Casino de Ouistreham

On 6 June 1944, No. 4 Commando under Colonel Dawson were to land on Sword beach. They were tasked to clear the Ouistreham defences then fight their way to Pegasus Bridge.

Meanwhile, attached to 4 Commando were No1 and No8 Troops of 10 Commando, consisting of French Commandos. These Free French troops were to lead the assault on the Casino bunker, clear the Riva Bella battery, and then join the advance to the Orne river.

The commandos sustained casualties as they hit the beach, advancing against stiff resistance. By the time the Ouistreham defences had been subdued, of the 177 French Commandos landed over 40 had been killed in action. 

The Longest Day

These exploits were included in Cornelius Ryan’s 1959 book, The Longest Day, which was later given the Hollywood treatment in Darryl F. Zannuck’s 1962 epic film of the same title. If you haven’t read the book or watched the film, you’re missing out on a classic!

Any fan of the film will recall the scene where Kieffer and his commandos assault the Casino bunker, only successfully overcoming the defenders with the help of a Sherman tank – presumably from 13/18th Hussars. The Casino bunker stands tall, a 3-storey complex incorporating a PAK bunker, AA gun and Stielhandgranate-lobbing German soldiers.

This version of the Casino is, however, complete fiction.

Riva Bella Casino

The original Riva Bella Casino stood behind the beach until the early 1940s. It was a pleasant, wood-beamed building in the Normandy style. During 1942 however, German forces had dismantled the Casino along with dozens of seaside villas to make way for a large bunker complex.

By June 1944, this Stützpunkt consisted of myriad defensive works including tobruks, tank-turreted tobruks, personnel bunkers, ammunition bunkers, plus multiple other types incorporating a range of weaponry including mortars, 50mm and 75mm guns. These bunkers were connected by trenches and further protected with barbed wire. Where the Casino once stood, it had now been dismantled to the ground floor and developed into a formidable defensive position.

Dispelling a myth or two

So in reality the Casino bunker was not the version you’ll see in The Longest Day. Likewise it wasn’t a Sherman, but a Centaur of the 5th Independent Royal Marine Armoured Support Battery, which helped subdue the defences. 

Casino de Ouistreham in 20mm

I decided that my Sword game will include the Casino as depicted in the film as it’s an instantly recognisable point of interest. Plus to be really frank, I like it.

If you’re in the market for one of these you have several options including Lancer, Raventhorpe, or 3D print. I went for the 3D print, and as it was my first printed purchase (from a well-known online auction site) I wasn’t sure what to expect.

I was pleasantly surprised with the print when it arrived, and it’s actually one of the reasons I made the leap into 3D printing by investing in my own printer. More on that another time, now back to the Casino. 

Painting the Casino

Here I’ll go through the step by step process I followed to paint my 3D print of Casino de Ouistreham in 20mm. 

Step 1: Cleaned up the model and super glued the main parts together. As you’ll see I didn’t do this well enough so had to revisit the clean up after the second prime. Lesson learned for next time!

Step 2: Primed with the trusty Halfords Grey Primer, covering many of the FDM print imperfections.

Step 3: 2nd prime with white.

Step 4: Basecoat. For the concrete bunker I used Vallejo Stone Grey, the brick work Vallejo Red..

Step 5: Block painted the stonework in Vallejo Sand, and picked out bricks to paint a variety of brick type colours to get a more natural looking brick work. More the merrier here so I used several red and brown shades.

Step 6: Washes. Agrax earthshade wash applied to the main building, with a Vallejo black wash applied to the bunker and roof.

Step 7: First drybrush. Using the same colours form steps 4 and 5.

Step 8: Second drybrush. As for step 7 but with around 20% white added to the colours.

Step 8: Details – doors, windows etc. 

The Casino is now ready for the table and to defend against those French Commandos.