Welcome to the 2017 Australia New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) Campaign!

The campaign will run from 1 August, 2017 through 1 February, 2018.

If you haven't signed up yet, or want to see the rules, go here.

Please post your initial and in-progress photos as well as campaign discussion in this thread. Please post your finished build photos in the campaign gallery.

Looking forward to some great builds honoring those heroes down under!

Michael

I know I already have a few campaigns on the go, but I've just gotten something that's perfect for this so I'm in.

And we're off. And I'm behind already. Packing up for 2 weeks in China before I can get started..

Ok this is my initial photo,54mm figurine from Beneito with some little change,1/32 Scale link bicycle with some modification, and J'S Work setting material







the scene will be set during the Kokoda campaign, and the idea came after I saw this picture...

Thanks for the kick off Michael! Stephen great to see you take part! Mark nah you're not behind there's plenty of time yet! Vicious (Wonders if I should call him Sid?) fantastic pic all that mud and a partly buried Jap (at least I assume it's Jap) bicycle, love the idea. Looking forward to seeing all your works progress!

Vicious, your project looks interesting. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

I'll be building ICM's WW1 Anzac infantry, in this case Revell's rebox. I'll be using a plaster cast trench made by Field Of Glory models.




The fiigures are very nicely detailed and include a sprue packed full of items of kit and weapons. Loads to add to the diorama. One of the things I like is the periscope that the officer is using to look over the parapet.







Been a while since I've done some figures so this will make a nice change for me.
On the basis of this set I've ordered myself some more of ICM's WW1 figures over the weekend.

Chris if you want you can call me Sid,i fell in love with that photo just as soon as I saw it, finding abandoned bicycles in the Jungle of Papaua New Guinea would still be a pretty absurd vision yet,but 75 years ago in one of the most inhospitable and remote jungles on earth is at the limit of science fiction.

Thanks Stephen, even your project intrigues me, I also have a couple of those ICM sets and are really well done and full of accessories, the trench is resin or plaster? .. very beautiful

Now I would ask some good souls when the Aussies began distributing the machete? ... I know they have never distributed in large quantities but there are and I would like to know if it is feasible for a soldier to have one in early '43 ? .... I photographed one a month at the Australian Armor & Artillery Museum in Cairns but none of them gave me an exact answer on when distribution started ... amongst other things if you go in far North QLD a stop at The museum is worth it, they have a lot of interesting stuff is well done and they also have the Shooting range

http://ausarmour.com/

Sorry Kiwi fans, the Academy P-40N only has RAAF decals. So that's what I'm going with. Pictures when I get back from China.

There are going to be some great builds on here.
I had already collected some bits and pieces for my contribution.



I was also looking for some figures and I like the look of those Revell ANZAC infantry Stephen has. I think I might get some of those.
Still plenty more to amass before I can start this.

cheers
Michael

Hi Vicious,
The trench is made of plaster. So quite heavy as you can imagine. There are a few annoying air bubbles in a few places, but I should be able to fill those with polyfilla or hide them behind extra planks, crates etc.

Michael, you should be able to find these figures in the original ICM box too. You get the same in either boxing. Just get whichever is cheaper.
The howitzer you're building looks very impressive.

I'd like to join with 1/32 Sopwith Snipe by Wingnut Wings:



Australian Flying Corps pilot Thomas Baker scored his 7th of twelve victories in this plane in October 1918, a Fokker D.VII. He was originally bank clerk, enlisted to artillery in 1915 and was transferred to AFC in September 1917. He was shot down and killed six days before the war ended by Fokker D.VII of Karl Bolle.

Lets go for this campaign

I've a lot of plane who served under the australian and/or the NZ insignia but i've finally opted for this 3 little WWII fighters

ANZAC_start-1

Precision for the typhoon: this plane will depict a RNZAF typhoon (R8697, No. 486 Squadron RNZAF, RAF Wittering air base, August 1942)

I've heard great things about Wingnuts, Pasi, so I'm looking forward to your build!

Quick question around the no 'what-ifs' rule. If, say for an aircraft, you can't find reference to the an aircraft call sign letter, so you take a guess, is that with in the rules?
Also, I'm acutely aware this may seem to be pedantic, but just wanted to check before I confirm my subject choice.

Ta very much.

WoW....full of very interesting subjects, I'm pretty much grumbling about the WingNut kits but they frighten me a lot! ...

Cripes. I didn't get past rule 2 - Any scale. I may have to re-think my entry as I don't have any historical justification for it.

cheers
Michael

Stephen great subject and the trench diorama looks fantastic!


Hi Spud is this the Hurricane that you've got the serial for but not the call sign yeah? If that's the case I'll happily allow some historical license in the absence of firm historical data.

Michael after a quick search I found this regarding the 6in howitzer

With the onset of World War 1 the need for a handier and more efficient howitzer than the 6-in 30-cwt soon made itself felt. Designers came up with the BL 6-in 26-cwt equipment, manufacture of which began in 1915. An example is shown in Fig. 1.

bl61 by Chris WIlson, on Flickr

Fig. 1: BL 6-in 26-cwt Howitzer Mk 1 on Mk 1 Carriage


The piece incorporated the latest technology; it was a combination of built-up construction and 'wire' winding, the latter being of steel riband 1/4 x 1/16-inch (6.36 x 1.59-mm) section. Rifling was polygroove plain section (PPS), of uniform twist, one turn in 15 calibres. The breech mechanism consisted of a Welin single-action screw with steep-coned obturator and a vertically acting lever breech mechanism (LBM), which speeded up opening and closing. See Fig. 2.

bl62 by Chris WIlson, on Flickr

Breech mechanism
Fig. 2: Breech mechanism for BL 5.5-in gun, which is virtually identical to that fitted to the BL 6-in howitzer.
The lock fitted is 'Lock PK'.


As with other early BL artillery equipments designed for use in the field, the howitzer was at first fired by 'T' friction tube, a method dating back to smooth-bore days. But tubes were so loose-fitting that the explosion of the propellant charge caused hot gas to leak back through the vent, causung severe erosion. A more efficient vent sealer had to be found.

Locks improvised from obsolete Martini-Enfield (ME) rifles were thereupon fitted and proved satisfactory as a temporary measure. They fired 'tubes vent sealing' which were simply .303-in cartridge cases suitably filled, and which effectively sealed the vent. Firing was by withdrawal of a pin by means of a lanyard. In due course ME locks were replaced by 'locks percussion H' (locks PH). A simple mechanism, its principal part was a striker withdrawn then released by a steel wedge attached to the firing lanyard. In turn it was replaced by 'lock PK' , more complicated but more easily operated. The changes to the firing system were the sole modifications made to the howitzer throughout its life, so satisfactory was its overall performance.

By the end of World War 1, 3633 howitzers had been made, not only for the British Army but also for allies and colonies including New Zealand. During the conflict the howitzer proved a thoroughly reliable piece, and consumed no fewer than 22,400,000 rounds of ammunition on the Western Front alone.

So yes the New Zealanders did use them and I'd guess they were used in France if you check the NZETC (New Zealand Electronic Text Center) you may be able to find exactly where?

Pasi I've heard great things about Wing Nut Wings and I look forward to seeing your build.

Franck 3 kits????? Awesome subjects look forward to seeing what you do with them!

Cheers Chris, although we all know firm historical data generally appears just after the last flat coat has dried.

Good choice Pasi! Looking forward to seeing how the Snipe goes s together. Have the same kit in my stash and I really do need to get around to it.

Made a start on my figures this afternoon. Just some cleaning up, some assembly and researching uniform colours. All going well and only minimal cleaning up needed. Only problem I found was that the officers waist is a little too skinny for the torso part. Might need to sandwich a bit of milliput between the leg parts to widen him a little.
Photos to come tomorrow.

Thanks for the info Chris. I was aware that NZ forces used the 6" howitzer which was why I got it because what I had in mind for the campaign was a dio based around a civilian event i.e. a typical NZ small town dawn service at an ANZAC monument. When I was young (along time ago) a lot of provincial towns had pieces of military hardware, quite often guns, cemented into place, usually with a memorial gate or obelisk with a list of the fallen. Not exactly historical accurate, more generic. But if this doesn't fit I will find something else to build.

cheers

Michael

Hey Michael it served and it's a commemoration of the men who fought with it so I think it would actually be well within the spirit of this campaign, I say go for it!

I'm with Chris, what you describe sounds very much inline with the commemorative nature of this campaign.