Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Army Men Project (continuing)

In recent days, I have made some strides towards getting armies into being in my Army Men (a.k.a. Jono's World) project.
 You will recall - if you have read this blog spot before - my piece on the 'Good Ol' USA' vs 'Red Commies' a couple of weeks back.  In view of present unfortunate and unhappy events unfolding in the Ukraine and environs, that might not have been in the best of taste, as it transpires.  But here you see their fate; amalgamated, together with some WW2 Japanese figures, into a company of Omez Auxiliaries in the service of the Raesharn Empire.  A couple of unpainted or semi-painted figures you might see have slipped through the cracks.  Once they are absorbed, the unit will comprise 3 rifle Squads plus HQ Squad - a total of 43 figures.  
 Below are several tanks, vehicles and guns sporting the new Raesharn camouflage livery.
 The effect is startling to say the least, but fairly attractive, I find. Leading is a Type 48 Heavy Tank (Patton) together with a pair of Type 41M Medium Tanks (The bigger Centurions).  The second row comprises a pair of field guns, a jeep, a heavy gun/howitzer, and a super-sized jeep that, with the addition of a tilt, will become an artillery tractor.
 The rear row is made up of 3 troop transport vehicles, an HQ Comms vehicle, and a tanker (logistic support).

The Comms vehicle is missing not only a rear wheel (hence it is leaning against the truck beside it), but also an axle or lug for it to hang on.  Some tall modification will be required.  Brian gave me a link to some ideas in that direction (thanks, Brian). 
 The camo on the tanker could stand some touching up, but the slightly worn look doesn't look out of place...
 When I received a parcel from Paul Foster, I was very pleased to see what I took to be additions to my field artillery park.  But I took on board several suggestions that with the addition of a gun shield, they would make fine Anti-tank guns.
 I'm inclined to agree!  The left hand pair (as you see them) for a battery in Kiivar service, as shown by Kiivar's characteristic style of camouflage. The farther Kiivar gun has just the one wheel - the other is still forming the filter of the nozzle fitting of a balsamic vinegar bottle. 
 The right hand (unpainted) pair will enter Raesharn service.  They haven't yet been properly assembled.   The wheels on one of the is from the circular centre of a sprue for War of the Spanish Succession plastic soldiers (Wargames Factory).  As this is a fairly prolific source of such wheels, they could just about supply all these guns.
 As it happened, only one of the 6 guns had wheels, but two were also missing the part of the right hand end of the axle where a wheel would have fitted.  As a pair of trucks was also lacking tilts, it wasn't to much of a leap of the imagination to check out these pairings: a couple of portee-mount anti-tank guns.  Sucyh a marriage will save a fair bit of time and effort supplying the wheel deficiencies...
 They can be mounted firing over the cab, but I prefer the rear-ward mounting.  Quite a dramatic looking piece of mobile ordnance.





 They probably won't be glued on, leaving the options open for unloading for dismounted action.
This may not be a permanent arrangement, but can be an acceptable  interim measure whilst I complete more urgent tasks...

5 comments:

  1. I love the vehicle camo but I'm much too lazy to attempt such paintwork. As it happens, I and painting my not dissimilar but even nastier army men at the moment....

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  2. As it happens, on these vehicles, the painting goes surprisingly quickly. I'm sure it would take a whole deal longer on 1:76 scale chaps. I admit the paint jobs are a bit rough at that, but I'm not overworrying about the niceties. With one fairly bung eye, 3D vision is a bit problematic, and you rather need it for this kind of job.

    I do give them a once over with an ink wash, though. At that, I am thinking of outlining details more definitely - a longer task, but the effect can look very fine in smaller scales, so why not this? I won't trouble with weathering, though. These are emphatically Army Men - not model soldiers, nor yet 'toy' soldiers. I reckon they require a style of their own...

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  3. Perhaps I should mention my method, here. I just daub on one colour (yellow, as a rule), then the brown, and fill in the gaps with green. Allowing this to dry for a bit, I then outline the colours with a felt-tip pen. Finished!

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  4. That's amazing Ion. Even such simple 'toys' look good when painted!
    James

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    1. Thanks, James, but you should see what 'Corporal Trim' does with his!
      http://castlesoftin.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/green-vs-tan-send-in-clones.html
      More of a collector than a war gamer, his whole 'Castles of Tin' blog is a fascinating place to wander around.

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