Tag Archives: 15mm

Peter Pig USMC test figure

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Finished off the base on my USMC test figure tonight.  There’s something incredibly therapeutic about PVAing microscopically small pieces of ‘coarse turf’ with a pair of tweezers after a hard day at work.

Followed the useful tutorial for quickly painting modern USMC over at Rob’s Game Blog, but had to substitute 976 Buff for 837 Pale Sand whilst I await delivery of yet another pot of VMC (I swear I’m single-handedly propping up the Spanish economy…).  I side-stepped the Devlin Mud wash in favour of QuickShade Soft Tone and, whilst it darkened the figure considerably and obscurred a some of the detail, it did add some depth to the finished result.

Not a work of genius but – at this scale – an adequate interpretation of the digi-cammie, MARPAT:

Areas for improvement?  Well, I’m hoping that the use of Pale Sand rather than Buff will produce a slightly lighter result that’s more in keeping with the original colour even after dipping.  I think the details on the SAW could be picked out better and the Coyote Brown body armour and load bearing equipment could benefit from greater contrast.    To introduce some variety, I’ll probably use some Green Stuff to provide covers for some of the lads’ eye protection too.

Best crack on with the rest of the fireteam whilst Chris prepares his Taliban…

Afghan 2′x2′ terrain tile for Force on Force

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The night before starting a new job seems as good as any for reflecting on what I’ve been up to during a week of leave.  In between dropping the boy off at school, painting the bedroom, cooking the dinner and picking the boy up from school (‘happy wife, happy life’) I’ve been obsessing about a board for our initial game of Force on Force.  How did we get from FoW through SAGA to Force on Force?  Well, that’s another story but, in short, we’ve both been excited by the prospect of Modern skirmish since seeing a game 2 weeks or so ago.

I’ve spent the last week sourcing 15mm Taliban, Brits, buildings, only to scrap the Brits and replace them with USMC because the quality of figures available in the UK is so low.  Behind all this though was The Board.  We’ve only got a green board you see and that certainly wouldn’t cut the mustard when it we got to skirmishing in Afghanistan.  After reviewing all of the desert mats and tiles currently available (usefully reviewed by BigLee here) I decided to make one from scratch following the recipe outlined on the talented Dougie’s website here.

Trouble is, I’m neither hugely talented or very patient and after following all the steps outlined I was rather dissapointed with the outcome.  5 taster pots of Dulux, a ton of children’s play sand and 1 PVA covered pussy later and all I was left with an encursted piece of drybrushed brown mdf. I should have known.  No tutorial survives first contact.

It didn’t look like the Afghanistan I’d seen on Ross Kemp.  It didn’t help my existing NWE scenery blend in to a part of Central / South / Western Asia.  Christ, it didn’t even look like a frickin’ desert!

So I junked it and plunged into self pity.  Why do I make this hobby so….relentless?  And then, when I didn’t care anymore, I started spraying on coats of Desert Yellow and US Field Drab with my airbrush and you know what?  Things started to shape up.  I followed it with a dusting of some Woodland Scenic’s Burnt Grass and Yellow Grass turf and – suddenly – things didn’t look quite so bad: 

Of course, I’m being disingenuous. It wasn’t that simple.  Ask the wife…I stressed about this for hours until I got it barely acceptable.  But I’m liking the finished result:

The cost?

Well, financially, about £20 for a 2′x2′ custom terrain tile.  That’s broadly comparable to Total SystemsScenics Sand tile.  But I’ve learnt the method, the ‘how to do it’ stuff.  That’s got to be worth sumfink surely?

All I’ve got left to do is paint the buildings and my Marines then read the rules (right!).  And find a single 15mm downed pilot for the introductory scenario.

Now, can anyone help me out here? :)

Experiments with modulation

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As a couple, we’re a bit like the Queen. We have 2 anniversaries.  1 to celebrate when we first met, the other for when we got married.  Anyway, it’s as good an excuse as any to buy presents for each other.  All my washing-up is obviously paying off as Mrs. ModelDads was kind enough to buy me a copy of the excellent (if outrageously expensive) FAQ2 by Mig Jimenz:

I can’t recommend this book highly enough (check out a review here).  This is the reference book par excellence for painting AFVs.  Suitably inspired by the chapter on Modulation and, it must be said, Ruben’s useful video explaining about how to apply this technique to 15mm scale models, I thought it would be shame not to dust off the old airbrush and have a go on those BA-64s I pinned last week.

Put simply, the modulation technique seeks to enhance a model by applying gradations of colour to give it more depth. This is particularly useful when painting vehicles that were finished in a uniform colour.  Like Soviet armour.  So off I went, spraying on a base coat of Vallejo Model Russian Green (71017).  In to this mix of paint and thinner I added, as recommended, a few drops of Gloss varnish to produce a Satin effect in anticpation of the later pin-wash.

Retaining some of the original mix in a sealable jar, I added a few drops of Cam. Light Green (71006).  Masking off the lower portion of the chasis with a Post-It note, I sprayed a (variably) lightish coat on the uppper chassis.  The same principle was applied to the turret where I masked off the area around the gun with blu-tac (God bless office stationary!):

Whilst my airbrushing is still very hamfisted, I really liked the dusting of lighter colour on the upper panels.  Now, Mig recommends that you go a shade lighter than you’re comfortable with because subsequent weathering will tone down the finished result.  It was also about this time that I realised I should have cut a mask for the wheel arches to ensure that the upper surfaces could be painted without over-spraying on to the darker lower panels.  I addedd a few drops of White (71001) to the remanants of my original mix and sprayed this as lightly as I could on the upper surfaces.  I used the the same masks as before with an additional one over the front mantlet either side of the main viewing port.  Now, I must confess that the Tescos delivery man arrived at this point with the weekly shop, so I felt under pressure to quickly finished the job and help in the packing away.  This is how it turned out:

It’s a little lighter than I’m used to, but I like the gradual transiiton from light to dark, top to bottom.  To blend the colours together further, I applied 2 coats of MiG brown filter for dark green vehicles with another coat of gloss varnish.  Things were starting to shape up:Whilst the contrast is quite sharp on the front-mantlet, I really like the way the green varies in tone.  And it was all quite easy to do without much experience.  The only tiresome aspect was cleaning my airbrush over and over again…

They say pride comes before a fall.  Just after taking these photos the cat came in followed by the dog.  In the ensuing hullabaloo the cat vertically lifted 4 feet in the air to land directly on my work-surface scattering me and my scout cars to the 4-corners of the conservatory:

As the dust settled, the extent of the damage became clear.  Whilst my paint-jobs had survived more of less intact, I was missing 3 wheels.  I’ll leave you with this final shot of the standard of modulation achieved whilst I rummage around on the floor to look for them… :(

James’ Resins: bunkers on the cheap

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Aaron sent us some of his new resin bunkers to have a look at.  Ironically and ultimately inspired by Harvey’s bunkers piece (if you fancy making them yourself), you can get 4 for £5 – now if that isn’t a bargainio I don’t know what is…

Cast in jesomite resin they have a little brass rod for the machine gun.  Very clean and sturdy, ready to paint.

This is how they arrive:

And with a bit of time and talent, this is how they can look:

Go check ‘em out by clicking here.

Paul’s Jagdpanthers

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Paul, who occasionally plays a game with us has been painting armour and guns for me for some time now to allow me plenty of options for forthcoming games. Here are some of his recently completed Jagdpanthers  passing through a Normandy Village which I hope will soon be brewing up Allies in vast quantities =DJadpanthers Normandy.