Misc: Resources?

I'm sitting here typing this because I just broke out the ol' airbrush and compressor, and then realised I can't recall which two colours, which particular shades of green and brown, I'll be needing for my three-colour mid- to late-war German camo' schemes. 

The number of times I've gone through the rigmarole of searching online, or amongst my various and ill-organised notes, all add up to too much wasted time. So it occurs to me that I ought to create a resource here on my own website, for my own benefit. And who knows, perhaps for the benefit of others?

Bovington's Tiger II, 104, is beautifully coloured.

These are the kinds of shades I want for my models!

Of course others have done this before me. Why invent the wheel again? Well, it's in my nature to want to do things myself, in my own time and space, and in my own way, however well or badly that may turn out to be. I guess it's just my M.O. And I no longer, if I ever really did, want to fight it.

So, it won't be happening today, as I already have too much else happening: I'll be off teaching soon, and this evening, as well as cooking our evening meal (actually I only have to cook rice and some gravy, as the rest is leftovers!), I'm going to meet the Wisbech IPMS at their fortnightly gathering. 

That'll be a first for me. I'm not exactly club-able. Or at least I never have been before. But perhaps that'll change? I'm definitely feeling the need to extend my camaraderie in life generally, and modelmaking and mini-soldiers in particular.

For now I'll bring this post to a speedy conclusion, as it's probably also a way of my deferring actually getting started with the airbrush.

Some time later the same day...

I did finally actually use my airbrush today, just to add some dunkelgelb to the eldest of my Elefant models, and bring it a bit more into line with the two more recent builds. Above is the result. And below is an older 'before' pic. In the picture below, taken before I'd painted the two more recent Elefant, you can see I'd done some rather clumsy dark wash weathering on the old Fujimi model. I hope the above pic, with the Fujimi Elefant at left, shows that I've softened the look a it a bit?

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20/3/'19

So, I've done a bit of research, and this is what I've come up with, for now, using the Vallejo ranges of acrylic colours.

First, from their airbrush range:

Dunkelgelb RAL 7028 (dark yellow) - Vallejo Model Air 71.025
Rotbraun RAL 8017 (red-brown) - Vallejo Model Air 71.041
Olivgrün RAL 6003 (olive green) - Vallejo Model Air 71.092

As yet I'm undecided re their standard acrylic series:
Dunkelgelb RAL 7028 (dark yellow) - Vallejo Model Color 70.978
Rotbraun RAL 8017 (red-brown) - Vallejo Model Color 71.041*
Olivgrün RAL 6003 (olive green) - Vallejo Model Color 71.092 (poss 70.894?)

* This is the official RAL 8017 equivalent, but it doesn't seem right to me.

Book Review: Tank Craft 13, Tiger I & Tiger II Tanks, 1945

This is my first Tank Craft series experience. I was fortunate to be sent a review copy by Pen & Sword, as the £14.99 price is quite dear. First impressions are great: plenty of contemporary photographs, several pages of very good colour plates, showing markings and camouflage, and loads of info on various brands of available kits, including several detailed and very impressive build examples.

One of the photos used in the book. [1]

The degree of detail such specialist publications go into is extraordinary. It's amazing how much interest in WWII there is, and how almost every nut and bolt of every individual Panzer can be traced and accounted for. Truly astonishing! The amount of resources available to us enthusiasts is terrific. And if this example is typical of Dennis Oliver's contributions to the field, he's a top drawer contributor to this embarrassment of riches.

Steve Shrimpton's Dragon-based 1/72 model particularly appeals to me. [2]

In addition to what I've already mentioned, there are all sorts of other aspects covered here: maps, timelines, individual unit organisations and histories, and so on. For a publication the size of a typical A4 glossy magazine, there's a massive amount of extremely interesting and useful info here. Very impressive! Oh dear... now I want more!

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I do happen to have a recently acquired Zvezda snap-fit Tiger II. I'm planning to build it as this:

... the King Tiger from the Bovington Tiger Collection. I'm sure having this book will help me when I get around to making it.

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NOTES:

[1] Interestingly almost all the photographs are of knocked out or abandoned Tigers, mostly taken by Allied photographers. This superb picture is quite heavily cropped in the book, to focus on the tank, rather than the rather picturesque setting.

[2] Most the models appear to be 1/35. The info on models, accessories and so on is superb, and very useful.

Painting Progress: 1/72 Caesar WWII German Infantry in Zeltbahn

Some while back I bought several packs of Caesar 1/72 WWII Germans, and these guys were amongst them. Obeying my whimsical nature, I followed up the Britannia Miniatures SS cavalry with these fellows. Described on the box as 'with camouflage cape', these soldiers are in fact sporting the famous zeltbahn.

On the box artwork these guys have foliage on their helmets. But open the box, and their headgear is in fact plain and unadorned. Most of the figures are relatively flash-free, which is good. Sadly one or two particular poses - the guy kneeling with panzerfaust is worst - do suffer from rather more flash.  Fortunately there are no ejector pin sink holes or nodules.

I really rather like these chaps. The zeltbahn get-up is pretty cool, and affords ample opportunity for camo painting fun. The level of detail, the slim proportions, and assortment of poses and weapons is pretty good to. The only real downer is that soft-plastic figures' weapons tend to be afflicted with a case of martial brewer's droop!

Choosing the right colours can be tricky.

Working on their gear: breadbags, gas mask container, entrenching-tool, etc.

Viewed from the front...

I experimented on the trio of figures shown above. The original pose, in respect of how he held his grenade, looked awkward and unnatural. The rightmost guy has had his hand and potato-masher grenade rotated 180°; the bloke in the middle now has his grenade in his left hand; the guy on the left now has no grenade. I reckon I'll give the leftmost guy an ammo box. I think I modified a couple of other figures from this set. But I seem to have misplaced them!

Nearing completion of the blocking-in phase.

This is how they looked when I left off for today.

The next stage will be a couple of sprays with gloss varnish, and then some washes. And then I'll perhaps go in for some touching up, and a little highlighting and detailing. But ultimately, what with the volume of figures I have to paint, I'll be keeping these guys relatively simple.