WIP - Char Saint Chamond

Nobody makes these in 1/72 (at least not for a non-stellar price), so I fashioned one from scratch. This is the earlier flat-top version. The hull is 2mm and 5mm balsa wood, there's some bamboo sticks, plasticard etc. involved, and the track is from a toy Sherman that's been shortened and the forward half turned upside down, with the plasticard cover it gives an OK impression.

Royal Retinue

Here's a bunch of elite men-at-arms for my fantasy/renaissance project. Most of these are Perry foot knights with additions from their WoTR infantry and mounted sets, and a few Warlord Landsknecht heads. I wish there was at least another head with the crowned sallet, but this is it.

I'm doing batches of six figures which will, in some cases, eventually be filled up to a dozen and then used for Lion Rampant / Pikeman's Lament.

1/72 Trenches

Here are all the modular trench sections I have completed so far. 

For those who are interested in this kind of stuff, here's how they are made:

Materials: cheap plasticine, the one used by school kids; 2mm plasticard; balsa wood; other various bits of card for the duckboards. One box of 200g plasticine is good for one section. The plasticard pieces are usually 12x20cm ones, I think the gun emplacement is 18x20 or so, and the connecting piece is 8,5x15. The rear side of the trench is 3cm wide, then a 3,5cm wide space, then a 5,5cm frontage. The front has a more gentle slope so attackers could climb it more easily and it blends more into the environment. 

The trench itself is not very deep. You'd need a much broader glacis if you made it man-deep, closer to 20, 25, 30mm. This one is just 15mm tall at the front, so about waist high for a standing figure on a ~2mm thick base. You can move standing figures further back from the glacis and it would still have the visual effect required, this is a thing I learned from one of Lindybeige's videos. This can be used for other types of emplacement as well.

I use my greasy fingers and a ruler to shape the plasticine. After this is done, I just splash on a huge amount of PVA and sprinkle sand on it. Make sure to wash your hands after both of these steps. 

Let the stuff dry for one or two hours before adding the running boards, stakes and whatnot. Beware that the plasticine is not very heat resistant and it may become too soft if you put it on a radiator for too long. The PVA and sand will dry to a hard surface and will protect the plasticine, so this shouldn't be a huge problem.

Wait for another 3-4 hours before undercoating with cheap brown acrylic paint. As a rule of thumb, don't use professional (and expensive) paints when covering large surfaces. Let the paint dry, apply brighter brown patches liberally, then drybrush with Buff or Iraqi Sand. Add some static grass, debris from previous battles etc.

The bunker closing down the second trench is just 6mm balsa wood, two or three riflemen or an MG can fit in it.

Most of the pieces can be arranged in a different fashion, even two opposing trench lines can be placed. With a few extensions, this will be a really fun feature of coming battles.

Purchase history, October 2018

It's been a while since I posted anything, although I have a big bunch of painted figures that were not exhibited yet. I wanted to photograph some today, but the camera battery was too low. 

Anyway, this month is car repairs month, which is a curse on the hobby pocket, so all I bought was a load of plastics from Arcane Scenery: 1/72 Zvezda and Italeri medievals, HäT Grenzer (I'm relieved I could finally find a box), and Perry renaissance horsemen (I have one box of gendarmes and light cavalry painted, but would like to paint more).

I'm back to painting 28mm renaissance stuff (if the purchase list would not suggest it strongly enough), and have painted a bunch of figures. I really like how the Perry and Warlord plastics can be varied as the parts fit. It's a slower progress, but more relaxing.

Vehicles of War

I'd had a painting overdose from my 10 days of holiday. I haven't been on a proper holiday since January (when it was for the finals...) and hadn't taken a single day of sick leave. So it was good to relax and paint a big bunch of figures.

Anyway, since then I have been painting on and off, mostly smaller stuff like these vehicles, some of which have long been in the pipeline actually completed, I just hadn't photographed them.

Left to rigt: Airfix 1/72 Male tank with added rust and grime; Revell Pz.II; scratchbuilt Soviet T-18; Soviet Komintern artillery towing vehicle; Trumpeter Char B1. They are from a variety of eras, but fit the WW1/RCW/interwar/diselepunk theme. They are for my upcoming trench game. I'm also building trenches from lots of plasticine.

Rheinbund Reinforcements

Here's another few Napoleonic bits, mostly HäT figures from the larger participants in the Confederation, and then some Zvezda French skilfully converted. 

Left: Württemberg light cavalry and Berg Lancers

Middle: Bavarian light infantry, Saxon Leibgarde and Württemberg artillery

Right: Saxon cuirassiers and Württemberg (/Bavarian?) chevauxlegers.

Austrian big battalions!

Here's another big batch of figures not yet photographed together. I just finished the infantry recently, but the cavalry is from earlier and you could see some in the Eckmühl AAR.

My 1806 Prussian army - almost complete

There were no pictures submitted yet about one of my larger undertakings, namely creating a Prussian army for the 1806-1807 period. Now here's the bulk of that army, minus elites and specialists.

Various WIPs

These are a few things I'm working on - trench sections for WW1/RCW gaming, a chicken coop and hunting camp for Neue Böhnstadt, and then some vehicles like the Revell Pz.II on the right. Most of these are small projects which take only a few hours to build and paint while I'm painting dozens of Napoleonic Austrian infantry, which can get quite boring.