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

Shifting Sands

Not all of the early war Shapeways 3D printed vehicles are meant for France!  A few of them are designed for our North Africa campaigns, as is this Panzerjager 1.

Here's a link to the original unboxings, so that you can get a sens of what it looked like prior to painting.  All I did was wash it in warm soapy water, which is what I do for any kind of resin kits.

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2017/04/reshaping-future.html

It was very easy to paint, and it held the primer and subsequent layers of paints very well.  I used the Badger Airbush Stynlrez primer, followed by a series of Secret Weapon paints.

Those acrylic paints are designed for various weathering techniques. Each color is designed to remain cohesive, even when thinned down.  They also dry quite flat or matte, which is another advantage when you need to get weathering effects which dry quickly!

The crew figures are from Perry Brothers, part of set of five.  I chose the two that would fit with this kit the best, and gave them an appropriate Afrika Korps look.  I really enjoyed having the crew inside the fighting compartment, giving the vehicle more of an active feel.

I had a limited time to work on this, so I didn't get a chance to put much stowage on it, or create some live ammo to place on the insides of the gun shield.  However, I did use my weathering powder/rubbing alcohol combinations to make the dusting effects.

The idea is to 'liquify" the powder with the alcohol, making it easier to get it to settle into the crevices. Dampened makeup sponges can be used to remove the excess powder, and restore the original colors.

Here's a link to the "painting with powders" facebook live episode:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10210083481257662/?type=2&theater

I look forward to painting several more of these Afrika Korps vehicles, along with my Italians!  The infantry will also be interesting, after painting so many early war German Heer in green :-)  

Stay tuned!

Shaping Up!!

Here's the next mighty Panzer from Shapeways!  The Panzer I joins the Panzer II for war in western Europe.  This 3D printed vehicle was done by Mike (aka Arctic Skunk), and you can see his great work here:

https://www.shapeways.com/shops/arcticskunk?section=German+Vehicles&s=0

This was painted in a very different way... I started out with a few layers of the Badger Stynlrez grey primer, and then shaded everything darker with 'washes' of weathering powders from Mig AMMO.  I mixed them with rubbing alcohol, which made them an easy to apply liquid.

I followed that up with Secret Weapon acrylic paints.  The live video can be seen here:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10210140510403355/?type=2&theater

That was a really fun approach, and it worked very nicely with the 3D print white plastic.  I added some mud and dirt effects with the Mig AMMO mud products.

This is the smallest vehicle that I have painted so far, and it presented an interesting challenge.  When you have such a small set of surfaces, it can be that much easier to go overboard with weathering effects.  On larger late war tanks, you can almost "forget" about some parts of the tank!

I added a few of the leaves using the Green Stuff World leaf punch.  That helped to keep it in line with the rest of the early war Dunklegrau tanks that were painted previously.

The Panzer I was more of a tankette when I think about it, barely larger than a mid size SUV, with only a few machine guns.  Now that I have the Perry Brothers gun crew, I will be painting the Panzerjager anti-tank vehicle soon!

Now for some comparison shots.  I also have a painting video of the Panzer II, which you can watch here:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10210083481257662/?type=2&theater

One last set of views... I am not sure if I will paint up the Panzerjager for the Desert campaign, or stay with the Western Front Dunkelgrau... stay tuned! :-)

Taking Shape

It's time to show off the first painted Shapeways tank!  This is the Panzer II, which was 3D printed by Mike Pennock, AKA Arctic Squirrel on Shapeways.  I had a lot of fun painting it, and it accepted primer, weathering powders, and oils very well...

Here's a link to the live painting broadcast:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10210083481257662/?type=2&theater

As I mentioned in the original "unboxing" post, these are no hassle figures, with no assembly required at all!  I washed it with soap and water, and that's it.  The primer (Badger Stynlrez) worked like a charm.

It was very interesting to work on these road wheel/track assemblies, since they are much more "open".  That is the advantage of the 3D printing.  Instead of a 'flat' set of wheels, these are more independent.

The scale of the tanks are all 1/56, which is Bolt Action scale.  Here is a post that show how well they match up scale wise with Warlord miniatures and vehicles:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2017/04/reshaping-future.html

The views from above show some of the Green Stuff World leaf punches at work, adding some additional textures to the upper hull surfaces.

On this vehicle, I used the weathering powders mixed with  rubbing alcohol along with the Mig AMMO OilBrusher paints.

Now for some size comparison shots.  The Panzer II matches up very well with the Resin/metal Panzer 38t from Warlord Games.

A few infantry miniatures as well to show you how easily they can all be integrated together.

This early war German force is really starting to come together, as I have since painted the tiny Panzer I!  The expanding range of early war vehicles and artillery pieces means that soon the Wehrmacht will be ready to storm across Europe...

Stay tuned for more links to live painting episodes on Facbook!

Reshaping the future

Something arrived the other day that really fascinated and amazed me.  Inside this box was a completely new experience!

Imagine a world where your miniatures arrive at your door completely ready for painting... this wonderful world now exists!!!

These 28mm (1/56 scale) vehicles are from Shapeways, which is a collection of 3D artists who print a huge variety of subjects and objects.  Of particular interest  were these amazing vehicles crafted by Mike Pennock, who goes by Arctic Skunk on the Shapeways site.

You can see page after page of his work here:

https://www.shapeways.com/shops/arcticskunk?section=German+Vehicles&s=0

I started out with a few early war German kits, since they would go very nicely with what I already have.  There's a Marder, a Panzer I  and a Panzer II.  The material is the white plastic, which has a slight texture, as many other manufacturers.

What amazed me right off the bat was the strength of the material, and that it was all one piece!  And NO MOULD LINES AT ALL!!!

Yes indeed, nothing to assemble, nothing to file, chop glue, etc.  These are all right out of the baggies.

Basically you take them out of the package and start painting!

Now that is something I can definitely appreciate.  Usually these rarer kits (which Mike has focused on) tend to be available only as resin and metal kits.  While those are fine, you have to do a lot of prep work, and hope for a good cast.  Otherwise you are scalding yourself to bend parts, or gluing a metal barrel to yourself.

I could no believe how strong the material was, even though it was not heavy like resin.  Certainly not brittle either.  Resin and metal vehicles get quite heavy.

The turrets fit precisely in place.  There are options in many cases to have open hatches for tank commanders too!

Now for the tiny Panzer I.  This will really complete the early war German army, and look great with the rest of the armor.  Again, there was absolutely nothing to clean or file!  All the treads and drive wheels were perfect right out of the bag.

Another example of the turret.  I will also note that many of the vehicles come in other scales, such as 1/100 Flames of War.  That would be ideal for those times where you only need one vehicles to finish off a unit, etc.  

There are a  variety of scales, from 1/100 to 1/48.  As I mentioned before, these are 1/56 scale for Bolt Action.

Speaking of which, here is a comparison with a Bolt Action Panzer 38t from Warlord Games.  The scale seemed to match up perfectly.

The PZ 38t is nearly identical in size to the PZ II.  So, these will fit right into any Bolt Action army, with no need to worry about those scale issues.

Here are some more group shots that include a few infantry.  I am sorry that there is a quite a bit of color contrast between the two, but I wanted you to see the raw vehicles right out of the package, not primed grey.  That would have masked the original material, and made too many people think that they were classic resin.

Once more, here's the Panzer I on the left, and the Panzer II on the right for more size comparisons.  The PZ I was barely six feet tall, so I think it is just right. :)

This close up comparison of the Panzer II and 38t from Warlord Games gives you a better side to side view.  Keep in mind, there is no assembly, no mould lines, etc!  You can see how much more open the tracks and drive wheels are when it has all been printed, minus all of the resin bits that have to back fill such areas for casting purposes.

One more view.  There is an optional high detail material which can be selected if you are more of a scale modeler (there are plenty of 1/48 scale kits to choose from), and this white plastic choice is great for gaming purposes too.

If you are a Flames of War player, or a 20mm wargamer, there's a host of choices available to you to.  So be sure to check out the Arctic Skunk page on Shapeways!  

You will see me paint these vehicles in live facebook sessions, so stay tuned!!