GHQ Models Forums

Hello,

I have bought 9 Sherman crab from GHQ form my D-Day table. As you know, this is the version with the the rotating flails. It was used to destroy mines.

I want to show them when they are in action. I am looking for ideas on how to model the flails and all the dust rising when the flail hit the ground.

I was thinking of wrapping cotton ball mixt to PVA glue and water around the rotating cylinder. The cotton will then be painted and dry bruch.

Any other ideas or pictures of what you have done with your models ?

I might also model exploding mines in front of one or two of them.

Thanks in advance for your advices !

I suggest pom-poms. These are small puff-balls of mystery material which are available at your local sewing or craft store.

I first found them at a Michael's shop years ago. They come in a variety of colors and sizes. I bought some for use as status markers, as the rules I was using at that time required some kind of tag to identify infantry stands which were suppressed, or neutralized. So I used a very small (about 1mm) tan puff to indicate a unit which was taking fire, and so was suppressed. Then I used a red one to indicate a stand that had taken casualties.

I found that the larger ones were very usefull as artillery strike markers. So now I glue them to painted pennies (to give them some weight), and use them quite regularly to mark beaten zones. I have taken to pulling them apart a bit, to give a very irregular and whispy shape to the site of the detonation.

Here is an example, from a game we played at the Kublacon conference more than a year ago:



I'd recommend trying with just the whips that you see at the top of the strike markers pictured here. Just grab a pom-pom, and pull it apart.

I think they look nicer than cotton balls when pulled out. They seem to have more of a thread/direction to the pulling, and the color is far better saturated than one gets by painting cotton (or at least than I get by painting cotton).

A single pack of tan pom-poms, about 1/2 inch in size, should cost you about $.60, suite your purpose, and last you about forever. And you'll get four dozen artillery strike markers in the bargain.

Just my suggestion... keep or discard at your discretion.