WWII - French countryside ambush

This display is intended to house a German armoured column moving through the French countryside in WWII, with an ambush set up by Allied (British and US) forces.

The German column includes:

Panzer IV Ausf. J medium tank
Sturmgeschutze IV assault gun
Sturmgeschutze III Ausf. G assault gun
Sd.Kfz 251/1 half-track with PaK 40
Panzergrenadiers and assorted troops riding on the armour

Allied forces waiting in ambush include:

Sherman M4A2 medium tank
Sherman M4A4 'Firefly' medium tank
British 6 pounder anti-tank gun x2 and crew
British infantry

10mm extruded foam board
30mm extruded foam board
PU adhesive
PVA glue
Toilet paper / tissue paper
Fine sand
Polyfilla / spackle
Woodland Scenics tree armatures
- 3-5“ Deciduous set (TR1122)
- 2-3” Deciduous set (TR1121)
Woodland Scenics clump-foliage medium green (FC683)
Woodland Scenics bushes-foliage olive green (FC144)
Evo-stick contact adhesive
WWS static grass
- 2mm North Europe
- 4mm North Europe
- 4mm Patchy
- 6mm Dead
Rivalcrafts stone powder - golden brown

I started with a few sketches - using the dimensions of the display shelf (76cm x 26cm) as the size I had to keep the design with. As with most of my other displays, I would work with two tiles of 36cm width, rather than one full-width of 76cm - it just makes it easier.

First I tried to include a water feature; a small stream or brook, with a stone bridge or culvert to cross it. But this proved problematic to flesh-out; it would have meant building up the height of the boards more than I already intended to, to allow enough vertical space for the raised roadway to cross the (lower) stream. I rejected this idea:

Fig. 1: First plan - this incorporated a small stream.

The second idea did away with the water crossing and added a small hill or mound to the lower left (front) edge. This would allow me to position the British anti-tank gun squad on a raised area. This is simpler overall, but probably the better design in reality due to the amount of scenic materials, models and figures that would need to fit!

Fig. 2: Second plan - no stream, but a small hill added for artillery.

Both designs feature a T-junction, with a partially destroyed building on one corner - a perfect place for one of the Sherman tanks to wait, with another of the Allied vehicles waiting further up the adjoining road, as the German column advanced from upper left to lower right.

Basic shapes of left and right tiles:

Fig. 3: Left tile. Fig. 4: Right tile.

Basic tile shapes together:

Fig. 5: Left and right tiles aligned.

Edges of bocage hedgerows and hills chamfered and profiles to slightly less-artificial looking shapes. Also added indentations either side of the track to represent drainage ditches:

Fig. 6: Drainage ditches and edges of cuts melted by blowtorch.

Filled all joins and coated all cut edges to further hide the artifical edges:

Fig. 7: Joins and cut edges covered with polyfilla/spackle.

Sealing all surfaces with PVA glue and paper, also added the first layer of (fine) sand that will make the core of the road surfaces:

Fig. 8: Left tile covered with glue, paper and sand added to road bed. Fig. 9: Right tile covered with glue, paper and sand added to road bed.

Further layer of sand on areas which will be bare-earth:

Fig. 10 Fig. 11

The entire board was given a coat of reddish-brown and the edges painted in black.

Fig. 12: First coat of brown primer. Fig. 13: First coat of brown primer.

A layer of rock powder was added to cover the road and edges of the hedgerows (as can be seen on the grass images, below) and give a more natural texture/colour than the sand base.

Grass is a blend/series of layers of WWS 2mm, 4mm and 6mm. Mainly the Northern Europe colour (2mm and 4mm), but a small amount of Patchy and Dead (4mm and 6mm) added to break it up. Grass along the edge of the road is Patchy and Dead.

Between each layer the previous layer was roughly flattened/roughed up before it dried so that it looked a bit more natural.

Fig. 14: Looking down from the hill.

Fig. 15: Looking along the road - direction of German column. Fig. 16

Fig. 17: Grass on near side of tiles - still far side to do.

I made two sets of trees - both containing mixtures of the 2-3“ and 3-5” Woodland scenics sets. One set is painted with a grey/brown, almost like a Silver Birch with the olive green clump-foliage, the other is a more common lighter brown with the medium green bushes-foliage.

Fig. 18: First phase of tree building.