Bolt Action FJ

This weekend was a busy weekend for me.  First up I finished a project that has been sitting on my paint desk for the last few months.  Last fall I bought a few Fallshirmjager blisters and one box.  I've slowly been working on them as time permits, which isn't a whole lot when you're training a unit for deployment and have three young kids in the house.  I found motivation in the new Muskets and Tomahawks rules.  I have set on order and I now have a pile of lead from Eureka USA, Conquest, and Brigade Games that needs some attention.  With the pressure building up, I finished the last 10 FJs and the Stug III so I can begin my French and Indian War project.

Here is a shot of the total force.  All the miniatures are Bolt Action.  I have a 5 man command squad and two 8 man infantry sections with a Panzerschrek, Medium Mortar, and a Pak 40. 

 A close up of the first infantry section.  I'm not thrilled with the camo pattern, but over all I really like the sculpts.  They have to be my favorite sculpts from WWII.

 This is the command team.  There are two officers in caps, a radioman, medic, and spare rifleman.

 This is the second of the two infantry squads.  I love the sculpts in this squad, from the NCO with the grenade to the rifleman with the soft caps on.

 The medium mortar came out pretty well.  It was the first time I used the Highland Tuffs from Army Painter.  I used two different types of flock on this base.  The base itself was painted with Steel Legion Drab from GW then highlighted with a buff color.

 The Panzerschrek team.  I was looking for something to dress up the base with on this one and found a stick while cleaning the yard.  I snapped part of it off and made it into a down tree for the team to hide behind.

 I wish I could have gotten a better shot of the PAK 40.  Next time I'll take one from behind the crew.  There's a lot of action in that crew and it's a shame that you can't really make it out from this angle.

 Infantry section two in front of the Stug III

 The Stug III.  I'm not happy with how it came out.  It's a Bolt Action vehicle and it's one of the best resin vehicles I've worked with (which isn't many).  I'm not real good with vehicles to begin with, I hardly paint them but of all the sections in this platoon this vehicle is the weakest.  I did learn a few things about painting vehicles, so the next one should be better.

 Here's the last guy.  I was at the local brick and mortar last week and he had a British Bolt Action 1000pt army on the shelf.  Which is out of place for the shop considering that 40K, Hordes, and anything from Spartan Games are the main games there.  I bought it on a whim.  I figure the Fallschirmjager need a solid opponent for WWII and no one fits the bill better than the Tommies. 

I hope you enjoyed the miniatures.  I hope to post up some of my finished work with the French and Indian War soon.

25mm Battletech

While waiting for my next load of pirates to come in, I wanted to see what else I could build out of balsa and cardboard. I built a few ships, like the one posted below and I wanted to do something like that, but yet not along the lines of pirate stuff. As it happens, my pirates share a carry case with my old Battletroops miniatures. So then it hit me: I need a mech for these guys.

It didn't take long for me to pick one, the Locust was the only way to go. Not only were the legs and feet easier to build, but you can get a lot of the unseens as Robotech model kits. You can get a 1/32 scale Locust as a Crusher Joe kit, but it only stands like 4 or 5 inches tall and to be in scale with the other mechs it should be about 5-6 inches tall.

The hull was made from 4mm thick balsa. I built a box roughly shaped like the hull and sanded down the rough parts. I used mounting board to do details like the cockpit and to detail the hull with. I also used some thinner card off of a snack cake box to do some details. The mech was then dropped onto an old CD-ROM as a base. There's a 25mm Stiener laser rifleman and an Elemental for scale comparisons right next to the base. Both are from Ral Partha's old battletech line. I know you can still get the elemental from Iron Wind Metals, but I have no clue about the other guy. I'd say E-bay it and hope for the best.

I think the next step from here is to base it with GW rough coat and possible use a lot of ink washes to dirty it down. I don't want to pait it for a particular unit; I want to be able to use it for a lot of battles. I have both Kurtia infantry and Stiener one for Battletroops. Hell, it might never see a game as an actual Locust. There's some talk of doing Weird War II so it may become an Allied or German walker.

Yaaaaaaarrrrrrrr!

Back from deployment with a thirst to paint, I set upon my pirate collection again. I managed to paint a few more of them. All told, I have about 25 or so pirates painted with a few captains and two banners. When I clean off this heap of balsa and cardstock I have three pirates with boarding pikes to paint up yet. I get to posting some shots of the new pirates soon.

Over the weekend I did an internet search for Garry Chalk's instructions on how to build a pirate ship out of cardstock and balsa wood. Having Monday off, I raided the local Micheal's art supply store for the need materials. I spent about 5 hours Monday afternoon and another 4 hours or so today. I'm just about done with the ship. I have a few things to add yet, like windows on the stern and some detailing to the hull sides before I paint it.

I will say this about the plans: they're pretty close. I did find that I need to make adjustments to the parts now and again. I'd say they were about 90% accurate. I had to make a different hull template that was a bit longer and wider, along with some of the dressing parts. All in all, it's been a blast to put together. I have one other ship plan that I'd like to try. I'm not sure if I will build another one of these or not, but it sure was fun.

Ahhhhhrrrrrrrrrr!

Drink up me hearties!

So I was digging around my 'lost projects bin' the other day for something to paint. You know the lost bin, it has all the half finished projects that you never got around to doing in it. From the bin I grabbed a bag of foundry pirates left over from a project I did about 9 years ago when I was playing Flagship Games' 'Pirates' game. Somewhere deep in my collection is a pirate crew for that game. Having just finished watching the latest instalment of Pirates of the Caribbean, I grabbed the bag and retreated to the warmth of my old Kentucky home.

While on a computer break, I found that Warhammer Historicals is going to release a set of pirate rules sometime this year. That's cool by me, as it will be based of the Legends of the Old West rules. Even better.

First up is Mad Molly Howard and here crew. The banner is hand painted and converted from a pirate armed with a boarding pike. The other two scallywags are armed with a musket and knife followed by a guy who's seen better days with his pistol and cutlass.

Another converted pikeman in this crew. I really like the red flag thing. From what I gather, Henry Every had red banner with a skull on it. If Osprey Books is right, it was the same skull as below with crossed bones under it. Regardless, I pirated it for my own, dropped the bones and add a cannon and some cannon balls. I think it looks catchy. I like the black banner from above, but it doesn't strike me as well as the red one does.

Rounding out this little batch is an officer in a coat, a scallywag with a musket again, and Scotsman with a short barrelled blunderbus. At least I think he's supposed to be a Scot. Last we have three figures that aren't really pirates but were fun to paint all the same. We have civilian types and every one's favorite: the corporate downsizer. I can't wait to use the civi's as hostages and maybe even run a game where the pirates have to free their buddies in the dungeon from the evil headsman

Another Mike's Mechs Post

Here's the latest batch of mechs that I paint for Mike. This time we have an up-gunned Atlas (center) an up-gunned Jupiter (left as you view them), and the something with two large guns. Mike's told me about a dozen times what the names are, but I keep forgetting. I think that I have done about 20 or so of these mechs. I'm pretty sure that mike has about 16 of them so far. It's a pretty easy pattern, so long as the highlight works out well on the black. The black and red make them look pretty sharp. I need to ask him to line them all up in a large group shot, and maybe I can post it up on here. That might be cool.

Gotta New Look

I didn't like the old look, so now here's the new one. For now.....

Whitmann Lives

Just finished this guy. I got the Tiger Marsch box set for Flames of War. There's a few issues with it, namely the Whitmann figure is the same as some of the other Panzer tank commander's you get. Battlefront is slippin' just a bit. No matter. I went and grabbed a TC that looked more fitting for the Panzer ace than the one BF put in the box. I think it came out ok. If I had it to do over, I would skip the kill rings. My hand is not that steady.

Tommies are done!

I finally got them done. It's be a busy month with all the trips away from home, but I got them done. I spent pretty much the last two days working on them. I had two platoons left, the RA battery and the Motor platoon. I just finished both.

I bought one more platoon of Cromwells for a third platoon. I also got a single Cromwell at the same time. That should allow me to field that third platoon, and have two Cromwell VI CS tanks for my HQ

I'd like to complete the artillery battery and add a second firing platoon and observer Sherman. That'll be just a bit. I need to finish that third platoon first. Shouldn't be to much of a problem.

I also picked up the new Tiger Marsch box set. I might get to them after the last platoon of Cromwells. Anyway, enjoy the pics.

Yet more Mechs for Mike

Mike sent me some more mechs. Today's lot is a bunch of scratch builts he got of E-Bay. He sent me 6, and here are the first three. One is some type of Mad Cat, but the others are unknown to me. They look cool, and they guy that built them did a nice job with them. There's some rough spots on these mechs, but for the most part you can see them. With the black and red paint scheme, those flaws should blend in on the table. Mike doesn't game with them, but if he did, he'd have a pretty nice army of these by now.

More Tommies

I keep plugging away at the Tommies. Today I finished the HQ section, and two stands of infantry. The HQ has two Cromwell IV's and two Crusader AA's. The infantry stands are the PIAT team and the 60mm mortar team from the Motor Platoon I have. Enjoy.

Zombie action

I took a few shots of a zombie game my wife and I tried. She didn't like the rules. I'll have to find another set. I like the town. The two of us have been building it for some time.

Timid Tommies

Just finished my first Brit Armor platoon and thought I would share some shots of them. I got the whole boxed army to paint yet, but the first set is done. I think they will be fun to play in Flames of War being Reluctant Veterans. I joke all the time about them being 'timid Tommies' because of it.

Yes, that's a Firefly above. Gotta love 'em. I was introduced to them by way of Microsoft's Close Combat II. I was happy to find a Sherman tank that could shoot thru Tiger. Anyway, enjoy.

Here's a shot of one of the objective markers with a German command stand near it. I'm pleases with how it turned out. I tried static grass for the first time ever, and I've been painting for about 10 years now. I liked it. The burnt grass gives it a little something more.

Some of the items on the tank I wasn't sure what it was. Like that huge cloth thing that sticks out of the commander's hatch. So I made it the Union Jack. It seemed to fit and it brings the attention to the center of the model.

5150 test

I did a test run of the rules. I bet that I missed a lot of stuff, but I did get some idea of the rules. At the time, I didn't have the print version and had to run back and forth to my computer to check the rules and table.

My impression of the rules is that they will give me a quick battle with not a lot of book keeping. I like that, more action less work. Once I get settled into my duty station (yes, I'm getting deployed again 3 times in two years) I hope to do an 'actual batrep'. That will have to wait until after the weekend for sure.

below are a few shots I took of the battle. Basicly I had a platoon of light infantry hiding in buildings and what not trying to prevent the elemental from getting to the other table edge. I wasn't concerned with points or what not, I just wanted to get a feel for the rules. I did about 4 turns. The fourth turn featured a very heroic infantry squad took the brunt of a rocket strike, rallied to stay after losing 3 of 5 members and then manged to nock out the battlearmor with two well placed shots from the laser carbines. I gotta tell you, I was pulling for the Elemental, but these things happen.

Blast from the past

I was digging thru all the mini's I have the other day and found these old FASA Battletroops figures. I think I painted them about 5 or so years back. They were something I picked up off of E-Bay, painted, then shelved. You know how it is: You pick up a project, get it almost finished, then move onto something else. That's what happened with this set.

I got them off of E-Bay to play Battletroops with. I loved Battletech as a kid, and Mechwarrior: Dark Age had just come out which left me short of flat. I found the figures and the rules for Battletroops (and the Clantroops) expansion for pretty cheap. I even managed to get two more partial platoons of these guys off the net. I got one Krutia platoon (never painted) without the heavy weapons, and a second Stiener laser platoon (also never saw paint). I also found three elementals on E-Bay, and below is a shot of 2 of them.

I read thru the Battletroops/Clantroops rules but just didn't care for them. I think that's what killed the drive for me. I also found myself moving into a new area that was into more historical games. I got bit by the AK-47 kraze and latter fell into Flames of War. So I has these mini tucked away with no real ruleset to use with them. Until it happened....

Two Hour Wargames ran a special on 5150 for $20. What a steal, I got both a printed copy of the rules, and an instant PDF download key. Perfect. I had the zombie rules, and they looked cool. I figured that a ruleset like that would be perfect for a couple of Elementals to zoom around the board killing some Inner Sphere light infantry like it was going out of style.

But that's another post.

The Vikings again!

I've finished with my Hiberno-Norse for the time being. I painted up a few units, one of Huscalrs, one of Bondi, and another of some Irish bandits. The bandits were a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed painting them. When I complete the army, I'd like two full units of these guys, each about 24 figures strong with about 8 in each unit to have 2-handed axes. I made some javalins from floral wire and hammered out the ends into points. I think they came out pretty well, but you be the judge of that. All the shields were hand painted. Next time I think I'll go the route of buying transfers. I got my eye on some banners, just need to get the order in.

So how is my painting anyway?

More Mechs for Mike

Here's another batch of Wolfspider mechs that my buddy Mike had me paint for them.

ATZ Buildings

I've been bitten by the ATZ bug lately. After finishing 500pts of Hiberno-Norse for WAB, I was looking to do something else. I got myself some matting board and an exacto-knife and cut some up. I've looked at other folks sites, like TMP or Matakishi (SP?) Teahouse for ideas. I pretty much followed what Matakishi had on his site, only I used mat board and cut no where near the square corners he did. These are no where near the quality, but they fit the bill for me. 7-0 and go, baby.

I think it took me about an hour or so to cut one out. Each of the buildings (minus the corner building which is 5 inches square) are multiples of 6 inches in length. Walls are about 2 inches in height, with the false fronts as high as 3.5 inches. I did a strip mall that's a foot long with a burned out store, and a few more that were 6 inches long. The bases are mat board too, with an extra inch on one or more sides for a sidewalk. I took the doors I cut out, and glued them on the back as the back door. No interior work on these things, but you can remove the 'roofs' to put figures inside. I could at some point come back and redo the insides, but that will require the miniature gaming industry NOT to release any new products for the next 6 months, AND for Lord of the Rings Online not to launch. Oh crap, and I'm getting deployed again, well TCS to another post. Looks like they will go without insides for a bit.

Painting each building took about a hour tops to do. I sprayed them black with the evil empire's primer. Still my favorite well after I stopped buying their fantasy and sci-fi games. After that dried, I gave them a quick coat or two of grey paint. I wasn't very careful and used a big dry brush to do the job. I got just enough on to give it a dirty look and brighten up the other colors I used. For the rest of the colors, I just made it up as I went along. I had no plan what so ever. I had no clue what the building would be until I started putting the final colors on. About the same time as those last few colors, I came up with the business names. I chose names/hobbies from people that I served in the Army with, or have known for a long time. I've got some more buildings that I am cutting on right now. I'll victimize more folks I've know over the years when I finish the new set. The great part is that some of them are gamers and will be like "Dude! Cool! I'll be in a Zombie game". Others will be horrified to learn their names are attached to "a bunch of geeks that push painted dollies around in their parent's basement". Either way, the victims are all good friends so it's all good.

The figure near the buildings is a Gripping Beast Irish figure. He's there for scale purposes. I would have used a zombie or some survivor, but I don't own either. What I want to do is line that Irish figure and 11 more of his mates into a mob near one of the buildings and title it "What's in your wallet". Right now, my wallet has a fiver and a few ones. Payday will come.

Mechs for Mike

A group shot of some Mechwarrior figs I repainted for a buddy of mine. He likes the Wolfspider Battalion from Wolf's Dragoons, so I paint them for him. He normally sends me extra stuff for me to keep. I've built up a little collection of stuff without having to buy any myself.

June Projects

here are two projects I worked on in June of this year. The first is an 88mm Flak Battery for Flames of War. I still need to paint the guns march ordered, but I can nock that out latter. The other is two units of Mexicans for the Alamo supplement from Warhammer Historicals Legends of the Old West. Both were fun to paint and gave me somthing to do at night after I got done with work. One unit of mexicans is a line infantry company, and the other is a unit of Zapadores.