From TamsinP - 28mm WW2 Japanese (150 points)

The Adventures Of Oscar: Time Traveler, Slayer of Squirrels and Very, Very Good Boy

Chapter 1

In which our hero concludes that pressing that button might not have been such a good idea after all...

Ruh-roh! This isn't Daddy-Curt's hobby room. Where am I? How did I get here?

It's very hot and very sticky, so it's definitely not home. The trees and bushes look and smell different to home too. The smells are different as well, but I do love that stench of rotting plants - must roll in some; Felix will be so jealous when I get home smelling like that! Oooh, it tastes great as well!

Is this a jungle? Do they have squirrels in the jungle? I think I'd better explore and find out...

No squirrels so far. I'll go on a bit further...

Hmmm. People. But they don't seem like friendly people. I'd better hide behind this bush...

Definitely not friendly people. Daddy has pictures of men like these, but they would have been a long, long time ago. Have I time-traveled? I think I'd better go back to where I arrived.

What's this on the floor? It looks like that metal box of Tamsin's. I pressed one of the buttons and found myself here. Is it some sort of time travel device? It must be. I'm a time-traveler! Felix is going to be so, so, so jealous. Now, how do I get it to send me back home? I must press a button, but which one? Let's try this one...ruh-roh! This isn't Daddy-Curt's hobby room either...

Stay tuned for further adventures!

OK, that's enough introductory silliness for one post, onto the "meat" of this submission. In the last-but-one photo above you should have glimpsed some figures in the background. Removing trees to give a clearer picture, here's what's in my submission this week:

Having painted up WW2 Australians (in both Khaki Drill and Jungle Green) a few years ago, and US Airborne last year for my WW2 New Guinea project I decided it was time to paint up their opposition - the Japanese. This is the start of my force for Chain of Command - I suspect Oscar will be returning to the jungle several times before the Challenge ends.

Jump Off Points

I ended up with more officer figures than I would actually need, so I decided to put them to good use as jump off points. Having made that decision, I then decided that it would also be a good way to make use of some of the small palm trees that I'd tarted-up over the summer. Then I thought it would be good to add some other jungle vegetation to the bases, and this is what I ended up with.

Senior Leaders

I opted to paint up two of the officer figures to be platoon commanders (Chu-i - Lieutenant; Sho-i - 2nd Lieutenant); the third figure is the platoon sergeant (Gun-so).

Rifle Squad

This is the first of three rifles squads for my core platoon. I also have a fourth in the queue as a support option. The big problem with the early war Japanese platoons is that they are so freaking huge - three 13-man rifle squads, one 13-man grenade discharger (aka "knee mortar") squad and two senior leaders. That's 54 figures just for the core platoon. 

Junior Leader (Go-cho - Corporal)

LMG Team

Rifle Team

Adding the gold and silver stars to the rank tabs on the collars was a little tricky, to say the least, but I think I did a good enough job.

Type 95 Ha-Go Tanks

The Japanese don't appear to have used many tanks in New Guinea. I've read suggestions that there might have been some medium tanks used on the North coast during later campaigns, but the only confirmed use was two  Type 95 Ha-Go light tanks of the 5 Kure Special Naval Landing Force that saw action during the Milne Bay campaign.

From the available photos of them, it appears that they were painted in a two-tone camouflage. As the photos of them were all black and white, I chose to go with khaki and green as the colours.

I haven't added markings to them. The photos don't show any on the right hand side, and there are no clear pictures of the left side of the tanks. 

Over the coming weeks, you can expect to see the rest of the core platoon and support elements. I'm hoping to have everything painted by the end of the Challenge.

Scoring

21 x 28mm foot @ 5 = 105 points

1 x prone 28mm foot @ 2.5 = 2.5 points

2 x 28mm tank @ 20 = 40 points

Total = 147.5 points

The officers are all from The Assault Group (TAG); the sergeant is from Eureka; the rifle squad are a mix of TAG, Eureka and Warlord Games; and the tanks are from Warlord Games.

_____________________________

Hahaha! Well, you certainly come out in style with you first substantial post of the Challenge, Tamsin. Of course, I can't help but love the time-travelling adventure that Oscar has embarked on. He's such a good boy (and, you're right, Felix will mad with jealously)! I wonder what mischief he'll get into next.

Now, that Japanese force is something to behold. I'm taken aback by the sheer size of their platoon organization, wow, you've taken on a lot of work here Tamsin. Excellent brushwork on these officers and troops. And those Type 95s look fabulous. Really smooth work on their camo, and I really like the subtle weathering on their undercarriage and track assembly. Really lovely stuff.

I'm going to round things up to 150 points because of the more involved Senior Leaders bases. 

Wonderful work Tamsin!

- Curt