Panzer III's Vorwarts!

When I first saw the Plastic Soldier Company 1/72 Panzer III kits announced I was pretty excited because I loved the other German armor they'd already put out in the scale.  This relatively new box set comes with three Panzer IIIG or H model tanks(I modeled the H).

The kit was very easy to assemble and each complete tank used parts from a single sprue...everything fit together well.  The only hiccup was a slight molding error(a small pinhole on the top of the gun assembly) that I filled with some green stuff. 

I've been playing around with washes lately and I am very happy to say that I finally have a method that I am happy with.  After basecoating the model with Vallejo Model Air colors, I sealed each tank with a straight out of the bottle airbrushed coat of Pledge Floor Care Multi-Surface Finish.  This is the same product known as "Future" except they have dropped the future logo altogether(I called the manufacturer to confirm it is the same thing).  I used this as a perfect gloss sealer of the painting before going on to washes.
Speaking of my wash...
I used a "Magic Wash" homebrewed Dark Umber wash using the following:
-4 parts water
-1 part Pledge Finish(see above)
-1 dropper of Liquitex Umber Ink
-1 dropper of Liquitex Black Ink

This wash perfectly found it's way into the panel and hatch lines around the model while having almost no effect on  the overall hue of the model.  Below you can see one  of my Panzer IVH's from PSC next to the Panzer III.  For the Panzer IV I used Vallejo Umber Wash and it really shaded the model and took down the colors. Additionally, I had to go in and do a pin wash of black wash on the panel lines of the Panzer IV manually.  Note that on the Panzer III, using the method described above, I just did a straight out overall wash of the Pledge/Ink magic wash and the details are even crisper that with the previous pinwashing on the Mark IV(note: for the two tanks below I used identical basecoating/highlighting methods...but note how much more effective the wash was on the Panzer III(bottom)). 

I finished up the model with a blast of Testor's Dullcoat to knock out the shine and mud pigments from Vallejo.  I love these little "Panzer Dreis" and they will make a nice addition to my German army. 

Thanks for viewing/reading...happy wargaming everybody.
~Gareson

P.S. More bad news about the way Games Workshop treats retailers and gamers today...SO GLAD I dropped that game and company years ago! 

T-34's Ready For Action...

 

PSC T-34 with 76mm turret

The first "easy assembly" kits I ever built were Armourfast T-34's.  I thought they were pretty nice at the time, but these Plastic Soldier Company 1/72 T-34's blow them away.  Furthermore, when I bought the old Armourfast kits(which aren't nearly as detailed), I had to buy different boxes for the T-34/76 and T-34/85 tanks...even though they provided identical chassis(just a different turret sprues).   PSC has been considerate enough to include both variant turrets in a single box!

PSC T-34 with 85mm turret

All of the PSC kits that I have built so far are well-designed but these were some of the easiest to assemble(especially as the tracks are one piece).  I didn't modify the kits at all except for a few stowage pieces from my bits box(German jerry cans from the Panzer IV kit, a twig, other random bits).  I am especially pleased with the look of the twig, used to model a traction/mud log, because I attached it...primed it...painted it...and it ended up looking exactly like the original wood piece did!

As far as painting, as with my previous Soviet armor, I went with a little bit of a lighter green rather than the darker hue that true Soviet armor would have sported.  I actually used the recipe from the Battlegroup Kursk rulebook tutorial(with exception of using  Dark Green Vallejo Primer).  I basecoated with Russian Green and then highlighted with Interior Green(both Vallejo Model Air).  The hit the raised outlines of the tank with some Hemp(Vallejo Model Air) that I drybrushed and line in.

After that I gave the whole thing a glosscoat of Vallejo Gloss Medium airbrushed on.  I followed this with a oil wash use Winsor & Newton Umber oil paint from a tube mixed with Turpenoid.  Next time I will use Mineral Spirits because the Turpenoid was extremely glossy and slow to dry. In fact, it took me several coats of Testor's Dullcoat to knock down the shine after it dried.  Before the wash I hand-painted all the slogans.  There are some nice decals for this...but I prefer to hand do them because I like the haphazard look of unevenly scribed mottos that the soldiers themselves would have painted on.

As a finishing touch I added some mud pigments to the wheels and lower hull of the tank(front and back).

Having not painted armor for many years there are many techniques I am re-learning and new ones that I am catching up with.  I am sure that with more practice I will refine these skills.

Finally, here is a shot of my next trio of Plastic Soldier Company tanks that is (clearly) a work in progress...I have merely begun work on these tanks and have a lot of work to do yet...

Well, that's it for now...thanks for viewing everyone!

Happy wargaming everybody...
~Gareson

T70's Light Tanks and Refurbushed Soviet Armor...

I finally finished painting up these Soviet T-70 light tanks from Plastic Solider Company.  I love these two man little AFV's and they are a nice addition to the usual T-34 and KV mediums you uusally see on the battlefield...
(click on any photos for larger images).

 

I roughly used the colors suggested by the Battlegroup Kursk rulebook in their T-34 painting tutorial section(with the exception of starting with Vallejo's Dark Green Primer over Black). I know Soviet armor would have been a bit of darker green but I like the look of the lighter hue on 1/72 scale tanks in terms of bringing out the details of the models.   From primer to highlights here is what I used(applied via airbrush)...

Primer: Vallejo Dark Green Primer
Basecoat: Vallejo Russian Green Model Air
1st Highlight: Vallejo Interior Green Model Air
2nd Highlight: Vallejo Interior Green Model Air + White Model Air
3rd Highlight: Vallejo Hemp Model Air(applied via detail brush to seems/details)
After applying the basic greens I applied a generous glosscoat of Vallejo gloss to the models.  In reptospect, I applied too many coats of this because I lost some of the detail on the rivets when I went to pinwash.  After glossing, I gave the tanks a wash of Vallejo Umber Wash and pin-washed with Reaper Brown Liner.  I really want to experiment with oil paints for washes as often suggested online but I am not brave enough yet as I have worked only with acryllics. 
After matte-coating the models(again Vallejo) I applied some sublte mud/exhaust effects with the Tamiya weathering kit.  I also went back and painted up the headlight and gave it a glosscoat. 

I also refurbished some very old models that have seen heavy abuse on the wargaming table over the years.  Both had some broken bits and lousy paintjobs but I believe I have them ready for the gaming table again.  First, my Pegasus Hobbies(I think) Su-152.  The slogan on the side(in Russian) reads "revenge".

and my old BA-10(pretty sure it was UM Models)..  The BA-10 is missing a headlight and I had to borrow a spare wheel off the side for road use, but...you know, "battle damage".

Here are the three together.  Note how the heavy SU-152 dwarfs its lighter comrades...

As far as the future, I have some T-34's in the works as well as some Panzer III's. 
Happy wargaming everbody, and thanks for viewing...
~Gareson

Panzer IV's Complete

Well, admittedly, maybe not completely complete...I am going to add some mud pigments down the line. 

Anways, above are my mostly finished Plastic Soldier Company 1/72 Panzer IVH models. 

The Panzer IVH has always been my favorite tank of World War II...there's something about it's harsh lines and pragmatic engineering that make it the quintessential panzer. 

My wife was kind of nice to build these for me so that I could dive in and try my first ever experiment in airbrushing.  Like painting minis, I am sure it is a skill I will improve with over time.

That being said, my goal of making soft-edged mid war German camouflage seems to have been achieved.  I've ben painting miniatures for many years while I never gave much time to my armor(a quick Testor's spray with a simple wash/drybrush at best).  

This time I did a lot of research and added more than just the airbrushing...including a wash over a glosscoat and a pin-wash to bring out the details. 

In the final photo you can see the panzer commander figure that came with the tank. 
So this is the beginning of my Grossdeutschland Division armored contingent with much more on the way.

Thanks for viewing...happy wargaming everybody,
Gareson

German Artillery Crew and Zvezda Infantry Guns

I finished my first three Plastic Soldier Company German anti-tank gun crewmen. Here they are manning the Pak38 kit that they came with...

PSC Pak38 50mm Anti-Tank Gun with Crew

PSC Anti-Tank Gun Crew



PSC Anti-Tank Gun Crew

Below are some Zvezda 75mm Infantry Guns from their Art of Tactic line.  They came with crewmen(who have o.k. sculpts) but I plan to use the PSC artillerists as their attendants.  I did these a few weeks ago and having the new crewmen reminded me that I forgot to throw them on the blog...

Zvezda 75mm German Infantry Gun with PSC Crew

Zvezda Guns...

That's it for now...still plugging away on Panzer IVH's and more crew for the guns above. 

Happy Wargaming Everybody,
~Gareson

German Pak 38 50mm Anti-Tank Guns

When I first heard that Plastic Soldier Company would be producing some 20mm(1/72 scale) German Anti-Tank Guns I was very excited.  After all, their Soviet AT Guns were great little kits.  This brand new kit(I couldn't even wait for it to hit U.S. stores, I imported it directly from the U.K.) comes with four guns in the box.  You can build either the Pak 38 50mm guns(which I did) or there is an optional barrel(and wheels) to mount the French 75mm Pak 97 gun which was a stop-gap measure of employing captured Allied artillery until the Pak 40 was ready for service. 

I painted these in a Vallejo Dark Yellow primer and Model Color basecoat(of the same hue) as I am modeling them as mid-war(Kursk).  I then gave them a spray of gloss varnish and a dark brown wash.  I did some pin washing of the bolts, tooling and welds.

I airbrushed the muzzle brakes with a misting of Vallejo black to simulate use.
The Plastic Soldier Company stuff comes without bases but this was easily rectified with a little plasticard(actually my favorite(cough, cheap) kind..."No Parking" signs from Home Depot cut to size with regular old scissors.   Note that the loose shell casings, shells and ammo boxes are included in the set(as well as 24 crew figures).

I now have boxes and boxes of minis, armor and AT guns waiting to be painted...but Plastic Soldier
Company's kits are so great...I just can't refuse(why their new 1/72 Panzer III's are under construction on my workbench as well).

Happy Wargaming Everybody,
~Gareson

Panzer IV's to the Fore...

Well it is still the early stage of painting these Plastic Soldier Company Panzer IVH 1/72 tanks(tracks/tools still unplainted, no washes, no pin wash, no weathering, no higlighting...yet) but I like the way the basecoat color and camoflauge looks so far. 

This is my first time every using an airbrush(outside of the practicing I did on some 'junk' tanks) so, given my noobiness, I am fairly pleased.  I used Vallejo Dark Yellow Primer to begin followed with Vallejo Dark Yellow Model Color as a basecoat(which I highlighted with some beige put into the mix).  The camo colors(brown and green) were Vallejo Model Air colors.  They say that you don't need to thin these to spray them in your airbrush I found the brown a little chunkey and splattery...so I had to go back to apply a little thinner to the cup; it's possible I didn't shake it up well enough before hand.  The green was fine right out of the bottle.   I wanted the camo patterns to have a bit of a faded look so I went back over the whole think with a heavily thinned layer of the Dark Yellow basecoat. 

So now I will move into the detailing stages.....I am excited to see how the whole thing turns out.

On another note, my Plastic Soldier Company order of Pak38 50mm AT Guns just arrived as well as my Battlegroup Kursk rulebook...yay!

Urray!!! Four more Soviets to the salient...

Well we've reached the end of my week of vacation and although I didn't paint as many miniatures as I'd hoped to(naturally), I did get quite a few terrain projects done. 

First off, here are four more Plastic Soldier Company miniatures ready for the gaming table...
(click on any pictures for larger images)

Above you have a Maxim HMG crew, a rifelman and an PPSh SMG gunner.  Of the four, this guy has to be my favorite(probably the best figure in the set actually).  Got to love the sculpted yell..."Urray!!!!!!!!"....

Another shot...

All in all, it was fairly successful vacation hobby-wise and I look forward to sharing my new stuff with my club at school.  Here is a roll call of what I finished over the February break...
-8 PSC 20mm Soviets painted
-8 PSC 20mm Gerrmans painted
-9 Double-Sided Terrain Tiles Completed to make a new gaming board
-3 large hills made for above
-two pine forest terrain pieces made for above
-Orthodox Church terrain piece made
-4x stone wall sections made
-4x rough stone wall sections made
-6x hedges made
-6x wooden fence sections made
-4x bushes terrain sections made
-2x Pegasus hobbies Russian houses made(need custom roofs still, though)

Additionally, my wife built me five tanks that I will be painting in the future with my new airbrush(yay!).  She has been cranking out these Plastic Soldier Company beauties for me at such a nice pace that I have dubbed her my German tank factory("Sarahwerks").  Here they are(unpainted) with more on the way...

My first five PSC tanks...can you identify them?

Vacation may be over but I have many "works in progress" that will be hitting the table in the near future. 

Thanks for viewing,
Happy Wargaming Everybody,
~Gareson

German Heavy Weapons Teams

I completed a small number of PSC(Plastic Soldier Company) German Heavy Weapon Team figures...

Still love everything that this company touches, and their models are a joy to paint...

Panzerschreck Team

 

Mortar Crew with 82 and 120mm Mortars

German MG-34 Heavy Machine Gun Crew

On deck I have some small terrain elements, more Russians, and several tank models in the works as well as the rest of the figures(not shown) in the PSC German Heavy Weapons set.

(as a final note, here is a WIP shot of some of the minis above...No, I do not paint my nails with Vallejo Model Colors...it's how I take some paint off my brush when I pull too much off my wet pallette!)

(1)Winsor and Newton Series 7 (2) Minis Blue Tacked to Old Paint Pots (3) Colors Log (4) Thumbnail Paint Thinning
Happy Wargaming Everybody!
~Gareson

Soviet Anti Tank Power vs. Panzer 38T's

While I am putting the finishing touches on my new modular terrain boards(something I've wanted to make for years), I thought I'd throw up some pics of some "newer" minis in my painted collection of 20mm WWII figures(in group shots)...

First up, various Soviet T-70 Light Tanks, 45mm Anti-Tank Gun and Crew, Anti-Tank Rifle Team and a light Russian mortar in the background.  All miniatures are from Plastic Soldier Company.

The second shot shows some of my German infantry from Plastic Soldier Company.  Also in the shot is a 75mm Infantry Gun by Zvezda(from their Art of Tactic line) with the crewmen being Fantassin/Warmodelling.  The Panzer 38T light tanks are from Pegasus Hobbies. 

As I type my brand new Pak 38 German anti-tank kit is on its way to me from the U.K.(couldn't wait for U.S. stores to stock it so ordered it directly from PSC).  So excited to get this new kit...



Also, my wife is being kind enough to build my Panzer IVH and Stug III kits from PSC in the meantime!

Thanks for viewing, happy wargaming everybody...
~William