Happy Christmas Peter
Yes indeed! We used a lot of model railroad scenics on the old sand table, including LifeLike grass to complete the setting. Tops from spray cans and the plastic covers of MiniTanks could be used to make excellent bunkers, the guns from scrapped miniatures such as the M10/M36 or artillery pieces. Cottage cheese carton tops were used to cut pieces from to make welded armor plate additions to M4s, while sandbags of auto body putty and track pieces cut off scrap AVFs added to the extra armor. I had several M36B1 I converted using M4 hulls and M36 turrets, and several of my M8s has nylon stocking "wire mesh" over their open turrets.
My favorite conversion, though, was my Duke of Brunswick command figure for Napoleonic miniatures. I used a Scruby "Mounted Prussian Officer" figure, painted it up in black, gave him a chest full of medals and a monacle, then added a piece of Airfix plastic sprue to his raised hand, As it was pinkish-brown, and I painted a yellow band around it, the appearance was like that of a giant Oscar Meyet braunschweiger sausage. When he advanced ahead of the Brunswisk troops I played the Oscar Meyer "ta-da-de-da" on a little plastic "weenie whistle"--those being given out as promotion back in the 60s.
Oddly enough, the "serious" Napoleonics buffs found that offensive
Yuletide best wishes,
Gary