Flames of War: DAK Panzer II

I assembled these over a year ago.  Finally got around to finishing the little guys.

Adding antenna to the Zvezda Sd Kfz 222

Zvezda's Sd Kfz 222 is a popular kit.  I'm not thrilled with how mine turned out.  Large gaps appeared in the seams and the weathering enamel I applied looks like a bad attempt at dry-brushing.  Thankfully, these were cheap enough for me to just buy new ones and try again.

Everyone loves the Zvezda Sd Kfz 222 kit for it's affordability and detail.  The only drawback is that you can only build a Sd Kfz 222 (the one with the 2cm gun) with it.  

Sd Kfz 222 and Sd Kfz 223 conversion

I decided to convert several of mine into Sd Kfz 223s (MG turret and antenna) for my Panzerspah Company.  Here's how I did it.

Here's what you'll need.  Solder, flux, grabber-holder (or a friend with steady hands and nothing better to do), soldering iron, brass rod, foam block and various other hobby tools.

create a template for the same of the antenna.   Use pliers to bend the rod into the pos

Measure before each bend.  Concentric on keeping each bend going in the same plane.

When you're done, you'll have a long extra tail.

Cut it off.  You're now done with the easy part.

Line you antenna up in the grabber-holders.  This may take awhile to get just right.

Dab some flux on there.  Think of this as thinner for the solder.  It will help it flow were you need it.

Solder it.  Yeah I made that sound simple.  This took me several tries.

Now you have your antenna, but it has the blob of solder on there.  Use a file to remove it.  Be gentile!

Again, this took me a few tries.  I had to go back and redo the solder once or twice.

Look OK, but how do we attack it to the armored car?

Mark on the template where you want the "legs" to go.  Cut four shorter peices of rod.  Don't worry about them all being exactly the same.  Better they are too long than too short.

Place the template on top of the foam and insert the rods as shown.

Gently pull the template up over the rods.  Use the grabber-holder to position the antenna, and foam with legs.  Apply flux, solder and file down smooth.

Now time to add it to the armored car.

Drill some holes into the body.  Make some slight bends in the legs of the antenna to fit in the holes.  Don't worry about glue.  If you attach it this way it will hold itself in place.

You can probably tell which one was the first attempt...

"What about the turret?"  I hear you ask.  I made a mold of a 15mm MG turret and used a piece of rod for the machine-gun.  Honesty, I'm not sure how it will look once painted.  Another option I've seen people do is to just use the larger 2cm gun turret with the main gun removed.

It should also be noted there are some subtle differences between these and an actual Sk Kfz 223.  The body is a little different and there is another smaller "ring antenna" on the body.  To be honest, if I had to do it all again, I think I would just go find the old BF kit, even if the antenna is way to chunky looking.

I'm not sure how these will look once they're painted up.  Guess we'll see in a month or so when I get back home and get around to them.

DAK collection

Back in the heady days of V3, the mid-war period was considered the best by many.  At the time, my only force was trained Americans.  After many burning Shermans and half-tracks I decided to embark on a new army.  I chose the 15. Panzer Division, with a focus on one of my favorite tanks at the time, the Panzer IV.  It was a pretty good list.  The Panzer IV f1 and f2 worked well together, 8-rads were awesome, and of course Rommel with this platoon of captured Honey Stuarts were always a fun!

StuH 42s in a DAK list?  Yeah, that's right.  So what?  Wanna fight about it?

After watching "Fury Road", I even began expanding to create an armored car company and an EW Kradschutzen company.  Up to this point I had the following in my DAK inventory

5x Pz IV (short 7.5)
3x Pz IV (long 7.5)
2x Pz IV (magnetized to be either)
1x Tiger Ie
4x 8-rad
Rommel
4x Captured Honey Stuarts
3x Nebelwerfer (with command and spotter)
2x PaK50 (with command)
1x88 (with command and extra crew)
Full platoon of kradschutzen with dismounts
A menagerie of soft skin trucks, tractors, kublewagons, and motorcycles

And in the pipeline:
another platoon of kradschutzen
6x 8cm Mortar (with command and spotter)
2x PaK36 (with command)
3x SdKfz 233
3x SdKfz 223
4x SdKfz 222
5x Pz IIf

Hope we see German motorcycles again in MW some day.

Then one day, V4 came out.  After reading through “Afrika Korps”, it was obvious my force would need major revision.  The only core units I’d be able to use were the Panzer IVs.  Unfortunately, I found the panzer IV to have been laid low by the new V4 rules.  The Pz IV (short) was a shadow of its former glory (lower AT, I guess due to lack of HEAT rounds).  The Pz IV Long was about the same price (10% of a 1500 V3 point or 100 V4 point list), but with one less AT and in an environment where many other things had gotten cheaper.  If I wanted to run a tank list, I would need some Panzer IIIs.  8-rads were now a liability.  The Tiger and the 88 seemed like the only thing left.  Most of the rest was not even an option in MW anymore.

The Panzer IV long and short.  Neither one seems to be viable in V4.

Now, you may be getting the impression I was not keen on V4.  At this point I should say I do like V4.  About this time last year, the sidewalk in front of our local gaming store was crowded with wild-eyed middle aged men, bitterly raging about the coming rule-change apocalypse to any passerby who would listen.  V3 rulebooks were greedily hoarded.  Miniature collections were liquidated.  Phil Yates was burned in effigy. 

I was just a calm observer to the madness unfolding around me.  I liked the new rules, accepted things had been shaken up, and saw it as a new excuse to buy and paint more miniatures (as though I needed one).

Well boys, we had a good run.

The bright spot was in the DAK infantry.  For the paltry cost of few 2.8cm AT guns and HMGs I would be able to field a few infantry platoons.  Thanks to a combination of new factors in V4, these units could now do more than just guard an objective.  The release of command cards further lifted my spirits.  The armored car company was an option again (though without those SdKfz 233s I’d been working on).  I expect the impending release of the Eastern Front books to bring a few more options to the table as well. 

I'm hoping to werf some nebels at my opponents when MW is expanded with the Eastern Front.

I’ve come up with an armored car company that goes something like this at 100 points:

Armored Car Company
1x SdKfz 223 (1)
3x SdKfz 221/2 (2)
3x SdKfz 221/2 (2)
3x SdKfz 221/2 (2)
2x SdKfz 232 (2)
Infantry will all the fixin’s (10)
3x 6pdrs w/trucks (10)

Support
4x schleppers (12)
4x 25pdrs (14)
4x Marders (16)
4x Panzer III (20)
Full Italian Rifle Platoon (9)

Here's a picture of 8-rads because they look cool. They're also the only completed platoon I have for this new list.

In the meantime, I’ve acquired the following reinforcements for my DAK list.  Work will begin shortly.
10x Pz III (probably to be built as the short-barrel version)
4x Schleppers
3x 2.8cm AT guns
4x HMG teams
3x PaK38
3x 6pdrs
4x 25pdrs