Sunday, July 22, 2012

Iron Cross Painting Competition

As a last minute decision, I decided to enter Battlefront's Iron Cross Painting Competition at the 2012 Historicon in Virginia, USA.

I was one of the first painters to show up, fill-in the registration card, and hand my entries over.  I submitted a Panzer IV to the Tank Team category, Fallshirmjager Panzerschreck to the Infantry Team, a Fallshirmjager Platoon to the Platoon, and finally my Nebelwerfers to the Gun Team category.

Since I was the first to have models placed in the viewing cabinet, throughout the day, I watched the entries being added and began to realize how stiff the competition was going to be.  I decided to write off the contest as a learning experience and preparation for next year.

Then, to my complete shock, during the award ceremony, my name was called for 3rd place in the Gun Team category!


Thanks to the folks at Battlefront for putting on a great competition!  I'm already thinking about next year's entries.  Once I see a final list of all the winners, I'll post it here with a link to Battlefront's webpage, so you can see all the awesome models.

Friday, July 13, 2012

WIP - Panzer IV ready for the snow

Here's a quick WIP report on some white washed Panzer IV.  I plan to convert these to Panzer IV J to use in the new Flames of War Devil's Charge army lists.  I had some extra Panzer IV that I was planning to repaint the camo; instead, I tried simulating a field applied white wash.



I'll be working on the details and modifications soon but wanted to share the white wash.  One part Vallejo White to Two Parts water to make it very thin and translucent.


Sunday, July 8, 2012

Nebelwerfers Finished

Finished the Nebelwerfer platoon for Flames of War.  The soot and burnt rocket tubes was my first experiment with MiG pigments.  I used "Burnt Steel" to weather the ends of the tubes.





Panthers in Ambush Pattern

The first three Panthers using the Ambush Camouflage pattern are almost finished - two still need some details, decals, and a wash.

The one thing I can say about painting ambush is it's slow!  Each 15mm tank was about 2 hours.  Enjoy the photos.





FoW Obstacles

I've been experimenting with different methods for creating the standard 2" X 8" Flames of War Obstacles and have finally finished the first of the barbed wire and minefields.  Thanks to all who provided comments on the prototypes.

First, the minefield.  This turned out better than I expected and I'm looking forward to getting this on the table in the near future.




I used a piece of vinyl floor tile as the base and Liquitex Resin Sand to provide ground texture.  The signs are made of toothpicks and craft sticks.  The rest is a mixture of paint and washes.  The scorched earth is created using pastel applied with a make-up brush.

Next, I focused on creating six sections of barbed wire.  For details on the development process, please see the barbed wire prototype post.  Below are some photos of the final pieces.  I finally settled on using floral wire twisted around itself and then coiled around a pencil.  (Thanks to Chris at Huzzah Hobbies (http://www.huzzahhobbies.com/index.htm) for suggesting a pencil as the right diameter for 15mm.)




The coils were primed grey, dry brushed silver, and then had a light coat of MiG Rust applied.