Assembling the Dropzone Commander plastic miniatures & a building fix

I commented yesterday that I was disappointed with the card buildings so I had another look at them. I noticed that the roof tabs had a white unprinted area on them and closer inspection showed that this made the tabs too long.

So I decided to cut off the white area and see if that made a difference and it did. The tabs now fit well and the roof is more level. If you're having problems assembling your card buildings give this a try

So having assembled the two test APCs it was time to pick a colour scheme. There's plenty of colour scheme suggestions in the main rulebook if you're short of ideas. I'd decided to go with a base spray of Army Painter 'Army Green' primer for the UCM. Block painting in details like radiator grills etc and then giving it a coat of Army Painter dip and a spray of matt varnish to finish. However I planned to take a different approach with the Scourge. I was going to spray prime them white and then use a purple wash as a base picking out the details in green and gold.

However when I went to check my box of spray paints the white was empty and the green was nowhere to be found. So I popped online and ordered a couple of cans. However they probably won't arrive until sometime next week. So I decided to try a desert scheme for the UCM with a base of Army Painter 'Sand' which I did have. As its only a tester model I figured if it didn't work out it wouldn't matter. If I liked it I could assemble and paint the UCM stuff while I waited for the sprays to arrive. So quick spray of sand gave me this:

The next task was to block paint the tyres black and the rims gunmetal and then paint in some detail to give it some zip. After a coat of Army Painter 'Strong' shade dip and a spray of matt varnish I got this:

I'm happy with the way it turned out and I'm going to go with this paint scheme for the rest of my UCM. I think the light base colour works well with the darker dip bringing out the details nicely. It also has a dirty, used kind of feel which I like. Just as well I couldn't find my can of green primer. I've also assembled one of each of the other UCM models on the sprue.

First up is the Sabre tank which has six parts. The gun arm has three parts that you can just push together but will need glue to make them really secure. As on all the models the parts can only be assembled one way so are easy to put together. On the Sabre there are notches to help you locate the tracks.

 

One thing to note, check that the tracks are square before the glue dries. It's not always obvious if you just push the parts together. You can see what I mean in some of the photos below.

Note the wonky track and the gap it creates along the side.

 

Next we have the Rapier which is the same chassis with a different weapon. The procedure is the same except you will have to glue the gun barrel in place as it doesn't fit as well as on the Sabre.

 

Last is the Condor dropship. This is the most complex model with either 15 or 18 parts depending on whether you configure it with two or three carrying points. You assemble the main body and the wings first.

 

Then you add the carrying points.

There is a glass canopy which you should put on after the model is painted and varnished. Don't forget to paint the pilot before you glue on the canopy! (an Airfix reference for all you old timers)

 

You also get infantry but I'm going to leave those till last. The detail on them is poor in comparison to the other models but from 3 feet away they'll be fine.

 

I'll do a post on assembling the Scourge next week but they're even simpler to assemble than the UCM. Most of them having just a couple of parts. The infantry do look slightly better with their overcoats than the UCM, in fact they remind me of the agents in the old PC game Syndicate and that's how I'm going to paint them up.

My finished 1/72 Brits for Chain of Command & Bolt Action

I'd hoped to get my Brits done by yesterday but I miscounted and had to paint up a couple of extra figures but they're done now. The figures are from the Valiant Miniatures 1/72  'British Tommies' box.

They turned out better than I expected and I now prefer them to my Germans. I started with a base of  Warpaint's Khaki spray primer from PSC. Then I block painted the helmet with Coat D'Arms Russian Green, the webbing Coat D'Arms Linen, the skin is Coat D'Arms Suntanned Flesh, the rifle Citadel Vermin Brown and Citadel Boltgun Metal and the boots Vallejo Black. I then gave them a coat of Army Painter 'Strong' tone dip before a spray of Army painter Matt varnish. The bases are Coat D'Arms Brushcape Sandy Brown with GF9 Green static grass.

I have thirty figures left in the box after painting these so I can easily increase the forces as needed. As it stands the figures cost me £4.73 which is great value. Now on to the pictures.

The figures organised for Chain of Command

 

The above photo shows the figures organised as a Motor Platoon for 'Chain of Command'. This is made up of the platoon HQ comprising:

• Lieutenant with a Sten
• Sergeant with a Sten
• 2-man PIAT team
• 2-man 2" Mortar team.

and three Sections each comprising:

• Corporal with a Sten
• LMG team of three men and a Bren Gun
• Rifle team of four Riflemen

The next photo shows the figures organised as a 500pt force for Bolt Action.

 

The force comprises:

2nd Lieutenant + 1 Rifleman - Regular

Forward Artillery Officer - Regular

1st Squad - NCO w SMG, Bren Gunner, 6 Riflemen - Regular

2nd Squad - NCO w SMG, Bren Gunner, 6 Riflemen - Regular

3rd Squad - NCO w SMG, 8 Riflemen - Regular

MMG Team - Regular

Sniper Team - Regular

Light Mortar Team - Regular

 

With these out of the way I've got time to play a few games before my Dropzone Commander stuff arrives at the end of the month.

The Start of My 1/72 Brits for Chain of Command

Having got my Samurai for 'Ronin' out of the way I've started on painting up my 1/72 Brits for Chain of Command. I haven't decided what force I'm going to build yet but I'm leaning towards a Motor Platoon. This is made up of the platoon HQ comprising:

• Lieutenant with a Sten
• Sergeant with a Sten
• 2-man PIAT team
• 2-man 2" Mortar team.

and three Sections each comprising:

• Corporal with a Sten
• LMG team of three men and a Bren Gun
• Rifle team of four Riflemen

That's a total of 30 figs which is a nice easy amount to get painted up quickly.

As usual with a new set of rules I'm getting carried away thinking of all the other forces I could build. Thankfully there aren't many lists available for CoC yet so I may be able to keep my buying urges in check. However it's not easy as the more I delve into 20mm the more great models at great prices I find. For example I found these people who do a range of nice Early War stuff. I'm particularly taken with this wonderful little Vickers VI B tank. I'm starting to think I may concentrate on Early war with CoC, maybe including some Resistance forces. I may even venture into building some forces for aVBCW.

Anyway here's a couple of shots of my first painted up Brits.

I'm pleasantly surprised with how these turned out. I've normally thought of British uniforms as being dull and drab but I really like these. I started with a base of  Warpaint's Khaki spray primer from PSC. Then I block painted the helmet with Coat D'Arms Russian Green, the webbing Coat D'Arms Linen, the skin is Coat D'Arms Suntanned Flesh, the rifle Citadel Vermin Brown and Citadel Boltgun Metal and the boots Vallejo Black. I then gave them a coat of Army Painter 'Strong' tone dip before a spray of Army painter Matt varnish. The bases are Coat D'Arms Brushcape Sandy Brown with GF9 Green static grass.

My second painted Buntai for 'Ronin'

I've finished painting up my second buntai for Ronin so I thought I'd go through the list and look at the options I've chosen. This buntai differs from my first in that all the models are Rank 3 Samurai. It comprises:

• Three samurai with katana and wakizashi and an additional attribute for a total of 81 pts
• Two with yumi (bow) and an additional attribute for a total of 60 pts
• One with a yari (spear) and an additional attribute for a total of 30 pts
• One with a naginata (halberd) and an additional attribute for a total of 30 pts

This gives them a total of 201pts but as they're just for friendly games I don't care about being the odd point over. To simplify things I gave each of them the appropriate weapon school attribute. This allows them to re-roll one dice in each combat.

I'm not totally happy with the way this buntai turned out. I made the cardinal mistake of changing my mind on the colour scheme right before I started painting them and I think they look a little dull. I also decided to use the 'Strong' shade of Army Painter dip, which is more of a brown colour, instead of the 'Dark' tone I used on the first buntai. Again I'm not too happy with the results as it makes the models look too muddy for my taste. But as the figures only stand me at £2.55 I'm not that bothered.

So that's both buntai done now so all that's left is to try them out on the table. I want to finish off my 1/72 Brits for Chain of Command first though so it may be a few days before I get time for a game.

My first painted Buntai for 'Ronin'

I've finished painting up my first buntai for Ronin so I thought I'd go through the list and look at the options I've chosen. First up is the Bushou who is the leader of the buntai.

He is a rank 5 samurai, which is the highest rank you can take, costing 34pts. He's armed with a katana and a wakizashi. I decided to take all three of his optional attributes for another 9pts. I've given him the following:

• Kenjutsu, which gives him a dice re-roll in combat
• Tough, which lets him ignore Light Wounds
• Powerful, which gives him +1 to attack rolls

This should make him a real badass in combat.

All lords would travel with an escort so I have added two rank 3 samurai to the buntai.

One is armed with a naginata for 27 pts and the other with a katana and wakizashi for 24pts. I've also taken one additional attribute for each of them. I took

• Naginatajutsu, which gives a dice re-roll in combat, and
• Kenjutsu, which gives a dice re-roll in combat

I decided to boost their weapon skills as I think it will give me the best bang for my yen. However I may re-think things after I've got a few games under my belt.

Rounding out the buntai are five rank 1 Ashigaru at a cost of 18 pts each.

I've armed two of them with teppo (arquebus), two with nagae-yari (pike) and the last one with a yumi (bow). Again I'm not sure how they'll work out in practice. The yari fires every turn but the teppo, which fires every other turn, ignores some armour. The nagae-yari are there to protect the missile troops.

The points total for this buntai only comes to 190pts so I've bought two 'Fearsome Kiai' for 5pts each to bring it up to 200pts. A Kiai or 'spirit shout' is something used by martial artists to momentarily stun a opponent. In the game it allows you to use a 'Fearsome Kiai' to automatically gain priority in a turn, which is a nice touch.

So that's the first buntai done. I'm not too happy with some of the painting and colour choices but they'll do for now.

Colour scheme test figure for my Samurai

Having sorted out my buntai for 'Ronin' I decided to paint up a test figure to see how my planned colour scheme worked. I also wanted to see if the dip obscured the detail on these 1/72 figures.

It turned out better than I expected and took hardly any time to paint as I was just adding detail to the sprayed on base coat. There's a couple of minor things I'll change but I should have both buntai finished soon.

My 1/72 German assault rifle squad

I've finished the assault rifle squad for my 1/72 Germans now. So I decided to post a few 'work in progress' photos as it seems that's what all the big kids do these days.

So how did I produce these decidedly average figures? Well, I start off by spraying the figures with the appropriate base colour. As these are late war Germans I used grey. I then block paint the detail colours for the skin, webbing, weapons etc. The end result can be seen below.

 

They're not brilliant, and I miss out some of the detail as well as painting outside the lines but the dip covers a multitude of sins. Lots of people may be aghast at my approach but I'm not a painter I'm a wargamer. As long as the end result looks ok on the table I'm happy. Once the block painting is finished I brush on a coat of Army Painter dip. In this case the 'Dark' tone which is black. I'll be using the 'Strong' shade, which is brown, for my Brits as I think it will go better with the khaki.

 

The figures after a coat of dip.

 

Once this has dried overnight I give them a spray of Army Painter Matt varnish, which I think is an excellent product giving a really nice flat finish. Then I attach them to the mdf bases which I paint with Coat D'Arms 'Sandy Brown' Brushscape textured paint before adding GF9 Green static grass. The end result can be seen below.

 

The finished squad

You can see the other squads here and here.

Malifaux: Witchling Stalkers & Death Marshals

Looking at yesterday's post got me thinking about Malifaux again. I haven't played in a while and I've had some half finished figures on my desk for ages. So I decided it was about time I finished them off.

The first pair are Death Marshals. I did my usual base coat of spray white and then used washes on most of the model. I'm fairly happy with them except for the 'flames' (or whatever it's supposed to be coming out of the coffin) I wanted a more two tone effect but the yellow highlights didn't show up as much as I wanted.

Next are some Witchling Stalkers. These were pretty simple to do and I'm happy with how they came out. I think the proportions on the sword and guns are a little off though but there's not much I can do about the sculpts.

I'm looking forward to the Gencon releases and I can see me investing in a few new crews. Particularly the Ten Thunders and Dark Debts sets.

28mm Saxons

In one of my many manic phases I bought a load of 28mm plastic Vikings, Saxons and Normans to use for Impetus and Saga. Normally I like to fight ahistorical battles, Egyptians vs HYW etc. but most people I play prefer match ups. So my current plan is to build Saxon and Norman armies for Impetus to use as a historical pairing.

As I'm not really a painter I always look to do things as simply as possible. I started with some foot and sprayed them with Army Painter's Plate Mail primer. Next I painted anything that wasn't mail or metal in an appropriate colour. They were then finished off with a coat of Army Painter Dark Tone dip.

I was pleased with how they came out. They were fairly quick to paint and the dip picked out the detail nicely. The shields were a pain though. I did these separately and used transfers for the shield designs. I had to paint some of the shield fronts white to give them a decent background colour for the decals. I've always found white to be a difficult colour to paint and I never get a smooth finish. But I've bought one of the new white GW Base paints now so I'll give that a try as they claim it can cover black in one coat.

Although these are fairly easy to paint I haven't played ancients in months so they are now low on my list of painting priorities.

More MDF Buildings

I've finally finished off the first of my MDF buildings from Commission Figurines. It too a lot longer then I expected as there's so much detail to paint. As well as the doors, shell damage and exposed brick work there's over fifty windows to paint.

I'm not that happy with how it's turned out as the colours I chose don't really work, plus the dip just ended up making the building look dirty rather than picking out the detail as I'd hoped. Although it does look ok on the exposed brickwork. It's not too bad from a distance and it will be surrounded by other buildings so it will do for now.

On my other building I'm not going to bother with the dip, hopefully my colour choices will be better and it will look ok.

What To Do Next?

Now that Operation Sea Lion has finished I've got a bit of breathing space where I don't have anything I have to get painted for a game. So I need to sort out what I'm going to do next. Things are complicated by the fact that I'm getting a load of work done on the house at the moment so there's lots of noise and interruptions which makes painting etc a bit tricky. I have far too many bits and pieces all over the place at the moment as well, some are waiting assembly, some half painted and far too many unpainted models & figures. I think I'm going to have to buy more boxes to store everything safely until I get round to them and have a general clean up so I can see what's what.

Probably the first thing I'll do is assemble the 4Ground church I bought a couple of weeks ago. It's pre-painted so once it's assembled it's done. That should only take me a couple of hours to do.

Next I should probably finish assembling my three boxes of PSC tanks (Pz III's & IV's) for my DaK force and then get them painted. I also have have to add the detail to the 3 Sd Kfz 10/5's in my AA Section. Once that's done my DaK force is finished.

I should also finish painting my MDF buildings from Commission Figurines. I've decided that using Army Painter dip on them is fine for the exposed brickwork but doesn't work on the rendered areas. So I'm going to try using Devlan Mud just on the bricks and leave the rendered areas in a base colour. These are taking me a while to paint not only because I'm having difficulty deciding how to paint them but also because of the amount of detail there is on the models. It's just not obvious how detailed they are until you start painting them. They certainly are a great product.

Once that's done I have a load of primed FoW infantry to finish or I could start on my 10mm WSS figures for Maurice or my 10mm Napoleonics for Lasalle or finish off my 28mm Norman and Saxon armies for Impetus or make a start on my 28mm Imperial Romans also for Impetus or my 28mm ECW figures etc. etc. It's a good job I'm retired or there's no way I'd ever get all these projects finished!

Ohh, in case you were wondering I sucumbed and bought the Union and Confederate army packs from Pendraken. So when they arrive that's something else to add to the list.

Painting Update

As promised last week, here are some shots of my finished Kerr & King desert buildings. They didn't turn out quite how I wanted them but overall I'm happy with the end results. Here's a shot of how they looked before paint.

And these are some shots of how they look painted up.

And a shot of them on the table.

I've also painted the bridge I got from Terrain Warehouse. Here's a couple of before and after shots.

The bridge has painted up quite well and I'm pretty happy with the stuff I got from Terrain Warehouse.