World War II, Documented in Real Detail

People first: uniforms, kit and re-enactment

Characters carry a WW2 scene, and small kit errors are easy to spot. The WWII Uniforms and Guns pack was shot in New Zealand at 6000 × 4000. It has 111 photos of WWII-era uniforms and personal belongings, 105 photos of weapons from flintlocks to machine guns, and 34 further historical photos.

For gear in use, the WWII Re-Enactment pack has 249 photos of a careful re-enactment of Allied forces fighting German forces, with historical equipment: weapons, crates, grenades, gas masks, tents, barrels, vehicles and tanks. It is an Editorial pack and most faces are blurred. It works well as reference for how kit hangs on a body and how a field camp is arranged.

The vehicles in the background

Games and illustrations often get the main tank right and then fill the street with the wrong trucks. Fotoref photographer Ogden documented the supporting vehicles at 6240 × 4160 on a Fujifilm X-T3, in the United States:

• 1940 German Kubelwagen: 35 photos of the light utility vehicle built on the Volkswagen Beetle chassis.
• 1941 BMW R75 with Trailer: 42 photos of the heavy motorcycle combination with its driven sidecar wheel.
• 8-Ton Half-Track: 46 photos of the Sd.Kfz. 7 artillery tractor, including suspension, engine compartment and crew seating.
• Dodge WC-54 Ambulance 1942: 34 photos of the standard US Army ambulance.
• Ford M8 Greyhound 1943: 42 photos of the American reconnaissance armored car.

The collection also includes a 1944 Willys Jeep pack. For tanks, continue to German WW2 tank reference and US WW2 vehicle reference.

Concrete on the coast

Fortifications are hard to photograph well, because most are dark, buried or closed. Three packs show WW2-era defenses from the Pacific side of the war:

• WWII Concrete Fortification: 137 photos of a gun battery on the Australian coast near Melbourne. It was not used after WW2, was buried in sand and has only recently been dug out.
• Fort Sentosa: 233 photos of a 19th-century fort in Singapore that was upgraded for WW2 and later captured by Japanese forces.
• Colonial Spanish Round Bastion Fort Ruins: 185 photos of a 16th-century fort in Manila that was used again as a fortress in WW2 and is now a ruin.

At sea and in dry dock

Two Australian ships give you WW2 naval interiors in depth. The WWII Warship pack shows a corvette in 438 photos: engine room, boiler room, officers' and sailors' quarters, guns and torpedoes. The WWII Navy Frigate in Dry Dock adds 680 photos of a frigate's exterior and interior, plus the dry dock around it. The dry dock view shows the full hull below the waterline, which you almost never see. More ships are on our warship and submarine page.

Frequently asked questions

Are the vehicles in wartime condition?

They are preserved museum and collection vehicles, photographed as they stand today. Paint, markings and some fittings may come from later restoration. Use the packs for shape, construction and wear, and check period photos when you need an exact wartime color scheme.

Can I use the re-enactment photos in a commercial game?

You can use them as reference for your own artwork, and that artwork is yours to sell. The pack is Editorial, so the photos themselves cannot be placed in advertising, promotion or products for resale.

I make WW2 wargaming terrain. Which packs help most?

The coastal fortification packs show concrete gun positions after decades of sand, salt and weather, which is useful for bunkers and gun positions on the table. Our WW2 wargaming reference page collects more packs for terrain builders and army painters.

Can I model these vehicles in 3D from the photos?

Yes. Each vehicle pack is a walkaround from many angles, which is what a modeler needs, and the license lets you create your own 3D models and textures from the photos for your projects. You cannot resell the photos or the packs themselves.