1000 Points in Ten Days- Yippee!!

It's been a while since I went on such a hobby tear- probably the Iyanden Eldar army I painted comes the closest to so much assembled and painted in such a short period of time. While I'm not going to win any painting awards with this introductory force, the nice urban rubble bases from Battlefront make up for a multitude of sins! This weekend I'll get a full M10 Tank Destroyer Platoon done, along with an Assault Gun platoon of three M8 Scott tanks. That will get me close enough to 1500 points. If that works, I'll finish the army next week with a full battery of M12 155mm GMC SP artillery pieces. That will give me exactly 1750 points for the army, and should make a nice finish (at least for the time being).

Tomorrow's Turn 2 of our Market Garden campaign. This time, I get to play with MY OWN army.


Nice.

Good Progress Tonight

I didn't get anything done yesterday- I was just too tired. However I killed it today and got 12 bases fully painted. I'll get the rest of the platoon finished tomorrow for sure!

Holiday Progress: FoW Armored Rifle Company

Well, the army's not done yet, but a mighty blow has been struck towards that end. Over the weekend I completely finished one of my Armored Rifle Platoons, including all the half tracks. All that remains now is one more platoon and I've got a fully painted 1000 point force. I have no doubt I'll get this done before Friday's Turn 2 of Market Garden. The question is whether I can get a Tank Destroyer Platoon and something else painted to get me up to 1500 (at least). I'll give it crack! Happy Holidays everyone- I hope your own projects are coming along like you want them to. I'll leave you here with a couple of shots of my completed platoon. Huzzah!!

Crash Project: FAIL!

Ah well, I didn't make it.

I knew the chances of getting it done were slim to none, but I can honestly say I gave it a shot. Over the course of four after work evenings, I got the following done:

ASSEMBLED & PRIMED

2x Full Armored Rifle Platoons

In addition, I got all the vehicles basecoated with my airbrush.

COMPLETELY FINISHED

Armored Rifle Company Command HQ, including additional Bazooka Team

Platoon of 4x M4A1 Sherman tanks

Between the assembled and finished models, this is the entire initial 1000 point force. All things considered, it's not a bad effort at all. I've got some models I can borrow for tomorrow's Market Garden launch, and I think with a holiday weekend's effort I can get the remainder of my first 1000 points knocked out. I'm thinking of a Priest battery and a recon section to round out 1500 points.

Until next time...

Crash Project: American Armored Rifle Company

Hours away from finishing my SS Panzerkompanie, we found out that two out of the three Allied players we believed were going to play the Market Garden campaign have pulled out. This leaves us 4 German players and one Allied player for the campaign starting this Friday. So, I thought I'd go nuts and try to build and paint a 1000 point Armored Rifle Company in time for the campaign and switch sides.... yowsah.

In the last two days I've made more progress than I would have guessed. I've built all 11 half tracks I need, as well as 4 Shermans. I've also put together the HQ and the first platoon in full, leaving only second platoon to complete assembly. I used Battlefront's relatively new rubble plastic bases to help speed up assembly- they are a lifesaver.

The test paint job above has almost no highlighting on the figures other than black lining. I think it looks fine for the battlefield, and it's relatively quick. Here's the recipe:

1- Glue the figures into the base with enough super glue to get pushed up and fill the gaps/spill over a bit. Finely ground shale was sprinkled over all the super glue areas

2- Stand was primed with Vallejo Black Primer shot from my airbrush

3- Entire base was drybrushed with VMC London Grey
4- Medium drybrush with VMC Medium Sea Grey
5- Patches were heavily drybrushed with VMC Flat Brown
6- Brown patches medium drybrush VMC Beige Brown
7- Entire base lightly drybrushed with VMC Iraqi Sand
8- Pants and webbing painted US Dark Green
9- Jackets and anklets painted VMC Khaki
10- Boots painted VMC Flat Brown
11- Flesh painted VMC Light Brown and drybrushed with VMC Flat Flesh
12- Helmet, shell, and bazooka painted VMC Brown Violet
13- 2d Armored Div patch painted with VMC Deep Yellow, Flat Red, and Dark Blue. Khaki used to trim it up into a rough triangle shape.
14- Separate brick wall and loose bricks on the base painted VMC Cavalry Brown and glued into base.
15- Bricks and wall washed with Vallejo Pale Grey Wash.
16- Base edges painted VMC Beige Brown

It sounds like a lot, and maybe it is, but that's about as simple as I can make it other than the patch madness. What can I say, I'm not going to let Khairul get away with those eagles without a fight! ;)

It'll be a miracle if I get this done in time, but I'll go down fighting....

Apoxie Sculpt Available Locally

This is the first time I've seen this around here, so I thought I'd give folks a heads up. I found this very nice selection at Craft Haven, a shop at 1 Utama. It's good stuff for a variety of hobby uses, so check it out sometime...

SS Panzerkompanie WIP

Had a productive night tonight, with priming and camo basecoat for the last part of my army. This is Biermeyer's Panzer IVH Platoon from the new "Grey Wolf" Eastern Front compilation, along with an SS Tank Hunter Platoon consisting of two Jagdpanzer IV/70 tracks. I've still got a ways to go, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for the campaign we're starting in a few weeks... Huzzah!

Avenging Sons Rhino COMPLETE

I figured I'd do a vehicle "test model" for the next thing, and I'm even happier with this than I am with the veteran I painted earlier. I think the bright scheme really pops, especially with the weathering. The Avenging Sons chapter symbol was done with green stuff. I cut a template from thick card stock, and then used heat activated mold material that Cool Mini Or Not sells to make a press mold. I did one for a vehicle sized one like this, as well as one that would work for a shoulder pad or small icon. The first attempt here could be crisper, but overall I'm really pleased with it and plan to continue.

The black sections of the Rhino mark it as 5th company, 1st Tactical Squad. Here's a few more pics- thanks for checking it out!