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No Fixed Abode, Home Counties, United Kingdom

Saturday, May 2, 2015

W is for Werfing Nebels...bloody Nebels, they're everywhere!

Not my joke, this was going round Facebook a while ago, I don't know who originally produced the meme, but I tip my hat to him!

The old Esci (Esci-Revell, Ertl, Aurora et.al.!) Nebelwerfer kit. One of my favourite kits as it comes with a decent crew in heavy winter gear, and with a small, but versatile 'multipose' element.

The tubes can be modelled in a travelling or in-use configuration, but unlike a lot of artillery kits; have to be glued in the position of choice and can't easily be converted to having moving parts.

That versatile crew i mentioned, there are only five poses and a few lose arms, but with the accessories supplied and a bit of imagination; they can make a bunch of workmanlike grunts or gunners in no time.

Mid/late boxing - this set is still available, now part of the Italeri stable. Originally called Smoke Units (they were named to mislead the League of Nations inspectors...plus le change!), the actual weapons were from the start developed to fire HE and later kits are called Nebelwerfer 41.

Plastic coloures above and some OBE's (other buggers efforts) below, I buy these whenever I see them, in whatever condition, as they are such useful figures.

The sprues from both sides, this is the contents of a box (x2 of everything), and if you ignore the launchers, or model them closed for towing, that leaves you with a ten-man section to convert to infantry (or other) troops in winter gear.

The whole set was pantographed-down from a 1:35th set by...well? It seems to have been issued by both Esci and Italeri from the start, there was always strong co-operation between the two. I suspect Italeri were the originator, due to the rest of the 1:35th scale range, but who knows?

I've cut-off the ends of the pre-loaded rockets and drilled the tubes out, the discolouration is bruising/tearing to the long-chain polymers and will be hidden by paint. Here are some I did earlier!

In Action


Paul Foster said...

Excellent work Hugh. Totally agree about the figures. Very useful for other tasks and indeed countries.

Keep it up.

Hugh Walter said...

Cheers Paul.

Also; despite being quite 'chunky' looking in their padded overalls, they are actually quite 'tidy' figures and fit nicely into half-tracks and turret hatches!


Dan said...

Yes, nice kit, in all my years I was never able to pick it up, I used to dream of getting a few sets for the figures to convert to winter German infantry (back when winter Germans didn't exist)

Hugh Walter said...

Or only existed in very expensive (for pocket money rates) whitemetal!

Keep an eye-out Dan, they do get re-issued regularly! One day I want to 'super-detail' one, better tyres (I think the Fujimi rubber ones from the '222 will fit!), move the firing-box, few wires and things? Cut the figures about a bit!


Dan said...

Yeah, I meant existed in plastic, it's now a golden age for 1/72 scale figures and models.