M4A3 Sherman (76mm). 'Down Necker'

Hi all, my crusade to renovate the tanks in my case has continued this week with a Warlord Games 76mm Sherman with wooden armour. Before I began, she was a tad boring. No pin-up, only one weathering powder application and no grass tufts meant she stood out amongst my other vehicles. Therefore, I decided to bring her back up to scratch. First, I tidied up all the dents and scratches that had occurred through use in the case. Then, I applied several alcohol based washes of weathering powders to the various areas of the tank. Next, I applied the 'Down Necker' decal to the space I'd left free the first time around. I also brushed on a few layers of weathering powders dry. I was sceptical that this would work at first but I am now pleased with the results. Finally, I added two colours of grass tufts to the base. I'm hoping to add additional stowage to this vehicle when the Rubicon stowage set is released!

M26 Pershing. Bessy gets a makeover

I've continued to root through my army case for vehicles that need a little touch up and a little repair. Consequently, I came across my M26 Pershing, a model I bought at the beginning of my journey into Boltaction.

I bought the model at the Derby Games Convention because friends of mine wanted to take advantage of the 10% off for 3 models deal! I came away with a Pershing and my friends picked up a Tiger II and an IS-2.

Unfortunately, the M26 is way too expensive for regular games of Boltaction and so it's seen very little use. It is a cool tank though, so I might try and write a list to incorporate it.

Anyway, I took it out of the case and gave it some TLC over the weekend. It was a bit chipped in places and the weathering wasn't quite up to scratch. The base was also quite large so I trimmed that down. I like tanks on bases but they can sometimes get in the way so the smaller the better.  

So there we have it, another tank refreshed and back in service. Let's see what I can find next...

M36B1 Jackson. It's finally painted!

So it seems that I've a couple of tanks sitting on my painting table for what feels like an age! Fortunately, this Jackson is the last (before I build the 2 tanks I still have in boxes!) and I'm mightily relieved to finally have it gone.

Sadly, it's unlikely to see much table time on account of it's crazy points cost but I'm sure it will make at least a few appearances in tank wars games. We shall see.

 I really like crew models in the turrets of tanks but these guys took forever to paint! They add life to the vehicle but I'd be lying if I claimed to enjoy painting them.

This vehicle does of course join the ranks of my fictional tank unit, the Warbirds. Unfortunately, she doesn't yet have a name or a pin-up. That's a job for another day I think.
 

Dutchess! M4A3E2 Sherman Jumbo

It feels like I've had this Sherman Jumbo model from Blitzkrieg Miniatures on my painting desk for an age! For one reason or another, I have not been able to muster enough energy to finish it off. Well, as my teacher training enters its last leg, I found some time and incentive to finish it off for good. So let me introduce the newest addition to the Warbirds tank company, Dutchess!

 She's been painted in the usual way, using Vallejo Model colours and Forgeworld weathering powders. 

 No pin-up model on this one but her name is emblazoned loud and proud on the side.  

 The cast of the modal was unfortunately slightly damaged on the sides as you can see above. Rather than correct the defect, I decided to leave it as war damage. After all, anyone familiar with the Jumbo in World of Tanks knows that shells can ping off this machine all day long.  

 I also included a Warlord Games tank commander in the turret for good measure.

M20 Scout Car: Rubicon kits continue to impress me!

The thing that's interesting to me about collecting a historical force is that I personally have not lost any motivation to continue expanding my collection for a single army (or Nation in this respect). When I was in full swing of collecting 40k miniatures, I would plan an army and then progressively buy and paint the units that I'd planned for. Then I'd play around with it a bit until it worked for me and that's how the army would stay, usually for a year or so, before I sold it and started again with another new idea.

Conversely, I've now been playing Bolt Action for around two years and I'm still not bored of collecting units for my US army. It doesn't even seem to matter if they're good units in the game or not (although I do still enjoy the competition of building competitive armies in competitive environments). Even so-called boring units like riflemen keep getting painted. My US force is growing and growing all the time and it doesn't seem to be showing any signs of stopping. It'll be interesting to me to see when the momentum runs out but that's enough of my musings for now, I have an M20 scout car to show you.

The kit is from Rubicon, one of my favourite 1/56 scale vehicle producers, and as usual the kit was a joy to build.  The details are very nice and there are a few options to choose from such as the inclusion of a mine rack or a storage compartment. One particularly pleasing detail was the flattening on the tires, which helps basing the model and also demonstrates the weight of the vehicle.

The only issue with Rubicon kits is the lack of crew figures, which in fairness is an issue they are working hard to remedy. Until then, I've used a Warlord Games US tank crew gunner to operate the .50 cal and a Westwind half-track crewman to sit inside the vehicle interior. I also added some Allied stowage from Warlord Games to the exterior to make the armoured car look a bit more lived in.

Finally, a continued use for the awful Westwind half-track crew figures!

The model was painted using my usual combination of Vallejo Model Color paints and Forgeworld weathering powders. I have the base still to finish but otherwise, the model is complete. Hopefully an 80pt HMG with recce proves useful in the game!  

Upgrading to a 'big boy' mortar: 4.2" chemical mortar

Goodness me it must be Christmas as I'm actually following up on my promises! Yesterday I said that I would be building and painting a US 4.2" heavy mortar from scratch and then sharing the results with you. Well, as expected, that's exactly what I did and it's exactly what I'll do.

First, here's the mortar before paint. I built it from some random bits I have left from a 1:35 scale Abrams tank kit and plasticard. It was a little bit fiddly to put together but wasn't altogether complicated.

This image of a real heavy mortar is what I used to base most of the details on. It's 'more or less' accurate and I think it's fine for table-top standard. There seems to be some variety in the construction of these mortars from looking at different pictures so the little differences shouldn't be too bad. 

Here it is with some crew models. I've used crew from other guns that I had. They fit in fine except for the bazooka loader, who's bomb is far too small for the mortar. See the historical picture above for reference to shell sizes. Perhaps I'll scratch up a new loader if I have time. 

 I thought it would be of some use to compare the sizes of the small, medium and heavy mortars. I'm a little concerned that my heavy mortar is too big. Having said that, I don't think it's 'silly' too big, especially when looking at the reference photo above. Let me know what you think.

Rangers lead the way! Pt 2.

Last week I finally finished the Rangers, hooray! In fairness they were not that much of a struggle to paint and I'm very happy with the final result. I used Blacktree Designs US GI packs and painted them in Vallejo model colours. The final touches were made using Company B 5th Ranger decals and Gamer's Grass tufts.

All that's left for my Nationals army is the 4.2'' heavy mortar, which I scratch built today. I'll be painting it tonight and hopefully showing it off tomorrow. Fortunately, I've painted up plenty of crew for other guns so I don't need to make any new ones. Phew!

The complete squad comprises: 1x BAR, 2x SMG and a Sgt. with SMG

I really like the beard/stubble effect on these Rangers. I'll spend some time this week going over some men from other squads to include some facial hair!

Motorised Artillery: the M8 Scott

Unfortunately, progress has been slow on the remaining 4 Rangers due to a heavy week in work so I don't have an update on them today.

Instead, I was able to find some time to apply the final touches to my Rubicon M8 Scott. I sourced the crew from the Westwind half-track crew set. Originally, I was pretty annoyed when I received the Westwind crew because they are absolutely tiny in comparison with all my other 28mm miniatures so I wasn't able to use them on my own half-track. However, they do make good open-topped crew figures for Rubicon tanks as their diminutive size allows them to squeeze in nicely. Phew, finally a use for them!

Rangers lead the way. Pt 1

I've decided to make more of an effort to make regular updates. The plan, as it stands, is to try and update with something every Sunday. So let's see what I have today.

In my ongoing struggle to get a Student Nationals BA list ready, I have focused my attention on getting the Rangers painted. I picked the models up from Black Tree Designs during their most recent mega sale. Personally I like the figures but many have accused them of looking apish and disproportioned. Those people certainly aren't wrong but I'm ok with that. They remind me a lot of 90's era GW so its an art style I'm very familiar with.

I painted them up exactly like my other rifle men and used Company B 5th Rangers decals. I chose the 5th Rangers so that they can support my 1st Inf. Div. in battles. Historically, the units fought alongside in many battles, including Omaha beach.

 

Company B decals

Transporting the engineers

Slowly but surely I'm making progress towards the list I'm taking for this years Student Nationals Championships. In fairness, the vast majority of my list has already been painted but there were a few additions that I needed to supply. Specifically, I needed a Sherman Calliope, a 3/4 ton WC truck and 9x Rangers.

With the Calliope nearly finished, I turned my attention to building and painting the 3/4 ton truck. Annoyingly, I bought the Company B version for £24 exactly one week before Warlord Games released their much nicer version for £18! A happy bunny I was not! This sad tale only got worse when I sat down to assemble the truck, which took me half a day and a lot of effort to get right. I had to re-arrange the wheels so that they were the correct height and scratch build my own driver. The driver was particularly annoying because the kit came with three crew but all of them were tiny, like children in comparison to my models! So my lesson to you, dear readers, is avoid Company B if you can!

Anyway, despite all the ball ache, I am happy with the end result. It should make a fitting transport for either the engineers (pictured here) or a squad of veteran riflemen.

Pvt. Jenkins remembers that he's left his bank account details unsupervised back home with the wife!

Building a Sherman Calliope for Boltaction

Hello dear readers, please accept my many apologise form my absence. I have been going through a great period of change over the last 6 months that has ultimately resulted in me moving to Birmingham, training as an Early Years teacher and receiving my PhD in evolutionary biology (yes you may address me as Dr Smurf!).

Sadly, all this has left very little time for anything let alone updating my humble hobby blog. I didn't want to let it die though, so I thought I would share my latest creation with you all in the hope that it would remind me to continue to support this blog in the future and indeed the hobby community as a whole (I do hope at least a few people have taken some inspiration from a few of my creations).

Right, so I have been playing mainly Boltaction over the last year or so and I have enjoyed it so much that I have even written a rules changes pack for 40k so that it plays a little more like Boltaction. I call it 'Bolter Action' and if you'd like to take a look at the rules and give them a try, please send me a message and I'll send them over to you. Boltaction is fresh, interesting and compelling thanks to its factual basis and order die mechanic. I love researching and learning about the men and women that fought in WW2 and I try my best to bring that knowledge and respect to the tabletop.

This does mean that almost all of my hobby time over the past year has been devoted to raising units for my beloved 1st Infantry Division, the big red one! Here is my latest addition, a Sherman Calliope, that I based off of pictures of 'Annabelle', which you can see in the image below.

She's being added to my fictitious 'War Birds' collection of tanks, which all bear female names and mottoes. Although this contradicts my earlier point about historical accuracy, it is a bit of fun and I think it reflects the fun that tank crews had when they named and painted their own vehicles. She's also been put together for my 2016 Student Nationals tournament list!

The build consisted of an M4A3 Sherman kit produced by Rubicon, a sandbag armour set produced by S&S models and a Calliope rocket launcher add on kit supplied by Warlord games.

 
I assembled the Sherman kit first, which being a Rubicon plastic kit was a joy to put together. Many bloggers and reviewers have recommended Rubicon kits for their level of detail and ease of assembly. I am not an exception and I would heartily encourage any and all to try Rublicon kits out for themselves!

Once the Sherman was assembled, I needed to add the sandbag armour. Being resin, I first scrubbed it in warm soapy water with a tooth brush followed by trimming of flash with a sharp Stanley knife. I then glued it onto the sides and front of the hull being careful not to break the .30cal machine gun. To add the front piece, you do need to remove some details from the front of the Sherman kit such as the stowage holds but this is easily done. Overall, the sandbag armour was easy to clean and assemble but I did have to do a lot of greenstuff work, including re-sculpts, to get it to look like a complete entity. This was a bit of a pain and in my opinion warrants a 'B' rating from S&S models instead of the 'A' rating it holds on their store. Regardless, the armour looked the part and was certainly cheap enough to use if you have the greenstuff skills to fix it. It's worth mentioning that you also get two pieces of sandbag armour for the turret but I didn't use them due to the rocket launcher getting in the way.

With the greenstuff on the hull drying, I then turned my attention to assembling the T37 rocket launcher onto the turret. The resin parts were scrubbed first and then cleaned up with a sharp knife. There were some minor defects, which needed some greenstuff attention but nothing major. Assembling the launcher and adding it to the turret was a simple enough process but I wanted to add some extra historical details so I hit the internet for reference materials and came across this forum post. Using Terry Barrett's build as a reference allowed me to wire up the launcher as best I could using florist's wire and add the radio antenna on the left hand side. This was a fiddly job and required some patience but I think the end result is quite impressive.

Finally, I wanted to add the rocket stowage box to the back, which meant scratch building one from plasticard. I'm not the best at using plasticard because I don't yet have all the precision tools that I need to make super straight lines and perfect right angled corners. Having said that, I did my best and got a reasonable result. I fully intend to add additional stowage to the top of the engine block in the future but I'm waiting for the Rubicon stowage pack to be released before I do that, which is why it's looking a bit empty at the moment.

So that's it for now. I'll be painting her over the next couple of weeks and I promise I'll upload the pictures when she's finished. For now, have fun!