Sappers! update 2021-05-28

[Will Bailie]

I'm slowly building up a small force to represent the 1st Canadian Division in Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily.  I determined that I needed some sappers or pioneers to clear obstacles, so I got some Perry Desert Rats, a sharp knife and some extra bits, and this is what I ended up with.

A section of the Royal Canadian Engineers.


Some wire cutters.


Mine clearing team




And a Bangalore Torpedo team


More photos on the blog:  https://willstoysoldiers.blogspot.com/2019/12/sappers.html

[vodkafan]

Good conversion work. These Perrys really remind me of the old 1/32 Airfix Multipose in their styling.

[Will Bailie]

Thanks, vodkafan.  They are great fun to modify!

[Will Bailie]

For a bit of fun, I decided to copy this photo (Canadian Soldiers near Modica, Sicily, July 1943, by Frank Royal):





Cart is Empress Miniatures, soldiers are Perry Miniatures, more on my blog here:  https://willstoysoldiers.blogspot.com/2020/02/canadian-army-mule-cart.html

[gamer Mac]

Nice work on the conversions

[Will Bailie]

Thanks!   

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Nice work.

[Will Bailie]

A little bit of threadomancy, I hope this doesn't break any forum rules or protocols!

I've been having some fun converting Perry Miniatures plastic Desert Rats into sappers.  And since I picked up a Wespe 1:48 scale Bailey Bridge, I decided to build an 'under construction' version.

These are some kitbash conversions, adding bits from the Perry Zulu War British Infantry to make a survey crew.  The dumpy level is built from two heliographs, and the level rod used to be an arm holding the colours.





A Bailey Bridge panel weighs 600-lbs and is a 6-man load:  each man is responsible for his 100-lb share, and the men need to lift together to put the panel in place.  Here is what the manual shows:


And here is my version:


The transom is normally an eight-man load, but I cheated a bit, these four men are each doing the equivalent of two men's work:


Here is the 'under construction' version of the bridge, with the angled launching nose at the front:


And finally here are the sappers constructing the bridge.  Two men are directing the others, getting the bridge panel lined up so they can hammer the panel pin into place to connect the panel to the bridge:

[Poiter50]

That is really outside the square, following this thread with keen interest.

[malto cortese]

One of these bridges is still working outside of Florence, right below the Certosa - aptly known as "il ponte degli inglesi"...

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

Some really lovely ideas here. Great stuff!   

[carlos marighela]

That’s brilliant! I never imagined in my wildest that I would see a miniature theodolite gracing a table.

[gamer Mac]

Very nice
How are you going to use it in a game?

[Will Bailie]

Thanks for all the comments!  I'm having lots of fun with this project.  I'm inspired by stories of Bailey Bridges built under fire, in particular at Leonforte in Sicily:
https://cmea-agmc.ca/historical-battle/sapper-bravery-sicily

How are you going to use it in a game?

I haven't yet worked out how to fit these pieces into a game.  I'm thinking along the lines that the Engineers need to complete some tasks, as in the CoC 1940 Blitzkrieg book.  Each time they are activated, they roll a die.  Once the cumulative total of the dice rolls reaches the target number, the bridge will be complete.  Meanwhile, of course, the enemy will be trying to stop them!

I never imagined in my wildest that I would see a miniature theodolite gracing a table.

I considered making a theodolite, but decided it was too complicated, so I chickened out and settled for a dumpy level 

[Captain Blood]

Very nifty creative conversions, well done