Kangaroo Tank WIP 2

WIP pics from the Kangaroo Tank project.  The hull and tracks are finished.  I chose a Commonwealth Armored Car crew for the diorama to represent the use of these tanks as reconnaissance vehicles.  I think is the best possible arrangement:  

I was able to recover from the two-tone paint job on display in those first two photos (Pro Tip: don't wait too long between painting sessions if you are painting the upper and lower hulls separately--even if you take good notes).  A coating of dry pigment fixed with a straight alcohol wash on the front slope and underside of the tank brought the two colors together without having to repaint the whole hull.

I'm pretty pleased with the dust effects on the roadwheels--concentrated near the rear of the track where the most dirt gets kicked up into the suspension and churned around.  The rear roadwheels and the idler wheels are normally where most of the dirt ends up, especially in dry, dusty conditions.  The downside is all the careful work I did to make the track tension adjuster on the idler wheel look like a track tension adjuster (I even made greasy streaks) is completely obliterated by dirt.  Oh well.  I'll have to show off that detail in a motor pool or maintenance diorama.

Next up: The crew.  Very daunting prospect as I have not painted 35mm figures since the 4th grade.  For those of you who don't know me, that was more than a long while ago.

Kangaroo Tank WIP

Been out of the net for a while.  Busy moving to a new house.  Here's a picture of Tiki Bob and a refreshing drink overlooking the woods behind my new house.

About two years ago, John challenged me to do a high-quality version of the Kangaroo Tanks (captured Italian M13/40) I made for our Tobruk Wargame.  I'm finally getting around to the project.  I selected the Tamiya 1/35 scale kit for no other reason than it was the one I could find.  It comes with kangaroo decals, but I have not yet decided whether I will use the decals or freehand the markings.

For starters, I have never made a 1/35 scale tank, and I did not know what to think about such a big model.  Having completed the first part of the project, I can say that I really like working in the large scale as it give me the ability to work in a lot of nuanced detail without overwhelming the model.

After the initial basecoats and some wash, I used a straightedge to replicate the scoring that you get on the sides of the hull from the treads.  I wanted to try also to replicate the wear you get from the track bouncing up and down as well, but could not make it work with the lateral scoring, so I just shaded the hull between the return rollers with a darker paint to suggest wear.

I love dioramas and terrain, so I bought some British armored vehicle crew models and am trying to think of a good vignette.  I originally wanted to have one of the crewmen painting a kangaroo on the side of the turret, but I'm afraid that exceeds my modeling expertise.

 

 

With 1/35 I get to make oil stains that don't look like a superfund site.  The wear and tear is so much more fun to do at this scale and looks so much better than paint chipping on smaller models.  Really enjoying this project so far.

Cold Wars Bolt Action Tournament: BEST ARMY!

So this is really late, but here are some pics of the Australian 24th Infantry that I took to Cold Wars last month.  I don't normally play in tournaments at gaming events because, well, I really (really) hate the kind of games you see in tournaments, but I did it anyway because it was a great group of guys and Bolt Action is fun, even when you are playing a fakey tournament game.

The tournament delivered as advertised.  I did not enjoy the ways that my games played, but I did enjoy the chance to meet some cool gamers and have a good time playing on some excellent terrain.  Lots of really beautiful armies and the tournament organizers did a great job with the terrain and the format.  Still, the event confirmed my opinion of tournament gaming.

I played terribly, because, well, tournament, and escaped with a 1-2 win/loss ratio.  The only reason I won the last game was because I pulled a totally douchy non-tactical ploy with a recce vehicle on the last activation of the game and snatched the win from Paul, who had pretty much dominated me the entire game.  Neither of us enjoyed that.  I should have stuck to actual tactics and taken the draw/loss.

But THEN prize time came and I won Best Army!  How about that?  NWS Online provided some sweet prize support and I walked away with a brand new British Army Box!  How cool is that?  Thanks to everyone who voted for me and BIG thanks to Christopher at NWS Online!  You Rock!

Here's the Army that won.  It was totally the kangaroos on the captured vehicles that pulled out the win for me.  Everyone loves kangaroos.

Winner, Winner, Bully Beef Dinner!

WIP Update: Aussie 24th Infantry

So I originally labeled these guys as the 28th Australia Infantry, when, in fact, they represent the 24th Australian Infantry.  My bad.  But that's the cool thing about developing historical game scenarios-you get to dive in depth into some of the most amazing tales of human conflict and learn how battles flowed at the tactical level.  I'm having a blast.

So these guys turned out really well and clocked-in at about 30 minutes per model from sprue to final touches on the bases.  Much credit to the fantastic Perry miniatures.  I'm pleased with the results and cannot wait to see them in action against John's most excellent Afrika Korps forces in two weeks.  

Now I need to put together some captured Italian anti-tank guns with Australian crews...