The little tank that could

Greetings folks,

I've been slowly working through the test model for my IDF, the M51 Isherman we saw last time. At long last I can happily say it is complete. I was going to invest in some weathering powders and really dust it up but, to be honest, I'm so pleased with how it looks I won't bother as I'm scared of spoiling it. So here we are, the first M51 from my 60th Armoured Brigade detachment.









Next in the spray booth is the rest of the platoon, another two tanks, accompanied by the company commander. Beyond that I've got the 2iC's M51, another platoon of three M51s, two Sho'ts, two Magachs (with another two en route), a full infantry platoon with half tracks and a 25 pounder battery to get through. Can't guarantee I'll do any of this next, but stranger things have happened. . . 

Until next time! 

Israel cannot afford to lose a single battle - FoaN 2.0

Well, Christmas has been and gone and between money and gifts I've ended up with a nice wee haul of Israeli stuff for The Six Day War. Four M51 Shermans, two Sho't Centurions and two Magach 2s as well as an infantry platoon and gubbins to decorate the infantry's M3 and M5 half tracks (had these on the sprue for months and not found a use for them til now). 



Assembled them all on Boxing Day and then started on the half track canopies afterwards, and already started my test model.



First time airbrushing and pre-shading a Flames of War tank, a strange new experience but I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. Stay tuned for more, folks!

Oh yeah, and it's 2.0 because I eBayed my original Jordanian stuff (a hasty decision I now regret) and I'm starting from scratch again.

Hit the beach!

Hi folks,

Back again after a wee bit away, been busy with work and suffering from some reduced hobby time due to the great god Ra putting in fairly regular appearances at the moment. Anywho, I've been busy with something slightly different from my past few updates and this will probably set the theme of things for the next few months. 

A long time ago my good lady bought me the US Assault company box as I'd intended to use it for a Glider company since it had the correct number and type of heavy weapons and troops. I built it up and it sat unloved for a very long time as I could never bring myself to paint models that were so obviously wrong for the purpose I was intending. After some recent discussions on Facebook and the plethora of documentaries and films that were shown during last month's D Day 70th anniversary, I decided at long last I needed to paint this assault company up and for their intended purpose. 

Below is my test platoon, a standard boat section plus their option .30-cal MG. The platoon has a mixture of assault company models, standard GIs and a couple of paratroopers to give a lot of variety of poses and models. Additionally, I've included some special effects Michael Bay would be proud of after watching the opening of Saving Private Ryan one too many times.

Cheers for looking folks.

Fresh from the Panzerwerks

Greetings! 

It has been a long time since I've bothered to update anything here, mainly as I've not been doing a great deal of hobbying as of late, but I'm back in the proverbial saddle and concentrating on teeny tiny WW2 stuff at the moment.

Most recently I've painted a bunch of vehicles from a 559. Schwere Panzerjäger Abteilung task force that opposed the U.S. 101st Airborne Division and the advances of the British XXX Corps during Market Garden. I have three Jagdpanthers (converted from PSC Panthers), four StuG Gs (FoW Open Fire boxed sets plastics) and three Wirberlinds (converted from PSC Panzer IVs), all painted in a fairly standard western European camouflage scheme and adorned with bits of foliage, stowage and tank riders.

The full group

The Jagdpanthers

The StuGs

The Wirbelwinds

Cheers for looking folks!

All quiet on the western front?

Hello folks, 

Been a little busy with work and other real life stuff, but I've managed to squeeze in some hobby time and put together an update for your viewing pleasure.

First up, a wee update to my current Guard army.



WIP Stormtroopers; the helmets are blatantly ripped from Reach and ODST (I'm a Halo fanboy) and the colour scheme will likely be inspired by the same sources.

I've also been working something else I'm a little more excited about, a battlefield! 



Picked up a RoB set from a friend and already had the plastic hills from years and years ago. The first task, as you can probably tell, was to hide all the bloody skulls on the thing with a layer of stones, slate an sand and I've now painted the entire board and the hills. Next on the agenda will be to start bringing up the texture a little more and adding grass. After that, I'll be painting up this lot. . . 




Ferns and bushes to break up the battlefield and provide a little cover. Later on down the line I'll pick up some bigger trees and buildings, as well as more hills and cliffs, but for now this will have to suffice! 

Cheers for now.

Muster the troops!

Greetings readers.

Its been a month or so since my last update and I've been busy securing some more reinforcements for the Latarians, increasing the infantry count to triple figures and the vehicle count to double figures. 



Of particular importance are the second platoon, they will be armed with flamers, meltas and demo charges for some close assault action. I've also rearmed one of the veteran squads, dropping the three plasma guns and going for shotguns, flamers, a heavy flamer and a demo charge.

I haven't just got a lazy army shot to show off today, but also some close ups of the units I'm actually working on at the moment.



Stormtroopers; a direct homage to the excellent 3rd edition metal models, probably some of my favourite things from GW ever.







The Stormtroopers' ride; a converted Land Speeder Storm, this vehicle goes by the codename of Vixen within the inventory and will likely find itself replicated in the near future.



Shooty veterans; toting three grenade launchers and a heavy bolter, this squad is designed to compliment first platoon to provide a solid base of fire on the battlefield.



Assaulty veterans; the compliment unit to second platoon, this squad will provide a very powerful punch on the counter assault. Hopefully. . . 

As noted in a discussing with Mr Maelstrom the weather is terrible for painting at the moment, far too warm and humid and generally icky, so my grand plan is to use the next few weeks to prepare as many models as possible, along with some terrain, so when the weather turns a little cooler I can break out paints.

Thats all for now folks! 

Prepare to Drop!

Another quick update today folks, appologies for going quiet again. It's been a busy couple of weeks in real life land, and this has restricted my hobbling a little.

I fully intended to go straight into my German Heer force with all guns blazing, but after doing a couple if test teams I threw down my brushes with all of my nope as I needed to do something bigger and something that involved sculpting. On that note I return to 40K (dun dun duuuuuuuuuun!!!) and to my Latarian 1st Airborne.



This army consists of a modest infantry platoon, an HQ, a couple of veteran squads, a storm trooper squad, some sentinels, a single Tauros, a Vulture, a Vendetta, a couple of Valkyries and a Vixen (the small one). Infantry are converted Elysians, and stormies are heavilly converted Marine scout/Cadian hybrids, so I can flex my sculpting muscle a little! 

That's all for now folks, more to follow soon.