IPMS Silverwings 2020

I entered my Flames of War Objectives into the local IMPS show, mostly because I've been thinking of getting back into scale modeling and wanted to give myself two reasons to go check out the event. I ended up placing in the Gaming Miniatures category behind some very nice Warhammer figures.

6MMRPC Week Five: Passing Along the Hobby

This was supposed to be the week that I packed up all of my hobby stuff and moved back to California, but we're still waiting on some things for the new house.  That said, my packing was basically done and I didn't really have anything to work on!  I did manage to get a few partially assembled projects primed and put a little bit of paint on a few stands of infantry for a Late War Führer Begleit Brigade list, and helped my seven-year old build his first model, a Zvezda snap-together King from the Pixar Cars movie.  He really loved putting it together and applying the stickers, while I trimmed all of the parts off of the sprue for him.  I remember building my first model when I was about his age and he can't wait for another go at modeling.

Otto-Ernst Remer is an option for the Führer Begleit lists, I updated the Mid War figure by swapping the head and replacing the PPsH with a panzerfaust.  I also started on a command team and an observer.  The figures are a mix of Volksgrenadiers and Begleit.

So far, I've got primer on some Panzer IV/70As, Panzer IV Js, SdKfz 231s, a platoon of armored infantry, some Nebelwerfer crew, and Remer.

Always read the instructions before starting!

The King, all finished and stickered!

6MMRPC Week Two: Another Display Board

Display boards have become a staple at Historicon and I need to put together a new one for my Early War list I'm bringing to FoW Nationals.  Because of several factors I haven't had time to paint a Japanese force for the event and have had to reuse the Fallschirmjägers from two years ago. The list is a glider-borne assault pionier list at 1390 points.

I still need to paint a platoon of four 3.7cm PaK36s, an 8cm Gw34 mortar stand, an observer team and an Objective, plus three more 8cm mortars to swap onto the existing stands so they are the correct type.  The display board will be mounted into the frame I used last year, and I had the MDF and foam left over and ready to go. Some of the bases for the FJ have cobblestones and I wanted to have a section of the board match but I also wanted to match the rubble bases as well. Part of the board will have a bombed town and the other part will be a farm / vineyard.  Since these are glider troops I also want a landed DFS 230 on the board, in the vineyard. Some wall sections I picked up from the swap meet at Historicon will do nicely as accent pieces and will go with my previously constructed Objective.

Basic layout so far, the cobbled road will run along the walled courtyard. 

Wanted to get more done this week but the wife is on temporary military duty out of state and my boys have kept me busy. Next week I'll have some paint to show. Promise!

Also, thanks to Battlefront for mentioning my blog on their website!  I'm greatly humbled that anyone there has noticed this little hobby log of mine. 

Storage Shelves

My friend Tom gave me some old media storage shelves and I decided to convert them into storage for my smaller non-Flames of War minis, mostly X-Wing stuff.  These had previously lived in boxes piled in a corner of my hobby area and I figured it was a perfect time to get them out and put them on display.  I went out and found a used TV stand at a thrift store and bought a third identical shelf unit from Walmart to give me enough matching material for extra shelving, then purchased some shelf pegs at Lowe's.  For less than $50 I now have plenty of space to display my X-Wing, Dungeons and Dragons, and associated terrain items.  I also have plenty of space for future purchases, such as Star Wars Armada, etc.  I may look into having some glass panels made for doors.

I mounted the two shelf units to the top of the TV stand and cut the third unit up to add extra shelves in the center and in both units.  

Plenty of space to expand my already extensive X-Wing collection, plus room for lots more.

Tom also gave me a fourth, smaller unit that I mounted to a small drawer unit I use to store my unbuilt models.  I was able to bring all of my hobby supplies out of boxes and put them in reach of my painting desk.

Flames of War Display Board

I built this display board for last year's Historicon but never posted any pictures of it.  I was inspired by the boards in 2013, most notably Dennis Campbell's.  I designed it to be mostly neutral, that way I could use it for multiple armies, but also wanted to represent some rural location that could fit the Eastern Front theme of my list last year.  I knew I needed a pretty large flat place for all of the infantry, a road to put the tanks on, and I also needed some kind of focal point to draw interest.

I layed out my army and how I wanted it to sit, then marked a rough idea of where I needed to make the terrain.  I decided to put a hill in the back left corner to give the board three height levels, and a creek on the far right edge.  A bridge would give me my focal point.

Pink insulation foam and a shadow box picture frame.  I think most display boards start life this way.

Marked so I don't cut the creek bed to wide.  Got to try out a foam cutter for the first time.

Because the creek would run all the way to the edge of the frame, I needed something to box in the edges.  Aluminum angle cut, bent, and welded.  This would give the board rigidity while still keeping it ight enough to carry comfortably.

MDF cut to fit into the frame, this would give the creek a botom and also provide added strength.

I sanded down into the foam to create a rutted road.

All together in the frame.  White glue and some c-clamps would keep this until dry.  One nice thing is that the entire assembly can be removed and swapped.

The hill is just a piece of scrap foam.  I imbedded the tree bases into the foam so that they could be removable for transport.  A piece of bark will be burried in the hill to provide some contrast.

Fine grit sand spread around most surfaces.

Flocked.  I tried a spray adhesive but it stayed too tacky.  Had to use watered down white glue eventiually.

With the flock finally dry I could fit the bridge.  It was some kind of balsa Roman-era footbridge but I was able to modify it to look like a rural Russain bridge.  Pilings woud be permanent but the ret of the bridge could be removed for transport.

Trees placed and a fence added from scrap balsa.  The fence really brought some visual interest to the foreground.

Close-up of the bridge.

Close-up of the fence.

Tufts, flowers, bits of flock added.  I also stained the balsa with enamel washes.  Dry pigments also added the the road.

Found some more small trees to add as well.

Grasses and scrub plants added to the creek bed.

Top-down view, pre water effects.  Everything else complete.

Final layout.

Here we are at Historicon, post water pour.  I used two-part epoxy and after some trial and error, got it to work as desired.

I'm quite pleased with how it came out and it made me feel comfortable if I want to attempt making my own terrain.  The little bridge was pretty fun to build and modify too.  I may need to make another one for this year though if I bring a Japanese list.

Hobby Day in the East Bay

Brad Feliz hosted a hobby day at his place in Napa so some of the NorCal guys could get some work done.  Several of us were trying to finish up our lists for Shifting Sands next week.  Five of us gathered and much progress was made.  Brad even provided snacks and lunch!

Work stations and guacamole!

Mike painted a whole company of SS.  I mostly ate chips and salsa.

Ziv brought about two armies to work on but saw some progress made.

Thanks for hosting this Brad, this is the kind of thing I miss now that I'm out here by myself in New Mexico.  See you in Mesa!

Lightcase photo box

My wife recently purchased me a light box from Lightcase in the UK for my hobby.  I'm really impressed with the shots so far and hopefully this will eliminate any shadows or random background elements from my blog photos from here on out.  It's currently available from their website for around $60 shipped.  It can also be collapsed down and tucked into a large envelope for storage.
http://www.lightcase.co.uk

This is it assembled.  Comes with three backgrounds (white, black and clear) and can be folded flat and tucked into a bag if you want to travel with it.  The hole up top is designed for a smartphone camera, all of the following shots were taken with my iPhone and a desk lamp for lighting.  Bettter results can be had with a real camera and natural light.

Shifting Sands Army Build- Part Three

I decide upon Marders as my fouth platoon so that I'd be able to kill KV-1s and also to give me enough shots vs. Tankovy.  They really proved their worth in every round.  I tried a camouflage sceme on these but it didn't come out as fine as I would have liked.  I contemplated repainting them, but with time running out before the event I stuck with the larger style.

Raw out of the blister.  Went with Marder III Hs since that's what was historically at Kursk.

I made sure to sand the flat surfaces but had to be careful with all the rivets.  Left the top cover off for airbrushing so I didn't miss any parts of the gun.

Stowage and crew layout.  I used some different crew than came with the models to add some variety.

After airbrushing.  Tamiya Olive Green XF-58 for the camo.  Gotta buy a finer point nozzle for the airbrush before I try anything more detailed.

Final product.  

Shifting Sands Army Build- Part Two

StuGs!  I decided to run one of the custom lists that the organizers designed just for this event.  In Mid War the StuG is a nasty piece of equipment with Front Armor 7 and either an AT of 11 or 10 with Breakthrough Gun.  Having spent most of my points on these guys, I had to use an earlier model of StuG for my HQ.

This started as a reclamation project for the StuH platoon.  I had three old StuG F/8 models that were supposed to go with a Luftwaffe Felddivison army but it's been on my back burner for about three years now.  Figured I should put these guys to use.  Research showed that some of the earliest StuH 42s built were assembled on the F/8 chassis and since Kursk was one of the first battles that the StuH saw action it was very possible that these early models were there.

Assembly: make sure to remove any mold lines on the metal parts while also checking the resin for defects.  I like to sand smooth the flat panels to make sure any particles from the molding process get eliminated.  Test fit the parts before gluing to prevent angrily throwing your tanks against the wall.

Decide now if you want to have any crew hanging out of the hatches and position them either open or closed.  Plan which crew figs you want to use, along with what kind of stowage to hang, if any.  I like to drill my gun barrels and mantlets out to add some depth.  Remember you can disguise any bad spots or blemishes by covering it with stowage bits.

Modification work is a pain but can really make your models stand out.  The company diagram called for a StuG D but all of these tanks were out of front-line service by Kursk.  Needing to conserve points in my list I thought it reasonable that some ausf. E StuGs would still be in service with the Fs and decided to back-date an F back to an E.  The ausf. E StuG had the short 7.5cm gun and no roof mounted ventilator so I had to remove the latter and raid my bits box for an appropriate gun barrel.  I also wanted to open both hatches up since this will be my Company Commander.

I forgot to glue my stowage on before I primed but I took a series of planning shots so I knew where I wanted to mount it for later.  I also check my crew figures for positioning.  I do a quick sand of the primer where it needs it before busting out the airbrush.

After airbrushing the base color (Tamiya Dark Yellow XF-60) I hit the upper surfaces with a lighter color (Wooden Deck Tan XF-78).  This will give an impression of surface fading.  After drying for a day or two I use MIGs enamel filters for Dark Yellow.  A filter is basically a thin wash that will cover the entire model and blend the lighter shade with the darker one.  After a coate of Gloss Varnish I use AK Interactive's Wash for German Dunkelgelb along the panel lines.  Once dry, I clean up any overspill with thinner and a flat brush.  

Next, it's time for decal work!  The gloss surface is best for making them sit right, and Micro Scale's Set and Sol are great products to help this happen without silvering or bubbles.  I used a mix of decals from I-94 (crosses) and Battlefront (numbers).  Once dry, I spray a matte coat before using a fine brush to do any chipping.  It's really easy to overdo this and I'm guilty of that.  I use a dark hull red color from Vallejo and hit edges and surfaces that would get heavy use in service.  I also use it to cover up any additional blemishes in the surface (damage).  

I absolutely love AK Interactive's Streaking Rust.  I like to use it on the spots where I put the chipping and along surfaces where rain would flow down.  Once done with that I paint the stowage, add any chain and then do a black wash on these items.  I then paint the tracks in a dark red/black color before using AK's Track Wash, another amazing product.  Once that's all dry I glue in my crew figures (painted separately), do another spray of matte varnish and do any dry pigment work, usually along the tracks and running gear.  I still want to go back and add tie-down ropes on the stowage.

Shifting Sands Army Build- Part One

OK, so I was going to write these up as I built them before the event, but my move + procrastination meant I needed every moment for actual assembly and painting.  Though late, I'll be going over the process I used to construct my army.  Here's a link to the promising (but unfulfilled) first post.
http://flamesofnerd.blogspot.com/2013/11/project-begin.html

The first platoon I put together and painted was my Grenadier Scout platoon.  These troops were to give my Stugbatterie the recon that is so neccessary in todays tournament environment.  They would also work in tandem with the StuH platoon vs. Gone to Ground infantry and gun teams.

Here are the dudes I selected for my platoon.  Many of them are from the awesome Sperrverband box and several others are from the LW Panzergrenadier set.  I wanted an assortment of poses but wanted to use the smaller Sperr models if possible.  Any duplicates were modified.  I also did a few head swaps.  The place the guys are in matters! Try to tell a story with the way the guys are positioned.  If an NCO is looking back, make sure someone behind him is lookingat him!  Don't try to crowd a bunch of guys onto a base, four is the most I use these days. Five is just way too squished looking.  

After making sure all of the mold lines are cleaned up, I prime with Tamiya light grey spray primer.  It's super fine and wont make your figs look too dark.  I then block paint all of the uniform, kit, etc.  I don't do any camouflage or super-detail stuff yet like collar piping, waffenfarbe, cap badges yet.

Next I use a somewhat thin black wash and, after dry, some light colored pigments.  After a dullcote spray I go back in and do a drybrush of the main colors for the uniforms, hands and faces, and any kit that needs it.  This builds a third layer of color on the models.  

Basing- This was the first time I used Vallejo's Brown Earth Paste and I was thuroughly impressed.  I use a small artists knife to spread it around the bases then add a few small rocks I picked up from a railroading store when I was in Osaka.

After it's dry I used a brown enamel wash from AK Interactive.  Once that's dry I trim up the edges and paint any camouflage and super-detail stuff.  Also I highlight the ground with a few different colors and paint the rocks.

I like to paint my base edges in an appropriate color.  For Heer troops I use Panzer Grey.  The small stuff like waffenfarbe and collar piping really can make your infantry stand out.  Also, Splinter Camouflage, once practiced, can look brilliant.

Grass work can be frustrating (and messy!).  I discovered Silfor tufts awile back and they're super nice.  I also had several types of static grass that I mixed to give me some different color and lengths throughout.  After the glue dries I use a pair of tweezers to pick out any stray bits of grass that don't sit naturally and trim the tufts if necessary.  A quick matte varnish spray and then some dry pigments on the patches of ground that still show around the grass and the Scouts are done.