LATE WAR BRITISH INFANTRY FOX HOLES

I have been contemplating how to represent Infantry in fox holes for a while now. 
Thanks to Andy: Tiny Hords whose work, inspired me to make my own Section of British Infantry in fox holes.
Mine  are based on magnetic sheeting for easy storage, with the added benefit of removing the figures, if they suffer a casualty.
This is achieved  by placing magnets on  the underside of the figures with the floor of the foxhole layered with thin metal sheets.

Section includes 3 man Bren team, 6 man Rifle team and a Junior Leader.

Assembled cut down figures with earth magnets glued into the base.

Black Primered

Figures painted and sealed with a coat of Gloss vanish followed by Matt vanish.

To work out the size of the foxholes, I used 20 mm plastic bases with the final base shape cut out from a  magnetic sheet:see Magnetic bases

Small pieces of tin are glued onto the magnetic base roughly where the figure will be located.

Used  plastic sprues from remnant kits to build up peripheries of the foxhole and glued into position.

View of the completed foxhole periphery. 

Figures in their foxholes.

Next step, provide protection to the figures while modelling the foxhole from the putty.

Cut out a piece of Glad Wrap,place figure in the middle, pull together and seal together with stick tape.

Cut off excess, figure is now protected from putty.

Using Milliput build up the outer area on the base of the foxhole.

Next step, build up the the inner area, the floor first and then the  sides against the plastic sprue. Followed by the outer sides of the foxhole against the plastic sprue.

To build up the top edge of the foxhole, roll small pieces of putty into rolls and place on-top of the plastic and blend in with  a sculpting instrument.

Place the figures in the foxhole, check the fit, and repeat the previous step making height adjustment to the foxhole  while leaving the figures in position. 

Completed putty stage of foxhole with a few personal items added such as Grenades,back pack spare ammo, digging implements etc.

Black primer applied,allowed to dry and painted with a coat of Vallejo Flat Earth 983.

Wash with a coat of Agrax Earthshade and dry brush with a 50:50 mix of Vallejo Flat Earth 983 and Iraqui Sand 819.

Paint the floor of the foxholes with Vallejo Black Grey 862 allow to dry and wash the inner wall and the floor with a coat of Nulin Oil.

Using the 50:50 mix of Vallejo Flat Earth 983 and Iraqui Sand 819 lightly dry brush the the inner wall and floor.

Painted the odds and ends and added a couple of Tufts.
Applied coat of Gloss vanish followed by Matt vanish.

Completed foxholes

Infantry in their foxholes

CHURCHILL CROCODILE FLAMETHROWER TANK 28mm SCRATCH BUILD TRAILER + FLAME PROJECTOR

I was hoping to post " my Infantry in foxhole project"(try to finish it next week) but instead finished my Scratch built trailer and flame thrower projector for "CYCLOPS" my Warlord games resin, Churchill MK VII.
Previously I had scratched build a ARVE turret see ARVE  from MDF, this time I continued with the construction of the trailer in MDF but I encased it with Styrene sheeting. 
Working out the dimensions and design, was challenging, as I had to rely on images found on the web.
Here is my latest addition to my Brit Support list a conversion kit to transform my Churchill into a Crocodile Flame thrower tank.

Churchill with Trailer 

Flame Projector

Completed Trailer ready for undercoat made from styrene plastic sheets,spare plastic sprues,brass rods and Green Stuff. 

Completed Flame Projector, I used polyester filler to construct the smoke see How to make a flame thrower flame and placed a tiny magnet on the base for the purpose of storage.

MDF 5mm sheets used to construct trailer.2 identical pieces where cut out and super glued together. 

measurements placed on the block.

systematically cut and filed away the designated areas and finely finished wooden trailer body.

Unlike the ARVE turret I previously constructed, I encased the wood with styrene sheets. The process involves placing super glue on the wood, placing a sheet on the glue ,allowing to dry and then scribe the plastic with a hobby knife and clip off the excess.

Completed encased trailer.

For the wheels I cut 2 circles from MDF build up one side with plastic odds and ends and finally used Green Stuff to form the tyres and wheel nuts.

Wheels attached with a plastic sprue from a left over Infantry kit. I also attached a sprue to the front of the trailer as an anchoring point for the trailer.

Undercoated with Flat black Enamel paint.

Completed paint work

On the underside of the tank I used a hobby drill to create 2 holes and glued 2 magnets in place.

The magnets on the tank will serve as anchoring points for the trailer arm which also has 2 magnets attached with an additional magnet placed at the end of the trailer arm to assist in storage.

Image showing the attached trailer to the underside of the tank. This arm in reality ran further along the underside of tank and came up thru the floor where the flame projector was located. The flame projector was located where the hull MG would normally be positioned. 

Added a tarp on top of the trailer for a bit of contrast.

First imagine shows the hull MG, the second the Flame projector in position mounted over and encasing the MG.

The Flame projector fits snugly and easily comes off/on over the MG..............."Need a light"....... Mmm ..maybe not!