I have recently made some progress with my Crusader Armoured Squadron, having completed a Motor platoon and four 37mm Bofors Portee's.
For the first time in a while the weekend didn't have anything social planned, so I made good use of the time by declaring the weekend an official hobby weekend. All I had to do was take my wife out to lunch on Saturday, stare at her all googly eyed, and then take her to our favorite coffee shop, Dripp, and I had just enough frequent flyer miles accrued for a round trip ticket to FOW paradise. I happily cashed in all my points.
I have been especially motivated by a couple of things: first, I'm reading Steven Pressfield's Killing Rommel and I'm thoroughly enjoying it, which is putting me in the desert mood. Second, Ben on one of my favorite blogs, Breakthrough Assault, is posting about EW North Africa and is working on an Operation Crusader Firestorm campaign--very cool. I have to admit, Hellfire and Back! is my favorite FOW book.
Next in the painting queue are 10 Crusaders, two of which are the CS variant for the HQ. They are assembled and ready for primer and are my July project--we'll see.
As an added bonus, I found myself at my FLGS, GMI Games, purchasing the new D-Day books; some hobby weekend icing on the cake.
Motor Platoon:
37mm Bofors Portee:
Looking good! Those portee guns have a lot of character, very nice.
ReplyDeleteGreat work on these desert troops.
ReplyDeleteThey look great!!!
ReplyDeleteGlad you like the blog and are interested in the Firestorm Campaign. And I agree Hellfire and Back is the best book.
How did you paint the tanks? British Motor Infantry is a project I have in mind for next year and I'm looking for ideas.
Ben
Well done! They look great! Almost makes me sorry I bagged my EW Italians in favor of LW Brits.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words. I'm happy with the overall effect but they're a bit rough up close. Plus, I can't take full credit since I have a friend base paint the troops, but the vehicles and crews I did myself as well as the infantry touch up and basing.
ReplyDelete@Ben: I primer the vehicles black and then dry brush with Dark Sand (all paints are Vallejo) to bring out the details. I then block paint with Dark Sand followed by a black pin wash. A dry brush with Pale Sand and then a touch up with Dark Sand to clean up any pin wash or Pale Sand over paint. The seat and window covers are Beige brown and then Brown Sand. The ammo box on top of the Bofors are Beige Brown, a black wash, Desert Yellow dry brush and then a Golden Brown highlight. I'm sure it's not historically accurate but it all seems to blend well to my eye. The truck canvas is Khaki with a very light Dark Sand dry brush.