6MMRPC: Progress

Hi Folks,

My last full day in Scotland and all modelling supplies are now packed and my desk cleared for the first time since it was assembled.

Obviously this week has been pretty busy with household preparations and cleaning. I managed to get a lot done yesterday so took some time out to get the last few weeks models varnished with my usual Army Painter Dark Tone Quickshade varnish. I may need a new tin of this, as again it seems not to have been sealed properly after the last time I used it, resulting in a thick skin having formed. I added some large ball bearings I had found (a tip care of Paul Alba) and some turps, sealed the tin up and shook it hard for a while. I then opened it and fished out all the large bits that I could. I'll stick with it as long as I can, but I suspect I may have to replace the tin soon.

I found that having based the vehicles first made a huge difference to the amount of mess and my handling of the mini's while they were being varnishes. I managed to get everything done in less than an hour, which I was impressed at as there seemed to be a lot.

So, onwards and upwards! Hopefully it won't take me long to get set up and back into my painting on the other end. Thanks to everyone for their comments wishing us well on the move. Just to add to the busyness that I seem to have every October, yesterday it was exactly 1 year until our wedding day!!!

Paint Table Saturday - three days late...

Slightly late with this week's attempt at a Paint Table Saturday post! Mainly due to the fact that on Saturday I only had Army Painter (Strong Tone) varnished vehicles staring back at me. No Salute for me, I'm afraid. One day... Trying to convince the better half that there might be a show on in London that weekend...

I managed this evening to get a dry brush with the base Russian Uniform Green (Vallejo Model Colour 70924) over them. I had tried a new type of highlighting (for me) on my Sherman Hybrids and I intend to replicate that on these models. I'll also do a lighter shade of the Russian Uniform as a quick dry brush later as well.

Since I had some Russian Uniform Green left (I seem to be really bad and putting too much paint on my palette) I also gave the Sherman mk.1 ARV a rough base coat.

This is also my 101st post - please check out my Competition in post #100!

PSC M5 Half Tracks

Loyd Carriers and 6 pdr A/T guns

De-frocked Priests and M5 Ambulance on the left

Side view of M5 Ambulance conversion and De-frocked Priest

Side view of Sherman ARV mk.1 and another shot of the A/T guns

Closeup of Sherman ARV mk.1

Just a quick comment on the Sherman Armoured Recovery Vehicle and why I wanted to convert one. The ARV's are not too much use in Flames of War. However, in Battlegroup Overlord, they have a much wider range of abilities. Some examples: They can attempt to repair destroyed vehicles (6 on a D6, max of 2 attempts) or repair immobilised vehicles (4+ on D6). Recovery vehicles can also tow destroyed vehicles from the table, allowing you to recover some of your lost morale points.

The reason I wanted to convert a mk.1 is that the model Battlefront do for FoW is just plain wrong! I understand it's not as interesting a model as the mk.2, but I think it deserves the attention!

Paint Table Saturday

A week or two ago I had seen Sofies Paint Blog and her Saturday Paint Table idea through TamsinP's Wargaming Girl blog. Since I've been working on my models this week, I decided to take part and put up what I've got on my painting desk this week.

So without further ado, my 4 x 15mm Plastic Soldier Company M5 Halftracks - for my Flames of War Highlander army. Alongside two painting/converting in progress jobs, a Plastic Soldier Company M5 Halftrack in the process of becoming an ambulance halftrack (for use in Battlegroup Overlord games), complete with tarp covered top. And a Battlefront plastic M4A4 (Sherman V) in the process of being converted into a Sherman ARV mk.1

The 4 halftracks are almost at the point of getting their coat of Armypainter Dark Tone Quickshade. 

Army Painter Quickshade on British 15mm models

Unusually for me this weekend I had my son on the Friday night, meaning tonight I found myself at a bit of a loose end. Yesterday I managed to get all my currently painted model to a point I was happy to move on to applying the Quickshade, so I bit the bullet with the weather being nice today and cracked on with that.

So here's my little tray, ready to go!

Quickshade (after initially using the Mid tone on my models, I was convinced to try the Dark tone) and stirring stick. Turps and a jar for pouring the turps into. Also included (but not in the photo) is my Quickshade brush, which is a beefy .25 inch. I use this for both applying and removing the Quickshade. And also my trusty rag, which I use for cleaning my brush and hands. In the event of a match ever landing near the rag, I may be in trouble.

So, some before shots.

As you can see, I've used this tray before! Also of note at this stage is I'm still working from the lollypop sticks for my infantry and I've not done anything with the bases on the Defrocked Priests.

Incidentally the pack of Defrocked Priests from Waugh Games has never turned up. The company have been very good via email, and it does seem to have just vanished into the postal system. I was down in Middlesborough at the start of the week and they were happy for me to drop in, however did not have the model in stock (the reason they knew it was posted was it had been the last one and needed re-ordered). So far they have been very friendly and helpful and are happy to send me a replacement when the item is back in stock. I'll give them another week or two before asking for a refund.

So, steps for using Quickshade. First of all, make sure it is shaken very well. Then shake it some more. Then open it and stir it thoroughly. For those interested, it looks like this...

So far I've painted a whole Infantry company, about 40 vehicles and 10 or so guns - and I've hardly made a dent, so well worth the money.

I've heard of a few people having issues with this stuff, but most of the time it seems to be that it's not mixed properly. The pigment and the varnish can separate when it's been sitting for a while, so mixing well is critical.

I use the brush on method rather than the 'dip' method, so I load up the brush and really lather it on.

Making sure the model gets a good coverage of the stuff. It's messy and your going to get sticky fingers. This is where you find out if the models put together stoutly. In this process I had one gun lose a trail leg, and one Defrocked Priest lose a .50 machine gun. These will be glued back on later.

The instructions are that you should leave the model well lathered for about a minute or so, then remove the excess. What i didn't do this time round was take into account the fact I was doing this outside in strong (for Scotland) sunshine and with photo's along the way. This meant I may have left the Quickshade on the vehicles and guns for a little longer than I should have - but this will be fixed with drybrushing later.I should really have been ready to take the excess of the 1st gun after i had finished the 4th, and same with the tanks.

Not perfect this time round, but every day's a school day!

Next up the infantry. Same idea, really give the Quickshade a stir, then lather it on to really coat the whole model. Don't be shy!

Then after leaving it about a minute (with the infantry the time it took to do all the sticks was perfect timing to take the excess off) just clean the brush, rub it on the rag then use it to dab off the excess, cleaning on the rag as you go.

Before...

After

 
Next up for these models will be highlights (and drybrushing for the vehicles). Then a couple of coats of matt varnish to take the shine off.

Addendum: Using the Army Painter Quickshade and the lollypop sticks (as well as models with cast on bases) can see the models being stuck to the tray when the Quickshade dries. It's important that you keep the models apart, so as not to weld them together with the varnish. When it comes to taking the models from the tray, I use a fork to just gently pry the models from the tray. I'm sure modelling knives and the likes would work as well.