Guarding the Chateau

This is a Warlord set I purchased to give the French Resistance somebody to kidnap or assassinate.

There's a shady Gestapo type..

A party functionary with a familiar hairstyle...

And finally a couple of sentries.

Now I just have to find them something to guard!

Fallschirmjager - Finished Unit

Some of Warlord's finest 'Green Devils' all set to face the US 101 Airborne and of course those pesky resistance types that have been pottering around these pages.

 

Eighteen in all with some lmg and mortar teams to come.

 



Bolt Action 88

The grand plan of clearing my painting desk is coming to fruition and I'm even resisting the temptation of a mad cackle or two after that statement.

Next off the bench and into the garage is an 88.

The crew are painted in Luftwaffe colours, just to be different.

I've built, well that's a strong word, smeared some wood filler across a piece of MDF to make a base.

It can also be deployed in one of Adrian's Walls Eastern Front bunkers.

All figures are Warlord, the bunker is Adrian's Walls and all uniform mistakes my own.

Panzer Crew

 

 

This is Hauptsturmfuhrer Schmitt  the free miniature with the Bolt Action Tank War supplement. He’s going to end up as a target for the French resistance.

Found this miniature very dynamic and facially quite fun, though bordering a bit on the comic book caricature; I resisted painting him with a red skull!

Fallschirmjager

Don't think the photograph shows the splinter camouflage. Followed the guidelines in the Flames of War Market Garden supplement then gave them a brown wash and highlights. Just equipment to finish off and they'll be ready to take on the French resistance I've been painting up.

 

These are Bolt Action figures from Warlord. Aim is to finish them off by the time the holiday season is over. Probably the first resolution of the year busted!

Tiny Tigers

Ok they're 15mm so not that small but definitely midget like compared with the Warlord one finished a month or so ago. This was another airbrush experiment and as with all of these so far the result was not as intended. The reflective green pigment in particular isn't strong. Still they'll probably look fine enough on a table at a distance.

These are Plastic Soldier Company miniatures. I usually find these a bit smaller than their Battlefront compatriots but unlike the T 34s, STuGS and Shermans I don't have an equivalent Battlefront model to compare these with. So for my home battlefields at least this is the size Tigers are!

Colonel Steiner

Let's hope Jack Higgins' lawyers haven't spotted this chap in Warlord's Bolt Action range; leather jacket, sten gun hmm... When I get round to gaming with him must remember to use my Bavarian Cockney accent.

Battlefront Tiger Tank

Another model that has been sitting around forlornly hoping that I would finally get off my lazy whatsit and pick up a brush to finish. Well it finally got it's wish, not too sure about the result though. Never tried to splodge a 28mm WWII vehicle before, have done plenty 40K where you can pretend naff paint jobs are to reflect 'character' (especially if it has an Orky look).

Still that's one more off the workbench and on to a table (sometime, somewhere).

WWII German Gallery

I suddenly seem to have a lot of these chaps...

Tanks

 

 

 

 

 

Artillery and support

 

 



 

 

 

Infantry

 

 

 



 

WWII German HMG

Some MG42s to give the Wehrmacht a little extra something when trying to hold back the Soviet war machine.

These guys were base coated with Vallejo Air paints using an air brush and then dry brushed highlights.

 

 

 

 

WWII German Infantry

The last of the Open Fire box set.

 

WWII German Mortars

Just off the brush. Battlefront models.

 

What I’m Working on Now…

Just starting out on Bolt Action. Haven’t actually played a game but enjoyed reading the rules and was tempted with an army, German paratroopers. This is the first lot to get a first coat.

What I’m Working on Now…

Some Wehrmacht to fight the Russian and gathering British and American hordes.

Models from the Battlefront Open Fire boxed set.

STUG Comparison – Plastic Soldier Company v Battlefront

So how do 15mm plastic Battlefront, metal Battlefront and Plastic Soldier Company STUGs compare? Do they get on well enough to be in the same unit or even the same army?





In all of the pictures the left hand vehicle is from the Battlefront Open Fire box set. The middle one is Plastic Soldier Company and on the right is a metal/resin Battlefront.

As ever the metal/resin feels much more substantial and looks a bit chunkier but overall I think I like all three. I remember being a bit disappointed when I did a similar comparison with T-34s and the PSC ones were noticeably smaller and a bit less detailed (though much, much cheaper if you’re a gamer and that won out for me). With these I think you could get away even with a mixed unit. Certainly from three feet it’s difficult to tell which is which (though that old garish hand painted job on the metal/resin ones is a dead give away – anybody need a repaint?).

Finished Unit – STUG Assault Guns

These ones are from the Plastic Soldier Company and I’m reasonably pleased how they turned out. As with the previous ones these have been airbrushed middlestone followed by reflective green and chocolate brown. They were then given a black ink wash to try and bring out some definition and then dry brushed highlights. All colours Vallejo this time.



It’ll be interesting to see how these compare with the next batch of German tanks in the garage, these will be completed with Vallejo Model Air colours instead of relying on my ham-fisted, random mixing!

What I’m Working on Now…

Tanks… lots of tanks…

T-34s Plastic Soldier Company.

Shermans from Plastic Soldier Company

A stack of Plastic Soldier Company Stugs

Plastic Soldier Company Tigers and some Battlefront APCs

Bolt Action Tiger with Battlefront APC for scale.

Finished Unit - 88

Battlefront 88 AA guns – let’s see how cool that Russian air support looks now!

Battlefront

Finished Unit – Pak 40

Again from the Open Fire box set. Grey undercoat for these followed by equipment highlight and a black wash. Guns Middlestone undercoat then a  black wash followed by a Middlestone highlight.

Finished Unit – STUG G Assault Guns

These are out of the Open Fire starter set. They’ve been undercoated in middle stone and then air brushed with reflective green and chocolate brown (Vallejo colours). The tracks etc are then highlighted and everything given a black wash to put in some definition. Not my best work but relatively quick from box to table (at my pace anyway).