Sunday, December 18, 2016

Late War 28mm British WWII Vehicles

I've been painting a bunch of 28mm late-war British infantry recently, and I thought it was time to get some vehicles painted up for them so I could possibly try the British out in Bolt Action, possibly at the local store's Thursday night games. These are all Warlord miniatures. I'm slightly disappointed in the final finish. I had covered them all in dust pigment, but when I put the final flat coat on them the carrier of the dull lacquer dissolved the dust pigment and made it look like a thin layer of 'muck' instead of dust. I was trying for a muddy look on the treads, but not on the hulls. I think I still have more to learn about weathering armor models. Either way, these are 'good enough' for the tabletop.

I'm mostly trying for lighter armor since Bolt Action is primarily an infantry-based skirmish game. That said, I'll need at least one medium or heavy tank for larger games. For the British, the Cromwell seems like the perfect choice. It's a good all-around tank and classically British. I couldn't resist putting the commander in a red Beret. I'm not sure it's 100% accurate, but he sure looks British in it!








A 'Honey' Stuart, as the British would call it. Or for us Americans, a lend-lease M5. I've topped it with the optional 50-cal AA gun on the turret. I'm a sucker for the Ma Deuce.









For reconnaissance, another lend-lease vehicle, an M8 Greyhound scout car. I've kept the British markings to a minimum on this one with the hopes that it can serve dual purpose in the hands of any Americans I choose to paint up in the future. The same goes for a pair of M4 Shermans that I've picked up off of Ebay in the past.








For transportation of the British infantry, and possible armed MG support, I wanted some Bren carriers. These are the early Warlord offering in resin. I'm hoping to find another pack of un-painted old stock of these, as the new plastic ones don't match up well to these in size.









These were an impulse buy. They're the Warlord 'red devils' jeeps. I've chosen head swaps that will allow them to be used with regular British infantry as well. A light recon choice, or transportation for officers and smaller teams. I picked them up because who can resist Jeeps, particularly with such great stowage included. Strangely they seem to be armed with WWI Lewis guns. The venerable Lewis gun was used heavily in the desert and during the early years of the war. It seems a bit out of place on lend-lease American Jeeps that could have easily been provided with US .30 cal air-cooled LMGs. Still, they look very British, so I used them instead of swapping them out for .30 cals.










Total figure count, 5 figures and 7 vehicles. Yes, I'm counting the drivers of the Bren carriers. Those guys are a huge pain to paint in there! Still on the painting table are a battery of French Napoleonic field guns, and while I have the WWII bug, some German armor.

3 comments:

The Kiwi said...

Great looking armour and transports. Very nice painting. cheers

Phil said...

Impressive job on these beautiful vehices!

Dr Beard said...

Nice work. I'm an old school 1/76th gamer for this period but appreciate all scales.

You mention you're not happy with the weathering. I paint tracks in a suitable muddy shade of brown, drybrush metallic over the top then wash the lot with a brown or dark wash. For weathering the hulls a subtle drybrush of muddy brown (like Vallejo Earth) and then lighter drybrush for the very edges of Vallejo Iraqui Sand also looks good. You can also paint streaks of a watered down Earth along the hull sides.

If you like have a look at my blog where I talk about doing British Armour

http://stugsandstuff.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/176th-late-ww2-british-armour.html