Tag Archives: infantry

28mm: German Anti-Tank Weapons And Command By Artizan Designs

GermanAT

After a few months taking a break from painting, I came back to my 28mm World War II Germans by adding some anti-tank weapons and command figures.

ADlogo

I’ve been so pleased with the German infantry from my first and second platoons using models from Artizan Designs that I returned to their miniatures again to round out my collection. The panzerfaust and panzerschreck teams gave a nice mix of poses on the move and in firing positions. Likewise, the command molds make for a nice grouping including a radio operator and a stern officer with battle plans in one hand and the other hand planted confidently on his hip.

paintgerman

As always, the Artizan figures required little flash clean up before being glued to metal washers. Here’s my battle-tested steps in detail for painting my latest Germans.

Painting 28mm German Infantry

  1. Clean flash from metal models with a sharp knife and glue to metal washer or plastic bases.
  2. Apply filler putty to bases. When dry, scrape off excess with a sharp knife.
  3. Basecoat models and bases with flat black spray primer.
  4. Paint smocks and helmets with Tallarn Sand.
  5. Paint pants, soft hats, officer greatcoat and gas mask containers with Skavenlight Dinge.
  6. Paint camouflage on helmets and smocks with alternating Waaagh! Flesh and Dark Brown.
  7. Paint faces and hands with Tallarn Flesh.
  8. Paint packs with Baneblade Brown.
  9. Paint boots and equipment straps Black.
  10. Paint bases, gun stocks, water bottles and helmet straps with Dark Brown.
  11. Apply Agrax Earthshade wash to uniforms, helmet netting, webbing and packs.
  12. Mix 50/50 Baneblade Brown and Off White and lightly dry brush packs, webbing, socks and holsters.
  13. Dry brush pants, soft hats and officer great coat with Light Grey.
  14. Lightly dry brush bases and gun stocks with Baneblade Brown.
  15. Paint metal gun and water bottle parts with black and finish with a light dry brush of Metallic Silver.
  16. Dry brush gasmask containers with metallic Silver.
  17. Paint eyes with small dots of Off White and Dark Brown. Clean up around eyes with Tallarn Flesh.
  18. Mix 50/50 Tallarn Flesh and Off White and brush highlights on cheekbones, chins, forehead, nose and hands.
  19. Cover bases in white glue and cover in 50/50 mix of fine light green and dark green grass flock.
  20. Glue small pieces of clump foliage to base.
  21. Spray coat completed models with matte finish.

So, with some simple steps I’ve got a bit more punch and leadership for my Germans as they hit the table soon.

IMG_0739

IMG_0740

IMG_0737

IMG_0736

IMG_0743

28mm: German Infantry And MG 42 HMG By Artizan Designs

waffen After wrapping up my first 28mm US Airborne troops, I set to work on some Germans. I ordered a bunch of Late War German infantry and command, plus an MG 42 team by Artizan Designs from Brigade Games and received them speedily. The detail in the figures really pops, and the personality and variety in the poses make them really engaging at this scale. I particularly like the stern officer in his greatcoat and the other figures screaming out orders and gesturing on the move. ADlogo Painting WWII Germans for the first time at this scale, I really wanted to go for more detail than I do at 6mm or 15mm. Artizan Designs offers some great painting references on their website, including a general uniform guide and a lot of detail on German camoflage patterns. Using paints I had on hand plus a few more colors I picked up from Citadel’s paint line, I came up with a palette and painting scheme that produced some great results on my first go. paintgermanThe Artizan figures require little flash clean up before being glued to metal washers. The three man machine gun crew went on a 60mm plastic base I picked up from Proxie Models. Here’s the steps in detail for painting my German infantry.

Painting 28mm German Infantry

  1. Clean flash from metal models with a sharp knife and glue to metal washer or plastic bases.
  2. Apply filler putty to bases. When dry, scrape off excess with a sharp knife.
  3. Basecoat models and bases with flat black spray primer.
  4. Paint smocks and helmets with Tallarn Sand.
  5. Paint pants, soft hats, officer greatcoat and gas mask containers with Skavenlight Dinge.
  6. Paint camouflage on helmets and smocks with alternating Waaagh! Flesh and Dark Brown.
  7. Paint faces and hands with Tallarn Flesh.
  8. Paint packs with Baneblade Brown.
  9. Paint boots and equipment straps Black.
  10. Paint bases, gun stocks, water bottles and helmet straps with Dark Brown.
  11. Apply Agrax Earthshade wash to uniforms, helmet netting, webbing and packs.
  12. Mix 50/50 Baneblade Brown and Off White and lightly dry brush packs, webbing, socks and holsters.
  13. Dry brush pants, soft hats and officer great coat with Light Grey.
  14. Lightly dry brush bases and gun stocks with Baneblade Brown.
  15. Paint metal gun and water bottle parts with black and finish with a light dry brush of Metallic Silver.
  16. Dry brush gasmask containers with metallic Silver.
  17. Paint eyes with small dots of Off White and Dark Brown. Clean up around eyes with Tallarn Flesh.
  18. Mix 50/50 Tallarn Flesh and Off White and brush highlights on cheekbones, chins, forehead, nose and hands.
  19. Cover bases in white glue and cover in 50/50 mix of fine light green and dark green grass flock.
  20. Glue small pieces of clump foliage to base.
  21. Spray coat completed models with matte finish.

 IMG_4954 Helmets, smocks and pants base coated on the MG 42 team and infantry models

IMG_4958Infantry and officer uniforms base coated

IMG_4955Flesh base coats and helmet camouflage added to infantry and officer

IMG_4959Camouflage painted on helmets, and gun stocks and water bottles painted brown

IMG_5462

Equipment detail being painted

Here’s a round up of my finished German infantry from Artizan Designs…

IMG_0628

IMG_0630

IMG_0637

IMG_0636

IMG_0634

IMG_0632

IMG_0638

IMG_0639

IMG_0642

IMG_0643

IMG_0641

Now that I’ve got my core German and US forces completed, I’ll be looking to fill out forces on both sides with some additional support weapons and some more infantry from some other manufacturers. In no time at all, my 28mm force continues to grow.

Micro Armour: Fielding the GHQ US Armored Infantry and Sherman Tanks

USArmoredInf

A few months back I jumped into World War II 6mm micro armour with a few initial purchases from GHQ and a general post on getting started with the scale. With some other 15mm Flames of War projects taking precedent, my 6mm project has been sitting on the back burner until this past week.

I started my US forces with models from the US Armored Infantry Command 1944 and Shermans vs. Panzer IVs Battle Box sets from GHQ. The infantry set gives me a bunch of infantry, bazookas, an M20 armored car, three M8 armored cars, eight half tracks, three M10 Wolverines, three 75mm Shermans and three jeeps. From the US/German box I get another ten Sherman tanks. All together, I’ve got a pretty sizable and inexpensive US force typical of the late war in Europe.

This was my first time painting 6mm models, so I worked out a quick technique for painting infantry, transports and armor that gave pretty great results. I picked up a pair of 1.5x strength reading glasses which really helped in bringing the models into focus as I dabbed paint to the models using an ultra fine brush. By gluing the models to metal washers I was able to affix the models to a strip of magnetic basing, allowing me to rotate the models easily to paint from every angle.

IMG_0552

Two completed stands of GHQ US infantry

Painting US Infantry

  1. Glue a small piece of card over the center hole of washers.
  2. Glue models to washer bases.
  3. Basecoat models and bases with white spray primer.
  4. Wash models in a mix of 1 part dark green, 1 part light green and 5 parts water.
  5. Paint jackets tan.
  6. Paint boots, gun stocks and equipment details dark brown,
  7. Paint hands and faces flesh.
  8. Paint gun barrels and equipment details gun-metal silver.
  9. Paint bases dirt brown.
  10. Cover bases in white glue and cover in 50/50 mix of fine light green and dark green grass flock.
  11. Glue small pieces of clump foliage to base.

IMG_0553

GHQ M10 Wolverine and Sherman tank

Painting US Armor and Transports

  1. Glue a small piece of card over the center hole of washers.
  2. Glue models to washer bases.
  3. Basecoat models and bases with white spray primer.
  4. Wash models in a mix of 1 part dark green, 1 part light green and 5 parts water.
  5. Lightly coat models in mud brown wash.
  6. Dry brush light green highlights to models.
  7. Dry brush tracks, machine guns and body details gun-metal silver.
  8. Paint bases dirt brown.
  9. Cover bases in white glue and cover in 50/50 mix of fine light green and dark green grass flock.
  10. Glue small pieces of clump foliage to base.
  11. Paint tire tracks on bases dark brown.

All that’s left now for my US force is to apply some tiny decals on my tanks, armored vehicles and transports. Up next, I’ve got my eye on some additional German armoured infantry to go along with the Panzer IVs I already have on hand. Once I have my Germans on the workbench I’ll get some pics and process notes on painting up my first Axis troops at this scale. Until then, have a look a more photos below of where I am so far on my wargaming project in 6mm.

IMG_0554

GHQ half track and command stand with Jeep and officer

IMG_0559

GHQ M10 Wolverines

IMG_0558

GHQ M8 and M20 armored cars

IMG_0556

Close-ups of my completed GHQ US armored infantry and Sherman tank force

IMG_0557

Another close-up of my completed GHQ US armored infantry and Sherman tank force

IMG_0555

My first completed US micro armor force from GHQ