From ByronM - What a Tanker! Allied force in 28mm (60 points )

Well hello everyone and welcome to another year of madness here at the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.

I was busy today and was not at all sure I would succeed in getting my yearly day one post up, but I just squeaked in the submission at about 11PM (although I am not sure Curt will see it and get it posted on day one, so who knows).

First up is a Crusader from Rubicon (my first ever Rubicon Model).

For this entry I did a super quick and basic air brushed paint job of several tanks I picked up from Rubicon and Warlord (Bolt Action) during J&M Miniatures close out sale a few months back.  I picked them up so that I could start playing the amazing game "What a Tanker!" in 28mm with some friends that have a bunch of 28mm WWII tanks, since we have only been playing with my 15mm collection so far, since oddly I have never done WWII in 28mm, so what better time to start.

All three tanks were painted in the same way, I airbrushed them using a paint modulation set from Mig specially made for the WWII green and for airbrushes.  It has 3 different shades and you simply layer them on to get the right shades.

Next up is a Cromwell from Warlord (Bolt Action).

After the green was setup, I painted the tracks and wheels by hand.  I then painted all the details, such as the cables, antennas, shovels, and more.  It was then time to put the decals on by brushing on gloss coat where they would go and then putting them on with some micro set.

Last up is a M10 Tank Destroyer, which I never knew was open topped until I built the kit!

I then went about mixing up a bunch of pigments (dark earth, terracotta, rust red, and clay brown) with alcohol and lining the tanks and going around the bolts.  I find that this is about 10x faster and neater than using washes as the consistency of the alcohol makes the pigment stick right in the creases or around any detail.  There is almost never any cleanup to do, and when there is, a bit of water or alcohol wipes it right off.

After all the details, decals, and wheels were done it was time to break out the airbush again and give it all a quick dust of a mud type colour to cover up all the wheels and tracks and mess up the edges of the armour.  Clear coat afterwards and all done.

I built and primed all of these a while back to get ready for the challenge, and while I can not remember any specifics, I remember really liking the Rubicon models over the Warlord models.  More options, better decals, and better instructions, and more, I just cant remember exact details of why.  However, between the two companies, I strongly recommend the Rubicon models.

I think this top shot shows the colour modulation best.

As I said, and as you can see, a basic and quick job but I believe due to the clean nature of airbrushing them and the amazing MIG modulation set they turned of pretty damn nice for the time spent and should be very passable on the table.  Before anyone gets upset by me calling this a basic job, it really is, there is no fancy weathering, no chipping, no edge highlights, etc, etc and due to airbrush speed, little detail work done, and pigments put on with alcohol the total time per tank was around 90 minutes, so while I think they turned out pretty nice I did skip a lot of steps that most painters will do to blow the paint job up for competitions.  The images don't do a great job showing the colour variant, but I am very happy with the shading on them.  I believe they are really solid game pieces, which is what they are meant to be.  Better yet, due to this years raise in points for 28mm vehicles they should net me 60 points! Not a bad day one!

I want to finish up with a word about the game I painted these up for... What a Tanker!  It is another great game by Too Fat Lardies, and while not a serious wargame like almost any of their other amazing games (can you tell they are one of my favourite companies), it is a whole lot of fun!  It is a great beer and pretzels game, and generates a lot of fun and memorable moments.  Best of all, the entrance fee to the game is something that I would bet at least 80% of everyone participating in this challenge has already.... 3 World War Two tanks of any scale.  It is a great set of rules and one that I think most people would enjoy.

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Wow, great stuff Byron! 

That MiG airbrush paint set is the bomb and I can see how it would save one a ton of time in getting these models ready for the table. Still, thee of these in one day? That's pretty darn impressive. 

I've heard great things about the Rubicon kits and these look excellent, particularly that M10 and the slab-sided Cromwell. I also, like the subtle weathering you've done on the lower body and track assemblies.

60 points for your opening salvo AND you've already put in an entry for the 'What a Tanker' contest. Brilliant work, Byron!