From FrederickC: Early WW2 French Motorcycle Troops (350 points)

French motorcycle troops halted while the officer consults his map

My fifth submission for AHPC XV is a group of reinforcements for the early war French Division Légère Mécanique that I painted last year. To add to the tanks and motorized troops, I have added a small platoon of a headquarters and two sections on motorcycles. The figures are a mix of metal minis from Crusader Miniatures and 3D prints using STL files purchased from MyMiniFactory for a total of 24 foot and 23 'mounted' figures. I really liked the Crusader motorcyclist, which will be a good match for the dragons porté I painted. The 3D prints also go well with the metal minis, but I have two minor criticisms regarding the files: (1) 'slung weapons' have no slings, and (2) most of the carbines have the bolts on the wrong side.

In the case of the dismounted motorcyclists, I cleaned up the figures and glued them onto 1" fender washers. I then added some fine sand to the base with PVA glue. In the case of the 3D figures, these were printed by a friend of mine who has done a number of projects for me in the past. He did most of the cleanup prior to delivery, but I went over them again to remove any missed supports and make a few repairs. These were glued to popsicle sticks with PVA glue to give me something to handle while priming and painting. I made bases for all of them using the plastic from old restaurant gift cards. I can get three bases from one card. I did all the ground work on these bases separately and glued the motorcycles on once all the painting was complete.

All the figures were primed with Vallejo USA Olive Drab Surface Primer using an airbrush. The bodies of the motorcycles were left that base colour. I then painted the rest primarily with Vallejo acrylics (unless indicated otherwise) as follows: faces and hands - Flat Flesh; uniform - Green Grey; boots - Chocolate Brown; belt, pistol holster, and ammo pouches - Leather Brown; leather pad on helmet, chin strap, gauntlets, and motorbike seat - Army Painter Leather Brown; canteen cover - English Uniform; gas mask bag - German Camo Beige; saddle bags - German Camo Orange Ochre; goggle frames, engine and muffler - Army Painter Plate Mail Metal; helmet - Olive Grey; goggles strap, scarf, and jacket buttons - Tan Earth; goggle lenses - Army Painter Runic Cobalt; rifle stocks - Beige Brown; motorcycle tires - Black; pistols and metal on weapons - German Grey; highlights on SMG and LMG - Gungrey. Once completed, everything got the ol' "Army Painter Strong Tone Quick Shade" treatment. When that was dry, the motorcycles were removed from the popsicle sticks and glued to their bases with Super Glue. Here are the final results.

 

French motorcycle platoon mounted and dismounted

View from the left

View from the right

 

No. 1 section dismounted

Platoon Headquarters dismounted

No. 2 Section dismounted

No. 1 Section on their bikes

 

No. 2 Section on their bikes

 

No. 2 Section on their bikes (flip side)

My one attempt to hand-paint a licence plate

French motorcycle troops halted while the officer consults his map

The points being claimed are as follows:

 

24 x 28mm foot figures @ 5 points each = 120 points

 

23 x 28mm 'mounted' figures @ 10 points each = 230 points

Total = 350 points

Thanks for stopping by.

Sylvain: If I were marking your submission, I would give you 10/10 and write the following comment: "the description of the painting process is fully detailed and your list of paints is exhaustive." I also like the clear explanation regarding these troops, so we know where they fit in the big WW2 picture. Your scenery also looks fabulous and provides a great background for your photos. And to top it all, this is another points bomb for you! Great submission!