From KevinH - Lt. Winters and more Bolt Action US Airborne (28mm) - 60 pts

I've been participating in the 2015 Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.  This was my entry for January 14, 2015.

For today's post, let's continue the "US Airborne" theme...

First off, the Limited Edition "Lt. Winters" figure.  I really liked this figure!  I have to look into this, but I think Warlord commissioned Paul Hicks to sculpt this figure, and it just looks awesome.  It's not quite so easy to see from my pics, but "in person," it looks to me as if the face even looks a bit like Damien Lewis from the "Band of Brothers" series!

My only gripe about this figure is the "dog tags."  They were cast in metal, and that makes for a very HEAVY figure!  I wish they had cast the dog tags in resin, to cut down the weight.  I might have to pick up another of these models, so I can do one on a "groundwork" base, to match my other figures.

Next up, Lt. Winters gets a Radio Operator, to keep in touch with Command.  I had to replace the barrel on the Carbine, as it was about ready to break off anyway.  A bit of fine brass wire, and a bit of Super Glue to mock up a muzzle, and we're done.  Also added a nylon paint brush bristle for the radio antenna!

This round, sees the addition of a 60mm Mortar team for the Airborne force.  I'm not really a fan of modelling a group like this on separate bases, but some rules require this sort of thing, so there you go.  And this way, I can always use the guy with the binoculars as an Artillery Forward Observer (watch this space for further developments on that idea!)

Carrying on, we have two Sergeants with Thompson SMG's.  I don't think this line has one, but a running figure with a Thompson would have been nice, to model Lt. Spears from "Band of Brothers!"

 I also completed a few more Riflemen models to start fleshing out this force.  Here are two kneeling models.

 And here are three standing models.  I really like the running figure in this group - a really nice 'dynamic' pose, and and the animation of the posture is spot on.

And just to recap, here's a "group shot" for this round - 12 models for a grand total of 60 pts. 

And last up, a shot of my Airborne force so far.  A Lieutenant with two Riflemen; a Bazooka team; a 60mm Mortar team; two seven man Rifle squads, with one squad including a Medium Machine Gun team; and an M4A3 Sherman tank.  I think I might just have enough to start playing modest games of Bolt Action!


Thanks for looking!

1/56 WWII US M4A3 Sherman

Analog Painting Challenge - 1/56 WWII US M4A3 Sherman (18 Points)

Another post from the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge! This time around, I decided those US Airborne figures needed some Armoured support!


I've painted an M4A3 Sherman, in 1/56 scale - by Warlord Games, from their Bolt Action line. I'd bought three of these kits from a Canadian seller, who was getting out of 28mm figures, and concentrating on 1/72 scale products. It wasn't until the Challenge, that I'd sat down to look at the kits. Turns out, two of the kits have casting/missing bits problems I have to contact Warlord about, but they're very good about putting these sorts of problems right, so I have no worries about that.

I still used the portable photo booth for these pics, but I took out the fluorescent "twirly" bulbs, and put in good, old incandescent bulbs! Switched my camera back to the previous settings, and those pics look much better. I still need more "fill" light from the front, but learning the ways of the photo booth takes some time too...

The model was pretty straight-forward to assemble. I put most of the components together, and then, being as it's a resin kit, gave it a scrub with dish soap (washing up liquid, for
our friends across the pond!), and left the elements to dry overnight.

Unlike most people's complaints about resin models, the "track" pieces on this kit were straight enough, that I had no problems with assembly. There's a good number of "fiddly bits" though! The Headlight assemblies on the front of the tank almost drove me to have a "Roman Shield Decal" moment, a la Curt! I soldiered on though, and finally got all the little bits sorted (my big, old "meat hook" fingers don't work so well with "fiddly bits" any more...)

I drilled out the Antenna mount, and used a bristle from a cheap, Dollar Store (Pound Store?) nylon paint brush. They work really well! --and one 3" brush will give you virtually a lifetime of antennas and radio aerials! I've used them previously, on my Flames of War Canadians, and they look great! Just a dab of superglue and you're done - they're nice and bendy, so no need to worry about breaking like stretched sprue, and no impaling your hands like with metal wire antennas.


I did have one rather significant problem with these kits though. I think Warlord has since changed the policy, but these kits did not come with any decals! (Arg!) Fortunately, I was able to do a "work-around!" I printed out some 8mm and 9mm Stars at work (I do Graphic Arts, so this was easy enough to whip up). When I got home, I put clear tape on the front and back of the Star images (for strength and stability), and proceeded to cut out the insides of the images and make my own stencils!


I don't think I'm going to do this for the other kits, but it did turn out OK. I had to go in with a thin brush, and clean up the lines a bit just to "neat" things up. I don't know if this counts for "Extra Credit" or not Curt - what do you think? --an extra 5 pts maybe? Your call, of course. (Curt was nice enough to give me 3 extra points for the stencil work!)

And just to close off my post, a "scale" shot with the Airborne Bazooka team from my last post. In this shot, the figures don't look too bad against a 1/56 scale tank. Personally though, I think I'd rather 1/48 scale was the more "de facto" size for use with 28mm models. These 1/56 scale models do look just a little small compared to the figures. The Sherman here, almost looks like some odd, "Stuart" variant next to this Airborne team!


Thanks for looking!

Analog Painting Challenge - 28mm WWII US Paratroopers (30 Points)

Analog Painting Challenge - 28mm WWII US Paratroopers (30 Points)

Once again, I'm participating in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.

The Challenge isn't a "challenge" in the normal sense, that is, you aren't really competing against the other participants.  Rather, you're competing against yourself.  You set a points total you want to aim for over the course of the Challenge, and then try and paint enough models to reach your total!

This entry is worth 30 points in the Challenge scoring (5 pts per 28mm figure).

I picked up a portable "photo booth" last year.  Unfortunately, it came with the new "twirly" bulbs, and they've made my pics look pretty crap - even with some Photoshop tweaking.  I'm a bit sad about this...  I think I will go back to my old method of snapping pics.  I've still got regular bulbs, so I might try swapping out the "twirly" bulbs for regulars in the booth...

So - my first post (outside of the Fortnight "Theme" post the other day), will be for some Bolt Action/Warlord "US Airborne" models, in 28mm.  I painted five Riflemen in the last Challenge, and I'm determined to get more of these guys done this time!  Here are a couple of "Officer" types, a Bazooka team, and an LMG team (Light Machine Gun, for the uninitiated)..

(please excuse the shoddy pics - I will endevour to do better next time.  Those pics from last year's Challenge look SO much nicer...)

Here are the Officer figures.  The first has a pistol and Carbine rifle, the second has an M1 Garand rifle.  He also has a pair of binoculars, so could double as a Forward Observer, I guess.

This is the Bazooka team.  The Bazooka seemed a bit tiny to me, but Curt who runs the Analogue Hobbies page, and the Challenge, pointed out some examples of WWII Bazookas, that show this sculpt is about the right size after all.

And lastly, the Light Machine Gun team - moving to a better firing position.

You'll be seeing more of these figures over the coming weeks.  I picked up the "Lt. Winters" special edition figure Warlord produced a few months back, plus I've also got two Airborne jeeps, a Mortar team, and a Pack Howitzer team, as well as a few more Riflemen.  I love Paul Hicks sculpting - looking forward to doing more of these great figures!

After painting the first few in the last Challenge, I've gotten over my 'hang-up' of trying to paint these guys!  So I look forward to continuing the efforts.  The same could probably be said about all the British Airborne figures I have - but those damn Denison smocks really DO give me a mental block!

Thanks for looking!