As promised before my holiday here's a quick guide to how I paint German SS Oakleaf Camo, in both the Autumn and Sprng colous (brown and green).
Just click below to download the PDF.
Please feel free to send me any pics of troops you've painted in German Camo styles and a brief explanation of how you created them, I am keen to see who elese is doing what as I am about to paint a complete SS platoon and I am looking for inspiration.
]]>All painted and finished by myself except the 6 man command (purchased on ebay). In due course I may replace replace them with another command just so I can say I painted the whole lot 
After a nervous 16 hours wait it seems as if the Silicone has cured OK and the large Church window mould is complete. A few scrappy edges here and there to clean up but generally it's turned out very well. In hindsight I used way too much silicone (and it costs a fortune), I now kmow next time I dont need to make the mould quite so deep, but I was worried about making the mould walls too thin. Next step is to cast, still undecided whether to go plaster or resin (or maybe even metal).....will have a think as will not be casting till after my holiday.
Flush with my mould making success I ve started work on carving a set of stone walls from blue foam that will form the the Graveyard wall. I looked at buying enough plaster walls to make the graveyard and estimate that it will cost me about £30.00, the same cost as the silicone is to make my own moulds.
As plaster costs are relatively low, this will give me freedom to use the moulds to make walls for the whole of the town, and produce a few extra stand alone for the club/ebay at very litle cost.
]]>
)
First off I looked at the reference photos I took at my local church (see post below), made a few sketches and worked out the required proportions, before making a basic window master from wood.
This was really fiddly becuase of the size of the arches but after 3 attempts I got it. In hindsight I perhaps should have used platicard or similar, but this is the first time I have made arched windows and at least I will know for next time having wasted an hour. The master was then glued to some foamcard and a foamcard wall built about 5-10mm away from the master to hold the silicone. The wall was glued with lots of PVA and the corners secured with milliput to ensure limited leakage.
Once the milliput has cured and the glue dried the RTV silicone will be poured in and left for about 24 hours or so to set, thus creating our mould for the resin. I am a little concerned that the window frame is very thin and may distort under pressure from the resin, but trial and error is part of the fun of building your own building. Regardless, I am sure I will be able to use the mould, even if it is for making damaged Church windows in walls and ruins. More pics to follow......
]]>
Before anyone says it, yes I know there are no PAK36 stats in the rulebook (other than the 37mm gun on page 136). However, after some discussion with the guys at the GEG forum, in particular with reference to the PAK 36 being used with the much more effective Stielgranate 41 ammo later in the war we have agreed amongst ourselves on the following profile:
Weapon: PAK 36
Type: AT Gun
Range: 90cm
SR: 0
LR: -2
ROF: 1
EXP Mod: -1
AP: 4+
AT: 11 (with Stielgranate 41)
Notes: Cumbersome, Support Wpn, AT or HE Blast 1, Smoke.
There are a number of other AT pieces and AA pieces that were used for AT duties but arent listed in the ROE book; over the next few weeks we will be trying to come to some sort of mutual agreement on their profiles. I'll post them here as a final PDF when finished.
]]>
Click pic to enlarge.
Black undercoat for whole model, then:
Vehicle Body
Citadel Foundation Charadon Granite
Drybrush 75/25 Chardon Granite/GW Codex Grey
Drybrush 50/50 Chardon Granite/GW Codex Grey
Grime on Tank Body
Drybrush 50/40/10 Black/GW Codex Grey/GW Boltgun (used sparingly on edges main body of tank)
Drybrush with 90/10 Black/Usa Tan Earth (used sparingly to simulate oily patches)
Mud as below
Rust
GW Dark Flesh
GW Vermin Brown
GW Snakebite Leather
Rags
Vallejo USA Tan Earth
Citadel Badab Black Wash
Occasional Drybrush with 90/10 Black/Usa Tan Earth to simulate oily patches.
Tracks
50/40/10 Black/GW Codex Grey/GW Boltgun
Mud
Vallejo Flat Brown heavy drybrush
Drybrush 75/25 Flat Brown and Vallejo USA Tan Earth
Drybrush 50/50 Flat Brown and Vallejo USA Tan Earth
Stowage
Various, GW and Vallejo as required
]]>Click pics to enlarge
and 25 p each for these......with a little work will be good as barns for the farm on the edge of town:
Also spotted a great kids carpark that would have converted into a really nice clock tower, but the wife reminded me how many modelling projects I have on the go at the mo 
After last nights couple of battles at the Portbury Knights club (thanks David), it became apparent that my 16 point German Platoon could do with a little extra firepower, which was just the kick up the arse I needed to get my PAK36 and STUG III Ausf G underway. The STUG has been built and numerous bit of stowage added, along with some green stuff modelled into thin sheets which will be camo when finished. To be painted this week with any luck.
]]>
So I finally finished the additional Grenadier squad on bikes as a +4 point recon team.
Composition as follows:
In the sidecar
NCO KAR98
Loader KAR 98
Gunner MG34
On Bike 1
NCO KAR98
On Bike 2
KAR98
KAR98
Last night I tried them in the heat of battle at Portbury Knights Club (thanks David). First off a game of take and hold centred on a bridge (me V David's Canadians). I lost my sidecar combination very early on in turn 2, and the 2 man bike in turn 3 after making a high speed dash across open ground towards the bridge. Unfortunately despite the -1 to hit (I was travelling 30cm) the Canadian infantry sat behind a wall popping shots off as I approached and took me out. This left just 1 NCO on a bike for the remainder the game; so as a squad they were in-effective for much of the game.
Game 2 was a rearguard secnario with my Germans in defense of the town. My intention had been to remove the Canadians HMG from the left flank and then move my hidden bike squad from behind the ruined church to out flank the advancing Canadian infantry squads. Unfortunately due a run of crap rolls by me the HMG was persistent until turn 6, meaning that by the time the bikes could move without being cut to ribbons the infantry were almost on top of the front of the church. Despite a gallant effort by my squad of German Grenadiers in a ruined house beside the bridge (who took out many of the Canadans) the sheer force of numbers were too great and the bikes eventually were the last squad standing and I had to admit defeat. To be hoenst not an ideal scenaro for a recon squad (would have been better if I had been the advancing squad with the Canadians in hiding).
Conclusions
The additional squad as recon on bikes makes for great fun, but does require quite a different appraoch to play as they can't move and shoot in the same turn. They are incredible for covering open ground quickly and are more difficult to hit as they are -1 when moving, however they are quite expensive in terms of CE points (+3 for the extra squad, +1 for recon). 4 points is quite a lot when your platoon for the night is just 16 points!!
It is also vital to remember that you have the recon skilll and use it when you have the opportunity (ie when first being fired on) as I realised on my way home last night that it might have saved my MG mounted on the sidecar!!
The table we played on was very heavily populated with walls, buildings and hedges making it difficult to use the bikes to their full effect, however I would imagine that in a more open table they would be great. In dense urban games I hink the best way to use them is to get to strategic cover ahead of the enemy before dismounting the squad and entering on foot. All in all a good alternative additional squad to use when the play is likekly to be open with less cover or you could do with the advantage of spotting hidden troops more easily. However, for most games I am not sure if 6 men on bikes is a better use of points than the 2 HMG, 1 Mortar and a Sniper which is what I could have taken instead!!
]]>
+1 support choice for my Germans, painted and based on a foamcore movement tray.
Spot the error? The pic has been taken with the mortar facing backwards!!!
]]>
Click on the PDF to download:
Click pics to enlarge
Ral 7028 Darkyellow
Ral 6003 Olivgrün
Ral 8017 Chocolate
This "ambush camouflage" was used mainly to hide the vehicles under trees, from allied air attacks. Will be added to my StuG when built.
]]>
(photo courtesy of http://www.chieftainmodels.co.uk/)
The Stug was mass produced, widely used and certainly saw action in N Europe in 44/45 so will be ideal to accompany my platoon as 3 points of Divisional support.
I'll post a review of the model and pics once it's assembeld and painted.
]]> Click pic to enlarge.
The tarp was made from milliput and placed across the wooden support beams, and I added a few more details in balsa and card before painting. The Eichenlaubmuster is GW Graveyard Earth/Vallejo Flat Earth 50/50 base, with GW Goblin Green spots and GW Catachan Green/Chaos Black 50/50 edges/spots, finished with a 1:5 Brown ink wash. The first time I ve done Eichenlaubmuster, and I am fairly pleased although it did tale a couple of runs at it.
If you want to see the mortar pit in construction, see below.
]]>
I ve left plenty of room behind the pit for landscaping as I want to include a tree or two (I am keen for the Dutch town to have a "country" feel), and it will also allow me to use this pit in more rural games.
]]>
Front View
Back View
Top Down
]]>
(A completed but unpainted Dutch house photo will follow tommorow)
]]>
I have finally settled on the additional under strength squad as the last part of my German Grenadier Platoon, and have decided that a recon squad on bikes with a MG34 mounted on a sidecar would make a great, highly mobile firebase to get stuck into the Brits. The sidecar I have already and I ve ordered 2 more bikes from Black Tree Designs, making the total of 6 squad members. Will paint up and post in due course.
The German Grenadier Platoon at 16 points now consist of:
Platoon Command with LMG
Grenadier Squad 1
Grenadier Squad 2
Under strength Grenadier Recon Squad on Bikes
1 Mortar Team
and the British Commandos at 16 points:
Section Command with 2 man PIAT team
Commando Sub Section Alpha
Commando Sub Section Bravo
1 Vickers HMG Squad
1 Mortar Team
Like many gamers, on the odd occasion when I have too much on to be able to paint a squad myself, or I simply want an easy route to getting some minis ready to play, I have opted to pay someone else to paint my minis. Perhaps surprisingly the service I use isn't based in the West Country (where I am), in fact they arent even based in England, I use Painted Figs (http://www.paintedfigs.com) a team of painters run by Navin Weeraratne, (gamer and all round decent guy) based in Sri Lanka.
To some it may seem mad to send lead soldiers half way round the world to be painted but I have to say the combination of their service and the cost they can offer makes it more than worthwhile, as you will hopefully see from the short review below.
What I wanted...
Approximately 4 weeks ago I contacted Navin and explained I had 17 Artizan late war Commandos that needed painting, and asked him to quote on painting these along with supplying and painting a further 10 Artizan figures that I asked Navin to buy on my behalf. This was the first time I had asked Navin to buy my figures, but it seemed to made sense as he pays wholesale rates, so even with shipping to him they were about the same cost as me buying them in the UK (although I would have had shipping costs to him on top). I gave Navin a brief outline of the colours scheme and style of painting required and told him not to worry about basing them as I like to do that myself. In total Painted Figs would be removing flash, assembling, and painting 27 figures and 1 Vickers Gun.
Cost of painting; a very reasonable $3.00 per model(or £1.50 ish at todays rates). This was compared the best UK rate I coud find for a similar quantity and quality of $10.00 (£5.50).
How it works....
On acceptance of the quote (which usually arrives in 24 hours)if you are happy to send the total fees upfront (I ve used the service before and I am comfortable with their ability to do a good job) you get a 10% discount, and you simply send the money across by Paypal. I would suggest that you shouldn't worry unduly about sending paypal fees in advance, Navin has always provided me with A1 service and is very trustworthy. He makes a point of checking that the customer is happy with what they have painted and produces numerous work in progress photos on request and will even complete a test piece prior to working on your main force to check you are happy.
Monies all sent, you simply box up your miniatures (if Navin isn't buying them for you), send any reference material by email (or in the box with the minis) and give any specific detail such as colours to be used if you are trying to colour match existing platoon members. Navin's team work well when given plenty of detail and direction, so if you have an Osprey book or pictures they are worth inlcuding. All packaged up, they cost me just £7.50 to ship to Sri Lanka (17 minis, 30 x 2p pieces for bases, and 1 Osprey Book), so shipping cost isn't a big factor.
The painting...
A week later I got an email from Navin to say the minis had arrived safely, and that work would start the following day. 2 days later another email with an attached photo showing 2 of my minis painted so I could check the colous and make sure I was happy before the committed my minis and their time to the job in hand. I think this part of the service is crucial, and works very well. They are happy to discuss paints used and will happily take on board your suggestions (previously they painted some modern British Infantry for me and I suggested the camo might beenfit from more brown, within a few hours I had new photos with repainted samples).
With the Ok from me the rest took about 7 days to complete, at which point Navin sent more photos of the whole squad and asked how I wanted my Vickers team based, giving me a couple of different oprtions as I hadn't specified. Once he knew I was total happy with the work he asked if I would mail the return shipping fee by Paypal (again about £7.50-£8.00). 1 week later, the minis arrived at my door.
What I got...
In terms of how the product arrived I coudln't have been happier. The box was a little tattered (it had been half way round the world) but inside I need not have worried as each miniature was individually wrapped in foam and secured by the way of 2 elastic bands to stop anything moving in transit. On unwrapping, the paint job far exceeded what I had seen in the photos and the colours were excatly as I had specified. All parts had been given a spray of varnish (as requested) and all parts arrived un-bent and in 1 piece. A great job and first class service. All reference material had also been returned and were in good condition (which surprised me I thought I might have lost that Osprey book )
Conclusions...
It might seem dotty to send your minis to Sri Lanka when you could have them painted in the UK, however I have to say the cost (particularly the way the $/£ rate is at the momment) makes this such an attractive idea, and the service is fantastic. The 27 miniatures cost me £55.00 including shipping to and from; to have them painted in the UK would have been £150.00+, which is way outside my price range. However the thing that has really sold me on Painted Figs is their attention to detail and a real desire to give great service which is something we just don't get in the UK too often. The whole process from start to finish took less than 4 weeks (I was being quoted 4-6 weeks by most UK painters) and there is no real risk in sending your metal abroad when the guys at the other end understand service as well as they do, and the result you want as a fellow gamer.
I would fully recommend them, and have already spoken to Navin with a view to sending some more WW2 troops out in the next week or so. Below are just 1 or 2 examples from the platoon that Painted Figs painted for me, click to enlarge:
Roof tiles are the bane of any large model town as there is no quick way of making them look good, so I'm using what is the quickest way I know; 1cm strips of cereal box partially cut to look like tiles and glued on in strips of 5-10 tiles at a time. Ive used this method loads of times before and when painted and weathered they they look really nice. This model will have about 2000 tiles when finished, so it will take me most of this week to get the roof completed....hopefully.
I understand from Navin at Paintedfigs.com that my British Commandos are painted and on their way back to me, so by the end of the week I should be able to post some pics of the minis in all their glory, and a review of how good their servcie is for 28mm's.
]]>
Details of British Commando paint scheme used by Paintedfigs.com (for reference)
Uniforms
Basecoat - Vallejo English Uniform
Shade - Vallejo Saddle Brown
1st Highlight - GW Kommando Khaki / Vallejo English Uniform (50:50)
2nd Highlight - GW Kommando Khaki
The remainder of the under-strength platoon, yet to be based.
]]>Overall the church building when combined with the graveyard and retaining walls will be a substantial build which will take sevarl weeks to complete so planning the detail is crucial.
I ve started marking out the materials and have settled on a predominantly foamcore and card constuction, with balsa wood and plastikard detailing. The spire will be the most difficult part as I want a typically fat bottomed roof seen on many Northern European churches, so I am probably going to use HD blue foam, carve it to the approximate shape and then add cardboard to the faces.
One problem I did forsee was how to achive good looking recessed doorways, and have decided on cutting a bigger hole than required in the foamcaore and then from the back progressively filling the hole in 2 stages with smaller pices of card to create that stepped look you get on many churches. The cardboard mock up below shows my thoughts in rough format.
The windows dont need such detail and will have a single insert to create a single lip. As for stained glass, I am currently scratching my head as the best way to achieve this, perhaps colour photocopying on to OHP sheets?
]]>
To ensure continuity I ve decided to paint all my buildings of similar age and construction at once, so the 1st town hosue which is nearing completion will be painted with 3 or 4 others in weeks to come. As the building of the 1st town house comes to a close (just the roof to finish), my mind has turned to the next building in the fictional Dutch town, the church. The church is going to be a central part of the town , and also important for game play as the tower will have a commanding view and will no doubt become home to a sniper or a MG42 at some point.
After looking around the net I realied that Northern European churches are very similar, although those in the Netherlands often have distinctive fat bottomed spires as opposed to the typical British Tower. I am going to plump for using a combination of photos of English churches and borrowed bits from the web to come up with my ideal church and graveyard.
I'm lucky i live less than 2 miles from a very interestig typical English c16th village church, so I nipped up there at lunchtime yesterday and took a few photos to get a feel for the structure. This weekend I am working on some drawings and plans to see if I can come up with something I am happy with. The pics above shows my initial thoughts about the West side, both with and without the all important tower & spire. Below pics of my local church, and the last 2 St Severinus in Grathem, copyright http://www.archimon.nl/, a very interesting site and useful resource on religious architecture in the Netherlands:
Navin's team are great painters and very well priced (particulalrly given the dollar ex rate at the mo). I expect these will be back in about 3 weeks if previous jobs are anythign to go by.
When I get them back I'll post details of their service by the way of a mini review, but to give you some idea they charge about £1.50 per foot soldier, for a really good wargmae standard paint job :-)
]]>
