Ww1 Mk 1 male Tank

 Ww1 Mk 1 male Tank 

Completed this very old Airfix male Mk I kit for a mate, I think I will also base it to really set it up for his display cabinet, I was going to number it but did not have small enough numbers available in my stash. Overall quite happy with the mud effects done with abtielung oils. 

Cheers

Matt

Analogue Painting Challenge 2023 wrap up

 

Analogue Painting Challenge XIII it’s a wrap

A big hearty thank you to Curt, Sarah, the Minions and all of the participants for another great challenge. A wide range of inspiring, superb and cracking paint jobs were entered,  huge terrain projects, and massive miniature armies were built and hopefully lead mountains were diminished. 

I was really happy with my results this year, my first time I surpassed my challenge goal number and  completed the side challenge. I managed too complete every studio so that really boosted my points. My highlights for the studios were building the ww1 aircraft and the female miniatures painted for Lady Sarah’s limousine which turned out a treat, which too my surprise I won a prize for. 

Rabens Ravens

General Varus

The fruit picker 

Chieftain Marobodus

I had a lot of projects I wanted to get started on, my main focus though was my Roman’s and Germanics. Originally I planned only do 120 odd Roman’s but by challenge end it was close to 200 miniatures, and 140 Ancient Germans plus some nice commands. I did fail to complete the ten cohorts planned for my legion, due to a planning fail and the Royal Mail strike which left me short 4 foundry commands and 18 praetorian shields (which could be possibly in storage somewhere) and running low on enthusiasm for Roman’s and Germanics in the last ten days of the challenge. I plan to complete the last 4 units next month or so when I return from holidays in Australia.

Legio VI

Woden the all father

Seubi tribesmen

Looking forward to next years challenge, and plan too build another big army…..not sure what though. See you all next year.  

Cheers

Matt

WW1 artilleryman

 Ww1 Artilleryman 

A bit of a change this week, a large scale figure to add to the display cabinet. Not sure of the maker, but a nicely proportioned miniature. 

Cheers

Matt

Sopwith Triplane

 Sopwith Triplane 

An addition to my Canvas eagles collection, a Revell 1/72 scale miniature. A reasonably simple build out of the box. Airbrushed first then a wash, followed by a brush highlight to achieve the painted canvas dragged painted, decals were a little old, and were a little difficult with the red circle being separate.  

Cheers

Matt

Jasta 18 Raben Ravens

 Jasta 18 Rabens Ravens 

A project that has the aircraft built in some cases for 7 years or more, I finally decided to get this unit done in a mad rush of three days for the analogue painting challenge. Apart for airbrush undercoat white, all hand painted, the transfers are from Pheon Models range. the aircraft are 1/72 a mix of Airfix, Roden and Italeri I think......the pilots are a mix of Airfix and Wartime Miniatures ww1 pilots all ready for a Canvas Eagles or WOW clash!

Ltn August Raben, Montingen October 1915, Fokker drI

Ltn Hans Schultz, Lomme June 1918

Ltn Heinz Kuttner, Montingen 1918

Ltn Fredrich Hess Montingen August 1918

Hanover CII

cheers

Matt

Luftstreitkräfte Albatross W4

 Luftstreitkräfte Albatross W4

One of my last builds for 2021 was a 1/72 Roden Albatross W4, not a bad build but like most Roden kits I pinned the wings and made new struts to make it better for wargame handling! I opted for the simple brown natural and unpainted canvas wings, the transfers were again a problem being oversized for the kit. I painted them with varnish then cut to size. 

Albatross W4

cheers

Matt

Junkers D1 Luftstreitkräfte

 Junkers D1 (the furniture van)

Next build for canvas eagles collection is a Roden Junkers D1 and was a great build very simple and easy in comparison too its twin winged friends. I painted totally in purple and green, copying a similar build using the fabulous 1/32nd Wingnut models. The Roden 1/72 decals were delicate, so I switched to Pheon models decals to save the day, the pilot is a ww1 20mm Wartime Miniatures pilot. As it is a Canvas eagles model no wires were added. Really happy with my results

 

Junkers D1 1/72 Roden kit

One of the groundbreaking aircraft of WW1, the all metal monoplane with a thick cantilevered wing design creating extra lift and using duralumin pipes with aluminium riveted corrugated duralumin (alloy), it first seen frontline use in september 1917. I knew I had to build one when I seen the kit on a shelf at the local model shop.

The Junk D1 was nicknamed the furniture Van and only flew with the Luftstreitkräfte. The colour schemes are contentious, The Air Ministry report on Junkers D.1 5183/18 found abandoned at Evere, Belgium in January 1919 notes that “The wings are painted a pale green, with irregular patches of light mauve on top, and white underneath”. Close examination of photographic evidence shows that the “light mauve” and “white” were not sprayed on but applied with a brush or perhaps by sponge etc. The fuselage of 5183/18 had been overpainted ...“a chocolate-brown colour, except underneath, where a white pigment has been applied”. It also noted that “pale green” could be seen where the brown paint had come off. Interior duralumin surfaces and frames were left unpainted on the prototype J 7 and may have remained unpainted on the first few aircraft but a photo on page 12 of Datafile 33 shows the interior painted in a reasonably dark colour that was probably grey-green. Interior steel brackets and collars riveted with iron rivets appear to have been painted black or possibly with red-brown primer unless overpainted with grey-green.




cheers
Matt

Jasta 10 part two lt Hans Klein

Jasta 10 part 2

Completed my first aircraft for the three aircraft I am building for Jasta 10. The Roden kit was very tricky build with a lot of parts being replaced otherwise it would not handle normal wargame handling for Canvas eagles. The transfers again were appalling so I used Pheon transfers.  

I am sort of happy, not really 100% with the build. I hand painted the yellow and I had it little too thick but I did achieve the stripey look of hand painted canvas with the white. I nevertheless it will take to the skies and very soon be on the table using canvas eagles rules. The pilot is from Wartime Miniatures ww1 pilot range I commissioned a number of years ago.

The aircraft is Lt Hans Klein, he lead Jasta 10 from the 17th September 1917 until he was wounded in February 1918 flying a Pfalz dxiii. a record of 22 victories, 1 unconfirmed. 

Lt Hans Klein Jasta 10

Lt Hans Klein Jasta 10

cheers

Matt

Jasta 10 ww1 WIP 1

Jasta 10 1916-18 Part one

It has been a while since I have built any ww1 aircraft for my Flying Circus but during my three week painters block I watched two ww1 films and put together four kits. Two of these will join Jasta 10, the others are for another Luftstreitkräfte posts. 

In June 1917 Jasta 10 joined the flying circus along and was credited with 118 enemy planes and 33 enemy observation balloons destroyed. In turn, it would lose twenty killed in action, another killed in a flying accident, ten wounded in action, and four held as prisoners of war


First plane off the block is the most famous Pilot of the Jasta, Werner Voss credited with 48 kills, 14 with Jasta 10. I will paint his triplane in the familiar colours of Jasta 10, a yellow nose and tail (as per recorded his shot down aircraft), not sure if I will add the large white field to the cross pattée and yellow tail plane tops (not recorded for Voss)

"Capt. J. McCudden, No. 56 Squadron ... saw a S.E.5a fighting a triplane, so with others dived at it, and for the next ten minutes the enemy triplane fought the five S.E.5s with great skill and determination. Eventually, however, it was destroyed by 2nd-Lieut. Rhys Davids of the same squadron, who had previously driven down a two-seater. . .The triplane was seen to crash in our lines by other pilots and the other occupant proved to be Lieut. Werner Voss, who was killed." Royal Flying Corps Communique

The second aircraft is Lt Hans Klein, he lead the Hasta from the 17th September 1917 until he was wounded in February 1918 flying a Pfalz dxiii. a record of 22 victories, 1 unconfirmed. I have built the Roden kit for this, a lot of work......

lt Hans Klein Jasta 10

The third will be Adam Barth, one confirmed before he was shot down. 

Vizefeldwebel Adam Barth

And another ace Obt Erich Löwenhardt, flying a Fokker Dvii. The son of a doctor, Löwenhardt served with an infantry regiment before he volunteered for the German Air Force. He was wounded in action over Roulers on 20 September 1917. After scoring his 54th victory, he collided with Lieutenant Alfred Wenz of Jasta 11, on the 10th August. Both men jumped from their planes but Löwenhardt was killed when his parachute failed to open. Löwenhardt had 54 victories at the time of his death.

Cheers

Matt 

Australian light horse

 Australian Light Horse

Not a lot of time for painting this week as I have been renovating another bedroom. Did manage to get some time in the bench to knock out some 28mm Australian Light Horsemen, limited edition made by Eureka for the Cancon entry fee a number of years ago. They will both go in the cabinet for now but may end up in the shop for sale I think as my light horse collection is now in 1/72-20mm scale. 

I have painted one each for the two regiments that recruited in the New England Ranges (where I was raised as a boy) during WW1. I had great grand uncles who served in the Middle East, Gallipoli and France for the 1st Australian Imperial Force.

Australian Light Horse WW1

cheers

Matt

#30DaykitChallenge - My Pledge

 30 day kit build challenge 

The idea of the build is to finish unbuilt kits and new kits in the next thirty days. As suspected France goes back into lockdown again on Easter Sunday for 4 weeks, so a timely challenge. 

So I have put together the pile of unbuilt and unfinished shame and new kits I intend to build this month. 51 kits in total my plan is to complete 30 kits at least, a mix of resin-metal kits and plastic kits. I will also add some details to a few, tow hooks, aerials, crew and stowage.

I do need to paint the interiors of a few aircraft, plus the pilots to have the aircraft ready for paint. 

My Pledge

20mm ww2  kits

ww2 Resin, metal and plastic kits total 39 kits

 

started 1/72 aircraft kits x 4 I want to complete these the most

dassault Mirage 2000N

Buccaneer s2b

Skyhawk A4

Gotha 242 ww2 glider

Resin Britannia T55 and a OT-62 resin kit from Armo for my Egyptians

ww2 Radar 3d print, needs a alcohol bath and clean up, plus assembly

Wish me luck, I wish to complete as much as possible during our lockdown to undercoat stage at least. The goal is Thirty kits, ready for undercoat, I think If I work hard I may complete the lot. 

Cheers

Matt

#30daykitchallenge

 

April 30 day Kit build challenge!

So what is the 30 day kit challenge? Well, something I shamelessly copied from Gunbird and his blog "20mm and then some" back in 2017 when we chatted about doing something about our piles of shame.

When I moved to France I found I had a lot of unbuilt kits, particularly modern and ww2, plus some ww1 aircraft make up the majority plus all of the Perry and Warlord figures. I also suffer from half built kit syndrome, as I like to paint the interiors, the pilot then assemble the kit. So during the current lockdown looming in April in France due to rising cases of Covid in our region I have decided to have a kit build challenge to fix my problem in some way.  So with that in mind I'm starting the 30 day kit build, if you like join me and blog about it, steal the picture below if you like...........I have started the Prep sorting the kits that need finishing and then some new builds, building kits trying to stay within current build restrictions for my yearly goals but wherever the wind may blow of course!

Join me if you wish

Facebook, Blog and Instagram using the tag 

#30daykitchallenge 

RULES

Goals are simple, you will build your part built and new kits during the 30 day challenge:

• Any material (plastic, resin, metal, wood).
• New in the box or partially built, it matters not.
• Gun, tank, truck, aircraft, ship, figure animal? Your call.
• Kit must be basically finished, based if you prefer that, to qualify as a build.
• The completed kit must be ready for primer.
• Resin and metal upgradesets can be applied after the build.....the goal is to get kits built and ready for primer, not to finish them with paint and varnish etc.
• You decide how many kits/models you want to build in the 30 day period.
• You set the penalty for not meeting your goal (and after that it is the honor system)

Anything beyond that is up to you

My goal is the period from 1/4/2021 up to 30/4/21, each day I plan to work on a kit until I have completed my goal.  My goal is grand total of 30 kits, If I can build more kits n the month, then bonus.

My penalty is that if I don't make my target, is not to buy another kit for the rest of the year :(.

So, starting with Day #1 (1st April 2021), I'm starting with some 1/72 armourfast kits to kit off then onto some more tanks and aircraft.

Cheers
Matt

WW1 20mm/172 Jasta Pilots

 WW1 1/72-20mm pilots

A few little pieces off the table in between jobs, some metal Wartime Miniatures 1/72-20mm ww1 pilots. I commissioned these figures a number of years ago so I could fill my WW1 aircraft both Allied squadrons and German Jastas and my  Spanish Civil war, and early war german aircraft. I have three Fokker DR1 aircraft to finish off from Jasta 11 in my project draw, I hope to build them over the christmas break

cheers

matt

Coloured WW2 and Modern smoke markers tutorial

 

 Making WW2 Smoke markers

Terrain Tuesday

Since lock down began here in France I have been concentrating predominantly on my medieval and ancients collection painting over 600 28mm miniatures. This coming week I am shifting my focus back to ww2.

I was recently on John Bonds blog looking at his lovely ww2 terrain. So I have also decided to make from now on "Tuesdays Terrain day", making terrain or tabletop scatter a priority each week to get through the tonnes of small projects I have in my head for ww2 and modern bits, predominantly though for ww2. Most of these pieces will take several days and possibly weeks, but spending a dedicated day on them will help me get through the list.  

For year and years of ww2 and modern gaming I have just used cotton wool or lounge stuffing that is white for smoke markers, and while watching Band of Brothers...again, I watched the scene at the ferry crossing and thought....I do not use coloured smoke in my games...I have just used white smoke markers, but as we know they were mostly coloured for  ww2 and moderns warfare.

Anyone who served in the military will know they are not particularly good for your health, but neither is getting shot!  The smoke delivery could be via a grenade, mortar or artillery round, or a smoke generator either vehicle or a pump (normally white/grey though) the main colours available were, Red, Blue, Green, Purple, yellow, white, plus pink and  Orange (both post ww2)

So I have put together a simple tutorial.

Step 1 :Lounge stuffing is my choice of product, easy to find and cheap.

Step 2: I selected my colours and made up a wash, with a drop of detergent to break the surface tension of the stuffing and allow colour to penetrate. A few drops of paint 10% to 90% water. Dropped in the pieces that were teased out to shape. 

Step three. Rinse with water, to get rid of any settled pigment otherwise they will shed bits. allow to dry. 

Step 4. I based mine on clear plastic with a hot glue gun. 

Step 5. Put them on the table ! 

Lessons.

Quite happy with the result, but  I think it would be faster to use a spray paint tin in the desired colour or a airbrush, plus the colour will be more vibrant,  I will try again soon on another Tuesday! 

Cheers

Matt

Prinz Friedrich-Karl von Preussen WW1

Roden recently released a 1/72 model of the Albatross D1 flown by Prinz Friedrich-Karl von Preussen. A really nice and easy kit, yet to add a pilot to this one also, I also need to add a cross to the tail plane, stuff up the decals for this, I may just paint a white box and add the cross later.

The prinz actually commanded a artillery battery but flew this kite for observation, for Flieger-abteilung A 258. He was shot down and taken prisoner on the 21st March 1917, by lt Pickthorne from the 32nd sqn RFC, the prinz later died from his head wounds he revived in the crash.

Albatross D1 flown by Prinz Friedrich-Karl von Preussen

Cheers

Matt

Jasta 2 Lt D R Wilhelm Prien 1917

first German aircraft off the table for some time, this is the partner to the SE5a I built in the twin pack from italeri, a easy build, I chose to do lt DR Wilhelm Prien aircraft for Jasta 2 in June 1917. Prien
also flew with Jasta 10.

Se 5a 25th Areo Sqaudron 1918

Italeri have released a range of 1/72nd models in twin packs, great value for money, I selected to do the Se 5a of Lt Joseph E Boudain whilst flying for the 25th areo sqn, the first plane for my Americans, the sqn did not see a lot of action as its Se5a 'S were retrofitted with different motors that proved problematic. The unit saw action only twice before the armistice.

Bertholds Jagdstaffel 18

First miniatures off the desk this year are these three completed 1/72nd aircraft, most were base coated but not completed. They consist of two Roden Pfalz DIIIa and a Revell albatross DIII all with wartime miniatures pilots. Theses aircraft represent the Jagdstaffel under the command of Rudolf Berthold who commanded from August to October 1917. There are two more aircraft to be completed before I move onto Rabens Ravens.

Cheers
Matt