For Lease

This was a tricky sort of vehicle for me.  It was the first "American" vehicle that I have painted, but it was not a U.S. unit.  Rather, it is part of my buddie's British army.

That meant spending a lot of time researching the markings and insignia for British Shermans. I learned a great deal about the principles behind British markings.

The turret marking would designate it as a regular or command tank, and the number inside the shape is the number of the tank in that unit.

There were 4 basic shapes, and 4 different colors.  The numerical markings along the hull were devoid of the normal (USA) designation in caps.

The markings on the left and right of the hull would define the type of unit the vehicle was a part of.

I put the British roundel on the top of the turret, to let any passing Thunderbolt know not to strafe it or drop rockets on them!

As far as the painting goes, I was able to do a lot of fun subtle color changes with all of the greens. Some are warmer, or cooler, while others are more faded.  These limited palette exercises can be very instructional!

I know that some folks would get "bored" with an endless sea of green, but making that more interesting to look at is a lot of fun, and a great challenge.  It was also necessary to 'plan ahead', and make sure that I left myself plenty of room for the special weathering effects that were added later on.

This means keeping the colors lighter where I want to have strategically placed chipping and streaking.  The same goes for mud and dust effects, as well as the leaves, etc.

Winter is really Hell

After a few facebook live painting sessions, we have the finished version of the Trenchworx M18 Hellcat.

As you saw in the original unboxing post, these kits are very easy to assemble, and they even have magnets for the turrets!  That is a fantastic feature.

This version was winterized to go along with the winter American army for the Bolt Action Battle of the Bulge book which has just been released.

I tried out a number of brand new materials on this vehicle, such as the Wilder oil paints, and the Secret Weapon mud kits.  That involved mixing sand, realistic water and weathering powders.  I also mixed static grass into this to create grass tufts hanging out of the treads.

Here's a link to that live video:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/10209626582475478/?pnref=story

The views from above show some of the variations in the greens, as some areas have a little more blue, while other spots are more yellowish.  Also, you can see the leaves that were added that had been cut with the Green Stuff World leaf cutters.

The stowage was mostly sculpted, although I used a few extra bits from the American Bolt Action sprues too.

One winterized American tank ready to take the field!!!

A Brand New Medium!

This will be an unusual blog post today, in the form of a link.

I have been experimenting with facebook live broadcasts the last few weeks, to see how those work, and many of the technical aspects involved.

With each session, I learn a bit more, and there is new equipment that I am trying to secure for future improvements.  The best thing about them is that there is no limit to the number of people who can watch and participate as it's happening.

This makes them very interactive, yet there are no interruptions in the lesson... the questions only add to it!  That's great!

For the moment. I am using an ancient phone for these broadcasts.  I am hoping to get updated equipment which should make a huge difference right away.

In the meantime, I will focus more on large scale figures and vehicles, since it seems that the current device works more readily with them.

My ultimate goal is to be able to do sessions like these almost every day, if not a few shorter sessions each day.  Basically, I want to just "turn the camera on" and let people see whatever it is that I am working on at the moment.

Here's a link to the most recent session, where I continue to work on the Trenchworx vehicles, testing out a brand new paint!

This is from Wilder, and these thinner, fast drying oils are fantastic!  They are so much like the regular miniature paints we all use, but with all the benefits of oil paints... take a look:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10209553700813482/?type=2&theater

Oil Slick

While you have seen me using the oil paints on vehicles, and a few larger figures as well, this is the first time I have tried to use them entirely on 'regular' infantry sized figures.

The whole idea behind the oils is to be able to paint much larger batches at once, as in 50-100, where I can rotate through the hordes and still be able to work the wet paint.

These will all begin with glazes using the Mig AMMO oils, which set up the subsequent painting with the Windsor Newton oil paints.  In effect, this mimics what I used to do when painting in 2D... taking some thinned down burnt sienna and 'priming' the canvas with it.

I put out a few basic wash colors, some which were more reddish and others more tan.

I did various glazes over the primer, which had been given some pre-shading, as you could see in the earlier image.  The Dark Wash is a very deep blueish brown, so that makes a nice dark glaze for the deepest shadows.

Just as I would on a vehicle, I can use the makeup sponges to remove some of the washes, revealing the lighter shading underneath.  Since the drying time is measured in days rather than minutes, I will be able to work my way through large batches of figures without having to worry about the paint being unworkable. 

Here's the final view of the glazed figures, all set for adding the actual oil paints!

Using the original glazes as a starting point, the thicker oil paints are placed on top, and then mixed together.  The thin layer of glazing helps to move the much thicker oil paints around.

I can also use the glaze colors on the palette to thin the oil paint if I need to.

The ability to continuously blend the oil paints together means that I can introduce something like light green, or a color that is quite different than the one already on the surface, and blend that together quite easily.

While I can do all this with the acrylic paints, it is not feasible to do so with the amount of figures that I will be working on.  Again, the idea is to expand the number that I can work on in one sitting.

I can continue to add more light colors, blending the new additions into what's already there.  If I don't like it, I can easily wipe it all away, which is yet another huge advantage!

Color unity is very easy to maintain when working like this.  All of the colors come from the same root beginning, which means that even figures that have different color coats or uniforms will still seem as if they all are in the same "environment".

It is also possible to go back in with darker colors, but they will have to be thinned down.  Remember that thick paint will stick to thinner paint (and vice/versa), but thick on thick will not work.  One paint must be a different consistency than the other, which is going to be very different for someone who has never worked in oils before.

I spent many years painting oils in 2D, so that is a lesson I learned decades ago. :-)

To work in the grays and greenish tones, I put some blue and yellow ocher out on the palette, and started to blend those into the existing shades.

The backpacks and straps were more of a yellowish tan, so you can see in the bottom image the various shades that I was able to get with just a few simple colors on the palette.  Mixing your own colors is what oils are all about!

Here's the batch of figures with some additional darks applied to the bases... and even a German MMG team that I tossed some paint on while I had it on the palette. Again, I was able to take advantage of the extended drying time.  Everything was still nice and wet the next day!

I wasn't actually in my home studio doing this, so the pictures were a little farther away than usual.  Also, this was just an experiment, to see what might happen!  I'm sure that I will rapidly develop new ways of doing this, which I will try to show you in subsequent posts and in facebook live sessions.

These are not actually finished yet, with mostly details on the faces to be painted, and the snow effects added too.... stay tuned!!

A sweet little Kitty

Next up from Trenchworx is the M18 Hellcat.  This will also get the winter treatment like the Sherman.  Here's the opening of the box... goodies!

This instruction sheet is really handy.  Each company has a different way of casting things like treads, so it is very good to have a picture of that piece so one doesn't mistake a tab for a gate or vent!

Just like the Sherman, the pieces fit together so well out of the box, it stands on its own, without even a touch of blu-tak.

Once again, a fantastic rare earth magnet set up for the turret.  Better yet, I have noticed that the magnets even change size with the turret.  This is bigger and heavier than the Sherman turret, and  it comes with a bigger magnet

These views were shot right after the assembly.  Since then, I have sculpted a bunch of stowage to give it a lived in look.

The casting is so fine on these vehicles, you have minimal amounts of cleaning, filing and so on.  I didn't have to break out the jeweler's block and the razor saw to hack away  massive gates and vents.  Always a plus.

The tracks and drive wheels are especially clean and straight.  This is the single most variable part in all vehicle castings.  They can be a nightmare to deal with, and it's great to be able to blitz right through the process and have a tank with tread assemblies that are not tilted or distorted!

It's the little things that bring me joy. 

Down in the Trenches

As the winter American army draws closer, it's time to get some vehicles ready for them as well!  

Just in time for the relief of Bastonge is the trusty Sherman... I look forward to "winterizing" this. :-)

I had never gotten Trenchworx vehicles before, but I knew that I was in for a real treat.  Sure enough, all kinds of amazing things were waiting inside the box...

Instructions!  Yes, not something you see very often with resin and metal kits.  Very handy though :-)  Even at the rough stage of yanking them out of the bubble wrap, the parts all looked and felt fantastic.

The resin had a wonderful smooth, uniform finish, as opposed to the alternating glossy/rough like you all too often run across.

The pieces already went together, with no slicing, filing or other machinations!

And yes, each turret comes with a rare earth magnet set!  The holes are already set for you... all you have to do is glue them in.  That saves a whole lot of time, pain and potential suffering!  Love it!

The assembled vehicle.  I have since added some stowage, so that it has more places for the snow to accumulate.  The drive wheels and treads were super clean and distortion free, which is yet another amazing attribute.  Normally the treads get a bit whacky and out of shape.

Not here!

I look forward to working on many more Trenchworx vehicles, since the kits are soooooo easy to deal with.  Every detail is sharp and crisp, down to the smallest tool, hatch or vent.  Painting these will be a joy, because they will practically paint themselves.

I have a link to the site here.  They are continuously adding new kits, so I keep coming back to see what wonderful new tank will be coming out:

http://trenchworx.wpengine.com/product-category/world-war-ii/