Weathered

The German bust I am painting for NOVA is almost completed. The first round of weathering is on the model, which is great fun once started, but enormously stressful prior to committing to it. I am really happy with how the oil paints turned out on the wooden stock on the MG42. I will do a little more work weathering, and then clean up work, but this guy is mostly done.

The base was not planned. It was just a base I added for painting, but after dropping the figure trying to detach him, I think the base hast to stay. At least the position is reasonable!

Face

I started working on the bust's face this morning for a little bit of pre-gym fun. I had intended to just play around with some color using acrylics before re-painting the face using oils. However now I am undecided on whether or not to repaint the face at all. I think this is looking pretty good. I think my new plan might be to use oils as a transparent layer on top of this base coat. I may take a break from this and do some distressing of the black leather straps. I've been wanting to use a pink/coal/black mixture of paint for a while and this gives me the perfect opportunity to do it.

I am dreading two steps on this model now that it is starting to look finished. The whitewash on the helmet, and the snow and mud accumulation. The whitewash will be fun, but it is less controlled than I normally like. I think the helmet has a very realistic look right now, and whitewash will obscure it. The snow and mud are just going to be difficult. I plan to use Secret Weapon Miniatures crushed glass for the snow, and have yet to figure out how to apply it to the model. I'm not going for a wet look, but the look of fallen snow. That rules out using water effects as a binder. Since glass is hazardous, I want to fix it really well to the miniature, but I also want the glue/binder to not be visible. I have no real solution to this yet. Maybe I'll have to reach out to SWM to figure out what they use.

1/10 Scale German Soldier

I've never painted a bust before, but I figured it was time to give it a shot and see how I liked it. What you see here are work in progress shots of a german soldier serving in winter gear. This guy is going to get a white-washed helmet with mud and snow environmental effects on his clothing. To complement that, I am going to give him a warm completion. Another thing I am going to play with is finish. Black leather parts will have a satin finish with matte worn areas, while his clothing will be ultra matte. I am looking forward to playing with the finishes.


(Yes, I see the giant mold line!)

Mass Production of Bolt Action Buildings

I am just about finished with the building construction phase for my new set of Bolt Action terrain. If you read my blog regularly, then you might remember that previously I had made a large number of 28mm or 1/56 scale buildings for Bolt Action using silicon molds and resin. This time around for 20mm, I decided to use dental plaster for the material. The buildings are definitely more fragile, but they are much easier to work with, and overall, it has been a much more enjoyable process.

The essential construction technique used here has been casting basic building blocks and then then plastering over them allowing brick and stonework to show through. Despite a very quick paint jobs intended to just block in color (sub 30 minutes), I am impressed.

Two techniques for quick and easy brick/stone mortar

1. Base bricks with red primer
2. airbrush on thinned white Humbrol enamel paint
3. wet napkin with enamel thinner and wipe the white off of the raised areas

1. Base bricks with red primer
2. airbrush on thinned Tamiya white paint
3. wipe off raised areas using a paper towel wet with x-20A thinner

Both  techniques are easy. The enamel method requires careful cleaning of the airbrush due to switching between oil and water based paints, but provides a white that is much easier to erase from raised edges. The Tamiya acrylic method requires scrubbing and the produces a rough surface. Either method is super fast and easy.

What A Difference Paint Chipping Makes

After adding paint chips to the tank I took a look at it and knew it was done. I know that adding streaking grim and rust would have added to the model, but still I stopped working on the model. This was just one of those moments where I had to stop fiddling in order to preserve the paint job already on the vehicle. More work is coming, but that has to wait until I figure out what kind of additional stowage to add.

The next step in this model's life is a display base. Once that is in place and the model is grounded, plan to look at what kind of stowage I can add to the model and to the base in order to tie them together and make a more interesting scene. This is not meant to be a diorama though, so I need to be careful to not veer too much in that direction. It is tempting to add a group of SS walking alongside the tank wearing their splinter pattern camouflage jackets. I know the tank deserves the spotlight here, but it really looks to me like a background piece.

Bolt Action Panther

The Warlord Games plastic Panther kit is is great except for the stowage and tank tools. My intent was to paint this tank for display purposes, so I knew I had to replace them. A bent paperclip to replace that zig-zag tool, replacement track spreaders, a new axe, and a new tow cable were all I felt up to replacing. I will take some nicer photos later, but I wanted to show the tank before I had completed it. Paint chipping, streaking, overall dust effects, additional pigment, and lots of cleanup are still ahead for this guy, but I think it is looking pretty cool. This is my first soft edge three color camouflage job on one of these. My goal is to explore all of the German camouflage paint schemes.

So in game terms, I'm not sure I would ever take a sole Panther. On the other hand, I love how beat up and broken it is starting to look. It might have to pull some tabletop duty just because of how it looks.

Panzer IV at Arnhem

Our club's big game this year is operation Market Garden. I knew stug's were at Arnhem, but it turns out Panzer IV and Panzer IIIs were there as well. As a desperate defense by the Germans, the equipment was in heavy disrepair. I modeled these Panzer IV's accordingly. Each tank has some field repair or damage. I tried a lighter approach to my color modulation again in order to help the camouflage stand out a bit as well. Additional pigments are incoming, but for now, these tanks are ready for gaming.

Oils

Edit (older photos below)

Today I decided to jump in and paint with oils on my first non game related piece. This model is purely for display.  The model only has about half a day of work on him, but I am really enjoying the process. I don't think I'll have trouble finishing him by the Nova Open.