Desert Storm

As we prepare for our desert campaigns, we revisit a few of the vehicles painted for that theatre.  One is a Rubicon Crusader, and the other is a Shapeways Panzerjager.

The Crusader was painted with Mig Ammo Oilbrushers, while the Panzerjager was done with regular acrylic paints (Secret Weapon weathering paints and Reaper miniatures).

If you want to get a peek at how the Crusader was done, it was quite similar to this Panzer 3:  https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10211564190874477/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

I just filmed a new video showing how to paint a very unique desert theme vehicle... this time a sci-fi APC from Victoria Miniatures!  That will be published soon, once the vehicle is released.  That is painted very much like the Crusader.  I used the Secret Weapon Weathering paints in a similar method as I did on this Captured and converted Char B1 Bis: https://youtu.be/ce_sOQ2KCUQ

When weathering desert vehicles, it is important to keep a few things in mind.  Sun bleaching is going to be far more prominent than any kind of streaking, and the old reliance on rust and other such methods is either non existent or kept to a minimum, for obvious reaons.

By the way, the crew figures of the Panzerjager are from Perry Brothers.  I really prefer to have some kind of crew figures for open topped transports and SPG's.  They don't have the same kind of look on the table when they are empty.

There will be a number of new vehicle painting tutorials coming to the Patreon Page once we return from Adepticon... they will be available to the patrons here:  www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Operation Sting

Earlier this month, I had a chance to participate in my first full fledged Bolt Action tournament, good old Operation Sting! Brent and Seamus worked so hard to make the event happen, as did many of the other participants.

We, like many others, brought terrain tables.  That made for some very nice looking tables, and a great variety.  I think that was my favorite part, having many different themes to play on!

As you know, I brought the Fallschirmjager army for Monte Cassino.  We had to make an objective marker, and you can see mine in the courtyard.  This was sculpted from scratch to match the Madonna statue which stood there.

That gave me just enough room to place some of the other units, including the weapon teams.

I was very happy at how the upper level of the broken monastery worked out, and I could easily place all the figures inside.  Better yet, it will be a fantastic terrain piece when it comes to playing games in this theatre.

I tried to make distinct areas to place my various units for a few reasons.  First was appearance of course, but also to help me figure out which squad was which!  I had no time whatsoever to practice or play test with this army in advance.

In effect, I was being handed a brand new army on the spot, and I was going to have to learn this army in the crucible of a 5 game tournament!

Each unit had its own designated spot, and I knew which one it was by that location.

I like this view, because so many of my reference pictures were taken from this angle.  Since I had a bit more room (and light!) for photos at the tournament, I thought I could get you some fun new views of the board that were not possible as it was being constructed.

When I placed order dice on the board Friday night before the tournament, I was not entirely certain that I would have a painted unit to match it!

If you have not seen the making of the display board, that is detailed in a number of step by step tutorial posts:

https://wappellious.blogspot.com/2018/10/monte-cassino-display-board-phase-1.html

I was very glad that I utilized the openings that were in the original pieces of scrap foam... making them arch support where the hillside had been blasted away.

One thing I wanted for this overall piece was "openness".  That is, I could get down to this angle and be able to see all the way through it.  This is a distinct property of ruins such as these, and I wanted to capture that.

If you recall the method I used to create these broken floors, and how easy that was... these images made me even more happy!  Here's a peek at the blog post explaining them:

https://wappellious.blogspot.com/2018/11/monte-cassino-part-3.html

I was so thrilled to see how the figures looked in the broken floor rubble!  Just as I designed, they could stand on top of the rubble without tipping over.  This bodes well for all the urban ruins that I want to create for Stalingrad, Berlin, Budapest, etc.

I will be doing another post where I show the photos I was able to take during the games.  My result was far beyond anything I could have imagined heading into this event, so stay tuned!!!

Up and at 'em!!

I have been waiting for a while to utilize my Rubicon Sdk 250 Alt transports, and the Monte Cassino army seemed to be a perfect time!

The idea was to have a force that seemed to be somewhat cobbled together and ad hoc, taking advantage of the bombardment of the monastery. 

This was painted entirely with brushes, as I didn't have the time to do the usual airbrush techniques.  It also had to be acrylics so that it would be dry in time!  That meant I put my Secret Weapon paints to good use.

Another reason I had such dramatic differences in transport types and camo patterns was to be able to tell one unit from another!  As you recall, there was no playtesting of this army whatsoever before the event.  I had no idea if I was even going to have units to match order dice the night before dice were gonna roll!

I tried to take advantage of the fact that by this stage of the war, may different uniforms were being warn, and this gave me a chance to secretly "color code" units.  The side benefits were that I had more fun painting that variety, and they looked more interesting.

I have done a number of painting videos on Bolt Action infantry and vehicles.  Here's an example of one of my Patreon videos, from the "Army Painter" series two.  In this set of 5 videos, I tackled every phase of basing and painting my Winter Soviets.  

Each video is about 2 to 2.5 hours long, and it really covers the process and planning involved:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsU7M9EIFnc

I will be making more Army Painter series, especially on my upcoming Desert Armies!  I have Italians, DAK, British 8th, Free French, and even Vichy.

Here's a link to the Patreon Page.  The Army Painter level is $15, and it will give you access to all previous series, along with other single episodes covering other effects:

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Second Skin

You have already seen the review of the Rubicon Models Panzer 3 kit, and now it's time for the painted images!!  I thought it might be interesting to add this to my Hungarian army, with a camo scheme and identity markings that are different from what I have seen so many times.

It is also the first time that I have had a chance to paint one of the classic extra armor versions!

Those obviously create a lot of interesting weathering opportunities.  Lots of fun streaks, scratches, spatters and so on!  Here's a link to the live painting video on facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10209302585015744/?type=2&theater

I was able to put in lots of the dried leaves and dust, using the Green Stuff World leaf punch.

Here's part two:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10209317415066486/?type=2&theater

Now for the really interesting part... the removable extra armor!  Yes, it all just snaps on, which means that you can completely change the look of the vehicle, or match your Bolt Action list!

A few more views show how that transforms completely.  Even better, they don't tear away at the paint when you remove them!

The 'regular' version, minus the extra armor.  I was able to do all the fun weathering on these sections of the vehicle too.

Here's a review of the original kit:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2016/10/snap-to-it.html

I used a variety of products on this, such as regular oil paints out of the tube, Wilder oil paints, and plenty of Mig AMMO products.

The first unit of the Hungarian army is ready for combat!!

The Crusader

I finally got a chance to put the final effects of weathering on the Rubicon Models Crusader!  It wasn't anything terribly complex, just a few layers of sandy weathering powders.

It all worked out as I had hoped, by planning ahead for this very stage!  This meant getting darker colors in critical areas, so that this much lighter dust and sand would be more visible. 

Obviously the darker sections of the camo patterns were a prime location for the lighter sand, but I also wanted it to be visible in places on the lighter sections of the hull and turret.  So, I had added a little bit of additional staining to darken them.

I was also eager to see how the sand would look in the wheels and treads, which were left much darker, with not a lot of extra shading.  The goal was to have this applied sand create the forms.

As I mentioned in the live facebook broadcast, these vehicles are like layer cakes, and each layer is a different form of weathering.  You must plan ahead, and lay the groundwork for something that might be several layers down the line!

Here's a link to that video session:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10209772855572214/?type=2&theater

I look forward to trying out these techniques on the rest of the desert theme vehicles... for the Desert Rats, DAK and the Italians!  Stay tuned.

True Crusader

This iconic British vehicle is yet another fantastic kit from Rubicon Models.

As you can see by the following image, it has the usual multi-kit function, allowing you to make several different varieties in this single box.

As detailed as the sprues are, the instructions are just as detailed, with a number of helpful highlighted sections.  Those are concentrated in places where options exist for different turrets on variants, etc.

A very generous decal sheet means that you can adapt your vehicle to almost any unit or theatre. 

Here's the sprues, which are always nicely arranged, with pieces that are easy to remove, since there is not a lot of 'tension' exerted on each piece.

It is possible to use the extra pieces to create destroyed vehicle terrain, or even add to other kits as a potential conversion.

Once again, the instructions guide you very efficiently, letting you know when a piece should be put together first, or where your contact points might be.

It doesn't take long to see your new Crusader tank evolve!

I was asked to go with the Crusader 2 variant, with the light gun and armor skirts.

The extra fuel storage was a must, so that I could use the Mig AMMO oil and fuel stains paints :-)

All built, and ready for primer!!

Let the painting process begin!  First, a number of layers of Badger Stynlrez primer were used to create a solid base for painting the subsequent layers of oils.  Since there are now 12 colors of Badger primers, I never had to use any actual paint to get my original base colors!

I was able to try out the new Mig AMMO OilBrushers, which have a fantastic paint consistency.  It is as close to regular acrylic paints as possible.  I discovered that they mix quite well with my other oil products, such as the Wilder paints and Windsor Newton paints.

Here's a link to the facebook live session that was done to experiment with the paints.  It's about 110 minutes long, so check it out!

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10209772855572214/?type=2&theater