(For Curtis)From JamesM: 15mm REME vignette (Directors Chair) - 50 points

Hi folks,

Having reached the rarefied gates of the Directors Studio, I paused to survey my pile of 'wouldn't it be cool if...' minis. 

Viewing the assembled hodgepodge of projects I quickly had to decide what submission would best get the executive principle to shift long enough for me to film my much awaited documentary. Which currently has the hard hitting working title of 'Storage Wars - What Really Useful Boxes are ACTUALLY doing with your hobby money'. 

I've got my clickbait documentary thumbnail all ready to go!

Could I persuade him to relinquish his chair through the excitement of 3mm Titans? Or perhaps the nostalgia of more Battlefleet Gothic? The pharmaceutical effects of 1980's Dutch?

In the end, I decided my best bet was to lull him to sleep with a version of my well known classic 'Vallejo Russian Uniform 70.924'. 

So 15mm WW2 British trucks it was!

Vallejo bottle for scale - please note the decals are f*cking tiny

For my directors chair entry, I sheepishly submit a 15mm vignette of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 'somewhere in Normandy'. 

A REME related diorama piece for my collection has been in my head for a while, as I have had a idea  in the past that it would be cool to represent all the various combat arms of the 51st Highland Division. This idea happened to collide with access to 3d printed models through Battlefield3d, and specifically the ability to request models from the Marco Bergman catalogue. 

Hence, the 15mm resin printed Austin K6 Gantry Lorry and Austin Tilly van were procured, at the same time as I picked up last years water and fuel trucks. 

While I'm pretty certain that a Gantry Lorry like the one I've painted here would be much further behind the lines - and I'm not even certain that an infantry brigade workshop unit would have something like this. It was a recovery and repair vehicles however, so I decided to represent some repair work being undertaken by 154 Brigade Workshop, 51st Highland Division. 

For this vignette the front wheel/axle repairs to a 40th Light AA Regiment Morris CDSW (another 51st Highland Division unit) is being repaired. 

The Morris is a resin and metal Battlefront mini I'd had spare, which was a bit beaten up in my bits box. I added some basic bits of stowage for fun and repaired most of the damage. A spare splinter of MDF was used to show the vehicle being propped up.  

The REME decals came from Skytrex - although the resolution is such that I couldn't make out the number on them. I also used Skytrex decals for my Highland Division markings, as my Doms Decals sheet has finally given up the ghost. The AA unit decal was a Doms Decal offering, as were some of the bridging weights. Vehicle registration numbers are a mix of Doms and I-94. Allied stars are a mix of Battlefront and Doms Decals. 

All three vehicles have unit markings front and back, registration numbers and recognition stars. 

The three infantry figures are Battlefront metals with a small amount of conversion work to one in order to remove a rifle. Otherwise, unrealistically these chaps are wearing webbing and stuff they probably wouldn't have had on while working. However, there is a real lack of non-combat 15mm figures, so I made do. The two crouching figures look like they are working on the axle, while the other chap is asking if he should get a brew on (or pop to the NAAFI wagon) 

I'm afraid I did make a conscious artistic decision not to paint the 'mikey mouse' type black camo that these vehicles might have had - both for sanity and aesthetic reasons. My usual over highlighting is done using Mig Dio Paint - Medium Green. 

Having built the scene, and glued everything down, I realised it was still a little bare, so added some bits and bobs of scatter terrain. A couple of piles of spare tyres, jerry cans, crates and barrels - along with a makeshift work bench with toolbox and tools. My usual selection of tufts and flowers rounds it all out. 

One last thing to mention, I had my dad firmly in mind while painting this. He's always been 'into' vehicles and some of my earliest memories are of riding in big trucks with him or staring into engine blocks. So this one sits in my collection in memory of my dad, and innumerable changed spark plugs and oily rags. 

Hopefully, this trio of green lorries will give me the time I need to set the Director snoring and get in get me use of the top studio for a few hours! Without Big Storage catching on to my investigation. 

Points work out as three 15mm vehicles (24 points), three 15mm infantry (6 points) and studio location (20 points) for a total of 50 points. 

Minion Miles: This is a fnatastic vintage and I would have guessed 28mm if you didn't tell me the scale,  Superb work.  Oh and ummm I KNOW WHAT REALLY USEFUL BOXES DOES WITH OUR HOBBY MONEY and it just isn't pretty........