From BenitoM: German Early War LMG Teams (30 points)

Today (Jan 6th) is Epiphany day. In Spain (and I believe, in some other European Countries) is the traditional day to exchange Christmas presents: instead of Santa Claus, children await the arrival of the Three Wise Men (Melchior, Gaspar and Balthasar) riding their camels at the head of a caravan loaded with toys, in the night between the 5th and 6th of January.

 

It also happens to be a holiday in Spain (... and sadly my last day of the Christmas break, tomorrow the office will  reopen), so I take this opportunity to offer you my latest painting work for the Challenge as an Epiphany Day present.

I continued progressing with my core project for this year's edition of the Challenge, the German Early War platoon for Chain of Command. Having concluded the HQ section (senior leaders and 5cm mortar), now I will turn my attention to the each of the three squads.

In Chain of Command, each squad is divided in two fire teams: one manning the squad's LMG (with a crew of three)  and the other composed of six rifle-armed privates. I have concluded today two of the LMG teams.

One is moving towards the front, and as you can see they are wearing the cap instead of the steel helmet and the privates are heavily loaded with extra ammo boxes and belts as well as the full combat gear.

The other team is now very close to enter into action and enagae the enemy; they may be taking positions near their jump of points, advancing more carefully and with lighter gear.

These are 28mm plastic models from the Warlord Blitzkrieg German Infantry box. I have mentioned in previous entries that the scultpting is very good and the variety of poses allows to personalize each of the 30 models in the box.

One comment thorugh, for the model carrying the LMG on the shoulder I have used a spare part of the Perry German DAK box, which is made of one single piece. You can replicate this same pose with the Warlord box but will have to glue one arm and the MG 34.

This entry represent additional 30 points to my score on the challenge (six 28mm models @5 points each)

Before closing the post, I owe Curt and asnwer to a comment in a previous post, in which he asked how I did work the steel helmets of my Germans.

Let's start by stating that I am a tabletop painter, I'm not looking to win a Golden Demon. My approach is making the right effort to look good on a table at a distance. The critical factor here is to focus in what you see of the model looking from above at 1.0-1.5 meters distance. 

 

In the case of the helmets the process is as follows (illustraed with some pictures hopefully of good enough quality)

The base color of my German models is a very dark grey:

I apply a first layer of lighter grey on the helmet, but centered in the areas that the gamer is going to see on the table. In this case, with the helmet hanging from the belt, the upper part and about half of the front.

A final third  lighter layer is applied. Don't be worried about overdoing for two reasons:  the colors get darker after varnishing and the contrast effect is diluted when you look from a distance.

  

A view of the model form above (bird/player eyes)

As you see, nothing complex or difficult to achieve. Important when doing the painting work: don't forget from time to time to look the model at a distance, the perception can change significantly. 

Hope this explanation helps.

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Hello Benito - Happy Epiphany Day! Did I say that correctly? I'm uncertain, as I'm plugged into the North American timing and traditions for Christmas, but it is always fun to learn about the different traditions and approaches to various holiday seasons around the world.  I hope you have enjoyed your break - we have certainly enjoyed your painting.

And this is another fine example. These Germans look the business.  I particularly like the MG34 team that is ready to get the weapon into action, very well done. I'm sure Curt will also appreciate the brief tutorial - I know I do! I always love learning how different Challengers approach their painting, thank you for sharing this with us. 

And yes, these six Blitzkrieg-ing Germans will fetch you another 30 points. We look forward to continued progress on your project. 

GregB