From SamuliS: 15mm US Halftracks (114 points)

And the second half of my 15mm US entries is finally ready! 10 halftracks with 5 M3 Halftracks to carry the previous rifle platoon to battle, 2 M2 halftracks to act as command vehicles for artillery and 3 M4 81mm mortar carriers for close support. 10 vehicles and 22 complete crewmen and 10 drivers. Not sure what crewmembers were worth in points so I'll let Greg figure it out ;)

In the previous entry I complained about the absolute s**t quality of the plastic infantry, but in comparison to them these new plastic M3 halftracks are actually quite nice. Sharp detail and they go together very well. The only really downside is that they are identical and there's no real stowage or anything on the sprues to personalize them. The resin halftracks are BF's usual quality and paint up rather nicely.

I followed my usual US vehicle painting recipe with an olive drab basecoat followed by dark yellow modulation via airbrush and a yellowish drybrush. Details were picked out before applying decals and some chipping. And to tie the whole effect together I apply a generous amount of enamel washes and let them dry for a few hours before wiping the excess off. Finally some mud on the tracks and wheels and they are all done. Quite a nice and quick way to paint up single tone vehicles. The crewmen took far longer than the 10 vehicles themselves. In hindsight I probably should have gone a bit more bright with the modulation as the washes bring the effect down very much in the end. But it's always hard to judge midway through. I was actually a bit afraid that the effect was too stark before I was finished with the wash...

Last weeks Flames of War tournament went rather well also! Third place with only one point behind the winner and being dropped from second place due to the other player winning all of his matches and me winning only four out of five. Super fun weekend that actually got me really psyched about painting more Flames of War stuff again. I was already vowing not to paint anymore Flames of War after these, but now I'm actually starting to think about starting a new army... Though this time with the main emphasis being on aiming for the painting competitions in tournaments. We'll see how it goes. In the meanwhile it's back to the painting desk. A new Saxon battalion is underway as is a whole Epic Armageddon army, Zombicide miniatures and some Oldhammer. Hopefully now there'll always be something that I fancy painting on my desk :) Though finishing anything might take quite a while!

Great work Samuli, and congratulations on your success in the Flames of War tournament.  I could sense from your prior posts what a slog it has been to get through all of the olive drab, so it must be a great feeling to have this project down & out (for now, at least).  Well done!

I have to admit my eyes roll back into my head when I see someone talking about "modulation", but whatever it is, the effect here is excellent, and a focus on the painting aspects of any Flames of Wat competition is certainly logical given your skill and talent, although the work you have been sharing with us is certainly more than up to snuff as far as I'm concerned!

Your sentiments on the 15mm stuff from the Plastic Soldier Company matches mine - incredible vehicles, and very poor infantry.  But it all works in the end (and compliments to PSC for making such a comprehensive effort to provide great WW2 figures in different scales). 

This solid entry nets you 114 points - well done Samuli!