Imperial Fist Breachers

After a bit of a break I decided to go back to the Imperial Fist Legion by finishing a breacher squad. They're a troop unit equipped with boarding shields, bolters and 2 graviton guns. Both Greg and Dallas have completed breacher squads for their legions and it didn't feel right that the fists were left out.

 

 

I also completed another HQ choice for the Fists. This one was given to me by Greg as part as his move to Ontario. He's equipped with a Thunder hammer and shield. My HQ choices are a bit crowded for the Imperial Fists, but the massive eagle on his shield necessitated him being painted up as a loyalist.

The Painting Challenge starts Monday, so I won't be doing anymore Imperial Fists for a few months while I tackle some other projects. I may even jump into Age of Sigmar!

Early Bolt Action late-war Germans

The backlog of WW2 Germans in my 'IN' basket is almost cleared with the completion of this latest batch of miniatures. These are Bolt Action figures sculpted by Paul Hicks, and predate the acquisition of that line by Warlord Games. They are examples of 'Heroic' style 28mm figures with the detail standing out in 'high relief', which I found made them easier to paint things like piping on the shoulder straps. They include one MG42 MMG team, two MG42 LMG teams, four soldiers armed with Gewehr 43 semi-automatic rifles,  and four tank hunters consisting of a Panzerschreck team, and two soldiers with Panzerfausts, one also carrying a Teller mine. To finish things off, there are four MG gunners designed to stand inside a Schützenpanzerwagen Sd. Kfz. 251/1 half-track, two with MG34s and two with MG42s. There is a nice mix of late war German uniform details such as camouflage helmet covers and smocks, as well as many wearing low boots with Gamaschen. Three of the tank hunters also sport tank destruction badges (Sonderabzeichen für das Niederkämpfen von Panzerkampfwagen durch Einzelkämpfer) on their right sleeves.  I really like the animation and the uniform variety. which give the impression of hardened veterans in Normandy or during the long retreat from the Soviet Union. 

 Unfortunately, all but one of these figures are no longer in production, having been superseded by Warlord Games' line of plastic Bolt Action 28mm miniatures.

To paint these I used Vallejo paints with some different ink washes used on the gas mask canisters or the Splittertarn clothing items to get the right look, and then the whole figure was painted with Army Painter Strong Tone Quickshade. They were finally given a light spray of matt finish.

 

 A group shot of the late war Germans with some of my scratch built ruins in the background.

Four German Grenadiers armed with G43 semi-automatic rifles. They provide some nice variety to the look of my late war Germans, but the G43 counts the same as a regular rifle in the Bolt Action rules.

Three man MMG team with MG43 on a tripod. The team commander is carrying a captured Russian PPSh-41 submachine gun.

Two LMG teams, one firing and the other on the move. The No, 2 in the firing team is wearing a Zeltbahn over his tunic, while the No.1 in the team on the move is wearing a pair of unofficial Splittertarn trousers.

Four 'Panzerknacker', two carrying Panzerfausts and a two man Panzerschreck team. The two men with Panzerfausts have two and three silver tank destruction badges respectively, while the man firing the Panzerschreck has one in gold which signifies the destruction of five enemy tanks.

A close-up of two of the MG gunners for the back of the half-tracks, armed with MG34 (left) or MG42 (right). I have since mounted all four on squares of plastic card so they will stand up better in the back of the vehicle. Only the figure on the right is still available from Warlord Games.

MG34 gunner in the back of an early war Sd. Kfz. 251/1 half-track.

MG42 gunner in the back of a Sd. Kfz. 251/1 half-track painted in late war three colour camouflage.

Milestone: 1,500,000 pageviews!

Just a bit of a brag here... the blog has now passed 1,500,000 pageviews! We've come a long way since we started, and in fact we're nearing the end of one of our most prolific posting years yet, thanks to the pandemic. But all of the effort would be for naught if it weren't for you, our readers. So thank you for reading and commenting on our posts, and we're looking forward to a better New Year for everyone. 

Star Wars Legion: “Echo Station 5-7, we’re on our way.”

My take on the Limited Edition Luke Skywalker, a 1/47 scale figure for Star Wars Legion. 

Fantasy Flight Games recently released a Limited Edition version of Luke Skywalker. A convention exclusive, in a year without conventions, this model was offered in very limited quantities to game stores as customer incentives, prizes, etc. (Shout out to Brian at Amuse 'N Games in Winnipeg!)

This is a lovely figure. The likeness is very much a young Mark Hamill. It comes with three different options for the head (including helmet and visor), and you can choose either a right arm wielding Anakin’s lightsaber, or a blaster pistol. Luke is sculpted as he appears on Hoth in the movie The Empire Strikes Back. 

I primed the figure with Chaos Black and hand brushed flat white onto the saber blade. Then, with an airbrush and compressor blowing at ~18 p.s.i., I laid in zenithal highlights and spotlighting with Vallejo White. I masked the figure with a plastic baggie, and airbrushed the lightsaber effect with Golden High Flow Fluorescent Blue. 

I have been asked about how I did the lightsaber blade. Briefly, I airbrushed the fluorescent blue really thinly (7 drops pigment, 5 or 6 drops each of thinner and flow improver, and about an eye dropper’s worth of water). Worked from the tip of the blade back towards the hilt, angling away from the hilt. Several applications (with some reloads in the paint cup) built up the colour at the tip, fading out at the base of the blade. The thin paint leaves no spray pattern.

Afterward, I under painted the face using the Vallejo acrylic face painting set, using those colours they suggest for tanned skin. The uniform was quickly laid in with acrylic glazes. Blending and final details were done with artists' oils. 

I painted the pupils indigo instead of blue, so they stood out a bit more. I painted the gloves and boots as black leather instead of white cold weather gear, more like his regular pilot’s uniform. I painted the sculpted base to match the sandy terrain of my other SWL figures. 

The Snowspeeder is shown for scale. It is a pre-painted model from WotC; I have not yet assembled and painted the FFG kit, which is basically the same size.

I am very happy to have a copy of this figure. It is very striking, and will make a cool addition to my Rebel forces.

Imperial Thunderbolts for Aeronautica Imperialis

Flight of Imperial Thunderbolts for "Aeronautica Imperialis".

I've been dabbling in "Aeronautica Imperialis", GW's air-combat game set in the Warhammer 40k universe. I finished some Ork Dakka Jets back in the summer, and some Ork Fighta Bommerz in November - but to play the game, they would need some opponents! So here is a group of Imperial Thunderbolt Fighters, ready to protect The Emperor's skies and keep them clear of evil xenos...

I used the decals from the box set - basic, but they get the job done!

These are multi-part plastic kits from GW. Again, these are really, really well done - just be cautious with assembly, as there are some truly small and fiddly bits on these sprues that will disappear into a carpet and never be seen again if you drop them...

A standard Thunderbolt - quad autocannons and a pair of lascannons.

 

You have some options in terms of assembly - there is the standard Thunderbolt fighter, which is armed with quad autocannons and a pair of lascannons. But you can also build the "Thunderbolt Fury" variant, which sports avenger cannons in place of the autocannons. The avenger cannons hit a little harder (and a funny aside here - the description in the rules implies the avenger cannons run out of ammunition sooner, but then the actual stats show them with unlimited ammo, same as the autocannons - one of many odd contradictions in these rules - it's almost like GW subcontracted the rulebook production out to Warlord Games, but I digress).

The "Fury" variant - rocking the avenger autocannons on the nose. This is the flight leader - I figured he would take the plane with the cooler weapons...

 

Assortment of missiles to augment the fighting abilities of the Thunderbolt.

 

Just as the Ork planes in the game can get added weapons in the forms of rockets, bombs and "custom shootas", so the Thunderbolts can also be armed with air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, bombs or a mix, to complete various missions. Overall, these are great models, lots of fun to paint up.

A Thunderbolt closes with an Ork Fighta Bommer in "Aeronautica Imperialis" action.

Because the game is hex-based, we were able to give it a try over Zoom a few weeks ago - it was just a small game, two opposing patrols encountering each other, but after just one run-through, I can say the game looks to be a lot of fun. With the larger scale of aircraft, there will be some limits to the size of the game you can stage (although I believe it is possible to purchase larger game mats with hexes on them, which could open things up), but "Aeronautica" is a good bit of fun!

An Ork Dakka Jet makes a point-blank pass at an Imperial Thunderbolt...this is basically the way the Orks need to succeed in the game...

 

That's all for now - I hope to share another couple of add-ons to this fun game before long. And, of course, with winter nearly here in the formal sense, a number of us will be preparing for the start of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge - I hope you will enjoy our efforts!

Thanks for reading - hope you are staying safe and staying sane! 

The Deadly 88

 One of the German weapons for which the Allies had a healthy respect was the 88mm Flak 18/36/37/41 and its derivative, the 88mm Pak 43. The latter was essentially the Flak 41 mounted on the split trail carriage of the 10.5 cm leFH 18 field howitzer, with the wheels from the 15 cm s FH howitzer.

While working on various other Bolt Action projects, I decided to take the plunge and finally build the Fuman 1/48 scale Flak 18 kit that I bought a decade ago. I had been daunted by the four sprues having a total of over 150 separate parts, combined with instructions in Chinese with only pictures and part numbers to work from. Just prior to starting to assemble the kit, I had a conversation with Conscript Dallas during which he told me he had the very same kit but "had been daunted by the four sprues having a total of over 150 separate parts...." We had a good laugh. Another problem with the kit is that some parts were just to snap into place and not be glued so that the gun barrel could recoil, or be elevated, and the side arms of the cruciform gun carriage folded up. In the end I opted to glue most the 'moving' parts so that the gun could rotate, but otherwise would be fixed in the anti-tank role. This would hopefully increase its durability on the gaming table.

The Fuman 1/48 scale plastic kit. Every wheel, hook, gear, dial, etc. was a separate piece.

I had two sets of the Bolt Action Flak crew since the set came with 6 crewmen, but the Flak version of the 88 required 7 crew according to the Bolt Action rules. Go figure. That gave me some spare figures that could be used for other artillery or anti-tank guns, so they all got painted up at the same time. One the figures that came with a set of the Flak crew was the Soviet female driver rather than the seated aimer. That ended up in one of my Kübelwagen conversions.

I also remembered that I had inherited a metal kit from my father's wargaming days for an anti-tank gun. I originally thought it was a 75mm Pak 40 in 25mm scale, but later was able to identify it as an 88mm Pak 43, but in 20mm scale from the Hinchliffe line of miniatures. The gun is a bit undersized for the 28mm crewmen, but it will still work on the wargame table to represent either a Pak 40 or 43.

The two guns were painted with an early war grey for the Flak 18, and a three colour camouflage pattern for the Pak 43. The Flak 18 was mounted on a 12.5cm x 18cm piece of MDF board with the crew glued in place, and the wheels mounted on a separate 12.5cm x 7.5cm piece of MDF board. That gave me the option of whether or not to put the wheels on the table. The Pak 43 was mounted on an old CD as the base, with the crew on separate bases that could be lifted off.

Here are pics of the final results

A Quartet of Kübelwagens

When Bolt Action miniatures arrived on the wargaming scene, they were basically a line of figures, and appropriate vehicles in 1/56 scale were few and far between. Many of us turned to 1/48 Tamiya, Bandai or Fuman plastic kits, or 1/50 Solido or Corgi diecast vehicles to fill the gap. In fact, Bolt Action actually produced sets of British and German drivers and passengers that were designed to be compatible with Corgi jeeps and Kübelwagens. Since they now produce their own wide variety of suitable vehicles, these sets are now out of production.

I had managed to snag four of the Corgi Kübelwagens off of eBay at a discount price as they were already out of the box, and one was missing its folded roof. I had also purchased a set of the German drivers and passengers (two of each) but after priming them for painting, they ended up on a back burner until now.

I also had a female Soviet driver figure that had been mistakenly shipped with a set of Bolt Action Flak crew instead of the seated aimer it was supposed to contain, so a captured vehicle in Soviet use would make an interesting version for the third one. 

The last Kübelwagen got a driver made using the body of a seated Panzer crew driver from a Bandai kit with his head replaced with a spare head from the Bolt Action Flak crew set, and the Panzer wrap converted to a standard tunic with epoxy putty. I also had two spare stretchers that came with some sets of resin tank stowage, so I decided to make an ambulance version. Leftover decals from some Schützenpanzerwagen kits provided the red cross emblems as well as a variety of license plate numbers to add some extra details.

The Corgi 1/50 scale diecast VW Kübelwagen as sold with Africakorps markings.

 

My quartet of converted VW Kübelwagens: two early war (with one being an ambulance), one late war, and one captured vehicle in Soviet use.

Early war Kübelwagen in standard grey, with Bolt Action driver and officer.

Kübelwagen ambulance, with the driver converted from a driver left over from a Bandai StuG kit

Late war Kübelwagen with Bolt Action driver and officer

Captured Kübelwagen in Soviet use with a Bolt Action female driver and a scratch built folded back roof.

 

I am happy to finally get these cleared from the IN basket, and I am particularly satisfied with the way the ambulance version came together with the use of spare bits and bobs from other kits and projects. I guess being a pack rat pays off on occasion.