Royal Tiger Bolt Action 1/72

I've been experimenting with camouflage for a while now, however I've been posting the results of that work. The Royal Tiger here (using the terminology from "Tigers In The Mud") was my attempt at German three color camouflage from the western front. This color scheme was produced using poster tack to mask off areas of the tank. The tracks are not complete yet, nor have the oil stains been added, but I think this guy could show up in a game and nobody would complain. 

I warned you with rant brackets so here goes... This model came with vinyl tracks. The directions said that a heated screwdriver should be used to melt each track into a single piece. That worked exceedingly poorly for me. Everything about working with these vinyl tracks was awful, and the huge mess I made on them means that I have to put way more mud on the tracks than I normally would want to. 

Just say no to vinyl. 

Foam Board Bricks Using Weathering Powders

This morning I decided to experiment with some brick painting techniques. Since I did not have bricks, I had to first create a quick brick wall segment to work on. I suspect that lots of folks have problems building terrain out of foam board, so what follows is a quick tutorial on creating the little wall segment I made above. I did this quick and dirty, with little attention to detail. If you want a better result, definitely spend more time carefully sculpting the bricks. For me though, this was just enough to let me experiment with powders. 

There are two ways I know of getting the effect of mortar on bricks. The first is using enamels. I am partial to that method already, because cleanup and blending is quite easy using thinner. I already use enamels on most of my models, so it is not much of a step to use them on buildings. 

The second approach is to use pigments to simulate mortar. This has the advantage that the grainy texture of the pigments add a lot to the realism. The down side is that pigments are very messy and do not wear well for gaming miniatures. Irrespective of this fact, I think I prefer the pigment method. There is a nice tactile quality to the process, and the results are nearly instantaneous. The above wall segment took about an hour in total. The next step would have been to add dirt, streaking effects, and perhaps some mossy areas. Due to  purity seal foggy on me, I don't get to experiment further. That wall segment is currently a fuzzy white color. Damn you purity seal! (It bears mentioning again, never, ever, ever, EVER, use lacquer from a spray can. By brush or by airbrush are models protected)

When sculpting with foam board it is necessary to peal off one of the paper sides in order to expose the foam.

To sculpt the bricks I used an exact knife and tooth pick. A press mold is a better way to accomplish this. I normally take an old paint brush and pull out the bristles. The metal tip can then be bent into a nice rectangle shape and used as a mold.

To get a nice smooth finish I put on a little modeling paste. My paste had dried out so it was not ideal. Again, take time doing this.

A quick sanding of the bricks and plasterwork provides a relatively nice surface to paint.

I used three colors of paint for the bricks. The goal was to provide a nice top coat on the plaster. You can see how my sloppy brick work really shows through!

The fun step involves loading up the model with Secret Weapon Miniatures white weathering powder. I haven't had a use for this color before.

After working the powder in with a brush I licked my finger and used it to rub away the powder on the bricks. The weathering powder tastes terrible by the way.

Wargames Table: Telegraph Poles

One of the neat properties of the Normandy and Market Garden tables is that they can both have terrain pinned on them. I took advantage of this property today with some scratch built telegraph poles. I know they aren't as detailed as they probably should be, but I think they can pass for cement poles reasonably well.  When we use the table the string will probably get annoying, but I think it adds a lot of flavor. All I need to do now is dust the poles up so they look weathered.

Tiny fences are next on the docket. I think using pins to hold them in place is going to really sell the board, since the terrain features will appear attached.

King Tiger for Bolt Action WIP

Above is a King Tiger exhibition color modulation. The tank is far from complete, but since I haven't shown a good example of color modulation in a while, I figured now was a good time to do it. The combination of the lighting, and the semi-gloss lacquer coat, make it difficult to photograph, but I think the emphasis on the front of the tank can be seen. Once the tank is dull coated it will be much easier to see all of the blends.

So what is left to do?

• streaking
• yellow filter (maybe grey)
• plaster for mud
• pigments
• rust
• oil spills

• camouflage*

* Yep, I may still paint a camouflage pattern on this tank. I had originally intended to paint it up in tri-color ambush pattern thanks to some great research from Mike Brandt, but I think It would look better at this scale if I just added some green sections. That would also allow me to use the bottle of heavy chipping fluid that just came in the mail. That's the real reason.

It is kind of weird to use this in a game before it is finished, but Mike has a huge game coming up tomorrow involving all of Easy company. You knew those 4 Shermans had to have been painted for a reason right? Apparently that reason is to die one at a time to this guy. (or 1 of the other two Tiger 1s)

Bolt Action Tank Platoon

Our gaming club has a Bolt Action game this weekend, so I had to finally finish these 4 Sherman tanks, which have sat neglected in my gaming cabinet for ages. The platoon managed to get a whole series of overlapping weathering experiments. I think two areas worked out well. I like the oil stains on the rear deck, and I like the light pigment color.  The trick to using oil, was to thin it down significantly with thinner, and then let it form its own tide marks. The pigment just required me to finally give it a shot. In addition to the pigments, there are two colors of oil paint splatter all over the tanks. I am not particularly pleased with the result, but I suspect some will like it. It makes me wonder why I bothered with color modulation when so much of the detail ends up being the result of pigments and oils.

Adding Water to the Table

I had a feeling after seeing the leaf texture go on over the grass that the marsh area was going to look really good. The missing ingredient was water. For this table I am using clear resin with a little bit of Secret Weapon Miniatures Green Earth weathering powder. I love that color. I also love the way it tinted the first pour. In 72 hours I should be able to pour a second layer of resin, this time clear, over the murky water. I don't plan on adding a lot, just enough to trick the eyes/brain into perceiving more depth.


The important question now is whether I should add lily pads? I think that would amp the board up even more, but it might not be necessary.

Operation Market Garden Table WIP

With a Normany table capable of pulling double duty as an eastern front table minus bocage, I decided the next board needed was a raised highway board. Operation Market Garden, the ill conceived Montgomery debacle, had a large ground force driving deep into holland, while paratroopers attempted to hold key bridges. It failed. It failed badly. It does offer some interesting terrain for battles. To capture the feeling, I decided to construct an area to represent some place south of Arnhem. The railway tracks are the highest point on the board, followed by roads, then fields, then the deep ditches. Muddy water will be added to the ditches along the railway as well as in a few points along the fields. Reeds and tally plants are to follow along standing water, and in the marsh areas. (I even built a tool just for this purpose!) This kind of table benefits from having the terrain built into it. The contours of the board itself provide all of the cover the infantry will get. Tanks will have to stay away from marshes, and wheeled vehicles will have to stay on the roads. Once I add a string of telegraph poles and some scattered trees along the road, this table will be ready for battle. 

Homemade Static Grass Applicator

My last static grass applicator was made out of an electronic fly swatter. This time around I decided to build it completely from scratch. It should be perfectly clear from my setup, that I am not an electrical engineer, electrician, or any sort of authority on the safety of building such a thing. I just wanted one. So I went online and purchased a negative ion generator(JP-D1221 ~ $10). The one I bought came with two white wires with brushes at the ends. The wiring was pretty simple.

• Cut off the brushes from the two white wires on the negative ion generator. (the black box in the photo)
• Connect both of these to a metal screen. In the photos my bases are sitting on the screen. 
• Add a second wire to the negative pole on the battery. This wire will lead to a second screen, which is attached to an old paint brush. In this photo that assembly is sort of in the middle right of the top photo. This assembly is the shaker. 
• Place bases covered in PVA on the lower screen
• Flip switch if you have added one.
• Add static grass to the applicator-spoon thingy
• Shake it. Shake it.......

That is it. I had already tried to add a second layer of glue on top of the still drying static grass placed during my first go around. This mucked up the bases a bit, but the concept works in principle.  I think it is time for me to go out and buy some different lengths of static grass.