Back to the Paras...

It's been a while, but here's another para update... Thanks to the box I got from Laffe and Thomas, and which contained more than a platoon's worth of figures plus some supports, I can now complete a full company, with bataljon and brigade level supports.

So, what have I been doing since the last update:

Company CO, mix of Blitz and SHQ

A bunch of 12 paras from Blitz

Another batch of paras from Blitz (11 of them, 4 NCOs, 2 snipers, an ammo bearer for the PIAT and some riflemen)

A PIAT gunner from the Blitz PIAT pack

The Kubelwagen and the Jeep are from Academy, the crew is all SHQ
(Jeep and its crew were in the box from Laffe and Thomas)

A flamethrower team, all SHQ figures (kindly donated by Laffe and Thomas)

3 JoPs for CoC - all from Blitz's "Para supplies pack"

Another JoP for CoC. The models are TQD (actually Polish paras, but the difference is minimal)

75mm pack howitzer (Airfix) and crew (Blitz)

More paras on the painting table now:

• 4 more jeeps (another Academy one, the Airfix one, with the trailer, and the two from S-models), with around 18 SHQ crew
• Airborne Morris (SHQ) and 17lb AT gun w crew (Blitz)
• 2 more JoPs: 2 paras w trolley and an HQ set (4 officers and a radio operator around a table) (both from SHQ) 

Vadavoom.... (well, sort of...)

Some pictures of jeeps I've been doing for my British Airborn...

Comparison shot of Laffe's jeep and the new Airfix one

The new Airfix "Airborn" jeep - it comes with a trailer and a 75mm pack
howitzer. Plus some stowage. I've added an undocumented option that's on the sprues
Vickers LMG.

The new Airfix "Airborn" jeep package

I've now completed the jeep I got off Thomas, who got it off Laffe. Probably it's the Academy one

I've also almost completed another 24 paras, some quick pictures here, better (hopefully) pictures when they're all done. That's over 100 paras now, plus the jeep, the 6lb and the Vickers.

Blitz minis

Blitz minis

Still more paras

Jepp, you've guessed it... Another batch of a dozen paras completed. More crew for the guns, including some junior leaders. A padre. A 2" mortar team. And finally a Forward Observer team. Mix of AB and SHQ figures.

This gives me a total of 80 paras now, a full platoon, and parts of a second platoon. Plus supports, a.o. a 6lb AT gun and a Vickers MMG. 

Next: even more paras - just over 30 Blitz figures. These are the remainder of my 2nd platoon, some extra supports and some extra crew. And I've primed the jeep that was in the box I got off Thomas and Laffe.

More paras

Still working on my paras, even if I haven't been able to do much lately. At least I've managed to complete my Vickers MMG team and a 6pdr AT gun with crew.

I've got my hands on some Battlefield / Blitz paras to flesh out my 2nd platoon, and they are very nice and well researched figures. Hopefully I'll be able to get some shots of them once I complete my last batch of my original AB/SHQ/TQD lot.

Thomas has kindly donated me a box of AB and SHQ paras that he had lying about (I think he got them off Leif originally), and another jeep, and they will be used to create a 3rd platoon, which will take me to full company strength. The jeep will do nicely to complete a full recce squadron. 

SHQ Airborne 6pdr and mixed crew of SHQ and AB. SHQ Vickers w crew.

The 6 pdr from above. I've added some ammo boxes. I've also embedded a dice frame for the shock dice into the base.

The same from a slightly different angle

Padre in progress. I think this is an SHQ crew member (AT or howitzer), to which I've added a scarf stole with tissue and white glue.

Johnny Frost

Apart from painting my Frostgrave warband, I've also completed some more paras this week: 

SL (double based) for the 2nd platoon, crew for a Vickers MMG and 6lb AT gun. These are a mix of AB, SHQ and TQD

And some more supports in progress (they're actually almost finished, but I haven't made more recent pictures of them):

6lb AT gun with crew in progress (I tend to base some crew with my guns). The gun is SHQ; the crew AB and SHQ

6lb and Vickers in progress. On the base for the Vickers you can see the slots I left for the crew. Both Vickers and 6lb are SHQ

More paras for Arnhem...

Been painting steadily on my paras for Arnhem and Normandy (we are planning to play TFL's Von Luck campaign soon). Finished another section and a sniper, platoon HQ and some supports (flamethrower team, two extra PIAT teams), as well as  some more riflemen.

Figures are a mix of AB, TQD and SHQ,

A rifle section and a sniper

Various supports (flamethrower team, 2 PIAT teams), some extra riflemen and half the SL for the 2nd platoon

Platoon HQ (Lieutenat w radio operator, platoon sergeant, 2" mortar team, PIAT team), and some riflemen

New painting projects

Now that my desert stuff is running towards completion (for now), with only some DAK engineers and loose bits to convert, and some German vehicles to paint (a Pz II, a Pz III and and Sdkfz 222), as well as a Zug of Pz IV to assemble and paint, I'm looking at other stuff again.

One club project is Dux Gondorium, a Middle Earth variant of Dux Brittaniarum. I'm going to assemble some Conquest Norman Knights as Rohirrim cavalry , probably later to be followed by some other suitable Dark Ages infantry (looking at Saxon Miniatures, probably their Arthurians or some Saxons...), and/or some Gripping Beast plastics. I've also recovered some Gripping Beast Dark Age houses and a church that I bought ages ago (probabaly last century...), and that I'll paint as scenery for our project.

I've also a while ago assembled some PSC 20mm Universal Carriers, and years ago an SHQ Stug as well as a Pz III and even 2 Armourfast Stug IIIs. These have now been sprayprimed, together with some 20mm SHQ AT guns, and I plan to start painting these, as well as som PSC Late War British. And a lot of 20mm Late War Germans I have (SHQ, Platoon20, Shellhole scenics). And I'll probably paint some more of those Valiant fallschirmjäger that I started on before Christmas. I've still not decided whether I'm going to use those for 20mm or 25/28mm games. Perhaps both ;-)

Anyway, here's a quick picture of the sprayprimed stuff...

Jump Off Points

Started on some jump off points (JoP) for Chain of Command (CoC) tonight.

From left to right:

1. Generic JoP for 20mm games - these are from Sgts' Mess, targeted as loads for trucks. The ones I get are 4 bases of six milk churns and 3 crates. They will need some work, inspired on the ones that Rich at Toofatlardies had made (see below). I plan to use some rectangular bits of white glue soaked tissue paper to represent tarps or Zeltbahn thrown over the loads, and add some guns and/or other bits of equipment. I was going to do that tonight, but forgot the white glue in the garage. Doh!

2. Toofatlardies specially created CoC 28mm JoPs. These will be used as is, and will be based as desert, for our CoC demo/participation game at GothCon in April.

3. Some Warmodelling (ex-Fantassin) Finnish ski troops, to be used as JoPs (or patrol markers, or both) for our 20mm wintergames. I also plan to use their reindeerdrawn sled as a JoP, but was a base short tonight. It's lying next to the white glue...

Next steps - base the reindeer and the sled, and pimp the bits from Sgts' Mess. Then undercoat all black with thinned Humbrol Matt Black. Then paint and base. Hopefully these should be done (apart from the basing) this weekend. If my wife doesn't send me on an expedition to IKEA again.

Back to painting again!

Jay! Back to painting again.

For Flemcon Thomas and I had to come up with a scenario and game last minute as others had become ill. So I quickly painted some German armour for a France 1940 game.

That kind of kickstarted me, and I've been painting more regularly since, completing some of my Warmodelling winterwar Finnish and some Valiant Fallschirmjäger. They still need basing and varnishing, but that should be done as soon as I have a bit of a batch so I can do them in 1 sitting.

Some pictures underneath (not the best of pictures, the lighting wasn't too good...).

2 PzIII, a PzII, a Pz38(t) and an Sdkfz222. The PzIII are HAT/Armourfast, the rest is SHQ. All 20mm.

Valiant German Paratroopers

This and the picture above are Warmodelling (ex-Fantassing) Winterwar Finnish.

Figure fanatic's giveaway...

One of the guys in our Scandinavian Lardies' wargames group (aka the Penguins) is organising a giveway to celebrate his 200th blogpost...

http://figurfanatikern.blogspot.se/2013/12/200th-post-giveaway.html

Some more 20mm Finns

Tonight I completed a couple of Finns from a batch I started 3 months ago, when I was still spending my weeks in Zurich for work. Finally got some done now... Hopefully I can get some more out this week. They're all Warmodelling (ex-Fantassin).

Current WIP

20mm Winter War Finns (Fantassin / Warmodelling)

Primed Grey (GW primer), then washed black. On hindsight, I should have skipped the black wash at this stage, the grey primer would have been more than sufficient as primer and undercoat for the light grey and white for the uniforms...

  

Some finished items

Some finished items:

6mm Aircraft for North Africa (1 Stuka, 2 Bf109, no idea which manufacturer, bought these off a friend)



20mm Finns for Winter War (Fantassin / Warmodelling)



More 20mm Finns for Winter War (Fantassin / Warmodelling)

Completed T-26

Completed Finnish T26 (20mm) for Winter War. Painted in Finnish colours (SHQ T26E)

Finnish T-26 - WIP

WIP: an SHQ T-26E, as support for my 20mm Fantassin Finns. Primed black, painted olive green and washed black.