Well, I have done it..60 plus figures and 7 vehicles in two weeks! Good lord I have not been this productive in a long while. I can tell you I learned some things (any good painter always learns things from any project), and good lord, this was no exception.
First off, pictures:
I learned that a) I am not totally ecstatic about the Ammo Wargames colors, while the Dunklegelb '44 shades are right on, the Rottbraun seems a bit...too red-orange, it's simply not deep enough. I also learned I probably should have used a three-color method on the green. That said. I am very happy with how everything turned out, especially the British vehicles and the Marder.
For the Marder, I primed it black, then hit it with a PSC coat of German Armor Yellow, this was then heavily drybrushed over with a coat of Ammo Dunkelgelb Aus '44 III. It took a couple of coats to get it right, but it worked out. I then applied the basics of the camo pattern, taken (loosely) from the AK book "1945". After a blackwash with the Magik Mudd Wash, and use of the Ammo Dunkelgelb Highlights, I painted all the exposed metallic parts P3 Pig Iron, which I have come to like for weapons parts as it is dark, matte, with a bit of an oily sheen, like any well cared for weapon should have. I then painted the tools and treads ala the FoW book "Colors of War" which while the rules may be rubbish, they do have some good painting advice. (For the tracks I started with BF Red Oxide, then followed up with a heavy drybrush of Ammo NATO Brown, then BF Manstein Shade, and finished with BF Rocket Steel). As for the tools, I used Ammo NATO Brown for the handles and BF Rocket Steel for the metallic parts. I then hit the tow cables with BF Manstein Shade to give it a bit of an oily finish.
After that, I applied the decals, and painted the crew, they got a paintjob of Vallejo German Feldgrau, their seats being BF Worn Rubber, and I did some the binoculars and boots as well as the officer's visor being Ammo Matt Black. The rear exhaust was a concoction of BF Red Oxide, followed up by a stippling of Citadel Ryza Rust, and then hit with a bit of BF Manstein Shade.
After all that, as if it wasn't exhaustive enough, I applied decals (Alcaran numbers and Balkankruz) and hit them with both Microsol and Micro Set. After that, I dusted the entire vehicle with a flayed brush with Secret Weapon's Light Sand Color, and did a light chipping with of all things, Vallejo's Game Color's Smoky Ink and a bit of a sponge taken from a figure pack. It did a great stand-in for the lousy bottle of AK Chipping Color I got.
All in all, a lot of work, but it came out looking pretty glorious, especially so for the Mark III which I thought was an unmitigated disaster at first.
The British were similar. I hit them with the PSC British Armor Spray, then painted the tarp Vallejo English Uniform, then a Magik Mudd Wash, wish I then carefully cleaned up with more Vallejo English Uniform and Russian Uniform in the appropriate places, after that, did some edging with some Russian Uniform with about 20% White, and then painted the tires a base of Ammo Matt Black, then highlighted with BF Worn Rubber. I then applied decals, or in some cases, painted details on (this was especially true on the Churchill AVRE I painted up), and then weathered them just like the Germans, it was especially fun to go a bit nuts with the chipping on the bridge.
So, all in all, I had a very productive two weeks, and I cannot wait to see how this game runs. I will take pictures and let you all know with a proper AAR of course.
First off, pictures:
I learned that a) I am not totally ecstatic about the Ammo Wargames colors, while the Dunklegelb '44 shades are right on, the Rottbraun seems a bit...too red-orange, it's simply not deep enough. I also learned I probably should have used a three-color method on the green. That said. I am very happy with how everything turned out, especially the British vehicles and the Marder.
For the Marder, I primed it black, then hit it with a PSC coat of German Armor Yellow, this was then heavily drybrushed over with a coat of Ammo Dunkelgelb Aus '44 III. It took a couple of coats to get it right, but it worked out. I then applied the basics of the camo pattern, taken (loosely) from the AK book "1945". After a blackwash with the Magik Mudd Wash, and use of the Ammo Dunkelgelb Highlights, I painted all the exposed metallic parts P3 Pig Iron, which I have come to like for weapons parts as it is dark, matte, with a bit of an oily sheen, like any well cared for weapon should have. I then painted the tools and treads ala the FoW book "Colors of War" which while the rules may be rubbish, they do have some good painting advice. (For the tracks I started with BF Red Oxide, then followed up with a heavy drybrush of Ammo NATO Brown, then BF Manstein Shade, and finished with BF Rocket Steel). As for the tools, I used Ammo NATO Brown for the handles and BF Rocket Steel for the metallic parts. I then hit the tow cables with BF Manstein Shade to give it a bit of an oily finish.
After that, I applied the decals, and painted the crew, they got a paintjob of Vallejo German Feldgrau, their seats being BF Worn Rubber, and I did some the binoculars and boots as well as the officer's visor being Ammo Matt Black. The rear exhaust was a concoction of BF Red Oxide, followed up by a stippling of Citadel Ryza Rust, and then hit with a bit of BF Manstein Shade.
After all that, as if it wasn't exhaustive enough, I applied decals (Alcaran numbers and Balkankruz) and hit them with both Microsol and Micro Set. After that, I dusted the entire vehicle with a flayed brush with Secret Weapon's Light Sand Color, and did a light chipping with of all things, Vallejo's Game Color's Smoky Ink and a bit of a sponge taken from a figure pack. It did a great stand-in for the lousy bottle of AK Chipping Color I got.
All in all, a lot of work, but it came out looking pretty glorious, especially so for the Mark III which I thought was an unmitigated disaster at first.
The British were similar. I hit them with the PSC British Armor Spray, then painted the tarp Vallejo English Uniform, then a Magik Mudd Wash, wish I then carefully cleaned up with more Vallejo English Uniform and Russian Uniform in the appropriate places, after that, did some edging with some Russian Uniform with about 20% White, and then painted the tires a base of Ammo Matt Black, then highlighted with BF Worn Rubber. I then applied decals, or in some cases, painted details on (this was especially true on the Churchill AVRE I painted up), and then weathered them just like the Germans, it was especially fun to go a bit nuts with the chipping on the bridge.
So, all in all, I had a very productive two weeks, and I cannot wait to see how this game runs. I will take pictures and let you all know with a proper AAR of course.
