Mark A. Morin

2018 Hobby Activity Roundup

2018 was a busy year for me for hobbies, my busiest ever in fact. My activities and projects were mostly involved with supporting either Combat Patrol™ games or What a Tanker© games. So what did I do? Well, I helped to found a local gaming club and I started running games at small conventions (and won “The Al” at HAVOC last year – photo above). All of my hobby activity and efforts focused on creating and building what I needed for my games to be successful. I also joined some community painting challenges which helped to focus my efforts as well and got me to try new techniques (thanks Azazel!). I also followed many other blogs which were very inspiring.

Some of the items on the activity list below could be fairly called double-counting, but hey, no blood no foul! I tend to count projects in terms of their distinctive nature, ie the building/assembling/creating processes to me are different than painting, as is converting figures. I did not cast anything this year or make any molds as I still have plenty of figures to paint, and my hope is to knock out more of them in 2019, as I will not need to make as many game pieces/game aids.

This list, which is a separate page on my blog, helped me to stay focused. The adding of the hyperlinks that you see on the items below helps me to review past projects as prologue for future ones.

Thanks for checking this out – and good luck to all in 2019! Hope I keep you amused and entertained!

2018 Total Projects: 2,036

244 figures painted
0 figures cast
47 figures assembled
33 terrain pieces made or assembled
28 terrain pieces painted
10 figure conversions
867 creations or components sculpted or scratch-built
0 molds made
807 game pieces/game aids made and/or painted

January: 91 projects

Creations/components sculpted or scratch-built (91):
- 91 unit placards sculpted/made from Apoxie Sculpt

February: 645 projects

Figures painted (36):
- 36 Archive Hurraku Space Phraints painted (#2318)
Creations sculpted or scratch-built (375):
- 185 blank game placards made for Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi use
- 185 decals made for game placards or Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi use
- 2 long arc weapon (breaching) templates for Mark III Warbot use in Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi
- 2 short arc weapon (breaching) templates for Mark III Warbot use in Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi
- 1 plasma ball template (breaching) template for Mark III Warbot use in Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi
Game pieces/game aids made or painted (234):
- 8 Armorcast ACFX034 Grenade Blasts Cinematic Effects Bits painted
- 36 casualty cards made for the Hurraku Space Phraints
- 185 placards made for use in Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi
  - 50 wound markers
    - 15 1-wound markers
    - 15 2-wound markers
    - 6 3-wound markers
    - 6 4-wound markers
    - 4 5-wound markers
    - 4 6-wound markers
  - 25 stun markers
  - 10 critical hit – optics/sensors markers damage for Mark III Warbots
  - 10 critical hit – mobility damage (“STOP”) markers for Mark III Warbots
  - 10 critical hit – CPU damage (“ROGUE”) markers for Mark III Warbots
  - 20 out of ammunition markers
  - 60 jet-pack use markers
    - 20 for one use of jet pack in the game
    - 20 for two uses of jet pack in the game
    - 20 for three uses of jet pack in the game
- 5 game aid templates painted for use in Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi
  - 2 long arc weapon (breaching) template painted
  - 2 short arc weapon (breaching) template painted
  - 1 plasma ball template (breaching) template painted

March: 74 projects

Figures painted (40):
- 39 F.R.O.G. Commandos from the Critter Commandos line
- 1 Frogbot from the Critter Commandos line (specifically Crittertek)
Figures assembled (1):
- Critter Commandos Frogbot
Creations/components sculpted or scratch-built (33):
- 33 unit placards sculpted/made from Apoxie Sculpt

April: 144 projects

Figures assembled (2):
- Roberker (#2010) from the Archive Miniatures Star Rovers line
- Juggerbot (#2009 or #2331) from the Archive Miniatures Star Rovers line
Terrain pieces made or assembled (12):
- 12 tea light smoke plumes made
Terrain pieces painted (12):
- 12 tea light smoke plumes painted
Game aids made or painted (118):
- 39 casualty cards made for the F.R.O.G. Commandos
- 6 flame circles made
- 25 chits for Combat Patrol™ made (pulling card forward chits)
- 48 unit and vehicle data cards made for Combat Patrol™

May: 6 projects

Figures painted (2):
- Roberker (#2010) from the Archive Miniatures Star Rovers line
- Juggerbot (#2009 or #2331) from the Archive Miniatures Star Rovers line
Game pieces/game aids made or painted (4)
- 2 casualty cards made for Roberker and the second Juggerbot
- 2 unit data cards made for Combat Patrol™

June: 95 projects

Figures painted (57):
- 32 Texican Space Rangers from Archive Star Rovers line
  - 6 Travis B. Crockett figures (#2225)
  - 26 Armando Garcia figures (#2226)
- 11 Robot Peacekeepers from Mega Miniatures Salvage Crew Robots & Vehicles Range
- 14 figures painted for my Space Dwarf Assault Squad
  - 11 Long Gone Jones Space Dwarfs from Archive Star Rovers line (Archive #2211)
  - 3 Agribot (S1L1) from Archive Star Rovers line (Archive #2204)
Game aids made or painted (38):
- 32 casualty cards made for the Texican Space Rangers
- 6 unit data cards made for Combat Patrol™

July: 66 projects

Figures painted (15):
- 5 Power-Armored Frinx on Glyptodon from Archive Star Rovers line (Archive #2042) consisting of:
  - 5 Glyptodons
  - 10 Power-Armored Frinx riders
Figures assembled (5):
- 5 Power-Armored Frinx on Glyptodon from Archive Star Rovers line (Archive #2042)
Figures converted (6):
- 6 Frinx riders converted with Bombshell Miniatures Arc Weapons (#36013)
Terrain pieces made or assembled (13):
- 5 large Woodland Scenics evergreen trees
- 8 small Woodland Scenics deciduous trees
Game aids made or painted (27):
- 11 casualty cards made for the Robot Peacekeepers
- 14 casualty cards made for the Space Dwarf Assault Squad
- 2 unit data cards made for Combat Patrol™

August: 54 projects

Figures painted (19):
- A platoon of 19 Mars Aliens (#71501) from Mega Miniatures Sci Fi Future line circa 2001 consisting of:
  - 1 platoon leader
  - 2 squads consisting of 9 figures each, to include:
    - 1 squad leader per each squad
    - 2 teams per squad consisting of:
      - 1 team leader per team
      - 3 troopers per team
Terrain pieces made or assembled (3):
- 3 Armorcast craters (set #ACCR001)
Terrain pieces painted (3):
- 3 Armorcast craters (set #ACCR001)
Game aids made or painted (29):
- 1 casualty cards made for the Roberker
- 5 casualty cards made for the Frinx on Glyptodons
- 19 casualty cards made for the Mars Aliens
- 4 unit data cards made for Combat Patrol™

September: 566 projects

Terrain pieces made or assembled (3):
- 1 Armorcast T-Section
- 1 Armorcast Building Corner (#ACRB008)
- 1 Armorcast Building Corner (#ACRB009)
Terrain pieces painted (11):
- 5 ruined building corners
  - 1 Armorcast T-Section
  - 1 Armorcast Building Corner (#ACRB008)
  - 1 Armorcast Building Corner (#ACRB009)
  - 2 Armorcast Building Corners (#ACRB013)
- 6 battle-damaged sci-fi walls
  - 1 set of 2 Armorcast High Tech Walls 2 (#ACW007), each set includes 2 walls so 2 pieces
  - 2 sets of High Tech Walls, each set includes 2 walls, so 4 pieces
Creations sculpted or scratch-built (368):
- - 184 blank game placards made for Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi use
  - 184 decals made for game placards or Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi use
Game pieces/game aids made or painted (184):
- 184 placards made for use in Combat Patrol™ retro sci-fi
  - 72 wound markers
    - 20 1-wound markers
    - 20 2-wound markers
    - 14 3-wound markers
    - 6 4-wound markers
    - 6 5-wound markers
    - 6 6-wound markers
  - 24 stun markers
  - 24 out of ammunition markers
  - 64 jet-pack use markers
    - 22 for one use of jet pack in the game
    - 20 for two uses of jet pack in the game
    - 22 for three uses of jet pack in the game

October: 113 projects

Figures painted (28):
- 28 Space Roos painted (converted figures that I cast)
Figure conversions (4):
- 2 Space Roo weapon conversions to RPG’s
- 2 Space Roo weapon conversions to grenade launchers
Game pieces/game aids made or painted (81):
- 45 small (1/8″ diameter) placards made and painted for improved identification of the Mars Aliens on the tabletop
- 28 small (1/4 and 5/16″ diameter) placards made and painted for improved identification of the Space Roos on the tabletop
- 8 dashboards built for What a Tanker games

November: 160 projects

Figures painted (43):
- 5 KV-1a Soviet tanks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio)
- 2 T-26 Soviet tanks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio)
- 2 BA-64 Soviet armored cars (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio)
- 1 BT-5 Soviet tank, (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#SU021)
- 1 BT-7 Soviet tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#SU023)
- 2 Soviet Gaz trucks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio)
- 1 Panzer IIC tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#GBX108)
- 1 Panzer IIIE (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#GE030)
- 3 Sturmgeshutz IIIA assault guns (15mm/1:100 scale), from from Battlefront Miniatures (#GBX109)
- 2 German Panzer IVd tanks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio), finished, washed and varnished
- 1 German Panzer 38(t) tank (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio), finished, washed and varnished
- 3 Italian M13/40 tanks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio), finished, washed and varnished
- 2 Italian L6 light tanks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio), finished, washed and varnished
- 2 British Matilda II tanks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio), finished, washed and varnished
- 2 German Hetzer tank destroyers (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio), finished and varnished
- 2 German Panzer IIIN tanks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio), finished and varnished
- 2 Renault R-35 tanks (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#FR030)
- 3 SOMUA S-35 tanks (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#FR050)
- 2 French Char B1 bis tanks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio), finished and varnished
- 2 US M4 Sherman tanks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio), finished and varnished
- 2 US M3/M5 Stuart tanks (15mm/1:100 scale, Wargame Models in Ohio), finished and varnished
Figures assembled (25):
- 5 French tanks assembled:
  - 3 SOMUA S-35 tanks (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#FR050)
  - 2 Renault R-35 tanks (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#FR030)
- 2 British tanks assembled:
  - 1 A10 Cruiser Mark IIA (Desert) tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR023)
  - 1 Valentine II tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR060)
- 2 Soviet tanks assembled:
  - 1 BT-5 tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#SU021)
  - 1 BT-7 tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#SU023)
- 16 German tanks/assault guns assembled:
  - 5 Panzer II C’s and F’s) (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#GBX108)
  - 3 Panzer IIIE’s (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#GE030)
  - 3 Sturmgeshutz IIIA assault guns (15mm/1:100 scale), from from Battlefront Miniatures (#GBX109)
  - 3 Sturmgeshutz III Ausf F8 assault guns (15mm/1:100 scale), from The Plastic Soldier Company, Ltd. (#WW2V15005)
  - 2 Sturmgeshutz III Ausf G (late) assault guns (15mm/1:100 scale), from The Plastic Soldier Company, Ltd. (#WW2V15005)
2 terrain pieces made or assembled (two fields)
2 terrain pieces painted (two fields)
Game aids made or painted (92):
- 28 casualty cards made for the Space Roos
- 36 bonus cards made for What a Tanker©
- 3 unit data cards made for Combat Patrol™

December: 18 projects

Figures painted (4):
- 4 British tanks painted for What a Tanker© in North Africa:
  - 2 A9 Cruiser Mark I tanks (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR020)
  - 2 M3 Stuart “Honey” tanks (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR006)
Figures assembled (14):
- 14 British tanks assembled for What a Tanker© in North Africa:
  - 2 A9 Cruiser Mark I tanks (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR020)
  - 1 A10 Cruiser Mark IIA (Desert) tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR023)
  - 1 A13 Cruiser Mark IVA (Desert) tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR026)
  - 1 Valentine III tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR061)
  - 1 Crusader II tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR032)
  - 1 Crusader III tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR034)
  - 1 M3 Grant tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR100)
  - 1 Churchill II tank (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR070)
  - 5 M3 Stuart “Honey” tanks (15mm/1:100 scale), from Battlefront Miniatures (#BR006) – Brits will get two, I am saving one for future Soviet Lend-Lease, one for future captured German use in North Africa, and one as an American M3 for future captured Japanese use in Burma or the Philippines.

8th Army Tanks for What a Tanker – and so it begins…

The epic struggle between the British 8th Army and the German/Italian Panzer Army Africa (which grew out of the Afrika Korps) has always interested me. In fact, the very first war game I ever owned was a used 1964 copy of Avalon Hill’s Afrika Korps! I got this in 1972, and still have it.

I played this game many times, and of course it uses cardboard counters to represent divisional and brigade-sized units. Avalon Hill did publish Tobruk in 1975 as well, and I also have that (second hand), but I never played it (a common fate held by many of my AH games as finding opponents was not easy back then for a teenager). So I have wanted a tank-on-tank game for a while.

Back of the game – individual tanks!

Cover of the 1975 game I am still waiting to play

My first game of What a Tanker© at BARRAGE in September was a North Africa scenario, and was just what I have longed for all of these years. Needless to say, I was a bit hooked on the game – and some of the scenarios for which I have been collecting Flames of War tanks are for North Africa campaigns from 1940-1943. I wanted to get a blog post in to close 2018 for the first four of these tanks. This also counts as my submission for Azazel’s December Community painting challenge, “Dauntless-Diabolical December”. As for the British/Commonwealth 8th Army tanks, these are two A9 Mark 1 Cruiser tanks, and two M3 Stuart “Honey’s.

To research these tanks (and other future tank projects), I bought several books from Amazon that I found very useful as background information and for modeling purposes. To be sure, many of the images are conflicting, but my guess is that the differences represent actual historical differences in camouflage schemes. The books I got (and you can find them on Amazon) were:

Two by David Fletcher:
- British Battle Tanks: British-made tanks of World War II
- British Battle Tanks: American-made World War II Tanks
One by Jean Restayn:
- WWII Tank Encyclopaedia, 1939-45
One by the Smithsonian/DK:
- Tank: The Definitive Visual History of Armored Vehicles
One by Michael Green:
- Axis Armoured Fighting Vehicles of the Second World War (Images of War)
One by Robert Jackson:
- Tanks and Armored Fighting Vehicles Visual Encyclopedia

I would easily recommend all of these books as good resources, and they will be my sources for this and future tank projects. Again, these 4 are just the start of my 8th Army tank build (never mind I still need to get to Panzer Army Africa!).

A9 Cruiser Mark I Tanks

The first pair I worked on this month were A9 Cruiser Mark I tanks. These were involved in the Battle of France and were in the desert in North Africa in 1940-41. The British tactical doctrine had infantry tanks (to support infantry) and cruiser tanks (to engage other tanks). That doctrine failed to impress the Wehrmacht. Still, the British crews fought bravely and eventually better tanks arrived from the UK and the US. The A9’s were not great, and one of the few that if captured that were not reused by the Germans. For a camouflage and painting scheme, I used a picture of an A10 Cruiser Mark II with a Caunter camouflage scheme (see below), and differentiated the two with some Battlefront decals. I wanted to use units that I could identify, but in the end I went with the ones that you see.

1 A9 Mark I's in blister — The pair in the blister

A9 Mark I Cruiser frontal view

Rear view of assembled A9’s

I used plastic plates and later poster tack to move around the tank chassis

As you can see, I drilled out the crew bases and glued them to toothpicks for ease of painting. I initially ran out of Battlefront “Crusader Sand” and used Vallejo “Desert Sand” which was too German-looking. I found a conversion table and switched to Vallejo “Dark Sand” which was a better match. I mounted the turrets to washers, affixed to magnets, affixed to large screws in styrofoam. Later, I would switch to using holes in wood for better durability (the styrofoam was not sturdy enough to hold the #14 screws, magnets, washers, and turrets!).

5 A9 MarkI's base coated — On left, Vallejo “Dark Sand”, on the right, Vallejo “Desert Sand” which I thought was too panzer-like.

After a good wash!

Close up of washed hull

Turret close up after wash

I drilled out holes for the radio antennae and used 24 gauge wire for the aerials.

After dry brushing.

Masked for Caunter camouflage

After second Caunter color added over mask

The masking I used was a combination of Tamiya tape and Vallejo “Liquid Mask”. This was my first use of the Vallejo mask, and I will be judicious in its future use. It does ruin the brush you use, and at this scale (15mm) its not a really useful way to create chips. Lesson learned – I was able to wash over the patches I put the mask on and it did give the tanks more of a dirty look.

I used this source…

for this camouflage scheme.

Not a bad match – it was an A10 in the book, but I liked the scheme and I have other plans for my A10’s – stay tuned. You can see more photos of the A9’s in the eye candy section below!

M3 Stuart “Honeys”

The M3’s came in a box of five, but I only wanted a couple for the North Africa scenarios. The rest will be going to the Soviets (as a Lend-Lease), the Germans (captured in North Africa), and the Japanese (captured in the Philippines). The painting scheme was mainly the same except for the grayish Caunter scheme.

The 5 M3’s unassembled.

And now assembled! The crewed ones are British.

Ready for priming.

M3 after priming, base coat, and wash.

Similarly, the turret.

I used a different resource for the camouflage, and I like the way it came out.

6 Honey after Caunter scheme with mask removed (spots) — Awaiting spot washes, and decals, and varnishing.

I used this source…

to come up with this!

So now they were all done – and it’s time for some glory pics!

Eye candy

It’s eye candy time!

3 A9's in village — A9 Cruiser Mark I’s in the village.

4 A9 front view — Nice frontal view close up – you can see the details pretty well for such a small model.

5 A9's Moving out — Nice view of the left sides.

6 A9's rear view — Nice view of the right sides and the backs of the tanks.

7 A9 in defensive posture — A9 in a defensive position

8 A9's hitting the road — Heading out to find Germans and Italians.

9 Honeys move out — M3 Stuart “Honeys” on the road.

10 Honeys defend — Nice side view showing the grayish Caunter scheme and the decals. I used different ones for ease of identification on the tabletop.

11 Honey rear view — Patrolling the village.

12 Honey's in village — Tight quarters patrolling.

13 group shot moving out — The four all together head out.

These tanks all served in North Africa, but it was probably rare for A9’s to be alongside M3’s time-wise. Still, for What a Tanker© games, these will do fine on the ladder.

As discussed, I will be adding more British cruiser and infantry tanks to my 8th Army fleet.

I am dedicating this post to all my British and Commonwealth friends!

I hope you enjoyed seeing these and reading this post. Do you have a favorite tank? I appreciate hearing your thoughts and feedback in the comments section below. Thanks for looking, and Happy New Year to you all!

PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, SHADES, WASHES, AND FLOCKING USED ON BOTH TANKS:

Vallejo “Flow Improver”
Vallejo “Airbrush Thinner”
Vallejo “Surface Primer – Black”
Testors “Universal Acrylic Thinner”
Citadel “Imperium Primer”
Battlefront “European Skin”
Battlefront “Skin Shade” (shade)
Vallejo “English Uniform”
Battlefront “Sherman Drab”
Battlefront “Crusader Sand”
Vallejo “Desert Sand”
Battlefront “Worn Canvas”
FolkArt “Champagne”
Battlefront “Black”
Citadel “Agrax Earthshade” (wash)
Vallejo “Dark Sand”
Battlefront “Dry Dust”
Battlefront “Wool Brown”
Battlefront “Boot Brown”
Battlefront “Rommel Shade” (shade)
Battlefront “Bradley Shade” (shade)
Battlefront “Dark Gunmetal”
Battlefront “Dark Leather”
Battlefront “Oxide Red”
Gorilla Glue
Vallejo Liquid Mask
Tamiya masking tape
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Gloss Varnish”
Microscale Micro-Set
Microscale Micro-Sol
Microscale Liquid Decal Film
1/8″ rare earth neodymium magnets
Appropriate decals from Battlefront
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Matt Varnish”

UNIQUE TO THE A9 MARK I CRUISER TANKS:

Vallejo Mecha Color “Sky Blue”
Vallejo Game Air “Red Terracotta”

UNIQUE TO THE M3 STUART “HONEY” TANKS:

Aleene’s poster tack
Vallejo Model Air “Blue Grey”
Secret Weapons Washes “Armor Wash” (wash)

Thanks again for looking and for sharing your feedback!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my blog readers and followers!

As 2018 comes near to a close, and with Christmas nearly upon us, I wanted to wish all of my readers and followers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! You have all been so supportive of this blog, which is a big part of my hobby work.

So, please know that I appreciate all of you from all over the world who take the time to read my blog and to share your feedback. And you know who you are, to include Azazel, Buck, IRO, Roger, Subedai, Alex, JNV, Faust, Dave, Pete, Tichy, maenoferren22, Alexis, Le Bim, Wudugast, The One, theuniversalgardener, theimperfectmodeler, savageddt, Luke, redcaer1690, Matt, reductivetendency, patmcf, backtothehammer, and many, many others (and I hope I got most of you – if not apologies).

I am so grateful for your blogs as well. I aim to not only share my work but to amuse and inspire you, as you inspire me. If I get you to chuckle or say “wow”, I have hit my target.

As you can see from my hobby tally, I had a very productive year, and I hope to add to my total before year’s end. Of course, I need to get in some golf posts once in a while, but that will have to wait until April at least as I do live in New England!

I hope that I make you smile a bit over the years with this blog – and while I cannot send a beer or a glass of wine (or a pint for you Brits, Aussies, Kiwis!), I do send my best wishes and a card below. Please keep on reading – I aim to keep it going in 2019!

French defeat Germans at Mass Pikemen

Last Saturday, December 1st 2018, the Mass Pikemen Gaming Club held their monthly gaming session with a lively game of What a Tanker© by The Too Fat Lardies company. The scenario we used was one from France 1940, with available forces from that time frame.

Each team was given poker chips to represent available points to choose and deploy their tanks. In this scenario, each had 25 points to choose three tanks. If a tank was destroyed, the winning team would get that many points in chips – which they could use to either upgrade a deployed tank, buy a new tank, or purchase a Bonus Card. The destroyed tank would respawn in the game. There was a river in the middle of the board, with roughly equivalent terrain on both sides of the board. I said that any tank on the opposite side of the river at the game’s end would count for two times as many points for victory. This gave each side an incentive to move forward.

For initial forces, the Germans chose two Panzer IVD’s (2 for 14 points) and a Panzer 38(t) (one for 9 points), leaving them with 2 chips extra. The Germans passed on choosing a Panzer IIC. The French chose two R35’s (2 for 14 points) and one SOMUA S35 (1 for 10 points), leaving them with one extra chip. While there were StuG IIIA and Char B1 bis vehicles in the inventories, I did not allow either to be chosen initially for reasons of play balance.

1 board — The game board set up. The Germans chose to enter on the right side.

2 board — The Germans initially deployed from here, with the French deploying on the opposite side.

3 R35 knocks out Pz 38 — In early action, a Panzer 38 (t) was knocked out by a flank shot from one of the R35’s as it hid on the left behind the bocage. A Panzer IVD and the other R35 watch it burn.

4 R38 hides — The previously successful R35 runs behind the bocage. Another Panzer IV crosses the river at a ford (minor obstacle), but by this time it had been hit multiple times and was down to one Command Die…

5 dice — …and the French SOMUA rolled this! An example of the French Command Dice rolls. Each 6 is a Wild card and each 4 is a firing die. Basically, this allowed the loaded French SOMUA to fire 3 times in that turn, contributing to the demise of the Panzer IVD. Unfortunately, the Germans’ rolls were hardly ever this good during the game.

6 Scott and Ethan — The previously mentioned unlucky Panzer IVD burns on the left by the bocage. Scott and Ethan Howland are maneuvering another Panzer IVD and a Panzer 38 (t) against the SOMUA S35.

7 SOMUA showdown — The SOMUA activates, and moves to the rear of the Panzer IVD, but is unable to get off a shot. The Germans were able to subsequently knock out the S35 in their only kill of the day.

8 R35 and Pz IVD showdown — On the left French flank bridge, a duel went on between a Panzer IVD and an R35. The French were lucky and activated first, hitting the German in the side. Subsequently, the German reoriented, but was hit again and forced back.

9 Pz IV burns — The Panzer IV was dispatched by the intrepid two man crew of the R35.

At that point the game was called. The French crossed one R35 to the other side of the river and got 14 points. The final score was France 38, Germans 12. It was a good rolling day for the French and a bad one for the Germans. The best tanks did not get to deploy, but both sides needed to use terrain well, and they did. It was nice to have some new players (Leif, Ethan, and Scott), thank you for coming. Everyone had fun, and I will run this scenario again.

Score Breakdown:

French 38 chips:

1 chip left over from initial deployment (1 chip)
Two Panzer IVD’s knocked out (14 chips)
1 Panzer 38 (t) knocked out (9 chips)
1 R35 on the other side of the river at game’s end (14 points)

Germans 12 chips:

2 chips left over from initial deployment (2 chips)
1 SOMUA knocked out (10 chips)

Our next session will be on January 5th at 2 PM at 110 Pleasant Street, East Brookfield, MA. Please follow us on FaceBook at the Mass Pikemen Gaming Club.

Happy Tanksgiving! 2 Soviet, 5 French, and 5 German tanks get off the November painting table for “What A Tanker” games

November 2018 for me has been a month of armor, culminating in a fine “Tanksgiving” – a fine output for me of early WWII 15mm (1:100) scale armor. I intend for these to be used in What a Tanker© games. Certainly, my mid-November visit to the American Heritage Museum played a role in spurring this direction in my hobby efforts. You can see my current 2018 production here, and there are a lot of tanks.

My focus continued to be on early war vehicles. I had enough forces for an early Eastern Front game between the Axis (Germans and Italians) and the Soviets, but I wanted to have more variety in terms of tanks available. My KV-1 platoon needed some help, so I added some BT-series tanks.

My other goal was to build German and French forces for a France 1940 scenario. For the Germans I added a Panzer IIC, a Panzer IIIE, and three StuG Ausf A assault guns to my fleet. For the French, I added two Renault 35’s and three SOMUA S-35’s. All of these came from the Flames of War line from Battlefront Miniatures. I really like their tanks, even though I don’t play Flames of War! I think that I can get some crossover between the early-war German forces for such a scenario and use some on the Eastern Front. Long term, I am also planning on designing a North Africa scenario for the British and the Germans, and some of the figures I got from Battlefront will serve nicely after I paint them in desert colors.

Regarding colors, I also acquired some of the Battlefront paints so as to understand the colors that they recommend. The current Battlefront “Colours of War” line mixes sets of 20 ml and 12 ml dropper bottles, as compared with Vallejo’s 17 ml bottles. It appears that at least some of their paints may have been made by Vallejo, at least in the past. I found them to be good paints that worked well either thinned in an airbrush or a regular brush. At the end of this post, I will share the paints and materials that I used for those interested.

In this post, in order I will discuss the Soviets, the French, and the German models I worked on in November. I also am submitting these as part of a Mechanical November community painting challenge run by Azazel (which is very fun to be a part of – check him out!).

Soviet

BT-5 & BT-7 in Blister

Priming the BT’s undercarriages

Painted up and needing weathering

The two Soviet tanks that I added were the BT-5 and the BT-7. An advantage of adding these will be that they also were used against the Finns in the Winter War and against the Japanese at Nomonhan in 1939 and during the Soviet Invasion of Manchuria in 1945. So, I can use them in different scenarios for sure. I followed the same procedure to paint these as I did my previous early war Soviet tanks.

For assembly, I again chose to magnetize the turrets by drilling out the hulls and the turrets and using rare earth magnets. I weathered all of the tanks, as I prefer my tanks to be muddy. I also left the crews out, as I did not like the way they fit in the turrets. Of note, their Christie suspensions (an American invention) would be reproduced with the T-34 series.

Overall, I am happy with the way these turned out. In What a Tanker© their fighting characteristics are exactly the same.

6 BT5 and BT7 front — BT-5 (left) and BT-7 (right) frontal view

7 BT5 and BT7 back — BT-5 (left) and BT-7 (right) rear view

French

I have always had an affinity for the French Army, as I have a French name (albeit of French-Canadian extraction), speak French, and spent time with three different Regiments du Genie (Engineer Regiments) back in the 1980’s.

For my France 1940 scenario, I already had two resin Char B1 bis tanks from Wargame Models in Ohio. I added two light infantry tanks (Renault 35 or R35) and three SOMUA S35’s for a balanced group.

The SOMUA’s as received

SOMUA prepped for drilling and magnetizing the turrets

SOMUA’s assembled

R-35’s in the blister – tiny 2-man tanks!

Assembling and painting these would require new uses of poster tack, plastic plates, and wood screws. This allowed me to both safely handle the tanks in production but also to get the right look of the camouflage. I decided to leave the crews out, as I had little confidence that they would survive the tabletop for very long as the models were designed.

I also got to play with some decals from Battlefront. These did require retreatment with Liquid Decal Film from Microscale Industries before I used their other products to affix their decals. I could not believe that the French roundel decal came in two pieces (the blue dot was separate and had to be affixed after and onto the red-ringed white circle). That was annoying!

9 French forces for 1940 — My new French tanks with my old Char B1 bis tanks

10 SOMUA's front — The three SOMUA S35’s, frontal view

11 SOMUA's left side — SOMUA side view showing the card-suit designations on the turret backs

15 Defenders of France — Nice group shot

German

For the Germans, I chose to use the Panzer IIC, the Panzer IIIE, and the Sturmgeschutz Ausf A. The Panzer II’s came in a box of 5 – but was missing one tank gun. Battlefront has promised to make this good (and I expect it soon). I chose to make one of the Panzer II’s a France 1940 candidate, saving the other four for a North African scenario that I will complete later on. The Panzer IIIE came in three separate blisters. Ironically, the Panzer IIIE was the worst of the Germans to assemble. One gun was almost split, and the turrets were nearly three different sizes. There were a lot of mold lines to correct as well, especially on the tracks.

I repaired the one gun with green stuff, and chose it for the France 1940 group, saving the other two for North Africa. Lastly, historically it seems that very few StuG III’s made it to North Africa. Therefore, I added all three of the assault guns for my France 1940 scenario.

Panzer II’s prepped.

The Panzer IIIE blisters

The StuG Ausf A box.

Assembled/repaired Pz IIIE’s

Assembled StuG IIIA.

How I mounted the turrets

Mounted turrets for painting

Pz II and III primed

StuG IIIA’s base coated

12 Panzer III prepped for camo — The Panzer IIIE prepped for camouflage

14 PzIIC right side — Panzer IIC complete, left side

15 PzIIC left side — Panzer IIC, left side. The 14 is for my wife – her and my lucky number!

16 PzIIC rear — Rear view of the tiny Panzer IIC.

17 Pz IIIE front — The Panzer IIIE completed. The brown camouflage doesn’t really show up as well here (so I guess it works!).

18 Pz IIIE back — Panzer IIIE opposite view

19 StuGA's front — Sturmgeschutz III Ausf A, frontal view

20 StuGA's left side — Sturmgeschutz III Ausf A, left side view

21 StuGA's right side and rear — Sturmgeschutz III Ausf A, right side and rear view

22 all German fronts — My Germans for the France 1940 scenario

I was glad to have finished these in time for our club’s monthly session (which I will post about shortly). I will be adding more to my fleet, but in the meantime, I hope you enjoyed these. Do you have a favorite?

I appreciate hearing your thoughts and feedback in the comments section below. Thanks for looking!

PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, WASHES, AND FLOCKING USED:

COMMONLY USED ON MULTIPLE TANKS:

Vallejo “Flow Improver”
Vallejo “Airbrush Thinner”
Testors “Universal Acrylic Thinner”
Battlefront “German Camo Black Brown”
Battlefront “Dark Gunmetal”
Vallejo Mecha Color “Green”
Battlefront German Camo Black Brown
Vallejo “Surface Primer – Black”
Vallejo “Burnt Umber” (pigment)
Vallejo “Light Sienna” (pigment)
Vallejo “Light Slate Grey” (pigment)
Vallejo “Natural Umber” (pigment)
Vallejo Mecha Color “Light Rust Wash” (weathering)
Vallejo Mecha Color “Oil Stains” (weathering)
Battlefront “Oxide Red”
Gorilla Glue
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Gloss Varnish”
Microscale Micro-Set
Microscale Micro-Sol
Microscale Liquid Decal Film
1/8″ rare earth neodymium magnets
Citadel “Nuln Oil” (shade)
Citadel “Nuln Oil Gloss” (shade)
Appropriate decals from Battlefront
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Matt Varnish”

UNIQUE TO THE SOVIET TANKS:

Vallejo “Surface Primer – Russian Green”
Vallejo Panzer Series “Camouflage Olive Green”
Vallejo Mecha Color “Light Green”
Citadel “Biel-Tan Green” (shade)
Citadel “Athonian Camoshade” (shade)
Secret Weapons Washes “Sewer Water”
Citadel “Agrax Earthshade”

UNIQUE TO THE FRENCH TANKS:

Battlefront “GI Green”
Battlefront “Flat Earth”
Battlefront “Sicily Yellow”

UNIQUE TO THE GERMAN TANKS:

Battlefront “Panzer Gray”
Battlefront “Rommel Shade”
Battlefront “Chocolate Brown”
Battlefront “European Skin”
Battlefront “Skin Shade”
Vallejo “Medium Skin Tone”
Battlefront “Black”
Green stuff

Thanks again for looking and for your feedback!

There’s a real Panther in Central Massachusetts, and he’s got many friends!

On Veteran’s Day 2018, I decided that I must see the American Heritage Museum in Hudson, MA. It has been known for aircraft, but recently acquired the Jacques M. Littlefield collection from California. They had a “soft opening” on their new tank and AFV collection, and it looked good on FaceBook. They also offered vets a free admission, so I thought it would be a good experience.

I had no idea I was about to see the most unbelievable collection of functioning military vehicles in the US.

Museum Entrance

A small cannon at the entrance

There was a short but very good video on Massachusetts and its role in the Revolutionary War. Then, a door opens and you find yourself in a WWI trench and a multi-visual presentation ensues.

WWI Nurse attending wounded

Trench warfare presentation

The trench

An FT 17 appears

After, you get to see the FT-17 (American made version) close up

Crank for the FT-17 and its data plate

Next, a door opens, and it is early WWII. A British Vickers Mark V is on display, along with a Mercedes staff car. There will soon be a Panzer I as well.

Vickers Mark V

Data sheet

Vickers Mark V (the chairs detract a bit!)

Another door opened to a walkway around a giant hall – and my jaw dropped multiple times.

12 HALLWA OVERVIEW — One side of the massive exhibit hall is all WWII

36 MODERN GALLERY — The other side goes from Korea to the present

So I was not expecting that many rare tanks, to include a functional Panzer V Panther. It had been recovered from a lake on the Eastern Front and fully restored. I will share some more pictures below, but these do not do this collection justice. It was amazing to see these so close up. There were very few placards on the vehicles, but luckily I know a lot of them because of my historical and war gaming interests as well as my background in the Army. If I misidentify any here, it’s on me.

Nebelwerfer and Halftrack

Sturmgeschutz III

A centerpiece of the collection is the Panther versus a Soviet T-34/85. There is a screen that has a multi-visual presentation of the two opposing tank commanders, with sounds, effects, and more. It concludes with the story of the recovered Panther.

The T-34/85 facing the Panther

Beautiful restoration of this Panther

Nice view of the T-34/85

Stunning to see this legend

The presentation screen with the opposing tank commanders

Here you see the Panther’s unrestored state as found

All major European and North African campaigns were represented. First, North Africa:

View from the walkway

Top of an M5 Stuart

An M3 Lee or a Grant

A Matilda II in British Desert markings

Close up of the M3

German Scout car

Then Italy:

M4 Sherman

M5 Stuart

German Kugelwagon

Not sure what this is, but the staff said there are only two remaining in the world

There was yet another T-34 – an older one:

There was a nice collection of UK tanks that I had never seen before:

Cromwell tank

Churchill tank

Interior view of the Churchill

Bren Gun carrier

A Locust! This is an American-made glider-transported tank that only saw service in the Rhine River crossings with the British Army. Very rare!

Daimler armored car

There were of course many WWII American tanks and tank destroyers:

Sherman Jumbo with reenactor

M18 Tank Destroyer

M8 Greyhound armored car

Interestingly, there was a Jagdpanzer 38 (Hetzer) that was key in the What a Tanker game that I played the night before – I had seen one before, but not so soon after I had used it in a game!

25 GERMAN HETZER — Jagdpanzer 38 (Hetzer) tank destroyer

There was also an ME-109!

An impressive display of Flak 88 AA gun and accompanying equipment was nicely. This could have been the gun that wounded my late Uncle Joseph Delaney in his B-17 in 1943.

There were a couple of Russian vehicles – an ISU-122 and an SU-100 displayed.

SU-100

ISU-122

My grandfather, Marcus C. Delaney, drove an M-24 Chaffee light tank in WWII. The museum put their Chaffee in the Korean War section, as it did serve there as well. I was feeling somber seeing my grandfather’s tank on Veteran’s Day, and I miss him. He was a hero to me, and a big reason I went into West Point and the US Army.

31 M24 CHAFFEE — M24 Chaffee, my grandfather drove this model in WWII

31A M24 CHAFFEE — Trying to take a selfie while feeling somber is a tough thing. I do miss my Papa (Marcus Delaney).

The next section was dedicated to the Vietnam War.

M41 Walker Bulldog light tank

M47 or M48 Patton

Vietnamese PT-76 amphibious tank

For the Cold War, there was an East German T-72.

T-72 side shot

T-72 turret

Next, the “hot” war that occurred during my service, the Gulf War. I did not go to the theater, and performed my duties stateside. I often say that they had a war and did not invite me.

SCUD launcher

M60A3 tank

M551 Sheridan – the last conflict for this airborne tank

Finally, the War on Terror, which had a USMC M1A2 Abrams tank (though I am not exactly sure which variant it was). It was hit by an IED in Fallujah in 2006. There is a touching video presentation of the event and its impact on the crew and the tank commander’s widow. RIP.

35 WAR ON TERROR 911 GIRDER — A girder from the Twin Towers

35A WAR ON TERROR ABRAMS — The USMC Abrams M1A2

The museum truly honors veterans, and I was humbled to walk through the many, many displays. To have one in Massachusetts like this is a really special thing. The museum will close from November 25th to April 15th, so there are a couple of weekends left to try to go before spring.

I will be coming back here for sure. Thanks to the American Heritage Museum for such a great homage to our history and our veterans.

“What A Tanker” Eastern Front battle at November Mass Pikemen Session

On November 10, 2018, the Mass Pikemen held their monthly gaming session with a game of What a Tanker set on the Eastern Front in 1942. The scenario was a 1942/1943 one where a Soviet force consisting of 1 KV-1a heavy tank, 2 T-26 M1939 light tanks, 2 BA-64 armored cars, and a couple of Gaz trucks was surrounded and needed to break out through the Axis lines. It was my first chance to get all of my recently painted tanks on the tabletop.

Initially opposing the Soviets was a German force consisting of 2 Panzer IVd tanks and a 1 Panzer 38(t) tank. Reinforcements were staggered for the Axis, and they consisted of a 1 Panzer IIIN tank, a Hetzer tank destroyer (Jagdpanzer 38), and an Italian M13/41. It was imperative for the Soviets to exit the other side of the board with the KV-1 and the two trucks as quickly as possible.

The Germans moved on first – and one of the T-26’s was able to early on get a couple of shots in on one of the Panzer IVd’s, with the second one knocking it out. This was a fun event for 7-year old Jack Burns who was playing in his first war game ever. He was so excited to knock out the German tank.

1 Mike's Panzer IV death — The Panzer IIIN moves on the board as a reinforcement. The second Panzer IVd takes advantage of its burning comrade’s smoky wreck.

The Soviets KV-1a was slow to move forward, and the T-26’s outran it. The Panzer 38(t) moved up to the ruined factory and took aim at one of the T-26’s in the open. It fired, and missed the Soviet. Returning fire, the T-26 hit and knocked out the Panzer 38 (t). Two down for the Axis! Shortly after this, the other Panzer IVd peeked out from behind its brother, only to suffer the same fate from the plucky T-26. Three down now!

2 Chris, Jared, Jack — Chris Smedile, Jared Burns, and Jack Burns advance their vehicles. The Panzer 38 (t) is behind the wall in the center in a good defensive position, facing the T-26 that was to knock it out.

3 Chris C, Mike, Jared, Jack — Chris Comeau and Mike Morgan (and later myself) played the Axis. This view shows the length of the board the Soviets needed to cross. Each fighting vehicle had a magnetic dashboard, and its own colored dice. Command Dice were always white though.

Let me add a side note here on my rules modifications for this scenario. What a Tanker does not have rules for either armored cars or trucks. I modified them here for the armored cars, which I made Fast (easier to always move), and Small (tougher to hit). For their Armor, I only gave them a 1, which meant that any hit from a tank gun would very likely be enough to kill the BA-64. As the BA-64 only had a machine gun, I gave them 2 modified Strike dice. The modifications were twofold. First, their range was 24″ (half that of the tanks). Secondly, the BA-64’s would hit on a 6, but the only likely result of such a hit would be to force the target to button up if it was not already. If the BA-64 player rolled double-6’s, I would allow 2 strike dice. So the BA-64’s were harassers at best. I had the Gaz trucks move last, with 2 D6 of movement (no command dice). If they were hit, they were destroyed.

4 Chris celebrates his kill — Chris celebrates his second kill, while the Panzer 38 (t) burns. You can see here behind the BA-64’s a D12, which I used for initiative rolls instead of D6’s and re-rolling for ties. It worked much easier and was much less confusing.

Back to the battle!

At this low point, they got reinforcements in consecutive turns. First, the Panzer IIIN came on in turn 2. In turn 4, the Axis got the Hetzer and the M13/41. The tide of battle was turning.

5 Hetzer chases KV-1a — The Hetzer ignores the BA-64 and sets out to hunt the KV-1a.

The Panzer IIIN moved up to the hill, awaiting the T-26 and a truck. The German successively took both out, leaving the Soviets only with one T-26, one truck, the KV-1a, and the BA-64’s. The M13/41 rolled badly, and hid behind the Panzer IVd wrecks for better dice rolls, even taking humiliating fire from the BA-64’s that caused it to have to button up.

5 truck death — In the foreground, a Gaz truck burns. The crew of the Panzer IIIN behind the hill looks at the burning T-26 in front of it. In the left center, the Panzer 38 (t) burns, as do 2 Panzer IVd’s in the right rear. On the left, the showdown between the lumbering KV-1a and the Hetzer is about to begin.

The Hetzer moves fast, and tried to move around to the rear of the KV-1a. It succeeded, and missed with its initial rear shot. The KV-1a immediately turned the tables, turning 180°, and rotating its massive turret towards the diminutive tank destroyer. The Soviet again got initiative, firing not once, not twice, but three times – and unbelievably missing on all three attempts! The saving grace for the Hetzer was its Small characteristic, which meant the KV-1a needed a “7” instead of a “6” to hit.

The Hetzer then got initiative and rolled its Command Dice well enough to fire but not to maneuver towards the Soviet behemoth’s vulnerable rear. It decided to take a chancy shot at the frontal armor of the KV-1a. It got 5 hits on 7 dice (needed a “5” or “6” to hit). The Soviet player got zero saves, and the KV-1a was knocked out.

6 KV burns and truck faces m13 41 — The KV-1a burns on the right, while the Hetzer and the M13/41 hunt the last truck (on the left). The BA-64 attempted a ramming attack on the Hetzer to give the truck a chance to escape.

The BA-64 ramming attack did nothing to the Hetzer, which dispatched the armored car with one shot. Meanwhile, the Italian M13/41 took out the last truck. The surviving BA-64 was destroyed by the Italian, leaving the Panzer IIIN and a damaged T-26 in a showdown. With the loss of the trucks and the KV-1a, the game was called an Axis victory.

7 final — Mike Morgan victoriously surveys the smoky battlefield.

The game was a fun one for winners and losers, with highs and lows for both. Next time, I will probably give the Soviets a second KV-1a.

The next Mass Pikemen’s gaming session will be on Saturday, December 1st from 2-8 PM, at 110 Pleasant Street in East Brookfield, MA. This is a change from our previous 3-9 PM time slot. We will be playing What a Tanker again!

Please join us, and share your thoughts and feedback in the comments section below!

Let’s do some tanks! Soviet KV-1a platoon for “What a Tanker”

I have been working on getting a fleet of tanks for the What a Tanker game from the Too Fat Lardies company. It’s a great game and has been a true hit with my gaming club, the Mass Pikemen. I have been working on building up a flexible group of tanks, and so far I am up to 71 tanks in 15mm/1:100 scale – not including ones needing assembly and painting.

My sources have been eBay, hobby stores, and Facebook. If I waited to paint them all, I would never do another project, so finding some mostly painted resin (and reasonably priced) models from Wargame Models in Ohio has helped shorten the process. Mostly I just washed and varnished the ones I have gotten from WMIO.

One group acquisition was from another source on eBay – it was a resin Soviet KV-1 platoon consisting of 5 KV-1’s heavy tanks, 2 T-26 light tanks, 2 BA-64 armored cars, and 2 trucks. I do not know the manufacturer. They had been given some sort of dark brown coating with splashes of lighter brown. They color-wise did not look particularly like Soviet tanks from 1941. This platoon is the main subject of this blog post.

0 Group of tanks — My tank fleet grows – the KV-1 platoon is in the upper left.

1 KV platoon unpainted — The platoon as I got it in the brown colors. I decided to make the heavy tanks as the KV-1a version. All of the turrets were not magnetized, which I did do as well as part of this project.

2 magnets — I removed the resin post on the turret and drilled out 1/8″ holes in it and widened the preexisting hole in the hull. I got some nice neodymium 1/8″ x 1/16″ magnets for magnetizing from totalElement.com.

It was necessary to use a Sharpie to mark one end of the 1/8″ magnets such that I inserted them in the correct alignment (I did not want the turrets “blowing off” prematurely!). I glued the magnets into the holes with Gorilla Glue.

3 magnet turret KV1a — Each turret originally had this post that I removed and drilled underneath.

4 drill and magnet turret KV1a — Magnetized K-V1a turret

5 BA 64 repair — BA-64 turret showing my repair of the gun. It was thin resin. The other resin gun broke later as well so these are not sturdy.

I needed to find a way to paint the figures without damaging the paint, and tanks were new to me. I decided to take advantage of the magnets on the turrets here. I used small nails inserted into styrofoam blocks (the kind used for flower crafts). For the hulls, I masked the tracks for secondary painting, and such that I could hold them safely.

6 priming turrets — How many turrets can fit on the head of a nail?

7 priming hulls with masking — The hulls masked for priming.

I airbrushed/primed the figures with Vallejo “Surface Primer – Russian Green”.

I then gave the figures an airbrushed base coat with a thinned coat of Vallejo Panzer Series “Camouflage Olive Green”.

10 close up base coat — Close up shot of one of the KV-1a hills after base coating.

These looked too drab, and not very Soviet green looking. I moved on to adding Vallejo Mecha Color “Green” with a light airbrushing. Next, I used a brush to dry brush Vallejo Mecha Color “Light Green” on the figures. I was able to then give the figures an appropriate light green by using Citadel “Biel-Tan Green” as a shade. It worked!

11 contrast after light green and Biel-tan — Contrast the before shading (turret on left) and after (turret on right). The light green helped give depth to the shaded turrets and hulls. I darkened everything with an additional shade – Citadel “Athonian Camoshade”.

12 close up hulls after green wash — Before the “Athonian Camoshade”…

13 after wash with athonian camoshade — …and after adding the darker shade.

At this point, I removed the masking and painted the tracks. I then wanted to add some mud, dirt, and dust with pigments. I used several Vallejo pigments and binders (all listed at the end of this post). These models are small, (about 3″ long by 1½” wide by 1¾” high so I wanted to give enough weathering without overwhelming them.

14 adding the pigments — An in-progress pic of weathering one of the hulls.

15 ready for varnish — All of the weathering done and the vehicles ready for varnish.

17 t26 varnish hull — T-26 hull varnished.

18 all done — The platoon nice and dirty with the mud of Mother Russia.

This was my first attempt at painting any WWII tank models. I think I can do better, but early war Soviet tanks are pretty simple, as they had not usually added any markings. It will not be my last, and I am hoping that I get better with more tries. This project also is my first submission for Azazel’s November Community painting challenge – Mechanical November ’18. If you have not checked out his blog, it’s worth a look. Also, my next few posts will showcase tanks, so I hope you enjoy.

Now for some eye candy!

19 5 KV1a — All five KV-1a’s with different angles to view. Ignore the giant tetrahedrons please!

21 5 KV1a rear — Rear view. I “mudded” them up a bit here.

22 the platoon — The combat vehicles move out.

23 one of each — One of each AFV I painted plus 2 trucks.

24 KV1a in town — KV-1a in an urban setting.

25 T26 in town — T-26 in town (what’s left of it anyway).

I hope that you enjoyed this post. Please let me know your thoughts and feedback below in the comments section.

Thanks for looking!

PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, WASHES, AND FLOCKING USED:

Citadel “Imperium Primer”
Vallejo “Surface Primer – Russian Green”
Vallejo “Flow Improver”
Vallejo “Airbrush Thinner”
Testors “Universal Acrylic Thinner”
Vallejo Panzer Series “Camouflage Olive Green”
Vallejo Mecha Color “Green”
Vallejo Mecha Color “Light Green”
Citadel “Biel-Tan Green” (shade)
Citadel “Athonian Camoshade” (shade)
Vallejo “Surface Primer – Black”
Elmer’s White Glue
Vallejo “Pigment Binder”
Vallejo “Burnt Umber” (pigment)
Vallejo “Industrial Splash Mud” (weathering)
Vallejo “Light Sienna” (pigment)
Vallejo “Light Slate Grey” (pigment)
Gorilla Glue
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Matt Varnish”

Thanks again for looking and for your feedback!

Roos from Spaaaaaace!

Back in 2016, I had finally completed an original Ral Partha “Rooman War Party” (#01-044) from 1977. This effort culminated in my building a 21-figure phalanx of pike-armed anthropomorphic kangaroos, replete with Australian 7-pointed stars on their shields.

At that time, I also began to see that others, like the wonderfully named Imperial Rebel Ork (IRO for short) were doing amazing “kit-bashes” and conversions with different models. Of course, IRO uses plastic, and I’m more of an old school metal guy. I also was getting more into retro sci-fi figures and using them for skirmish games. I was inspired by IRO and Azazel (both Aussies) to push myself to do my own conversion. So, I combined two figures – a Ral Partha Rooman (25 mm scale) and a Reaper #80010, “Nova Corp Sergeant” (28 mm scale), made a mold, and cast a bunch of “Space Roomans” (in metal of course). You can read about that somewhat massive project here. Getting around to painting these took a bit longer, and even my good friend Buck Surdu painted some that I gave him much quicker than I did.

15 Rooman after star — Ral Partha Rooman

1 Space Roomans pickup from ebay — The Reaper figure (circled) that I used was in a bunch of figures I got on eBay

Azazel is kind enough to run a monthly community painting challenge – and October’s was “Unit-ed October”, and focused on units. So, I took this opportunity to get these done. Of course, this effort was slightly affected by some gaming and the Red Sox winning the 2018 World Series (YES!), but I got them (the Space Roos that is) done by October 31st, 2018. I will use them in Combat Patrol™ games.

I decided to paint the Roos similar to the way I did the Roomans, except that I wanted a more dusty and dirty look to them, as they are intrepid infantrymen (infantryroos?). I also wanted to convert a couple of figures per squad (yes, a conversion of a conversion) to carry different weapons. In this case, I used a grenade launcher sprue from RBJ miniatures to make two Roos into grenadiers, and a different RPG sprue from RBJ to make two other Roos into anti-tank troopers. So my 28-figure platoon would consist of:

Platoon Leader
Platoon Sergeant
2 Space Roo Squads consisting of:
- 1 Squad Leader in each squad
- 2 teams of:
  - 1 TL per team
  - 4 Space Roos with assault rifles/blasters per team
  - 1 Space Roo per team with either a grenade launcher or anti-tank weapon

Two squads make a light platoon, but I think that they will be a potent elite fighting force on the tabletop. Also, these Roos are equipped with body armor on their torsos, and importantly, jet packs! I will also give them a higher rate of movement similar to what I did for the Space Phraints (1½ cards of movement). I cleaned and filed the models, and prepared them for conversion and priming by mounting them on 1″ steel washers.

1 Cleaned and mounted — The two squads behind their platoon leader and platoon sergeant. The weapons for conversion are on the left.

I had a tough time reorienting the arms of the RPG-armed Roos, and I needed to break them and use green stuff to create a proper pose. Pinning was not feasible unfortunately. I also used green stuff to mount the grenadiers’ launchers and to give them bandoleers of grenades. The grenadiers looked fine enough for the tabletop, but I was unhappy with the RPG Roos, as they looked “Popeye” like in their arms. As the Space Roos body armor gives them an angular body look, I decided to use a series of very small 2 mm polystyrene chips to create an “armored look” over the arms by affixing them with Gorilla glue.

2 conversions — The green stuff conversions – note the bulbous arms that needed attention on the AT Roos.

3 up armor — My fix for the arms. You can see that my casts varied in terms of “crispness”. Clearly, I was going to need the brushwork to make these work.

I ended up double priming these figures, as I knew that I would need to fix much with brushwork and painting. For example, there was a large indentation on the Roos’ left feet (paws?) that I needed to paint over. I thought that a thinned brush priming followed by a thinned airbrush priming would help. I think it did.

For their base colors, I went with a yellowy/sandy look for their armor, which I thought would reflect a desert or dusty deployment.

5 base coat sand yellow — I airbrushed the armor with a yellowish/sand color. The idea was to use washes to bring out details (and allow me to obscure casting abnormalities). This would give me a nice camouflaged look at the end.

6 eyes, hands feet — Outlining the eyes, ears, feet, and gloves in black. I went with a red kangaroo coloring for the Roo parts .

7 mid stage — Moving on to fur painting. Inks and washes gave more depth to this later on.

9 painted not washed — The bottom torso on the left has been painted with additional inks for depth.

10 drybrush guns — Comparison of the weapons – before (left) and after (right) dry brushing. The blue is indicative of the 1st Squad.

One of the issues I really want to focus on when I build a platoon is to make it easy for the players (some of us with “experienced” eyes) to see and identify a figure’s squad and team. I got some steel punches, and some jewelry stamps to make 1/4″ and 5/16″ placards that I could mount on the figures’ bases.

11 punches and stamps — My 1/4″ punch and the two jewelry stamps next to the polystyrene placards. I did use 5/16″ placards for the platoon leader and platoon sergeant.

12 painted placards — The placards, stamped and painted. I used a wash to fill out the letters and numbers.

13 placard close up — Placard close up shot

Next, I washed the figures twice with Citadel “Agrax Earthshade”. I then mounted the RPG’s with Gorilla glue.

Lastly, I used a whole bottle of Citadel “Armageddon Dunes” to fill and shape around the bases and let them dry and harden. The placards were mounted into this paint. Then I gave the bases a wash with “Agrax Earthshade” and two different dry brush applications (Polly Scale “WWII German Armor Light Tan” and Vallejo “Light Brown”). Then I gave everything two coats of matte varnish.

15 platoon initial bases — After filling the bases

16 pl and psg need bases washed — The platoon leader and platoon sergeant almost ready!

17 bases done! — Nice close up of the bases. The shading gave the body armor the dirty effect that I wanted.

18 AT and ldrs done — The four conversions of conversions, front…

After adding some tufts from Shadows Edge Miniatures for even better identification, the platoon was finally done (I LOVE their tufts). I am happy with it, given the work and effort it took to bring it to life. So, now, appropriately, I will share with you some eye candy!

19 Platoon HQ — The platoon HQ, frontal view…

19a Platoon HQ Back — and rear view, with a good view of the jet packs, red placards, and tufts.

20 First Squad — 1st Squad with blue placards

21 Second Squad — 2nd Squad with green placards and green tufts on the leaders.

22 conversions — The AT and grenadier Roos

23 meet ancestors — The Space Roos meet their ancestors, the Roomans!

24 box o Roomans — My box of Roos and Roomen

25 holding off warbots — The Space Roos’ 1st Squad holds off the Warbots

26 holding off warbots 2nd squad — The 2nd Squad close Assaults Juggerbot

I am looking forward to seeing these guys in action soon. I appreciate your looking and hope that you enjoyed this post. I always read your feedback, so please let me know what you think in the comments section at the bottom of this post.

I dedicate this post to all my Aussie friends!

PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, WASHES, AND FLOCKING USED:

Citadel “Imperium Primer”
Vallejo “Surface Primer – White”
Vallejo “Flow Improver”
Vallejo “Airbrush Thinner”
Testors “Universal Acrylic Thinner”
Vallejo Mecha Color “Sand Yellow”
Vallejo Game Air “Red Terracotta”
Citadel “Flayed One Flesh”
Americana “Bleached Sand”
Americana “Black Tie – Satin”
Vallejo “Black”
Vallejo “US Dark Green”
Tamiya “Copper XF-6”
Tamiya “X-20A Thinner”
Tamiya “XF-49 Khaki”
Vallejo Game Air “Weiss”
Tamiya “Gun Metal X-10”
Vallejo Game Air “Steel”
Vallejo Game Air “Beasty Brown”
Vallejo Mecha Color “Light Steel”
Vallejo Mecha Color “Dark Steel”
Vallejo Mecha Color “Metallic Blue”
Vallejo Game Air “Electric Blue”
Vallejo Mecha Color “Metallic Green”
Citadel “Hexwraith Flame”
Vallejo Mecha Color “SZ Red”
Secret Weapons Washes “Just Red” (ink)
P3 “Brown” (ink)
Secret Weapons Washes “Armor Wash” (wash)
Citadel “Nuln Oil Gloss” (wash)
Citadel “Agrax Earthshade” (wash)
Gorilla Glue
Citadel “Armageddon Dunes”
Polly Scale WWII “German Armor Light Tan”
Vallejo “Light Brown”
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Matt Varnish”
Shadows Edge Miniatures 6 mm “Dark Forest Red” (tufts)
Shadows Edge Miniatures 6 mm “Dark Blue” (tufts)
Shadows Edge Miniatures 12 mm “Wild Tufts” (tufts)

Thanks again for looking and for your feedback! ESPECIALLY AUSSIES!

Fort Devens Game Day Recap

On October 20th, there was a Devens game day at the former Ft. Devens in Massachusetts. I was interested in attending for a couple of reasons. First, I am trying to get to more gaming events in the area. Second, I was stationed at Fort Devens while I was a member of the 39th Engineer Battalion (Combat) from 1989-1992, so I was intrigued to see the post again in its new configuration. Fort Devens was closed as an active duty US Army post in the 1990’s, and Massachusetts has redeveloped the post by bringing in a lot of industry. Still, some of the post is used by the reserves. In fact my old battalion area seems to have been saved and redeveloped for the reserves. That area is all fenced off now and I did not want to photograph the area and draw unwanted attention to doing so! Other buildings and barracks areas are untouched since closure, with actual trees growing out of the edifices yielding an apocalyptic/Walking Dead look. This blog post is a bit late, but I did get wrapped up in the baseball ALCS and the World Series, which were both won by the great Boston Red Sox!

The actual game sessions were held at the Fort Devens Museum. There were three games there – a WWI game, a naval game, and a pulp game. I did not get any pictures of the naval game but you can read about in an excellent post here. I focused on playing a WWI game (given that it is close to the centenary of the end of that conflict). The board is entirely scratch built, and I believe the rules were “Trench Warfare”, but I am not sure. The game master, Bill, did an excellent job, and I wanted to share his board as it was excellent. The event clearly tried to recruit younger gamers, which was admirable for growing our hobby.

1 WWI — Starting side for the Allies. From far to near, the attackers were US Marines, British, and French. It was a bit ahistorical but a fun game.

2 WWI — While I commanded the French, I had two British tanks – a Mark IV and a Whippet.

3 WWI — Another view of the Allies starting positions.

4 WWI — A truly beautiful scratch built table. Bill (the game master) is pictured here standing. He did a nice job creating a trench works system with 2′ x 2′ modular sections.

5 WWI — Some of the German forces – they were to engage the USMC is a series of bloody hand-to-hand battles.

7 WWI — An engaged group. Bill kept the game moving (unlike the actual WWI)!

8 WWI — The Germans move up, and get hit by very lucky hits by my French 75mm artillery.

10 WWI — Taking out the forward observation posts and then getting torched by a German flamethrower

11 WWI — German artillery disables my Mark IV

The game ended in a draw, but I enjoyed it a lot.

There was also a pulp game that I did not play in, but that looked interesting.

13 Pulp Alley — Druids and Nazis? And Stonehenge?

Lastly, I looked around the museum and looked for anything related to my old unit. The only thing I saw was a donation from a former lieutenant from the 1977 time frame. I do think I could find a few things myself. Interestingly, I am a local, and the 39th had members who for the most part live in other parts of the country. I do commend the museum for trying to resurrect the posts history from WWI until closure.

15 39th pic — The only mention of the 39th

My thanks to the folks who set up this event and to the folks at the museum!

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