Berlin.

Max Immelmann scored his first victory flying the "Eindecker." Scourge of the air during the winter of 1915, the Fokker E.I was the first aircraft armed with a synchronized, forward firing machine gun. German pilots were ordered not to fly it across enemy lines for fear the Allies would capture the secrets of the synchronizing gear. Followed by the E.II, E.III and E.IV, the Eindecker was underpowered and slow but could out turn most of its opponents.

Allied aviators who faced it called themselves "Fokker Fodder" The Eindecker ruled the skies until the Nieuports and SPADs were developed.

• ACE-023 -- FOKKER EIII, 246/16, MAX IMMELMANN, KeK Douai, June 1916.

Knights Of The Skies - WWI

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King and Country: June Dispatches

A small selection of releases from K&C way back in June. Further information and pictures available from the usual places; the company website and TSC to name but two

http://www.toysoldiersclub.com/2015-06-KC-EN.html

Happy Hunting

Latest Additions 3: Leuthen

Quite a few posts ago I made a passing reference to the fact that I hadn't written a latest additions post in a while and that I was going to be writing three in a row. Well, the third one never came, or at least not on time! Here it is, quite a lot later than originally scheduled. The subject matter of said post is the Battle of Leuthen diorama range produced by John Jenkins Designs

I've been debating whether to buy pieces from this range for some time. Up until the time when I finally decided to take the plunge and do so, I had just one piece from JJD, a WW1 German armoured car from his Knights of the Skies series. So pleased was I with this purchase I made an effort to look a little more closely at some of his other productions and I'm very glad I did

The images included here show the diorama pieces for the display together with some of the Prussian figures needed to occupy the impressions cast in to the base. As a consequence of my particular collecting whims I haven't [yet] bought any Austrians to man the walls of the besieged church and at the time of posting I have bought just one box of all of the Prussian sets. In order to complete the Prussian side of the diorama you need to buy a number of duplicates and I will say more about that later

For those who might not know, John's diorama series has been based on a painting showing one of the main episodes in the battle

The battle itself was fought during the Seven Years' War between the forces of Prussia, under Frederick the Great, and Austrian forces under the leadership of Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine and is counted amongst Frederick's greatest victories over a force many times greater than his own. The following images provide some basic factual details as well as a brief summary of the sequence of events leading to the Prussian victory

Frederick the Great

An interesting and far more detailed take on the battle can be found here

http://obscurebattles.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/leuthen-1757.html

And so to the images of the display currently sitting on a shelf in the hobbies room, aka Dad's Den. I've taken the liberty of adding a few scenic items from John Gittin's range, partly to reflect the painting and partly to add a little bit more visual interest to the scene

The overall vista showing quite clearly I trust the winter birch, winter shrubs and 'plastic' snow that I've added. The snow has been added for the fairly obvious reason of wanting to disguise, nay hide, the gap between the bottom of the structural features and the diorama base that they are standing on

I'm sure you will all agree, John's take on the painting shown at the top of the post is first rate and his portrayal of the Prussian grenadiers absolutely first class. His figures are dynamic, well painted and extremely good value for money

As I said earlier, in order to complete the Prussian element of the diorama, should you be interested in doing so for yourself, you will need to purchase duplicates of certain sets. With John's kind help, here is a complete list of the sets you will need and a photo that will help with placing the figures correctly

LEUT-01  x  2

LEUT-02  x 2

LEUT-03  x  2

LEUT-04  x 1

LEUT-05 x 1

LEUT-06 x 3

LEUT-07  x 2

LEUT-08 x 1

LEUT-09  x  1

LEUT-11 x 1   NCO

LEUT-12 x 1   Officer

LEUT 10, 10A and 10B are the two wall sections and the entrance. The base is LEUT 100

One word of warning, John's website is currently showing low stock for a number of the above sets and LEUT 12 is SOLD OUT! You may still be able to get hold of it via your local dealer, and if you are in the UK then the sole dealer for John's fabulous figures is Grey Goose Collectables

I have just ordered the duplicate sets that I need and am very much looking forward to taking receipt of them next week

And finally, you might be interested in taking a look at this AV clip detailing the main events of the battle, courtesy of The Art of Battle

    

Happy Hunting!

Thomas Gunn Miniatures: New Germans

Three new Germans for May from TGM! Nice and simple. Enjoy!

http://www.tomgunn.co.uk/

CLUB 20 features Hans Phillip, a Luftwaffe ace and Knights Cross recipient
with over 200 victories mainly on the Eastern Front. Phillip's plane was hit
by a B17 gunner in October 1943, there is also speculation he was hit by a
P47 Thunderbolt flown by Robert Johnson. As Phillip tried to nurse his plane
back to his airfield he was forced to bail out at 50 metres where his
parachute failed to open.
He was buried with full military honours on 14th October 1943.
This figure of Phillip with one of his units mascots, a tame fox, is free to
all Club members who spend $150 or more thru our can be purchased separately
on our website for the normal RRP of $40.

FJ017B The B version of our very popular running FJ but this time with some
snow added to his base so he can now be incorporated in a Russian winter
setting or a BOB dio. Limited to 100 in number and priced at $40 per figure.

GW054 German Ground Crew/Mechanic with toolbox. A great little figure
smoking a pipe that will look suitable in any airfield diorama or maybe next
to our A7 tank carrying out some repairs? Non smoking sign also included
with this set!
Limited to 100 in number and priced at $43.50/£32

Happy Hunting!

John Jenkins Designs: New Germans

A couple of new WW1 Germans from John, and links to a couple of websites should you want a bit more info, or a full listing of all his new releases

http://www.johnjenkinsdesigns.com/

http://www.toysoldiersclub.com/2015-06-JJ-EN.html

http://www.grey-goose.co.uk/Welcome-to-Grey-Goose-Collectables-Ltd/1/

Happy Hunting! 

King and Country: May Dispatches

So, in accordance with the new format, here are the recently released Germans from K&C, and there are quite a few I can tell you, together with the hyperlinks to the TSC and K&C websites where you can find out more information including and a complete breakdown of all the new releases. Plenty to enjoy!

http://www.toysoldiersclub.com/2015-05-KC-EN.html

http://www.kingandcountry.com/dispatches/may-2015/

To begin with, here are a couple of 'holdovers' from April that are now available for sale

Happy Hunting!