US WWII Combat Engineer Units

[Jim R]

Hi Paul
Impressive as always. The sheer scope of this is incredible.
Jim

 

[minitnkr]

My original plan back in the 70s was to duplicate the units assembled for forcing a crossing of the Moselle south of Metz at Dornot mid-Sept., 1944. Soooo, I started acquiring the vehicles for these units. As the TO&Es started to fill & after visiting the site in France in 2017, it became clear this was too ambitious. Just the 7thArmored 23AI HQ & B Companies were huge & would require modeling the whole village of Dornot & surroundings up to the top of the ridge, not to mention the 11th Inf. Regiment vehicles that would be in the village & along the riverside railroad line. The attached 2nd Chem Mortar Bat. & smoke elements, 735 Medium Tank C Co., & 818 Tank Destroyer C Company would require modeling the area to the south all the way beyond Corny almost to Arnaville. 11th Inf. Cannon Co., 449AAA elements of Battery D & elements of the 7thEngineer Battalion would require modeling the road net & farms to the west of the ridge to Gorze & south to the Arnaville area. All this just on the west side of the river. The east side had the 'Horseshoe Wood', orchards up to the ridge & the Verdun Forts. The 17thSS PG elements including the 37thSS PG Rg'mt. were refitting in this area between Jouy-aux-Arches to the north & Corny to the south, alongside the 282Inf. Reg'mt., SS Signals School & fortress units who were stationed there. Needless to say, mission creep prevailed & I've pretty much modeled way more vehicles than I can present on both sides of the Moselle. My son tells me the Germans I've modeled have more punch than most late war Panzer Regiments. My favorite uncle was wounded & decorated for his actions during the "Battle of the Horseshoe Wood", and that is what focused my attention on this battle.

 

[Mini Me]

So without compromising the overall effect of what you are trying to portray is there some way of scaling down your forces to give the proper "illusion" of the enormity of this conflict without jeopardizing its credibility.........given the size of the area you described, I can only imagine a series of snap-shots or "vignettes" focusing on individual units or combined units, as mission related endeavors to portray in chronological order the battle from start to finish. It appears you already have the forces......you just need to figure out the real estate and the time table. Rick H.

 

[Jakko]

That, or buy a disused gymnasium and build the whole area to scale

 

[minitnkr]

I will probably do more small dios of some elements of the above. I've already done the quarry engineers & 4.2" Chem. dios. Thought of doing examples of the different bridges deployed, kind of like a members' WWI trenchworks.
Jakko, during the height of the pandemic I probably could have.

 

[minitnkr]

Some progress on engineers. WIP prime mover/tender for rock crusher plant.

WIP Amphibious Section transporters.

WIP 6x6x6 bridge erectors & newly arrived 12th one.

 

[Mini Me]

Bet you laid out a bit of coin for that #12 "erector"........still a virgin in the original bubble pack! It would be a "gift" at the original price of $0.59!! I'm guessing you paid around $20.00 for it......seems to be the going price for MIB examples. Lucky Boy!

 

[minitnkr]

Yeah, prices are crazy. $18 to $25 usually. I gave 18.75 + USPS for this last one. I have 14 of them. They ran from $10 to $22 except for the two from an ebey lot of a bunch of stuff & their cranes were broken, so they have lost their cranes & have had their bed sides extended & tailgates added. They transport (Dora?) bridge elements.

 

[JR]

Nice up date Paul
Good for you getting that many

 

[minitnkr]

Yeah Dzohn, it only took 52 years.

 

[Mini Me]

Glad you managed it though. The only thing I have that comes close to that is an M62 wrecker and four or five Corbits.

 

[minitnkr]

Corbits are great. In my engineer world, if a dump truck ain't doinit,' a Corbit/Brockway is. M62s by ROCO often had Corbit/Brockway cabs for some reason. I would grab these up when I could for the cabs, long wheelbase frames, winches, O&A tanks & flatbeds as donor parts for my engineers & recovery/evac. elements.

 

[scottie3158]

Paul,
My apologies I have missed this up till now. Another great collection of vehicles on an excellent base.

 

[adt70hk]

Paul,

Thanks for sharing the background to this. I was going to ask but you beat me to it.

I always realised it was a labour of love of some sort but having the family connection makes it all the more understandable.

Keep up the great work.

Andrew

 

[Mini Me]

Did you use the M62 frme for your shovel and crane conversions?

 

[minitnkr]

Thanks guys.
Paul, none needed, lots goin'on.
Yes I did Rick. Just reworked the front bumper.

 

[Caustik Filth]

Wow!!

 

[minitnkr]

More progress. Three last erectors are taking forever. Many scratch details to add. Parts lot cab on amphib. transport had headlights/brushgrill trimmed so had extra brushgrills & headlights from another parts lot of 353 resin castings added.

 

[Mini Me]

Looks good......much done with more to do.....sorta like the Sistine Chapel at the Vaticn........."when will it be finished"?

 

[scottie3158]

Lovely work Paul, excellent attention to detail.