Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Over the last 12 months I've enjoyed a growing collection of 11th AD, for LW. I really like history of this division, and Big P has given me a few steers on books that I have found very interesting.

I've never really liked the Challenger A30, though it's not for me to airbrush it from history, but I did like the CROMWELL but I found the COMET A34 intriguing, it's unusual it has some of the speed of the CROMWELL but a HV modified version of 17lb Gun with a cut down shell. It's a formidable machine but currently unavailable from BF in any of their books. (It was introduced very late in the war).

However I want to use it as a Proxy for the Challenger A30 (keeping them now i've painted them). So I bought a pack of 5 Comets from QRF for about £16 (Bargain). I like the models, but they don't fit my BF Scale very well. As you can see they are reasonable but it wasn't quite right it bugged me. So I pondered on buying yet more CROMWELLS and ditching the turret, and using the QRF Turret.





Then I saw that the PSC ones match the BF ones very well! Bingo, combine the PSC and QRF ones and I should have (with a bit of ballast, some magnets and Plasticard and Green Stuff, I should be able to make a fairly decent model).



Doesn't look a miles off the real thing does it? I've got 5 of these to do....



I am moving house, but hoping to get this done soon, but I am expecting BF will be releasing something like this and the Pershing soon, but I'm happy to forge my own path.

Comets made it into the Fall of the Reich list for battle group so my friend and British opponent picked up a few of those QRF models and i have to say he was not very impressed with them. Would take a lot of work to get tracks to fit nicely etc.

So i can certainly appreciate what your trying to do, though how are you going to get round the plastic Cromwell tanks having the christie type suspension with just the five large road wheels and the Comet that had the smaller wheels and the top rollers? I would think that would be the only major obstacle to what you are doing, though perhaps it will be alright if just aiming for a close approximation.

I ain't a rivet counter, I ain't gonna be bothered by the return rollers.

A decent approximation will do, it's better than trying to convert a BF CROMWELL, wait till you see the finished article. I have some idea's to up the detailing on the Turret.

I haven't seen Fall of the Reich, anything decent in there?

What is the statline of a Comet?

Buy the book and you will get the stats...

Basically a British Panther.

 mwnciboo wrote:
I ain't a rivet counter, I ain't gonna be bothered by the return rollers.

A decent approximation will do, it's better than trying to convert a BF CROMWELL, wait till you see the finished article. I have some idea's to up the detailing on the Turret.

I haven't seen Fall of the Reich, anything decent in there?

What is the statline of a Comet?

Its a great game, captures the feel of the period really well. Nothing like facing down a few comets with a pasted together German force being reinforced by volksgrenadiers riding in buses

But as Big P said, in game terms its similar in performance and stats to a Panther

I think they look pretty kool.Nice idea on how to make some of the tanks.i got a few 15mm kit bashed conversions myself.Some of my favorites are PSC Armor and Bf Metal crew and stowage.Rite now i am building a good kitbash,i am building a Squad of 12cm mortars for my Fjs,I built them out of the following.PSC plastic mortats and PEter pig and Bf crew and Command.They are not quit done yet.but they did turn out pretty decent so far.Anybody else have any good ideas or builds on conversion for 15mm?I also her lately been trying my luck with weapon ,limb and headswaps.Some are better than others.
I think it was a great idea and done rather well.I would not have any problems playing against them.
But of course i am the guy How is using the Aces and warriors rules for are upcoming Spring campaign Fighting in Italy.
This is the part that is going to annoy the Diehard Historical battle people.We will be using 3750 for are forces,but this will be your permant roster represting your company or regiment for the campaign.but here is the drawback,you may not chose your support or anything that is not on your perm roster throughout the entire campaign.Another rule is that you may not use the support company rules from total war either,theese rules were meant for one off games with you and your mates throwing some dice and having a few pints in the Garage or Attic etc. This is a campaign were your heros will gain experience and notariety.But here is quick list of the plus,allowed 2 aces or 1 ace and a warrior.warriors maybe used from other intel books aslong as they are of that nationality.All you do is change his name but the rules and points are the same.but most be from the same branch of service.
Also we will be allowing any Lw list. one last thing we will be using air assualt rules for the campaign,i got some ideas i am tinkering with.German and American Gliders.well enough rambling about the Campaign i have been devolping. ill have some updates about it on my blog here later on.

So did you end up painting these?

I think the turret is a decent fit - although it looks a bit long. Filing the muzzle to a bell shape and using a block of sandpaper to shave just a bit off the rear of the storage bins would look pretty much spot on like a Comet.

I agree, I will also be adding storage and Camo, as well as crewmen and I will also be cleaning up the Gun Mantel as it is not very clean or detailed.

I will be painting them and finishing them...Currently about halfway through moving house (e.g I'm living there with about 30% of my Furniture, the rest will come on Friday.

Here is the new Studio I started this weekend.

Day1



Day 2



I'm waiting on a Desk to be delivered, and a floor cover and then I can get back to modelling. But for the 1st time in my adult life, I have a dedicated Man Cave with all my books and DVD's!

A give me another week to build my PC and get everything straight and I will be able to start on my models at breakneck speed.

Mwnciboo's Miniature Studio is born.

Like the selves.Using LED lites?

Yeah, they are programmable diode bars.



Which you can set to thousands of different colours but i've gone for White light.

I will do some Diorama's at the back, using photo backgrounds as well as slide in battlefields. So they look more like this...



My Pre-Heresy Iron Hands would have somethinglike this behind them



But I digress.....I will at some point finish these COMETS and make them look decent!

I've been working on some 11th AD myself actually; any chance you or Big P could point me at some more books? I''m reading one at the moment called The Black Bull that I'm quite enjoying, but I'd like to find out more.

I do like PSC models; only tried their Sherman/Firefly box so far but I'm planning on getting more.

The book I really enjoyed was "Taurus Pursuant" it's pretty old but you can pick it up. It'll be musty but it's a fantastic read.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10513905-the-black-bull

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Taurus-Pursuant-History-Armoured-Division/dp/B000W4MT9O

http://www.amazon.com/Charge-Bull-Jean-Brisset/dp/0951234900

Warning some of these are not cheap, but if you have a traditional bookshop nearby sometimes you can spot a bargain, I certainly did.

I'll also share the ORBAT that Piers sent me when I get my internet sorted at home (bloody BT!!!).

I'll look in to them!

This is one I've been reading if you're looking for another The Black Bull

Thanks for the help!

EDIT; So you had linked it already... Slow work internet sent me to a dead link

Okay as requested by prowla, an update. This is not 100% accurate it's more a 75% approximation of a Comet.



So I used some PSC CROMWELL elements to help this along such as the Hatches, and the CO-AX Machine gun. I'm not sure whether to replace the Gun Barrel, with Brass Rod and the Muzzle Brake? As you can see it's quite soft metal, I think I've convinced myself look at this picture, but you can see how I slimmed down the turret a little.



And put a Magnet in the bottom.



Drilled out the Muzzle.



Here you can see the first stab at a Canvas Mantlet Cover in Green stuff.



Here with other Tanks for sizing.




Next steps...

1. Put in a Brass Rod Barrel, drill out the mantel to hold it securely.
2. Attach Muzzle brake (delicate and tedious job).
3. Redo canvas mantlet cover in Green Stuff.
4. Add Camo netting etc.
5. Add a few equipment boxes to top deck.
6. Wrap the Turret in dyed surgical Gauze

Eventually I want it to look like this...

 mwnciboo wrote:


I've never really liked the Challenger A30, though it's not for me to airbrush it from history, but I did like the CROMWELL but I found the COMET A34 intriguing, it's unusual it has some of the speed of the CROMWELL but a HV modified version of 17lb Gun with a cut down shell. It's a formidable machine but currently unavailable from BF in any of their books. (It was introduced very late in the war).

Understandably the Comet was introduced to front line units around the same time the war in Europe ended. It missed almost all the fighting. Pity it was the best western allied tank of the war by far.

Actually the Comets was ready for combat service in January, but the troops retraining onto it in December 44 had their plans disrupted by a bunch of heavily armed Germans in the Ardennes, and had to go get their Shermans back and rejoin the front.

That must have been a disappointment to go back to a Sherman!

The gun was designated 77mm in order to avoid ammo confusion...

@Orlanth, yeah it was very late War, but I'd like them (plus we can use some these Heer 46 tanks in my group for some Late War - What if....Scenarios ) I was talking to Big P about this in various parts of the forum and in his "BATTLEGROUP" game he treated it (the Comet) very much as a British Panther!

I've got some update pictures.



I could get the Muzzle break to work, so I've modelled GS and once that cures, I will file and drill it out.

Well the ones deployed in March 45 certainly saw some good scraps, one against some Tigers from KG Fehrmann.

Whoa...Look at the hole in the this TIGER!



Apparently these were knocked out by the 3 Comets in A Squadron 3RTR against KG Fehrmann on the 13th April 1945. I cannot verify this, but some Great photos.







For me this Tank was incredible, moves at pace, hits like a freight train. Then came the Centurion which was another great vehicle closely followed by the magnificent Chieftain and then the modern Challenger and Chally 2.

It's time Britain designed some great kit again. I would like to see a redesigned / upgraded and improved Scimitar. You could definitely streamline the turrets, reduce weight, keep the small profile, go for an Electric / Diesel Hybrid drive.

Yup the Fehrmann Tigger got pranged by the Comets on the 13th April.

On the 12th April Tiger FO1 advanced toward the British near the Essel Forest after Crossing the Drebber stream, encountering 3 Comets of 1.Troop, A Sqn, 3.Bttn.,3.RTR/11. Arm.Div. in a firefight - destroying 1 of them and an armoured car.

Both sides withdrew for the night but the next morning the Tiger took out a Kangeroo then had an artillery barrage called in on it, so it hid in the woods. Creeping back on to the road again to stalk the British tanks, "F01" was hit in the left rear side from about 100 yards by the Comet of Sgt.Harding of C Sqn. He had moved into a flanking position in the trees and was later to receive the Military Medal for this action. As the Tiger began to cook off, the crew all managed to bail out safely, though each with minor burns, and made their way back to Fallingbostel. 

Big P can you explain what a "Tiger Hybrid" is? I've noted that Fehrmann KG had them, were they Factory Fresh / not finished or prototypes or training ones or something?

EDIT - HAHA Just noticed that was the Grey Tiger you did not so long ago, I really liked that. Infact the improvised zimmerit using filler was quite brilliant on that model. Did you ever get the Red "F" for the Decals?

Nah...Only decal F I got was too big...

Hybrids were local rebuilds using parts, generally old turrets on new pattern hulls. Hence the odd colour schemes as they were sprayed with what was available.

Ah okay, so Field Workshops grabbing salvaging anything to hand and doing rebuilds, very interesting. I was reading up on KG FEHRMANN and they lost 2 Tigers and a Panther to a field of mud and had to abandon them! Out of interest what Percentage of German Tanks did get abandoned, because even Wittmann ditch his chariot at Villers-Bocage. I'm guessing it must have been a fair percentage, which just makes you wonder why? When every Panzer was worth it's weight in gold defending the Fatherland. Surely abandoning your tank would result in censure / field punishment by the Provosts.

 mwnciboo wrote:
Ah okay, so Field Workshops grabbing salvaging anything to hand and doing rebuilds, very interesting. I was reading up on KG FEHRMANN and they lost 2 Tigers and a Panther to a field of mud and had to abandon them! Out of interest what Percentage of German Tanks did get abandoned, because even Wittmann ditch his chariot at Villers-Bocage. I'm guessing it must have been a fair percentage, which just makes you wonder why? When every Panzer was worth it's weight in gold defending the Fatherland. Surely abandoning your tank would result in censure / field punishment by the Provosts.

Panzer commanders has an enormous amount of leeway, and the Reich valued them over their tanks, up to a point.

Hitler ordered Stalingrad to fight to the last man, but airlifted out his Panzer crews without personal censure.

The Germans when retreating lost lots to abandonment and crew destruction.

Once the petrol is gone, you really have a pillbox. Not great for mobile warfare. Indeed just a deathtrap really. So you blow it up with onboard charge, or leave it.

During August 1944, 74 vehicles were noted as destroyed or abandoned by crew. In the same period, the next highest cause of loss was AP rounds with 11. Once on retreat, losses go through the roof. As a comparison, for the preceeding June and July, 9 vehicles were lost to crew destruction or abandonment, while for the same period AP was logged as accounting for 36.

So the main cause is really the strategic circumstance.

Also as the Germans went of the defensive and lost territory, they were unable to salvage vehicles after the fighting like they did in the early years. When you hold the battlefield, you can return alot to service... when the enemy controls it, not so much.

Wittmann left his vehicle after a 6-pounder round hit the right side drive wheel and jammed it. They used up most of the ammhnition and then legged it. As the Germans controlled the area it was later recovered. Losing tanks is something you have to accept in war.

Loving this thread. A bit OT, but which book is the British armoured company with comets to be found in?

Derp, reread the OP. Well done me. Which book has the Cromwell in it then?

 motyak wrote:
Loving this thread. A bit OT, but which book is the British armoured company with comets to be found in?

Derp, reread the OP. Well done me. Which book has the Cromwell in it then?

MArket GArden is so far the best,but the Overlord book has them also.

I've got an update coming....I sprayed up the 1st Comet, and I'm going to paint it and get the decals on.

Update of the prototype...Still need some more detailing etc, but you can see how it comes together. Quite pleased, it won't please a Historical Buff, but for a bit of flavour I think it will do.



Still alot more to do but you can see it fits well.

Looking good.