I won something?

The guys over at What Would Patton Do did a contest for their followers and drew my name to win a free WWPD T-shirt! I am super excited so I thought I would give them a quick shout out! If you haven't been there already, check them out. They've got tons of great Flames of War content, battle reports, and an awesome podcast. Thanks guys!

25 Pounder Platoon WIP

I had a productive day on these, I got the two remaining guns and limbers assembled, all of the crew painted, and the second of four trucks painted. I've got a decent amount that I need to base but I can't remember what paints I used for the rest of the army. I guess that's something I should have written down!

8th Army Update

Well now that I'm done with my Orphan Brigade diorama, it's to the grind for Flames of War, I'm trying to finish my MW British 8th Army Infantry Company. Here is where I am so far, I still need to buy a few more things to build up to 1500 points (a third rifle/mg platoon, and another four 25 pounders, jeeps to tow my AT, and probably some better tanks to give me some more options.)

Old Family (Military) Photos And Letters

When I was little my Grandma gave me a bunch of old pictures and letters of family members who were in the military and a few days ago we were cleaning out my closet and found them so I thought I would post them. I don't remember who most of them are but I'm going to take them with me the next time we go visit so I can get more information. Even if I can't identify all of them they are still a small piece of history and cool to have.


I believe this is my Grandpa's cousin.


This is a postcard of the USNS General Simon B. Buckner sent from my Great-Uncle to my Great-Grandparents. If I remember correctly he served on this ship.


And the back (Dated August 10th 1952)


Unknown



Aparently my Aunt Doris was quite the popular girl getting featured here with letters from two different men!


Unknown


This is really interesting, on the front it's just another letter...


...but on the back is an old grocery list! (Wouldn't want to forget the lard, cig, and veal!)


Unknown

After finding these I'm really anxious to find out more about who these people were, and see if I can figure out where/when they served. I've also got some ancestors in a family geneology book that served in the Civil War that I will post pictures and info on one day, I'm waiting to recreate their Regiments and I'll share the history and photos then.

As far as actual miniatures go, I'm working on some Sash and Saber Union dismounted Cavalry horse holders and horses. Nothing too exciting, just an assembly line of browns and beiges- but I'll try to at the very least get some WIP pictures up.

Panzer IV H Platoon WIP

I finally made it back up to Ohio last weekend and my buddy Ethan and I exchanged Christmas gifts (a little bit late). He got me the Panzer IV H Platoon box set (GBX10) from Flames Of War. So I've been putting these together the last few nights. These really are time consuming to assemble, the schürzen especially are tricky. You have to attach 6 mounting brackets for each tank, and then the mounting rail for each schürzen. Although it is great fun to experiment with different sections missing. I used some of the extra sprue pieces to reinforce the schürzen, something I learned from some great articles here and here.
I wanted to take some pictures before I undercoated these to show the different pieces that all come together to make these. And I also did a little bit of conversion work. You'll notice the schürzen are only sticky-tack'd on, I am not going to glue them on until after painting.

The platoon commander is the right tank, I took a few close-ups but they didn't come out too well. The sculpt is amazing for the tank commander!


This is the biggest conversion I did- I hollowed out the drivers hatch, added the drivers head, and rebuilt the hatch with some carboard from the box.


Included was a little sprue of stowage. So this tank got loaded down with some extra gear- although I wouldn't want to be near this tank if stuff went down! I don't think the Jerry cans and fuel barrel would be very safe with bullets flying nearby! But they look pretty cool so I had to use them for at least one tank. If you click for the larger version you can see it on the left tank.


Same tanks from a different angle.


One of my biggest mistakes is looking through pictures of other people's Panzers on the Flames Of War forums before assembling these. I had extra pieces of track hanging all over the turrets. But after looking at a couple of hundred period photos of Panzers thanks to World War II Zone I realized that almost all of them had extra track on the top and underside of the front slope, but none on the turrets. So I had to snap off the pieces I had already glued on some of the turrets, and in the process of doing so, I ruined a little bit of the Zimmerit. Lesson learned!

Finishing up here's a shot of the platoon. Next up: undercoating!

North African Village

I finished this little project. I now have four buildings and eight wall pieces complete. All together they make a nice little village. I took a few shots of them all together but the pictures came out blurry. Foiled again by my piece of crap camera!



The picture below shows the test building, and ironically enough it came out to be the best painted. I think I rushed the dry brushing and got a little impatient between coats on the other three.





Nothing like seeing a tank appear from just out of view!



This was a nice distraction for me, instead of painting five shades of blue and gray I got to paint five shades of brown and tan! (Maybe I should start a Napoleanic project? - I shouldn't joke about that, I've already been eyeing the Perry plastic French Infantry boxset!)

North African Building

I wanted to start making some terrain for North Africa games of FOW, so I built a test building. The plan is to knock out some more buildings and some walls, just enough to have a little village. Hopefully one day I will be able to create a full table and have lots of movable terrain.

Workbench

Nothing special, just a few little things I've been messing with this week.

I'm trying to keep momentum going with my Flames of War, MW 8th Army Infantry Company- although it's difficult to keep painting dozens of stands with a 10 color desert pallete!




I was at Hobby Lobby one day and saw a box of AWI British soldiers on clearance for a few bucks, so of course I bought them! No real future for these other then just looking good! But they are a nice little break and an excuse to paint something with colors other then blue, gray, or tan!

A few things I am working on...

My 2nd observer team and staff team for my 25 PDR Battery



Another 25 PDR gun and tractor


I started making some movement dust markers for my desert games, I still need to paint these up.


And last and least an objective I made for the time being, I absolutely hate this but it works. The idea is that sometimes you are just fighting for a spot on the map.

Update on WWII Fortifications

Well, no excuses for not posting in a few weeks. I'm just lazy. But I have been working very hard on these trench sections for Flames of War. I have four 8" sections completed, and I am about halfway done with four more 8" sections, and two 45 degree angle pieces. I have already started on barbed wire sections, and this week I will begin on mine fields, tank pits, and bunkers. And if I feel really ambitious, maybe even some tank traps! Although I am not sure what material to use for those yet. Anyways, without further rambling, here they are!

Finished 8" trench section


Rear detail


With some rifle teams to show scale


Work in progress 45 degree corner pieces




And the opposite angle




I am planning to finish all of this in the next few weeks and put them on ebay. I am undecided on whether I will post them individually or as separate lots. Any input or criticism is welcome!

WIP Entrenchments

The past few nights I have been working on entrenchments for Flames of War. I have eight of these done to this level. I still need to build up the terrain and paint them, but I am pretty pleased with how they are turning out.







Once these are finished, it's on to corner pieces, bunkers, and tank pits.

HMG & Ani-tank Platoon

Well I will be out of town this weekend to visit family for Easter, so here are some pictures of some of my previously painted support platoons.

Vickers HMG Platoon.



Close up.



6 PDR anti-tank guns, I still need to get the Jeeps to tow these.



Close up.



I am working on another Union artillery batter, hopefully those will be ready for next week.