Panzer Wrecks #2: Painted Objective Marker

Next up in the objective marker/terrain piece project is the Panzer 1.  This one made me even happier that I didn't need to deal with recreating the wheel and track assembly!  It is very spindly and would have been quite fragile, so having a burned out hull in the mud was a much simpler prospect.

I needed to get both of these ready for the tournament very rapidly, so there were many elements that had to be simplified in shape and texture.  I knew that I could paint in some of that, which I had done many times before.  Also, the burned out nature of the vehicle would make it easier to sculpt more basic shapes without the need for great precision.  

For instance, the extra firm gray Sculpey clay can be carved and sanded once it is baked.  This would have made it possible to file down some uneven spots, or sharpen up and edge that had become a little fuzzy due to handling and fingerprints.

I have a previous post which shows how the vehicles were sculpted here:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2018/04/objectives.html

As I have mentioned in previous posts, the Panzerwrecks series of books was very helpful.  There are dozens of them, covering all theatres and eras of the conflict.  

It details how each vehicle was destroyed, the weapons involved, and the effects they had on the vehicles.

I didn't actually get to use these in the tournament, as specific objective markers were not necessary.  However, I needed them for my own battle reports, and you will soon see them in my own games in the Barabrossa and Ardennes campaigns:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78AWDqiSgH4

Here is a test video that I recorded using XSplit, which is a new format that I was exploring for the Patron Page.  This is how I will create my new painting videos, which involves a lot less editing!  Instead of dozens of segments that need to be heavily edited with fades, text and images, it is all right there on the screen.

That means that I can do far more video tutorials, on a much greater range of topics!  They are more like the Facebook Live sessions, but more focused since I do not have to greet people and answer questions:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2018/04/objectives.html

A Warrior's Heart

While many of the fantastic busts from Black Heart Models are of the Horror movie genre, the line of historical busts has also bee fun to paint!  I have already tackled the Genghis Khan bust, with Ivan and Hannibal coming soon to a live session.

In the meantime, here is Geronimo, a bust which posed a unique set of challenges.

For obvious reasons, there are no color references to go by, so I had to extrapolate from other sources.  I had even toyed with a sepia tone concept, but that extra challenge of attempting to make the skin colors believable for this subject had to go forward!

I had also contemplated some designs for the pedestal that would have reflected the nation of Geronimo, but, it seemed to me it would only distract from the bust itself.  A muted and condensed color set was required for the face and clothes, so patterns or colors of any kind would not have worked very well.

You can see the design that I put on the Genghis Khan bust here:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-darkest-heart.html

I have done two live sessions so far on these Black Heart Models busts, with more on the way.  I am also creating a special recorded and edited video on a few others which will be made available to my Pateron subscribers:

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Panzer Wrecks #1

Now that the Bolt Action tournament has come and gone, I have had some time to take images of the completed objective markers!

This first post will show the wrecked Panzer II, which was sculpted from scratch quite rapidly using the Extra Firm Gray Sculpey clay (which you bake in an oven).

Here's a link to the Facebook Live session where it was painted:

https://www.facebook.com/james.wappel/videos/vb.1056181987/10212742054440330/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

As I have mentioned many times, I heard about the event at the very last minute, so I had to act very quickly.  There was no time to order intact vehicles to turn into wrecks, nor were there funds to do so.  Sculpting them from scratch took a few hours, and the total cost of materials was less than $5.

I took a great deal of shortcuts making these, which is OK as they are supposed to be wrecks!

Speaking of wrecks, one of my key references was one of these amazing books that Cathy had gotten my for Christmas.  Not only did it have a lot of images, but it went into great details on how each vehicle was destroyed, and the effects that had on the metals, interior, etc.

The key element was learning that as tanks burn up, the tortion bars of the suspension are weakened, and the hull settles into the mud.  This meant that I could save a tremendous amount of time on the most difficult part of sculpting any tracked vehicle... the tracks and tires!!

Instead of trying to create an entire track assembly with bogie wheels, sprockets and idlers, I could create toned down versions and sink them into the mud.  Also, the tracks could be broken down into strips of Sculpey, slightly textured and bent into the kinds of shapes that I saw in the photos.

I was shocked at just how close I was able to match actual model kits in such a short period of time as a result.  Utilizing the reference images that I found in a quick web search echoed what I had seen in a few tutorials, that the extreme heat not only burns off the paint, but alters the metal itself.

Initially I would have avoided rust effects, but it seems that the superheating and scorching of the metal cause some instant oxidization, resulting in a band of rust in between the blackened steel and the painted hull.

I would love to do a sculpting video on making one of these, so any support that could be offered on my Patreon Page would be very helpful, providing me with a little extra time to create a YouTube instructional video!

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Army Display Board: Phase Three

The final phase of the display board is the most dramatic, but can also be a bit trickier.  I have some links to previous articles that the show step by step process.  This one shows you how I do my foliage on trees, shrubs and even fences!

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-great-outdoors.html

Sadly I broke off one of the branches on this tree when I reached for my light switch, so that altered the shape a bit when I placed my moss and flock.  If I had more time, I could simply have pinned a new branch to it, and nobody would have been the wiser!  In fact, I had already added an extra branch to this tree.

Just as I did with the ground flock, I "shaded" my trees with that fine, dark flock.  The moss is very bright green, and I did not have time to airbrush it first.  Yes... that is an option that I have used in the past with great success!

You can see the original color of the moss, quite bright!  Between the shading  of the dark flock, followed by the green, I was able to get a much more realistic set of tones.

In this image, I am in the process of adding foliage to the two smaller trees.  I did learn that the new, stronger hold spray adhesive requires me to mask off my existing painted/flocked areas more than the older spray adhesive.

However, the extra holding power is worth it, so I will continue to do so.  One more note... I even used my watered down spray glue in my bigger clumps of moss when they were placed on top of existing clumps.

The last time I made my trees, I didn't have that spray bottle which you saw in Phase two!

The last element of the display board was the puddles in the road ruts.  I brought out a few of the new Secret Weapon weathering paints for this task.  These are glossier paints, designed to simulate oil, grime and so on.

This is perfect for the ruts, as the water makes the puddles a bit darker in color than the surrounding dry areas.  This would also maintain the glossy look around those edges.

I painted these colors into the ruts, making sure a tiny portion of it extended past the edges.  This would represent the puddles evaporating, or even the effect of the water in the puddles being displaced by passing vehicles!

I did this in the footprints as well.

There are a number of "realistic water" products that you can use for the water... even Elmer's glue.

Secret Weapon Realistic water is great, but I like to save that for my snow/ice effects, so I used Woodland Scenics water effects.

It takes a few layers to build up the levels you need, and you also have to be aware that it will flow right off the board if you bring it right to the edge!  It has a lot of capillary action, and it tends to find its way through nooks and crannies in "dams".

Here you go!  I just have to wait for this to dry, and I have a tournament display board completed and ready to rock!

I have a much more elaborate army display board planned for a tournament in November, which I am hoping to record in videos.  Those will be available to the patrons of my Patron Page once they are edited and rendered.

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

Army Display Board: Phase Two

Time for part two of the Display Board project!  Once I had the board painted with the Badger Stynlrez primers, I could gather up my flocking supplies and get down to business.

Not only do a I have a variety of colors on hand, but they are also different textures.  You can see that the darkest flock is very fine, as that is used for shading.  The brownish flock is a bit more coarse, and that will not only keep the board from getting too green, but provide a more practical ground cover texture.

If I use static grass, or static grass tufts, it will make it that much harder to stand miniatures onto the board, which will be getting moved around quite a bit.  This is the kind of balancing act that not only happens on terrain, but even more so when doing display boards!

The fallen trees are a good location for some moss.  I have also used this in farm fields and on our Barbarossa board to create plants growing out of the rivers and stream banks...

I took wood glue and watered it down enough that I could spray it through this misting bottle... this mix will be used to hold the layers of flock in place.

You can see that I began with the fine, darker flock in areas that I wanted to shade around the logs, and then began to place the brownish coarse flock in scattered batches.

Once I had a decent amount of the coarse flock in place, it was time to add the green flock.  I actually had 2 mixes of that flock.  One was a pure green while the other had some fine tan flock mixed in.  This would make a better transition from the coarse brown flock to a more pure green color without leaving clearly defined "zones" of color.

I have seen that on other terrain boards, and it can be a bit unnatural and jarring!

Where the flock started to reach the sides of the road, I used more of the fine dark flock and the coarse brown.  I figured that constant road traffic would either kill the grass near that edge or at least cover it with dried mud.  

Again, having a bright green edge on the sides of the road would be visually jarring.

This view shows you what the completed side adds to the board in terms of texture and color.  While it would be nice to have flowers, static grass and other touches, I have to keep in mind that at least 45-55% of this board will be completely covered with miniatures!

Here's a better view of how I flocked the sides of the road.  I had to make even more 'shadows' and coarse brown texture on this side, as the incline was 2-3 times taller than the other side.

I used the same moss that I placed around the fallen trees to give more dimension to the road sign.  That is a natural place for plants to spring up, and it also blended the sign into the landscape.

Both sides of the road are complete, and I even have some smaller plants around the trunks of the trees.

The last touch I will need to do with the flock is to have a little bit of it in between the ruts.  I wanted it to be a country road, not an autobon, so time for some glue and flock!

The final episode in the series will take you to the conclusion of the project, where I create some trees and get some water into the ruts for puddles!

If it is possible to pledge any kind of support the Patreon Page, it will make it easier for me to create more tutorials such as this, and also make new terrain videos!

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel

The Long Road Home

With the Little Wars Bolt Action tournament complete, it is time to get down to the army display board, and how I generated that in very rapid fashion, just like the objective markers!

As always, I began with the thinner pink underlayment foam, along with a few bigger chunks of insulation foam left over from the Barbarossa board.  This is why I save every scrap!!

I used wood glue and Elmer's extra strong glue on those pieces, and used painter's tape to hold them in place.

I started to use a glue/plaster mix during the Ardenne and Winter board projects, and that has worked well.  In this case, I will also be combining it with wood filler.

Since there is already glue in the mix, setting down some fallen trees with a few additional dabs of glue would have plenty of hold.

Using the dried tea leaves, I created ground fall texture around these fallen trees. The last time you saw me using that was on the winter board pieces here:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2018/01/reading-tea-leaves.html

Time for the wood filler.  This was what I used on the roads:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2018/04/at-crossroads.html

Just as I did on the road lengths, I made the track and tire marks through the wet filler with the 1 inch flat brush.

Once the road was in place (I was hoping that it would hold all the vehicles in the list PLUS the Citroen objective marker!), I started to work on the opposite side of the road.  

There was more of an incline as well as more layers of foam to deal with on this side, so some of the wood filler was use to give it more "body" and strength.

Huzzah!  All of the landscaping is complete, and I also added a few trees.  I have a number of articles on how I use regular tree branches to make all sorts of trees.

I remembered that I had a set of 1/48 scale road signs, poles and cart wheels, and I thought those would be a nice touch to add in a hurry!

I grabbed whatever was at hand to make footprints in the mud, since it was possible that some of the troops might have to be walking along the same one as the vehicles.  It would also provide more of a human element to the board.

With a few light layers of sand over the board and on the center of the road, it was time to let this dry and set.

When I turned off most of the lights, I was greeted with this panorama!  I thought I would take an image which really displayed all the textures involved.

Once that was set, I took the Badger Stynlrez primers and quickly airbrushed some color onto the board.  You can see that I made the mud a bit lighter.  This is to offset the vehicles, which will cast a lot of shadows, and to allow the darker water stains in the ruts to show more too.

Knowing that the next few layers of color would be my greenish flock, I wanted to build up enough browns to make the green flock seem as if it really was growing out of dirt!

Stay tuned for the next episode, where you will see the flocking process and the water added to the ruts!  If you can support these kinds of tutorials on my Patreon Page, that would be very helpful!

www.patreon.com/JamesWappel