Miniart 1:35 Battle of the Bulge, Ardennes 1944

MIN35084

Sold Out £11.00 GBP

Miniart 1:35 - Battle of the Bulge, Ardennes 1944 - Plastic Figure Model Kit #35084

The Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) was a major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg on the Western Front toward the end of World War II in Europe.

The surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard. The Germans attacked a weakly defended section of the Allied line, taking advantage of heavily overcast weather conditions, which grounded the Allies' overwhelmingly superior air forces. Fierce resistance on the northern shoulder of the offensive around Elsenborn Ridge and in the south around Bastogne blocked German access to key roads to the northwest and west that they counted on for success. Columns of armour and infantry that were supposed to advance along parallel routes found themselves on the same roads. This and terrain that favoured the defenders threw the German advance behind schedule and allowed the Allies to reinforce the thinly placed troops. Improved weather conditions permitted air attacks on German forces and supply lines, which sealed the failure of the offensive. In the wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were left severely depleted of men and equipment, as survivors retreated to the defenses of the Siegfried Line.

The Germans' initial attack included 406,000 men, 1,214 tanks, tank destroyers, and assault guns, and 4,224 artillery pieces. These were reinforced a couple weeks later, bringing the offensive's total strength to around 450,000 troops. Between 67,200 and 125,000 of their men were killed, missing or wounded. For the Americans, with 610,000 involved in the battle, of whom 89,000 were casualties, including up to 19,000 killed, it was the largest and bloodiest battle fought by the United States in World War II.

The kit contains 47 parts.
Includes parts for five figures.
Box: 260mm x 162mm x 35mm

Collections: All, American, Axis Forces (WWII), German, WWII

Category: Miniart Figures

Type: Figurines

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Operation Frankton RMBPD Set - WWII Cockle Canoe + Royal Marines from £45.00 GBP

Operation Frankton RMBPD Set - WWII Cockle Canoe + Royal Marines

£45.00 GBP

1:35 - Major Herbert George "Blondie" Hasler - Resin kit

Herbert George "Blondie" Hasler was a Lieutenant Colonel of the Royal Marines. In 1942, a 28-year-old Hasler planned and led Operation Frankton. The operation was a commando raid on Axis shipping in the French port of Bordeaux occupied by the Germans. The mission was to attach mines to the hulls of German cargo ships. Three of the five canoes were lost on the way to the port. The surviving crewmen including Hasler reached the port successfully, placed the mines and managed to drown four cargo ships. They then walked 100 miles to a French village where they met with members of the Resistance and started their journey back to England through Spain and Gibraltar. For this operation Hasler was awarded the Distinguished Service Order by King George VI.

One kayak was damaged while being deployed from the submarine, and it and its crew therefore could not take part in the mission. Only two of the 10 men who launched from the submarine survived the raid: Hasler, and his number two in the kayak, Bill Sparks. Of the other eight, six were executed by the Germans and two died from hypothermia.

This product is available in two scales, 1:35 and 1:24 and was painstakingly designed from scratch as a digital model.

The kit includes: 2 x miniatures (Blondie Hasler and Bill Sparks) in their folding Cockle Canoe named 'Catfish' made by Campaign Models (UK).

Now available, while stocks last.

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