The Three Amigos...

I picked up these little beauties from Merlyn's in Spokane last weekend, the IS3 heavy tank platoon by BattleFront. Very good sculpts, and the resin suspensions were a new twist.  Very clean and crisp casting, loads better than the standard metal ones. I daresay even better than the new line of plastic parts BattleFront has been producing lately.

The "Three Amigos"

As pleased as I am with the suspension sculpts, I am a little worried about wear and tear. One good drop and they will surely shatter.

One concern was the fit of the suspensions to the hull. The castings didn't seem to really fit well, and a few seemed slightly warped. Now, if you are a long time BF collector, this isn't rare, or a big deal. Yo simply bend and twist the metal parts back into shape. Sadly you can't do that with resin and one has to make things work as best they can.  With some filing and trimming I got the tracks to fit, and they look fine from "a players view", but if you turn them over there are massive gaps between the hull and tracks, making any glue bond kinda suspect.  I poured as much superglue as a I dared into the gaps and honestly I don't really anticipate a problem.

The painting was fairly straightforward. I prime/based with the Krylon "camo green" spray paint.  Its an outstanding primer in an of itself, and I think a pretty good match for US brown-violet. For Allied vehicles the Krylon save several steps. Over that I did a heavy dry-brush with a lightened Tamiya olive-green, blackwash with oils (very heavy on the back-deck grates), a little rust effects on the spare track and exhaust, and a VEEEEEEEERY light dusting of stone tan. I used the decals from the PAVN T-34M box set, "distressing" them with a sponge daubing of Tamiya olive-green, and a little rust.  The Soviet red star is hand painted.

My intent is to be ready for any sort of "what-if in 1946" sort of game opportunities. If not, my local group is reasonable about proxies and will make an awesome IS2 platoon.


Comments welcome!

Short, Martin, and Chase

Not that it took me three attempts or anything...

Here I present for your scrutiny and entertainment, my IL2 Shurmovik.  All resin, 1:144 scale made by Battlefront mainly for use in their Flames of War system.

This camo pattern is pretty much stock, as presented by "those who know", the standard brown-green tigerstripe pattern.  It's all I've ever seen, and it is very easy to just rely on this standard scheme.  I've tried, my first few attempts at painting this aircraft were really dismal, unimaginative attempts at mimicking this stock scheme.  However, as we all should know, if one takes the time to do some basic research some really neat things happen.

Google led me to a subsection of "Soviet Warplanes.com" 

http://mig3.sovietwarplanes.com/il-2/il-2.htm

where I found a completely gnarly webpage on not only the sturmovik in all its evolutions, but also the regulation camo schemes, color, and patterns as the war progressed.  The schemes are even broke down by factory and unit in some instances.  If you have ay shine at all about the IL2, you REEEEEAAAALLY need to visit this site. You won't be disappointed.

At any rate, I tried to match the make of Sturmovik modeled by Battlefront to the earliest example, and I matched the model as the IL2M.

 



Now this looks nothing like that old, boring, plaid-out model-box camo scheme... so I went to work.

So here we are, "white 22". I based the paint scheme on the the Kuybyshev factory camo standard, after August 1943.  I added the red nose and wingtips.  Call it a weakness. I also wanted the opportunity to experiment with oil weathering, and practice my panel line inking.


to be cont...

Soviet KV-1s heavy tank company...

Even though it came as quite a shock to German forces as they invaded the Soviet Union, the Soviets were never completely happy with the KV design.

Soviet KV-1 with the later cast turret

 

There were many problems as the Soviet mechanized forces deployed to meet the Germans head on, but lack of effective maintenance, lacks of spares and POL, ammunition shortages, poor training, and mechanical failures (particularly involving the steering clutches) led to high loss rates among the KV fleet in the first few month of the war on the Eastern Front.

 

KV-1 E with applique armor plates bolted on to counter expected German AT improvements.

 

 

By the summer of 1942, the STAVKA were thoroughly disillusioned on the design, meant to give heavy support to light and medium tank companies, the KV couldn't keep up with Soviet tank columns and were often too little, to late.  Part of the problem was that too much was added to the tank in terms of armor protection and technical improvements without any upgrade in the power pack.  This resulted in a slow, sluggish tank with a greater than expected logistics tail.

 

 

All KV-1 were pulled out of tank regiments and formed their own separate regiments and brigades to directly support infantry.  Also, the design bureaus delivered the KV-1 S ("speedy") with a smaller cast turret, and armor protection levels along the original specifications.  It was a more vulnerable vehicle, but it made up for it in mobility.

 

 

Here I have a company of 15mm KV-1 s heavy tanks, by Battlefront.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I prefer dry transfers to water-slide decals, and that is what I used for the turret numbers.  No unit in mind, just a generic system.  I used the sponge technique to weather the numbers, giving them a worn and chipped look. 

 

An interesting quirk I found  is that even though the commander is no longer the loader, and is positioned on the left side of the gun behind the gunner, his observation cupola has no hatch!  the only exit is through the loader's station, unbelievable!!

 











US Army "Modern" fireteam...

I wanted to take up the challenge of doing modern US Army troops, in what was at the time the field uniform, in UCP camoflague.  Between the color scheme at scale, and the dot patterns, it was a GREAT challenge, having to paint and strip several times before I arrived with a technique that yielded the results I wanted.  For your amusement...

The scheme is a basic light gray, with light green/gray and "Feldgrau" blotches mostly oriented in a horizontal plane.  I washed the helmets, crotch plates, body armor, elbows and knees in brown to mimic the dirt and grime, and how some uniform bits may be washed more often than others.

Now, just when I thought I had accomplished something, now the Army comes up with "unicam"... and I gotta start all over again.

I intend to use these for the new Force on Force modern skirmish rules.  I'm going 20mm, and it should be awesome!!

A little help for my... comerades!

 For your amusement, my first support unit, a company of 120MM mortars ready to lob hot steel onto the heads of the Hitlerite invaders!  In Flames of War terms, 130 points for 6 tubes (Red Bear), + 20 points for observers and trucks.  AT 3, FP 3+, range: 56". 

 I've decided to dig the battery in, making for a more interesting visual. The process wasn't hard, build the timber frame and pile up the gravel in front of it layer by layer.

 

   
The gun crews I patterned on the early-mid war
uniforms, using Polly S dust as a base, highlighted with Polly-S mud.  Fielding a Soviet army on a budget, these will work for early and mid-war armies, and will pass for later-war as well.  The mortar tubes were primed in Krylon camo-green, black-washed with painters oils, then highlighted with German panzer olive.

 For the timber-cribbing I used stir-sticks from a local coffee shop.  I split them width-wise into three, and tore them into the lengths I needed.  After super-gluing them into place, I coated them with a GW wood brown, then black-washed them in the joints, recesses, and seams to give it a more aged look.

I'm still not quite satisfied with the soil effects, and will be experimenting with finer grain materials, colors, etc.  Still, they should catch a few eyes on the table.

I look forward to ranging in with them, and putting some poor infantry platoon out of my misery!

PSC T-34/85's Finally Completed...

Finally!! I got there little monsters to where I want them, and am comfortable putting them on a gaming table.  I'm kind of a nerd about that, and get really self conscious about putting sub-standard lead, or plastic as the case may be, on the table.  This last tournament I entered was a real nightmare for me, as much of the force I fielded was little more than base-coated.  There was little I could do, if I wanted to play at all, and had to swallow my pride.  When my friend Scott MacPhee wasn't able to show, I really wasn't that put-out.  I would have been embarrassed and spent too much time making excuses, etc.


What I have for you today is a unit of Soviet T-34/85's, made by Plastic Soldier Company, painted in generic, oversized markings.  I base-coated the plastic in Krylon "ultra-flat camoflague green" spray primer.  The looked good but came off a bit too "olive" for Soviet equipment, so I applied a tint of Tamiya olive green to bring the base more in the direction of what Soviet armor generally looked like.  Next I applied numerous oil washes with red-brown and black, in separate coats and in combination, to provide shading and weathering effects.  The rear deck, and the vents received the lion's share of this treatment. Next came highlighting using Polly-S Panzer Olive green.  I just didn't feel comfortable going any lighter.

No historical marking schemes seemed to attract my attention, so I decided to do oversize markings and use what I had left over from my IL-2 box set.  I used the wing stars and fuselage numbers, in a single digit scheme, creating a generic Soviet unit, but giving the appearance of some sort of regulation or order. I had to "wing it" a little, as the decal sheet didn't have the "1" or "6" numberals, so a chopped "4" and a frankenstein combination of a "2" and an upside-down "5" did just nicely.  I shied away from the various coats of glosscoat, dullcoat, et al and just stuck with decal set.  What silvering did crop up I painted over with Tamiya Olive Green. Not perfect, but I think I can get some sweet results with more practice. All in all this decal experience was far better that past bunglings.

My overall painting style is what I call "Rabid Monkey" style, where models are liberally highlighted, but not also severely contrasted, and with some modest weathering thrown in.  The rear deck of tanks are a dirty, "diesely", oily area, and I wanted to reflect that.  I also wanted to distress the turret markings somewhat, so they aren't pristine and visually distracting.  I used the sponging technique, and I think I got really lucky!  The numbers, I think, have a great effect, and am happy with the results.

All I need to do now is repeat my luck with the 5 (6 including the Dedov model)  /42 turrets for mid-war units.  I've got 1/72 dry transfers coming soon so I'll keep y'all posted on that progress.

Battelfront and PSC T-34/85 side by side photos...

I'm gearing up for my first Flames of War tournament on the 10th, and am planning to bring a Guards (Red Army) Tankovy Battalion into the fight.  That being said, I needed a lot of T-34's in a hurry, and on a budget.  PSC seemed to be the way to go.  At $25 for a box of 5, vs a blister of 1 tank for $15 or a boxed set of 5 for $60... we all can do the math.

Assembly wasn't bad, but the track can be a bit fiddly, and I tried many different methods of getting that track on without too much trouble or the gaps that everyone seems to be getting.  I think I solved the problem to about 80%, by gluing the tracks on prior to installing them on the running gear.  It takes the patience to allow the glue to fully dry and cure, with a combination of "super" glue, and proper plastic cement.

Painting was easy, the PSC had good clean lines, but had little detail.  BF had less rear-deck detail, but more storage and clutter to catch highlight colors.  Still, I think they both turned out fine.  I used Krylon "Camoflague" green spray paint.  It's a primer, geared for plastics, and is WELL worth the expense.  It sprays very smooth, covers fantastically, and in this case comes out looking most like the US Olive Drab spray paint put out by BF.  I used that as my darker base, and higlighted liberally with Polly-S "Panzer Olive Green".  Two black oil washes for depth, and a brown wash for weathering, and here we are.

I still have some work to do, with one track still needing to finish assembly and basecoat/priming, the rest need attention to the track and tow cables.  I'm debating whether or not to add dust effects, or just keep them clean.

The Dedov model I'm using for my battalion command track, the rest I'm using for the line companies.  Right now, for the tourney I'll have to sub some Shermans, but another box or two of PSC tanks and that problem will be solved.  Wish me luck!

ASL to FoW Conversion Project... Episode 1 "Prelude to Luttich"

I had a wild idea a some time ago about taking Advanced Squad Leader scenarios and converting them to Flames of War.  Historical scenarios with FoW are something, I feel, that can be greatly expanded upon, as a taste of "something different", and a way to better embrace the historical nature of a table-top miniatures wargame.

For starters, I found a campaign of historical scenarios authored by Pete Pollard.  The campaign tackles the foiled German counter-offensive at Mortain.  Several panzer divisions, including SS units, faced off against (primarily) the US 30th Infantry division.

Here is the first installment, "Prelude to Luttich"...

"Near LaFantay, France, 6 August, 1944:  In the waning light of an early August day, lead elements of the 2nd Panzer division made contact with the US 30th Infantry division in positions located north of Mortain.  A handful of Panthers, supported by infantry, advanced on the northern units of the 117th Infantry regiment.  The Americans had set up a roadblock north of St. Barthelmy with a few squads and two 57mm AT guns."

Duration:  6 turns

Setup:  US player sets up first, using the following rules  reserves, ambush, kampfgruppe.
           
German player hold units OFF BOARD and enters from east board edge on turn one.

Victory Conditions:  To win, the German player must destroy both AT guns AND exit 9 infantry teams off the west board edge.  The US player wins by avoiding the German VC.

Forces:

US-  Elements of the 117th Infantry rgt, B company set up anywhere within 30inches of western board edge. All infantry and man-packed gun teams begin dug-in and gone to ground.

1 Inf'y command team (CO)
1 Inf'y platoon (3 RFL squads + bazooka team)
1 Inf'y platoon (3 RFL squads + bazooka team)
1 HMG team to be attached as needed
1 Artillery Oberver team (indep)
2 "Roadblock" markers
Off board:

1 Field Artillery Battery 6x 105mm guns (does not enter the board)

In Reserve:

1 Inf'y Platoon (3x RFL squads + bazooka team)
1 HMG team attached ton Inf'y platoon

In Ambush:

1 AT gun platoon (2x 57mm guns + Platoon cmd team)
company 2iC command team


German- Elements of German 2nd Panzer division & 3rd Recon Bn enter board anywhere along eastern edge.  All vehicles are limited to 1/2 movement for turn one.

2 PzGrn Cmd teams (Co and 2iC)
1 PzGrn Platoon (3x MG squads + PzFaust cmd team)
1 PzGrn Platoon (3x MG squads + PzFaust cmd team)
1 Kfz 231 8-rad armored car
1 Pz V "Panther" cmd tank

In Reserve:

1 PzGrn Platoon (3x MG squads + PzFaust cmd team)
2 Pz V "Panther" tanks


Scenario Special Rules:

Reserves-  Both the US and German player can roll for reserves beginning on turn 3.  US player can accumulate reserve dice beginning on turn 1 so, by turn 3, the US player should roll 3 dice for reserves.  US reserves enter from west board edge.  German player begins accumulating reserve dice on turn 2, so by turn 3 German player should roll 2 reserve dice.  German reserves enter from east board edge.

US AT gun platoon enters the game together as 2 seperate "platoons", the original with platoon cmd team and 1 gun, the second "kampfgrupped" with the company 21C and 1 gun. US gun teams begin dug in.

Map:  (3' x 5', click to see full size...)

Fairly simple, dirt roads, wheat fields, trees and bocage.  It is August and nearing the harvest so the wheat fields should be rather tall.  The large brown mass in the NE corner is a hill.

Aftermath:  "The 57mm guns fired 15 rounds at the lead advancing tanks.  Not surprisingly, none of the shells penetrated the Panther's frontal armor.  The lead tank's shot on the roadblock killed two men and destroyed one of the AT guns.  The remaining Americans withdrew, but were quickly re-enforced with more squads and artillery support.  The Germans faded into the woods as darkness enveloped the field of battle."


This one is going to be tough, the Germans outweigh the Americans in points by about 2 to 1 (using FE).  Good luck and enjoy!!

Flames of War "Basecoat in a Can" review...

As I'm slowly plugging along with my 12thSS Panzer Division FoW army, the time has come to add tank support.  What better support can an "HJ" grenadier ask for than from his brothers in 12th SS Panzer Regiment?  The best of these are Panthers...   so I gotta get busy!

I saw that BattleFront has released spraypaint specifically formulated for WW2 tank color schemes based on nationality.  The Germans, for most of the war (or the latter half at least), base-painted their armor using variations of a yellow-ochre, commonly referred to as "Panzer Yellow".  Now, unless you were lucky enough to own an airbrush, along with its accrutrements, along with the space, & skill to use it... you were left, in essence, "slathering" panzer yellow all over your miniature... with various results.

For all those who have done it, brush-basing your armor minis is a time consuming, torturous process.  One must somehow reconcile painting speed and coverage, all the while taking pains not to obliterate the fine detail of your mini.  BattleFront's spray makes the promise to not only improve paint speed and coverage, but also do this in an (argueably) historically accurate color.  This, for me anyway, has been a challenge... so when I became aware of this product, I was very interested in giving it a go.

Here we have what will become Max Wunsche's regimental befehlspanther, based upon the Ernst Barkmann boxed set by BattleFront.  I used a light-gray spray primer (as opposed to dark gray or black) with the idea to get as much "pop" in the yellow basecoat.  It was suggested that I mask the vehicle commander as the basecoat can get a little thick.  It does come out a bit thicker than a primer, and one must understand that these paints are not primers in themselves.  It is very recommended that you do prime your mini before applying the basecoat.

Immediately you see that its best to use many light, "gentle" passes with the paint to get best coverage, and to not ruin fine details like the zimmerit paste, nuts & bolts, handles, etc.  Overall I feel it did a fine job with the primed mini, the color looks good, and little to no detail has been lost.  Grade A.

Here we have what will be Panther "136" commanded by Scharfuhrer Hohnecker (kia).  This is a different story, as this mini was already primed and basecoated, and had camoflage (red brown and olive green) applied... but it didn't really "pop", so the plan was to strip the mini in PineSol and try again.  However, as we all know, the superglue that tends to hold these minis together also dissolved and one needs to re-apply all the bits and pieces.  Again, time consuming and irritating.  I'm a sucker for stowage, being a former tanker myself, and enjoy seeing the motley character of each vehicle.  Simply, I didn't want to do it again becuase I like how it is now.  I decided to experiment and see if the BattleFront basecoat can re-habilitate this mini.  As we can see, it does a fair job, some detail is lost but then again it is its third coat of paint, but quite acceptable.  The older paint is well covered, and I'm ready to bring this mini back to life.  Grade: B+

Lastly, I was curious as to how this basecoating would look on minis primed in black.  This schwimmwagen was primed and ready to go.  The coverage is decent, and although it wasn't deliberate, there seems to be a consistent "shadowing" in the recessed areas.  I may have been a little more conservative in the application of basecoat, but I do think I can do good work with this mini as it stands.  Grade: A

There you have it, a positive review of BattleFront's "basecoat in a can"... for 'Panzer Yellow' at least.  This is probably the most difficult base-color to work with (as opposed to various greens eh?), but I seem to have gotten good results.  Be gentle and patient, it doesn't work miracles after a heavy hand, but it should do the trick for you.  It had better, the stuff retails for about $12 a can!  So far I can say its worth it, I primed and based a platoon of 5 panthers (these and three others) in less that 20 minutes. 

Stay tuned for the finished products!!

-aus

15MM Peter Pig CSA Officer "Brave Colonel"...

I was planning to present my first completed Confederate regiment based for the Regimental Fire and Fury system.  I was planning it anyway, until my 4 year old son (yes, he who is pictured a few posts back) decided to "help" me by improving the flesh highlight, by painting ALL THIRTY+ FIGURES IN MASS GLOPPY GOBS OF GDW "ELVEN FLESH"!!!  I was devastated, but did recognize the opportunity.  It had been years since I had painted ACW figures, and it took a few tries to bring them "to speed", but now I consider myself "warmed up". 

Needless to say the stands were ruined... but not destroyed, and they now sit in a small vat of Pine Sol, awaiting rehabilitation.  What is a painter to do but start over?  So, here now is my first offering, a "brave Colonel" marker from the Confederate ranks.

The figure is a 15mm Peter Pig, and though some of their WW2 line scares me, I have been most impressed with their ACW offerings.  Being an Old Glory convert, I do wish the poses were more diverse, but the robustness of the castings and the overall quality can not be over stated.  Simply put, there is no "unusable figures, and the flash is at a minimum.

Personally, I enjoy the pose, reflecting the natural aggressivness of the Confederate officer... or at least that as passed forth by myth. 

I look forward to placing this marker on the field against MacPhee's "damned yankees"... and sweeping them from the field.

New Focus, New System, New Product...

Well, the boys at Flashpoint seem to be on vacation, hiatus, or whatever, and the activity there has been minmal.  Rumor has it there has been a major injury to one of the staff, and production problems in some lines they are about to release.  I understand priorities, but you can't make a gamer wait indefinately... which is about what things have devolved to there at FP.

Soooo, I've gone back to the beginning, a noteworthy phrase if you are a fan of "The Princess Bride", back to the American Civil War.  This is the era I began with, and painted my first 15mm miniatures for tabletop wargaming.  I look back I can remember just how bad I sucked back then... real gawd-awful stuff initially.  Yet, as I look back I can remember soaking up everything I learned, everything I saw, everything I heard from those who were established painters and helped me.  I learned and got ideas from those who also were exploring the hobby alongside me.  I remember how each session seemed a little better than the last.  Each stand of figures were just a little bit better than the last... until I finally could field an army I was proud of and perhaps was a little better than those of my peers. 

That was 15 years ago.  I've long sold my 15mm ACW army (2 divisions of Rebels, 1 of Federals, based for Fire and Fury Brigade Series), and I'm finding myself rebuilding my Confederate forces from scratch, one lonely infantryman at a time.  I'm lucky in that I do have some Old Glory 15mm to get things 'moving' again, but I'm finding that the quality of figures just isn't as I remember them.  This could be because I have only the pack-dregs and used all the good castings years ago... or maybe they weren't that good to begin with.

I've always like Old Glory ACW figs, mainly for their diversity, and the dynamicism of their castings.  Units of Old Glory were ALIVE!!, and not all necessarily at 'right-shoulder-shift'.  There was that "curse" though, that 10-15% of figures that were mostly unusable due to casting errors.  Sometimes one could take the figure with the "blobbed" head and making him a walking wounded inf'yman... sometimes the miscasting was just too much to repair.  There ALWAYS seemed to be siginificant wastage, there ALWAYS seemed to be challenging flash and mold issues, and ALWAYS massive amounts of pewter crap to be carved off the bottoms of the bases.  I guess that was the price one paid for reasonably miniatures that appeared on a battlefield instead of the drill field.  This isn't the case anymore.  The days of the 100-man bags are long gone, and 10-15% wastage for 50 men is unacceptable.  Enter Peter Pig.

I know, I know... "my god look at those faces!!!"  Yes sometimes the "Oinker" has some outrageous face sculpts, but I've really only seen the worst examples in his WW2 line.  This always has been a stumbling point with me, I'll admit it, but when the metal meets the meat, I've been impressed.   I've ordered some of his Vietnam line, and have been quite impressed.  The sculpts are crisp, clean, and mostly flash-free.  I haven't seen a "face" issue (where the figure's chin rests on his clavicle), and that prospect really doesn't concern me now.  I am less pleased with the relative lack of variant sculpts (2-3 variants per pose) when compared to the dozen or so sculpts-per-pose with Old Glory, but this is where the painter can make them different with some planning and minimal execution.

With that said I've ordered my first battalion of Confederate Inf'y, and am painting them as fast as I can.  Hopefully within the next week or so I can post some of the results.  I look forward to them pushing 15mm "Billy Yanks" all round the field.

Till next time...

New Mainforce VC, the 2nd platoon...

After a busy summer, meaning too much "real life" to allow much quality painting time, I finally got to my workbench to crank out more MainForce VC to bedevil my friend Ken's tabletop US Marines.

My painting situation is unique, I use my breaks at work to paint... leaving me 15 minutes a pop, 1/2 hour daily to work on my figs.  Not easy, but it helps to refine a painter's organization.  Take only what you need, get started quickly, pack up quickly.  The real challenge is not what and how to paint, but where to find the best light.

What I've done is prepped the figs by pose, and started with the first half  (20 figs or so) and painted them up.  It took about a week, but I think the results are decent enough.  Here we have the command group figs, some squad leaders, and a few riflemen.

My first platoon, in keeping with conventional stereotypes, were black-pajama based, and I've since learned that this was generally not the case.  Most MfVC personnel came more and more from PAVN troops as the war progressed, I wanted to reflect those uniform trends more accurately.

I wanted to "uniform" the figs mostly in the green field uniform, but with a smattering of the older issue khaki PAVN uniforms, and some black PJ's.  (I guess you can't defy convention completely) 

I've recently stepped away from using metalllics for gunmetal, opting instead for grays.  I thing the contrast works better, and isn't quite so gaudy.  I'll save the metallics for the bayonets when I eventually get back to ACW figures and gaming.

I guess the "cartoony" style of painting is becoming all the rage, and I must admit that at the 15mm level it works well... at a distance.  I do love the look from the table, but close up the results are less impressive in my opinon.  What I've decided upon is a less intense "cartoon" style, drybrushing the uniforms, and using higher contrast methods on the skin, weapons, & equipment. 

I gotta redo the face on this Platoon Leader fig... but here you can see the drybrushed uniform style.

Another example with the green fatigue shirt, black slouch hat and pants.  To highlight the black, I've taken to the inspiration of DC comics. I remember as a boy that the Batman always had his cape based black and highlighted in a dark blue. I've used that inspiration and am using a very dark sea gray as the highlight color for the black pajama uniform areas.

Here we see the higher contrast "cartoon" style with the face and weapon.

Imagine "impressionist" art style as presented on a 15mm canvas.  One really only needs to give the impression of figure detail at a normal gaming distance.  From a 3-foot range the high-contrast method can be striking, close in... not so much.  For some reason the words "circus clown" comes to mind.

Here we have a squad/cell leader.  After being a slow convert, I favor this new style for 15mm gaming figures.  The "cartoon" method, I feel, is most effective on figures (not vehicles & such) and yields the greatest amount of depth and visual contrast for the scale at "standard" viewing distances.  That being said, for larger scales, 25mm plus, I doubt that this method would be as effective.  I have my eye on 28mm modern US infantry from Empress Minis... perhaps I'll have to put this theory to the test.

So there you have it, the first batch of the 2nd Platoon.  My intent is to finish the figures and then mass-base in a rice paddy environment. 

Update on battlefront Hueys, trials and solutions...

As y'all may remember, I received a three-pack of Battlefront Huey "slick" helicopters, which I still consider absolutely the best available.  I've been working off and on getting the slick ready for the table, and ready to present to you fine people.  Alas, it has been put on the back burner as I rush to finish my MainForce VC platoons.  Since the VC did little with Hueys other than shoot at them, the impetus has lessened a bit.  Add to this, my four year old son is infatuated with my helicopters and in his enthusiasm snapped-off the tail rotor blades.  It's fixable, but just another in a series of delays.  AND, I've just found a possible solution to the problem of the upper, green "sun-roof" windows above the pilots.  More on that later.

Stay tuned.... I hear that "snap-snap-snap" of Huey blades at low power as they power-down to make a landing at "LZ Tigertanker".

-out

VietCong sniper marker...

I've been working on these puppies off and on since they arrived in the mail... and every time I handle them (especially the snipers, seen here), I can't wait to use them!  Here we have two VietCong insurgents "popping up" out of a well camoflagued "spider hole" and engaging presumably "enemies of the Revolution".

Pretty simple and "straight-up" painting techniques.  I like the good base/highlight contrast on the palm leaves, I may decide to add highlight colors to the uniforms. 

Flashpoint Miniatures USMC Fireteam 1968...

Sorry for the delay folks, again, real life has this nasty propensity to intrude on our beloved hobby. Before I showcased a US Marine trooper in Vietnam, circa 1968 or so, as a test base for both Negro skin tones and Vietnam-era uniform painting in general. Here are the aggregate results...


I painted these up for my friend Ken, also as a cheap test bed for what I wanted to accomplish when I buy my 1st Cavalry Division company. For the uniform base I used Tamiya "Olive Green", with a "US Medium Tac Green" by PollyScale. I found this a darker contrast against the helmet cover, and the equipment pouches (canteens, ammo, etc).

For the pouches and such I used "US Olive Drab" highlighted by Panzer Olive Green, both by PollyScale. For the weapons, although I am less satified by the sculpt of the gun stocks, the front sight-posts look good, as does everything else that suggests that these men are carrying an M-16... except for the guy with the M-14. Stocks were straight-up "Chaos Black", the gunmetal was "US Sea Gray", highlighted by "British Sea Grey" (PollyS).

I kept the "Graveyard Earth" (GW) flak jackets highlighted by "US Olive Drab" (PollyS). I still haven't gathered the courage to highlight Negro flesh... I'd just hate to ruin the figure with a bad color choice.

All in all I think the Flashpoint figures are superior in most respects, and are the best 15mm Vietnam range you will find at this time. Some work could be done to improve gunstocks, but they are far better, IMHO, than what Battlefront has to offer in this range.

Such adoo about NEGRO FLESH!!!

When I first posted the question... the legitimate question of just best to paint the flesh of, I guess technically, an African-American, I was overwhelmed at first of the petty PC bullpocky that came as a response from several individuals on a certain New Zealand figures forum we all know and love. Needless to say I was a bit pissed about the reaction. One would've thought I'd used the "other N-word". Let's just say there were a few too many assumptions about my intentions and a bit too much grandstanding in a forum.

Anyway... what I have for you today is a test subject for an upcoming project. Flashpoint Miniatures USMC rifleman in "15mm". I am painting a Corps fireteam as a mutual favor for my friend Ken, and I get a chance to test color schemes on someone else's figs. Brilliant wouldn't you say?
Here we see the back end of a Marine rifleman in flak vest and m16, about to throw a hand grenade at some target to his front. As a uniform base color I used PollyScale "US medium tactical green", and "German panzer olive green" as uniform highlight. This photo is a bit dark and the following pix may do a better job illustrating the two colors. The REAL challenge, I thought, would be the best way to paint the flak vest. Neatly every period photograph of Vietnam marines that stupid vest appears as a dirty brown about 99% of the time. I tried to replicate this by basing the vest in Citadel "graveyard earth", with a highlight on the raised areas of PollyS "olive drab". I think that the effect really works well, as the olive really does much to mute the brown.

Here is a front view, with the m16 in focus. On the recievers, front sight, and barrel I used PollyS "US sea blue" with a highlight of "British sea grey". The stocks were Citadel "chaos black". The helmet is turning out to be a greater challenge than first realised. I used PollyS "camo green" for the cover, which is quite a bit lighter/brighter than my uniform colors. Followed by blotches of "graveyard earth" and Tamiya "olive green". I next gave the helmet a wash of the "camo green" to help mute the additional colors. This effect is a work in progress.

The web-gear is "panzer olive green" and the boots are "olive drab". There is much still to finish, but I wanted to show my progress as of yet.

Now for the gorilla in the room, the flesh tone. I used Citadel "scorched earth" as a base, I have yet to choose a highlight. I am a bit anxious to try, I'm almost satified with leaving the flesh unhighlighted, the "scorched earth" doing such a great job as a base. However, I do want the face and hands to "pop", so stay tuned.

I don't forsee making these troops "dirty" with too much weathering, although I may experiement with wet trousers at some point.

Love some feedback.

-out