Fall Blau Painting Update - Sd.kfz. 231 (8-rad)

It's bonus round time over at the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge and the theme is Reconnaissance. I must admit that I wasrather at a loose end for what to do for this bonus round, I'm trying to concentrate my focus on the Hundred Years War collection and did not have anything suitable for that, likewise for the American Civil War collection, I could have done a cavalry patrol but did not have any spare figures that would do for what I wanted.

However, buried in the pile of shame was this Sd. Kfz, 231 (8-rad) that I had taken in trade a few years ago. It was much unloved and missing a few bits, for example, I fashioned the 20mm cannon from a spare Perry Miniatures medieval spear and the hatches are clipped from cereal box cardboard.

There was also a tatty base-coat of Panzer Grey so this was cleaned up and re-applied then the whole lot was given a wash with 'Secret Weapon Soft Body Black'. Once that was dried I painted in the panels using Vallejo German Grey, then added a couple of highlights by adding successively more Neutral Grey. The wheels and tools were picked out and then a couple of Balkenkreuz decals added.

The crewman had a 'rush-job' and was stuck in the turret.

This thing is a beast, it's cast in white metal and while doing the decals I put it on the scales - it came in at over 350 grams! There was no way this was not going to get a magnetised base, otherwise put in a box with any other figures the slightest slip would result in carnage. So I grabbed a Warbases 120mm x 60mm and textured it and painted it Field Drab then drybrushed with Iraqi Sand then Pale Sand.

The armoured car was then glued onto the base with copious amounts of superglue and I went to town to muck it all up with a Tamiya weathering kit.

I wondered what to do with the base then remembered that I has some Noch wild-grass foliage, so as my little joke decided that an armoured car the size of a bus should be trying to hide in the long grass.

Schwerer Panzerspähwagen translates as "heavy armoured reconnaissance vehicle" I don't see it as much of a stealth approach!

It's a pretty horrible model, but an hour or so work has taken about a pound of metal out of the lead mountain.

Does anybody recognise the mode? Who did a 28mm white metal casting of a Sd.kfz. 231 (8-rad)?

The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge entry can be found here.

Hundred Years War: French (3)

Over the New Year break I've been working on some French infantry for the Hundred Years War project that shall hopefully feature heavily in my challenge entries.

All the figures are from a Perry Miniatures Agincourt French Infantry 1415-29 set that my mother in law bought me for Christmas. This was my first box of this set and I have already picked up another from my local game store about half of which are built already! 

Of those I am currently building I have done some mash-ups with the 'English Army' box to make veteran English longbows.

The first unit is a dozen crossbow-men in a blue and white livery that I have tried to vary through the unit. Several are sporting the cross of St. Denis, a typical French field sign during the era, much like the English use of the cross of St. George.

Like the earlier mounted men at arms, the figures are individually based then mounted six to a tray in the custom trays that I ordered from Warbases  meaning I can use them as single figures for Warhammer Ancients, Lion Rampant etc. or as units for Hail Caesar or To The Strongest!

The second unit is a dozen spearmen in a burgundy and black livery scheme, again, I've tried to vary the application of the livery through the unit. These are a mixed bag of fellows, some are very well armed and armoured while some appear to have been given an helmet and a pointy stick and shoved in the direction of the English.

A few close-up shots of some individuals showing some of the great variety that can be created.

The entry on the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge can be found here.

Hundred Years War: French(2)

Another batch of Perry Miniatures mounted Men at Arms completed this week. Half of them also fall under the auspices of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, so that is a bonus - although I had planned to get them finished before the challenge started but real life got in the way!

 You'll note on this set that I added pennants to the lances, these are just note paper stuck with PVA glue and then given another coat of PVA to strengthen them. I rather like the effect and may have to retro-fit some to the last batch that I painted.

 Here are some close-ups of the individual figures.

This one is one of the entries in the Analogue Hobbies Paint Challenge, a light bay (buckskin) horse with a white and blue livery with three crosses added as heraldry.

A man at arms in 'white armour' on a dark chestnut. I'm not to happy with the spacing of the bands on the lance, I tried to correct it with black bands but now it looks like a stiffened coral snake. Another one of the AHPC entries.

The last entry in the AHPC, red and green livery on a black stallion. Three fleur-de-lys as heraldry on the red.

A very nice armoured horse on this figure, again white armour with no jupon for heraldry, so a cross on his deep red pennant.

This chap is in old style armour on a black horse, his jupon and pennant are in a nice light blue and gold livery, quite like the effect on this one.

The final figure, on a light bay horse, this time the pennant is replaced with a small flag

Technically painted last year and included in the 2018 Challenge so not on this years totals!

2018 Retrospective- The ongoing war against the lead mountain

As ever I like to start the year with a review of what I got posted last year and make a personal judgement if the war against the lead (and plastic) mountain is being won or if I've suffered another setback.

2018 has been a productive year on the existing 28mm American Civil War and 6mm War of the Spanish Succession projects both having many more troops painted and added to the collection. The former were really spurred on by visits to the Gettysburg and Bull Run battlefields in July. These battlefield visits also inspired me on quite a lot of terrain building for fences, fields, etc. based upon areas of the battlefields.

A small impact was made on the El Cid collection with four Jinetes I had base coated for a long time finally getting highlighted and based. Likewise an order with Brigade Games saw another 15 Poilu added to the WWI French - although 9 unpainted ones  from the order of the 24 have been added to the lead mountain!

The first new project kicked off in 2018 was a foray into the world of Maximillian 1934 which saw some of my existing Jalopies being painted plus a few new ones added, there are a couple of crewmen outstanding in the painting pile, but pretty much a lead mountain neutral event.

Agincourt Day, 25th October saw a big reduction in the plastic mountain with me finally getting on with the Hundred Years War project. Within a month I had painted 72 English long-bowmen and men at arms that had languished in the pile of shame for the past couple of years and the project continues apace with an order for mounted men-at arms from the UK and more infantry as Christmas presents that I am taking a short break from painting to write this post.

December saw me signing up to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge and it has been a great inspiration to crack on painting some stuff, including many of those individual characters that you pick up. December also saw quite a few figures painted under the 'gift of paint' that helps me get more stuff done.

So, for 2018 I got the following painted for myself:

• In 28mm 
• 90 Perry Miniatures Confederate infantry. 
• 44 Perry Miniatures Union infantry. 
• 6 Perry Miniatures Confederate artillerists. 
• 1 Perry Miniatures 10lb Parrot. 
• 12 Perry Miniatures Union artillerists. 
• 3 Perry Miniatures 3" Rifles. 
• 12 Perry Miniatures Confederate artillerists. 
• 3 Perry Miniatures 12lb Napoleon. 
• Perry Miniatures Howitzer. 
• 10 Perry Miniatures Confederate horse. 
• 8 Perry Miniatures Union horse. 
• 3 Perry Miniatures Union generals. 
• 3 Perry Miniatures Confederate generals. 
• 5 Brigade Games Old West Characters. 
• 4 Gripping Beast Andalusian Jinetes.
• 1 Wargames Foundry Union Zouave. 
• 15 Brigade Games Poilu 
• 1 Partizan WWI Pilot 
• 1 Warbases Badger. 
• 2 1st Corps speedsters 
• 1 Eureka Miniatures Tribekka 
• 1 Eureka Miniatures Roadster 
• 1 Eureka Miniatures Flyer 
• 1 Eureka Miniatures Motorcycle 
• Warbases turnip cart. 
• Warbases water cart. 
• 2 Warbases draft horses. 
• 9 Warbases chickens. 
• 1 Warbases donkey. 
• Warbases chicken coop. 
• Warbases privy. 
• 72 Perry Miniatures 100YW English foot 
• 12 Perry Miniatures 100YW French cavalry 
• 4 Warbases geese 
• Warbases ammunition cart 
• Warbases peasants cart 
• Partizan Dulce est decorum... 
• Partizan Mary Seacole 
• Crisis Medieval Princess 
• 3 Warbases pheasants
• In 6mm 
• 18 English horse. 
• 36 French horse. 
• 18 French dragoons. 
• 18 French dismounted dragoons. 
• 18 Scottish dragoons. 
• 18 Scottish dismounted dragoons. 
• 96 Dutch foot. 
• 72 French foot. 
• 144 Bavarian foot. 
• 2 French guns 
• 8 pioneers. 
• 21 casualties. 
• 18 sheep.

Rather a good effort, with 249 foot and 40 mounted painted - both improvements on last years totals - along with  7 guns, 5 cars, 1 motorcycle, 4 carts, 4 draft horses, 9 chickens, 1 donkey, 1 badger, 4 geese, 3 pheasants, 1 privy and a 1 chicken coop.

Not as much 6mm painted as last year though; 90 mounted, 382 foot, 2 guns, 18 sheep, 15 horses

The terrain collection gained quite a bit, mainly fields and fences for our ACW games.

However in the other column the following was added to the lead (and plastic mountain): 260 foot, 15 mounted, 3 cars, 1 motorcycle, 6 cannon Plus, my very generous family and friends who added:
 80 foot, 6 mounted, 1 limber, 6 horses, 5 riders, 1 badger, 4 geese, 3 pheasants, 3 carts.

So, technically going backwards again.

I did a few figures for other people this year, with:

• 10 WWII airborne/special forces/resistance fighters for Tony 
• 5 ACW gunners for Drew 
• 5 ACW gunners for Seth 
• Austrian 3-pdr and 4 crew for Bruce 
• 3 Battletech Mechs for Drew

As ever, I must work harder on that lead pile!

I wish all my readers a very prosperous 2019 and a productive time on their own lead mountains!

Crisis 2016 - Maud of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror

The Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is a great excuse to crack on with all those oddments of figures that you really should be painting. This week has seen the Partizan Figures for Mary Seacole and the Dulce et decorum... painted and at the same time I painted this lovely figure that chum James sent me that he picked up at the Crisis show. 

I think it was the show figure, but am happy to be corrected.

NOTE: It was the Crisis 2016 show figure and is Maud of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror

A very nice sculpt that cleaned up very easily and took only a short while to paint. I tried to restrict the pallet so the light blue base for the embroidered gown is the same light blue as the veil covering her hair.

She shall no doubt see service in our upcoming Hundred Years War games - once I have enough French painted to field a force.

She can be found on the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge here

Warbases Pheasants

Victoria gifted me a pack of Pheasants from Warbases  for Christmas and I got some paint on them this week. A simple paint job and I think they came out well and shall make a great addition to our games with many uses across the periods we play.

They shall also count towards my points tally on the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge and can be found here 

Partizan - Mary Seacole, Crimean War Nurse

Another figure sculpted by Martin Baker, This time its Mary Seacole, Crimean War Nurse from 'The Other Partizan MMXVI'.

Lee is emigrating to Australia this month and found this while he was clearing out ready for the move and sent it over to me, very kind of him.

Like all of the Partizan figures it's a great sculpt with bags of character and was a really easy paint job to execute. The main colours being Flat Green and Royal Blue. After blocking in the base-coats it was washed with Army Painter Strong Tone then the colours re-applied and highlighted then finished off with a brown-lining with Windsor & Newton Peat Brown.

I kept the base rather simple.

I don't have any Crimean War collection so Mary shall likely find use in our American Civil War Sharp Practice games as a Minor Character.

Again, this is contributing to my Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge quota and the entry can be found here