Despite this and more, I still managed to finish the entire platoon of guardsmen. The 1st of many, though I am in no rush to build another. It has been one hell of an experience.
Using the "Andreas" method as we call it locally, I decided to undergo the psychological stress of painting everything layer by layer. While I used to believe that working on one bit at a time was easier on the ahem, painting stamina, this one is a lot quicker! Also, the force as a whole seems far more cohesive as the layers are put on roughly the same time.
While I have been an unforgiving fan of GW paints for some time, the realism I demanded for these guys required something a little off the radar. The P3 paint range, used by the better known Flames of War series has just that. Acrylic water based, they are something of a middle ground between GW's normal and their newer more celebrated Foundation Paints.
Going straight for the Gun Corps Brown for the uniform, I kept the Catachan green on all "hard equipment: Armour, gun casings etc" to tie it to the rest of the army. For the green khaki, I ended up using Battle Dress Green, another P3 paint that when washed in GWs Devlan Mud, turned out awesome. Satisfied with the results, I ended up doing the entire army with this pattern.
While the common soldiery might be done, at this point I still hadnt finished the higher command. Being better off than anyone else, these chaps demanded a bit more attention. In the case of the Commisar, it was more finding a good realistic method to painting black. After a brief mishap of mistaking my can of black primer for varnish (Face palm) and starting from scratch, he was the first to be done.The figure in the middle is going to be my "standard" commander, when "Creed-with-monocle" isnt being used. yes, that is indeed a cup of tea modeled into his left hand. Originally the Commisar Lord, I really loved the WW1 recruitment style to his outfit. Painting him in the same theme as the infantry instantly made him into something else.
And yes, I gave him one hell of a mustache too. And creed got a monocle...
Originally planned to be Lascannons, the Ballistic skill of the bog standard Guardsmen just didn't sit well. Lascannons therefore would be just for command sections, veterens and the HQ itself. Not only would the better BS help, it just sat with the realistic British platoon formation, keeping the heavier weapons next to the commanders.
It might be a good point to note that I'm now basing these guys of the British Army circa Early WW2...
Autocannons therefore are like the 6 pounder close-up-and-personal anti tank guns. Hating the tripod system, I managed to find some American Howitzers from the 15mm Flames of War series, which strangely after some clipping, fit just perfectly.
All in all, the Platoon, like the future platoons, will consist of:Command section.
4 Squads with role specific equipment.
1-2 Heavy Weapon support.
0-1 Special Weapons teams which will also be role specific.
Commisar/Preacher.
While my older "French" styled platton (Pictures later) is designed for front line mashing with blobs of 20 men a squad and commisarial support, these guys are the real deal. They are kitted out for proper combat. I expect them to be too well dug in to require any executional motivation! (We will see how that fairs...)
The use of the red Beret is more of a homage to the Force Pegasus from operation Market Garden. Plus it looked cool, added colour to an otherwise dull scheme and also signified veteran status, in the Command HQ and for the lower officers. I started thinking about veteran squads with kilts... Shhhhh, laters.
Next up is my labour on the 3 leman Russ's which await painting.
Have some idea where I am going now, but I really want to avoid highlighting in the traditional manner. My ahem, research has led me to note that the more realistic paint jobs include not so much highlighting on hard matter like large painted surfaces, but more wear and tear.
More soon!
R
