Wednesday 14 January 2015

From MartinN - 28mm WWII Pak 36 & BEF Infantry Section with Command (90 Points)


Not really a points bomb the scale of some of you guys are capable of but for me it comes pretty close. This week I was lucky to have had a block of spare time and so I got some figures done.

First is a 28mm PaK 36 for my early WWII Germans.

As most of my stuff lately it's Warlord Games again but I wasn't really happy with these older sculpts. You can clearly see they're from Paul Hicks but sadly they don't come even close to his newer works. Compared to the new plastic 'Blitzkrieg Germans' they're pretty small and the faces are somehow misshapen.



Originally the PaK 36 had a crew of six but for some reason Warlord Games and most other miniatures companies and/ or rules writers seem not to care about such trivia. May have to do some more figures later on...



I was a bit confused about the troop-function colour for German Panzerjäger units so I made some research that might be of interest to some of you. Probably most will already know anyway...



The German Wikipedia (Haven't checked the English Version) lists 'rose' as Waffenfarbe (troop-function colour) for Panzerjäger, just like for tank crews. While looking for pictorial evidence on the web I came across some photos showing clearly white markings as well as rose or green ones. So I had to dig a little deeper. I found out that Panzerjäger units organic to the OOB of an Infanterie Regiment as 14. Kompanie (14th company) wore white like their parent regiment (same is true for organic 'Artillery' being the 13. Kompanie of the Regiment).

Along these lines, Panzerjäger belonging to a Panzer-Grenadier Regiment had the Wiesengrün (grass-green) of the Panzer-Grenadiere as their Waffenfarbe.



Panzerjäger units belonging to the divisional support however used rose as Waffenfarbe accompanied by an embroidered (or metal pin) 'P' for Panzerjäger to distinguish them from tank crews.

I hope this was of some use for at least a few of you.



And here we come to the second part of this weeks submission: a 10 man section of 'British Expeditionary Force' (BEF) infantry and their commanding Lieutenant with two aides. So 13 men in total.



These figures are from Warlord Games again and were a real joy to paint. Painting was speeded up by using the same brown (VMA Medium Brown) I used for the bases as base colour for the figures.



Looking at pictorial evidence suggests I went a tad too light on the uniforms while the webbing turned out too dark



But all in all I'm pretty pleased with the over all appearence.




I decided not to do any unit markings as most sources suggest the British made no use of it till later in the war. I'm not totally sure on the Lieutenants red cap band as it might be a bit too flashy for actual combat duty. But it breaks up the otherwise quite monotone khaki a bit so I decided to go for it.






The heads come separate for these guys but unlike Warlords other 'Separate Heads System' stuff don't feature those strange over exaggerated facial expressions.



For these guys I had to hand paint the Sergeants and Corporals rank insignia as I forgot to place an order in time for these extremely handy decal sheets.






From Curt:

That is a mighty fine 'doorknocker' there Nick! 

I have a soft-spot for the early-war period as the uniforms were typically more 'classic' in their cut and colours and not so dominated by the bewildering assortment of camo that you see in the later period. Also, as weird as it sounds, tanks were often more scary in the early war as they were still largely uncommon and infantry were limited in the anti-tank weapons available to combat them.  Later in the war every tank, no matter how huge, was at risk of being easily knocked out as the quality and effectiveness of anti-tank weapons (and the doctrine to their use) closed the gap on their dominance on the battlefield. But I blather.

These figures are up to your usual brilliant standards Nick. I am constantly impressed by the detail you can pull out of the figures you paint. Your brush control and blending is off the hook. I actually like the lighter BEF uniforms as it makes them 'pop' and I wouldn't sweat the webbing as their are countless opinions on their 'proper' hue and colour.

This entry will see you topple your initial points target of 400 - Congratulations!  Drop me a note to let me know what final points target you'd like to aim for as we near the final half of the Challenge.

Again, great work!

46 comments:

  1. Well your just cranking the figures out Nick and to such high standards! They look superb and look forward to seeing them on the table.

    Christopher

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    1. Thank you Chris! When these Brits continue to be such a treat to paint (and when I get in another order next month) they should be up to fighting strength till the end of the challenge.

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  2. Really great job.. I love the BEF... And am with Curt, don't sweat on colour shade too much...its a very subjective anyway.

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    1. Thank you Dave! Will keep your advice in mind.

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  3. Fantastic. Love the faces. Really great work.

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  4. As colour changes with scale I see no problem at all with these. You are a very skilled painter and it clearly shows in every thing you paint. I wish I was half that good.

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    1. Thank you Clint! I think the secret is to invest most of the time in painting face and skin as these are the areas the eye automatically is drawn to.

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  5. Fantasic work on those miniatures. I am starting to put together my own BEF British troops. Not a big fan of the glue on heads though as I've had a couple sculpts where if I didn't catch it, would have made them look like giraffe's

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    1. Thank you. I agree on the SHS heads beeing a bit fiddly and most of their facial expressions seem to be more monkey than human. But fortunately the BEF ones seem to be an exception to the rule.

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  6. Amazing work! Your painting brings so much character to the figs. I really like the one BEF in the glasses, not sure why but he just jumps out at me.

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    1. Thank you Brian! I quite like him too. Maybe it's because he looks more some student or teacher than a true soldier?

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  7. As always your brushwork is up to the highest of standards. The way you've used the variations in colour on those bases is most interesting and your placement of rubble is balanced and artistic.

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    1. Thank you Anne. But I have to admit I borrowed the idea for the different base colours from Sidney Roundwood. He made great use of it with his Great War stuff.

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  8. Wonderful painting work. They are fantastic, and their bases perfect! The Early War is a very interesting "period" without those armored monster of later years dominating the battlefield.

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  9. Wow those are really stunning, with awesome basing.

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  10. "Brilliant" is definitely the word. Brilliant brush work, brilliant colors. The lighter color on the uniforms works well. Better to go a little light than too dark!

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    1. Thank you! You're definitely right. Figures that are too dark won't look good on the table.

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  11. These are s very god again, your producing the best WWII I have yet seen

    Ian

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  12. Just wow - this is amazing work, just incredible stuff.

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  13. Excellent work Martin! Nice work on the larger bases. Small additions like the ammo box really spice it up a lot!

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    1. Thank you Samuli! It has taken a while till I realized the need for more 'vivid' bases but I feel the results are worth the effort.

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  14. I didn't think it was possible to beat the Germans you posted last week......but you've certainly done it here. Well done Sir. As to the variations in colour, I have access to a fair amount of original kit, and if there was one thing the British Army wasn't during this period, it's uniformity.

    Pip pip

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    1. Thank you. Good to know I'm not too far off the mark.

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  15. These are some of my favourite figures of the challenge so far. I just love your shading, the colour contrasts, the bases.... Wonderful.

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  16. It's no secret I paint fast mate but you paint with a level of detail and depth I can't manage. It seems incongruous to say these are truly beautiful given the subject but they ARE and no mistake. This is the kind of painting I aspire to...

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    1. Thank you Millsy! I on the other hand would like to paint as fast as you and still maintain your quality... I've tried long and hard but I simply can't paint that fast.

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  17. This is something special. The basing is top-shelf, the cloth textures captured perfectly, and the facial expressions are evident without being exaggerated. And what a treat for students of WWII uniforms!

    Waffenfarben are a vexed subject; particularly difficult to track, and they usually end up giving me a major headache. Looks like you managed to nail it though, well done!

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  18. From faces, to uniforms, gear, equipment, and bases....it's all really wonderful! The textures are very rich everywhere! Really good stuff! Thanks for the photo of the German crew separated from the gun too. It really shows off the attention to detail you devoted to them.

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  19. Wow, what a great job, these are some of the best 28mm WWII figures I have seen. Congratulations.

    John

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  20. Fantastic detail on those. Definitely some of the best ww2 I've seen!

    The basing is also brilliantly done, especially on the PAK

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  21. Your figures and basing are just gorgeous.

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  22. Nick, your WW2 figures have become my favourite of all the Challenge entries thus far. You take a drab period and make it come to life. All your faces capture the fear and determination of soldiers in combat. For your BEF figures the urban quality to the bases is well done and makes me think of the British last stands late in the France campaign at Dunkirk and Calais. Very nicely done.

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    1. Err, Martin, sorry. Rubbish with names. :(

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    2. Nick is my 'nickname' so you dondon't have to apologize for anything Padre! Thank you for your kind words. Much appreciated.

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  23. These are amazing !! Really ! What do you use for your flesh colors if you don't mind me asking ?

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  24. Thank you Rick. I'm starting off with a basecoat of Citadel Bestial Brown followed by the Foundry Flesh Triade (5A to 5C) and a final highlight of Foundry Boneyard 9C. Hope that helps.

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