0Aaron 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.
0Aaron completes his triumphant trilogy by writing-up his approach to barbed wire entanglements.
How to paint and enhance Jame’s Resins Barbed Wire Entanglements for an European / Eastern Front battlefield.
My aim in this tutorial is to give you an idea of how you can paint your own barbed wire entanglements to suit your individual needs. All the paints I have used in this article are from the Vallejo range.
Preparation
There is very little you need to do to prep the model as it already comes ready to paint. However, you may want to re-model parts of it to make it unique to your battlefield, for example adding casualties, extra gravel/rocks, Steve McQueen 
etc.
Painting the base.
I like to basecoat all of my models white instead of the more common practice of spraying them black. I do this because I think it makes the colours stand out better. As usual, I recommend spraying the basecoat on the model as apposed to painting it on as you get a more even finished surface to paint on. I basecoat the whole model with an airbrush using ‘White Primer 74600’.
Next I airbrush the whole base with ‘Model Air Khaki Brown 024’. There is no reason you could not brush paint it on, I just find its quicker and leaves a better finished surface when painting in large batches.
When the brown mud layer is dry I dry brush the whole base with ‘German Camo Beige 821’ and then dry brush the rocks/stones/gravel/craters with ‘Ivory 918’.
For the brass rod pickets, I paint them in ‘Gunmetal Grey 863’ and then paint over the top of them with ‘Model Air Metallic Rust 069’. When finished, this gives a weathered appearance and makes it look like the model has been in place for some time.
First coat of varnish
Now the model has had its coat of paint and, using an old brush, I give it a good coat of ‘Army Painter Strong Tone varnish’ pickets and all. Not only does this give it a protective covering, but the pigment in the varnish settles into all the nooks and crannys. Just watch out for the varnish pooling.
Grassing the base.
When the varnish is dry you can flock the base. This is also a good opportunity to cover over any painting errors or dark pooling of varnish. I paint all the areas of the model I want to cover with static grass with PVA glue, leaving the odd area of the mud and craters untouched. I then stick on clumps of ‘Mininatur 727-31s’ grass tufts.
Using a puffer bottle, I apply a thick layer of ‘Jarvis Static Grass Spring mix JHG1’ on to the glued area. When I’m happy I leave it to dry, normally over night to be on the safe side.
After it’s dry, I use a 2inch house painting brush to brush off the excess static grass and it’s ready for the barbed wire.
Barbed wire
I generally buy the barbed wire from various E-bay sellers as and when I need it. For the foot traps (centred criss-cross section), I cut a length of about 77cm. For the barbed wire coils, I cut a length of about 100cm for each of them.
I then tightly rap the 100cm wire around a round object (in my case a craft knife handle) and stretch each one out to the desired coiled length of the entanglement model.
To paint it I use my airbrush with ‘Model Air Metallic Rust 069’ to match the pickets.
When dry, I wrap one end of the 77cm ‘foot trap’ barbed wire around a picket and keeping the wire tight, loop it around the next picket in a zig-zag pattern until finished.
Taking a small file I run it along the top of the barbed wire foot traps to take the rust paint off. I find this gives a nice sem- rusted feel to the piece and gives it more depth.
Attaching the wire coils is a bit more fiddly and a very time consuming part to this model. Starting at one end and using thin wire loops, attach the wire coil to a picket post.
Twist the thin wire loop until tight. Cut off the excess thin wire loop to suit and tuck it into the model to hide its appearance.
After the first thin wire loop is positioned and to make the wire coils stronger (and prevent them from being pulled out of shape) I run a length of thin wire along the inside of each wire coil wrapping it around every picket it passes and effectively anchoring the wire coil into place. This makes it easier to position the remaining thin wire loops and will prevent any major pulls to the wire coils which will be extremely difficult to repair after the model is finished. Continue securing the wire coils to the pickets with the thin wire loops along the rest of the model until you have the desired effect.
Touch up any exposed wire (thin wire loops, thin wire inside the coils or scratched picket posts) with the Rust paint to match the rest of the model. Then take a small file and run it along the top of the barbed wire coils to take the exposed rust paint off.
For any barbed wire crossing a crater, I generally cut the wire short and turn it over on its self several times to give the effect that an artillery shell has broken the wire and pushed it back with the force of the explosion.
Final varnish
For the final varnish, I give the whole model a couple of coats of ‘Matt Varnish 520’. After the varnish has dried, normally 30-60 mins, the model is finished.
Finished piece
Now your piece is fully finished and just waiting for some daft soldiers to try and cross them!!
That’s Aaron’s last piece on painting and modelling his range of resin scenery. You may be interested to know that Aaron is now selling painted and flocked items on ebay - go check them out – could save you alot of time…
0Aaron has worked like the proverbial Trojan to bring you another splendid step-by-step photographic tutorial, this time painting up his resin minefields.
How to paint and enhance James’ Resins Minefields for a European / Eastern Front battlefield.
My aim in this second tutorial is to give you an idea of how you can paint my range of resin minefields, but the principles are valid for most scenic bases and other comparable products. All the paints I have used in this article are from theVallejo range.
Preparation
There is very little you need to do to prepapre the model as it comes ready to paint. You may want to re-model parts of it to make it unique to your battlefield and include ammunition boxes, oil drums and destroyed vehicles, etc [Justin: Zvezda plastic models are cheap and great for this purpose].
Painting the base
I like to basecoat all of my models white instead of the more common practice of spraying them black. I do this because I think it makes the colours stand out better. I recommend spraying the basecoat on the model as apposed to painting it on as you get a more even finish. I basecoat the whole model with an airbrush using ‘White Primer 74600’.
Next, I airbrush the whole base with Model Air ‘Khaki Brown 024’. The is no reason you could not brush paint it on, I just find it’s quicker and leaves a better finished surface when painting in large batches.
When the brown mud layer is dry I like to dry brush the whole base with ‘German Camo Beige 821’ and then dry brush the rocks/stones/gravel/craters with ‘Ivory 918’.
The first colour for the mines is done in ‘Russian Green 894’ and then dry brush/highlight in ‘German Camo Bright Green 833’. Although dark green mines may not appear to be perfectly camouflaged or historically accurate, they do stand out very well against the brown base and enhance the over all look of the final piece.
For the brass rod pickets, I paint in ‘Gunmetal Grey 863’ and over the top of this a coat of Model Air ‘Metallic Rust 069’. When finished, this gives a nice appearance and makes it look like the pickets have been in place for some time.
First coat of varnish
Now the model has had its coat of paint, I give it a good coverage with an old brush of Army Painter ‘Strong Tone varnish’, pickets and all. Not only does this give it a protective covering, but the pigment in the varnish settles into all the nooks and crannys and provides excellent shading. Just watch out for the varnish pooling. The second downside to this stage is that it can take up to 24hrs to dry and leaves the model with a very shiny gloss finish.
Grassing the base
Now the varnish is dry you can flock the base. This is also a good opportunity to cover over any painting errors or dark pooling of the varnish. I paint all the areas of the model I want to cover with static grass with PVA white glue, leaving the odd area of the mud and all of the craters untouched. I then stick on random clumps of grass tufts ‘Miniatur 727-31’.
Using a puffer bottle, I apply a thick layer of ‘Jarvis Static Grass Spring mix JHG1’. When happy, I leave it to dry, normally over night just to be on the safe side.
After it’s dry, I use a 2inch house painting brush to dust off the excess static grass and it’s ready for the barbed wire. From personal experience, make sure that you have a tray (or something similar) under the model for everything involving static grass. You can easily collect the excess for re-use and it stops the dog from sneezing when its sniffing the living room carpet!!
Barbed wire
I generally buy the barbed wire from various E-bay sellers as and when I need it. For Minefields, I cut a length of about 57cm and airbrush it in ‘Model Air Metallic Rust 069’ to match the pickets.
When dry, I wrap one end of the barbed wire around a picket and keeping the wire tight, loop it around the next picket and so on until finished.
For a finishing touch, I like to take a small file and run it along the top of the barbed wire to take the rust paint off the top. I find this gives a nice semi-rusted feel to the piece and gives it more character.
Final varnish
For the final varnish, I like to use my airbrush and give the whole model a couple of coats of ‘Matt Varnish 520’. From bitter experience, if you ‘over spray’ with spray can varnish it can leave the model with a ‘frosted/whitened’ look. Vallejo varnish is much more forgiving. After the varnish has dried, normally 30-60 mins, the model is finished.
Mine markers
I like to use the mine markers from the FOW website on my models, just to make them stand out more. Simply print them off, cut them out and apply them to the barbed wire with one of them solid glue sticks that kids use (Prit-stick etc.).
Finished piece
Now your piece is fully finished and just waiting for some daft tanks or soldiers to try and cross them!!
Thanks Aaron, another useful guide. Look forward to you showing us how to achieve realistic barbed wire effects in your last tutorial.
0A couple of weeks ago we reviewed James’ Resins range of bocage. Well, Aaron has kindly written a clear and concise tutorial to take you through the painting process step-by-step. Enjoy :)
How to paint and enhance James’ Resins Bocage
My aim in this tutorial is to give you an idea of how you can paint your own bocage to suit your individual needs. Everything you read below is just my personal opinion/choice on how I achieve a finished product suitable for my FOW battlefields. All the paints I use in this article are Vallejo.
Preparation
There is very little you need to do to prep the model as it comes ready to paint. However, you may want to model parts of it to make it unique to your battlefield, e.g. different tank tracks, breaches in the bocage etc. 
I personally like to adapt my bocage to have removable trees as this removes any transportation or storage issues. To achieve this, I drill a few 3.2mm holes about two thirds of the depth into the tops of my pieces using a pillar drill on a slow speed. If you drill on a slow speed, the Jesomite resin will suffer minimal, if any, damage. Make sure you don’t break through the bottom or the glue will flood out in the next step.
I then cut up several 2cm (approximate) lengths of 1/8inch wide hollow plastic tube (made by Evergreen Scale Models). 
Put some super glue into the previously drilled holes and insert a 2cm piece of the hollow plastic tubing. These will be used as trunks for the portable trees (see below).
Painting the base
I like to basecoat all of my models White instead of the more common practice of spraying them Black. I only do this because I think it makes the colours stand out better. I recommend spraying the basecoat on the model as apposed to painting it on as you get a more even surface to paint on. I basecoat the whole model with an airbrush (using ‘White Primer 74600’) instead of a spray can because:
Next I airbrush the stone walls with ‘Surface Primer Grey 74601’. There is no reason you couldn’t brush paint it on, I just find it’s quicker and leaves a better surface finish when painting in large batches.
When the grey layer is dry I like to dry brush the walled section with ‘Ivory 918’. I then paint all the mud with ‘US Field Drab 873’ (so it matches the rest of my army’s bases) & dry brush with ‘German Camo Beige 821’. The dry brushing really makes the tank tracks stand out.
I then pick out any of the wood/timber in the model (gate posts, broken gates and tree trunks) with ‘Beige Brown 875’ and a dry brush of‘German Camo Beige 821’. Make sure you don’t get too carried away with dry brushing the wood/timber or it will start to blend in too much with the bocage.
First coat of varnish
Now the model has had its coat of paint I use an old brush to give a good covering of Army Painter’s ‘Strong Tone’ varnish. Not only does this give it a protective covering, but the pigment in the varnish settles into all the nooks and crannys. This gives a really good depth of shading, especially in the hollows of the walls and the tank tracks. Just watch out for the varnish pooling from being too liberal with the paint brush. The only down sides to this step is it can take up to 24hrs to dry and leaves the model with a very shiny gloss finish.
Grassing the base
Now the varnish is dry you can flock the base. This is also a good opportunity to cover over any painting errors or dark pooling of the varnish. I paint all the areas of the model I want to cover with static grass with PVA white glue, leaving the odd area of the mud untouched.
Using a puffer bottle, I apply a thick layer of Jarvis’ Static Grass Spring mix JHG1’ over the glued area. When I’m happy, I leave it to dry over night just to be on the safe side. 
After it’s dry, I use a 2inch house painting brush to brush off any excess grass and it’s ready for the hedgerow on top. From personal experience, make sure that you have a tray (or something similar) under the model for anything involving static grass as you can easily collect the excess for re-use. It also stops the wife moaning about having green patches of static grass appearing in the living room carpet!!
Hedgerow
Apply a good coating of ‘Hobby-tack/tac-e-glue/sticky bond’ to the top of the wall that you want to apply your hedgerow/foliage to making sure not to cover over the tree stumps. Wait for the glue to almost go see through as it’s at its most tacky then. 
This glue is different to normal glue in that it always remains tacky. This is important as the more you play with the piece, the more of the hedgerow foliage comes off. With the tacky glue you can just re-attach it straight away and it will stick back in to place without a problem. 
For the hedgerow foliage I like to use Woodland Scenics’ ‘Clump Foliage’ in Dark Green (FC684), Medium Green (FC683) & Light Green (FC682) as this gives a really good range of different colours. Break it up into irregular shapes & sizes and push it on to the glue filling up the gaps with the various colours and sizes.
Trees
I generally buy pre-made trees from various sellers on E-bay. What I do is cut off the plastic base about 1cm from the bottom & drill in a 1.2mm hole up the centre of the tree. 
I then superglue in a 1.2mm thick piece of brass rod leaving about 1.5cm of brass rod hanging out of the bottom of the tree. File the end round to get rid of any jagged edges. Now you can pop it in the previously made (and painted) tree trunks on the top of the model. Remove the tree when happy.
Final varnish
For the final varnish, I like to use my airbrush and give the whole model a couple of coats of ‘Matt Varnish 520’. From bitter experience, if you ‘over spray’ with spray can varnish it can leave the model with a frosted/whitened look to it ruining the finished article.Vallejo varnish is much more forgiving if you get carried away and does not leave a nasty smell in its wake. After the varnish has dried, normally 30-60 mins, the model is finished.
Finished piece
Now your piece is fully finished and just waiting to be placed on the battlefield. Get some brass rodded trees put in to it and watch the fun unfold as some daft tanks get bogged down trying to cross them or just sit your tank there in ambush and hit the enemy at close quarters!!
Excellent, very useful stuff, thanks Aaron. Glad to hear that I’m not the only one to receive disapproving looks from Her Indoors over errant clump, flock and grass!
Keep your eyes peel for subsequent tutorials on barbed wire entanglements and minefields.