The Plastic Soldier Company 15mm M5 Halftrack comparison with Battlefront Flames of War 15mm M5 Halftrack

I've now assembled the first of the 5 Plastic Soldier Company M5 Halftracks, so I thought I would post some comparison pictures of it beside my Flames of War Battlefront M5 Halftrack.

The model itself was very easy to put together - I made two mistakes, one I could correct. The first was I didn't pay attention to which way round the track sections should go (I thought they were the same on each end of the track). Fixed this as the tracks wouldn't fit properly on the hull.

The second mistake was the pole that holds up the cupola. The hole on the hull was a little too small, so the pole would not sit properly - and I had already put superglue on it. I fixed this as well, but unfortunately it's a bit of a bodge. Still, shouldn't be noticeable on the table.

So, here are some pics. Edit: The Plastic Soldier Company model is the unpainted one.

The lighting again isn't great, so apologies. The base in the bottom one is just to get the models at roughly the same height.

15mm Thursday

So other than wishing that I could replace my gardens grass with static grass (or get a few tons of gravel) I spent the day getting the gun crews and passengers to pre army painter quickshade standard.

So, first up taking the Jocks that had the basic uniform colour and the Russian Uniform helmets. Then adding German Camouflage Beige (Vallejo 821) on the puttees (the bit between the trousers and the boots). 

I also used this colour to do the belt straps and the webbing (pouches, backpacks, etc) on those models that had them.

Last picture there is a little blurry, but it shows the detail on the back of the officer figures. I don't actually need to paint the two officers, as I only need one. And one radio operator and spare infantryman. But I figured I would just paint the other command team up and base them - I'm sure they will find a use at some point.

After that came the black. This was mainly for the standard Jocks boots (the officers books are brown...). Also the binoculars the various models have.

The next wee bit is the bit I always thing is really odd. You go from the above, that looks like a little brown... thing. To this:

The flesh colour is from Miniature Paints and is Tanned Flesh. I mentioned previously that painting the faces is something I do need to work on (just not this time). Once the flesh has been painted they suddenly go from being little lumps brown to actual people.

Following that comes the metallics (guns and shell casings).

For the shells I went for the nose cone just plain black and the shell is Vallejo Brass (801), Things like the Sten sub machine guns and rifle muzzles get Vallejo Gunmetal Grey (863).

I also used Vallejo Khaki (988) to do the material on the helmets.

One final shot to show the passengers for the Defrocked Priests. These were odd to do as they are all joined together.

So that's it, I'm up to date with all the crew and passengers. Next step is to apply the Dark Tone Army Painter Quickshade. The quickshade covers up a multitude of sins and applies shading - then its just a highlight or two, Matt Varnish and basing....

Wednesday's offerings

Today has been a day of steady progress after what felt yesterday like a day not much was one.

I'm still waiting on my last pack of Defrocked priests, despite an email from the supplier saying it had been shipped second class last week. I decided to just press ahead with the 4 I have and try and get them done this week.

Yesterday I assembled the 17 Pdr's, a task that was at once simple and annoying at the same time. Of the four, two went together with no issues, while the other two  I struggled with for a while. The join where the 'legs' of the gun meet the axle isn't a great one, and the way the model sits makes it even more awkward. Thankfully I managed in the end - although it did remind me I should pick up some of that instant cure superglue spray stuff.

The weight on the back of the legs was needed to to make sure they dried with both of the spades flat.

I also mounted up the gun crews and command squads, and then the passengers from the Defrocked Priests. Before bed I managed to give them all a coat of the black brush on primer paint I have. First time I've used the primer from Miniature Paints and it was a really nice consistency. Didn't need watered down and went on just thicker than a wash. Still preserved the detail, and so far I have had zero issues with it.

The Infantry also got a very quick coat of English Uniform (Vallejo 921 - biting back my comments about Vallejo's choice of paint name).

From experience now I know that this first coat of the uniform colour can be really rough and quick. When I started I was carefully leaving the bits I would be painting a different colour later, but as I progressed I realised that really it's going to get painted over so I'm as well saving time and just getting the paint on.

Today after lunch I started with applying two thin coats of Russian Uniform (Vallejo 924) to the guns and the Defrocked Priests. This again is a technique that I've really only recently started using. I would previously have gone for one thicker coat, but with the new primer and a bit more confidence I decided to take my time. In actuality doing this didn't add that much more time to this stage, as the thinner paint went on a lot quicker anyway.

Regarding the 17 pdrs - I drilled out the barrels, first using a thin drill bit then a thicker one using the first as a guide. It's a really daft thing, but I think it looks really great. You just have to compare it to one that has not been drilled to see the difference. Like the decals, it's one little thing that really helps the model 'pop'. I picked up a hand drill years ago just for helping with pinning larger models, and it does equally well for the barrels.

The other thing about these models was that compared to the versions on the Flames of War website (see here) mines have gone together with a much more angled gun shield, and they look a lot (in my opinion) better for it. More like heavy anti tank guns than the almost howitzer like look their display models have. I'm not sure why this is, as the models fit together based on the grooves and stuff on the axle and gun shield.

While using up the last of the Russian Uniform green, I quickly did the gun crew and passengers helmets as well.

So Wednesday night is my night out (off to play Eclipse Phase at a friends tonight, my regular Wednesday roleplay appointment) but the infantry mini's are ready for webbing, boots, carried equipment then flesh. Vehicles will have the wheels and tracks done (black), any other bits and bobs (stowage, ropes, tools, etc). Then Armypainter (strong tone). Hopefully I can get all that done tomorrow!