Desert Terrain

Another BUM base I had for years.  This time I painted it in desert.  I admit I was pleased with the color effect relative to the one posted below, which was more European dirt. 

The gun is a German 50mm Pak 38. (Mfg unknown) The troops are Hat figures from their Anti-Tank Pak 36 set.

Picture from Plastic Soldier Review

Plastic Soldier Review - HaT German PaK 36 Anti-tank Gun

 

 

I wrote this book years ago and it was my attempt at contributing to a hobby that has given me so much over the years. I cover not just my rules, but the development of those rules with analysis. I included scenarios, TO&Es and a little flashback to my childhood and the hobby. I hope you find it an enjoyable read.   

Blood and Guts: Rules, Tactics, and Scenarios for Wargaming World War Two: Hall, David W.: 9781462025558: Amazon.com: Books

Entrenchment

 I got this entrenchment years ago in a BUM Spanish Civil War kit.  I never gave much consideration to painting it until I learned how to make the dull plastic look like more than splashes of paint. It is a hard white plastic base with little ground features. 

Therefore, I added, at the recommendation of a few gents on TMP, some texture.  I used an acrylic paste, which is bushed on.  The grit is crushed kitty litter.  I sprinkle it on after applying the paste.  

I have used crushed kitty litter for years on my figure bases, but I didn't give much thought to the application here. Once it dried, I covered with Modge Podge to seal the kitty litter. That gives it a hard coat to paint on. 

First base coats

Some flocking and more paint...

 

and not too bad.

 Before I did the Airfix Battlefront I worked on this base from Bellona's Miniscenes.  It is their "Ambush" one with removable hill tops, bridge and trap.  I scored it on Ebay, but the hill tops were missing. 

I wanted to experiment with shading and color.  The color of the road came out decent, but I struggled with the general landscape.  I added the flocking, but no ground texture.

The river was nice touch. I used ArtMinds Blue Waterscape.  The only trouble with that is your surface must be absolutely flat to set evenly.  The flowers were purchased as a set from Hobby Lobby.  It gives a little color and variety. 

 

I am assuming the hilltop went over the crater. The kits are 1/76 Matchbox more or less painted for the Polish Campaign.  So this is a pleasant drive over the Polish countryside and scouting some trap door the Sd,Kfz.251 is sitting on.  Good job guys... Benny Hill could do better! 

Airfix D-Day Battlefront

 

The time has come to enhance my skills at painting.  I have turned my attention to vacuum form bases. I started with the IMEX ones from their US Civil War kits. (Those I will post soon.) It was more challenging then it first appeared. Trying to blend colors and get some sort of realistic shading proven more difficult then I thought. This box set took me about two weeks for about 12 hours of actual work. I would enjoy comments for improvement. I have looked on TMP and there are no threads on the subject. So, I am hoping to start a conversation with those of you who have had experience and success on this type of medium.  

Here I added some grass on the dirt areas for a little texture.

The gents in the house came out fine, but my wash was a bit too much.  My road on the other hand could have been darker. The sidewalk too could have been a little different.

        

I do like the way I captured the brick work and burn marks on the building.  

I think this is the best Airfix Sherman I have done to date. I added the Hat American tanker and painted him up to look like Odd Ball from Kelly's Heroes. 

Ok I struggled with the blah debris by the house and across the road. I did order some rumble in 1/72 from Canada. I am going to apply that to my ESCI Barbarossa kit for effect.  Also, the road track marks...I don't know what to say.  I was not really pleased how they turned out. 

The Tiger also came out better then I thought for the molding that it is.  This kit is like what 100 years old??? LOL  The extra figures are Hat and Caesar.  

Again road, tread tracks and sidewalk could have come out better.