Panzer IV F1

I am still around and I am still painting.  I may have to 'reboot' this blog as I know  bunch of pictures arent showing up.

Any way here is what I was working on.  I have some soviet infantry done too but cant seem to get good pics of them.

More BA-64's

Here are some pictures with the flash so you can at least see some detail.   You can definitely see the difference in green between models Where I had to use more of a matte varnish.

Soviet BA-64's

Wow, I just realized how awful these pictures are.  Sorry about that.  I'm not terribly happy with them anyway.  I was super happy with them until I went to varnish them.  Clearly i'm out of practice. 

Any how, i'm continued with the black lining and a lot lighter highlight.  This part turned out smoking good.  I've decided to totally do away with washes.  Even for infantry.  I'm going to use black lining, highlights and shadows.  Washes were just to inconsistent for me and never turned out dark enough in the creases but at the same time darkened to paint too much. 

You may notice the PTRD anti-tank rifles.  A few years ago, before version 3, I was thoroughly confused by the BR-64, the rule seemed weird with it being hull mounted.  I think I even went as far as to ask Phil about it.  So, apparently the used to take the turret off and just have a man sit there with the rifle.  There is one picture of it out there.  I came up with the idea of mounting a PTRD rifle guy in the BA-64.  I just cut the rifleman in half and mounted him with out the turret.

I have a few take aways after this project.  I can use less matt varnish because i'm not using a wash anymore, however I may have to end up not using a gloss varnish on my decals.  So we'll see how that works. 

I'm going back to my Soviet Strelkovy and redoing them with less black lining and more shadows and highlighting.  I can't imagine how long that will take.

I will post better pictures tomorrow, so the lining shows up better. 

Su-152

Finished some new Soviet kat killers.  I'd have to say for some plain jane green monsters they turned out really well.

I used a technical pen for the shading and went twice as light on the high light colour.  It took a lot longer but I love the result.

All my russian tanks will be going in the #SimpleGreen now.

Su-152 Almost Done

Ok so i added a bit of weathering.  Good call.  i decided to give the Mig pigmants a go.

I especially like the Europe dust around the tracks. A few more details and some varnish then they'll be done.

Ill have to pull out some pictures of the first time i painted these.

SU-152 Sneak Peak

not done yet but here is a quick sneak peak.  im really digging the lines with the technical pen but now i have the problem of whether to weather (really?) or not.

Finally, the Rock has come back...oh wait, its just me!

Well, its been a while but I finally have something to write about.

I have some SU-152's in the pot using a technical pen, and I'd have to say they are starting to look pretty good.  I should be done this weekend and I can actually make a real post.

I also played in my first tournament in months last week.  I was absolutely obliterated as I was very very rusty.  I can't even say I rolled terrible, because I didn't.  There was only one roll that I though could have changed the game.  It happens to be three '1's and a 2.  But, for the most part I rolled pretty well.  I just stunk.

I did finally get to play Shawn Morris, +TheTerrainGuy  and ya he kicked my ass.  But it was fun.

Oh well.  I'll have new pics soon.

I think I'm going to have to do a new Rules Nazi as well.  I can't believe how wrong people were playing at this tournament.  I figured with version 3 the Rules Nazi was dead.  Boy was I wrong.

My Airbrush Booth

Yes, it has been a shitty couple of months for me.  Which happens sometimes in life.

First I had pneumonia for the month of August.  Then I had surgery to have a steel plate removed from my arm.  My stitches come out tomorrow.  Needless to say I haven't painted in probably 3 months.  But I think I'm ready for a come back.

One thing I did manage to do between coughing my lungs out and getting my arm sliced open was build an Airbrush booth.  Figured it was time since I was having respiratory issues.

I cut a hole in a plastic bucket and attached a bathroom fan to the back of it.  Then I'll just toss the hose out the window.  I haven't had a chance to test it yet.  Probably after I get my stitches out tomorrow.

Patton Was Right!

While I'm in between posts here...(stupid Strelkovy) I thought I would point out some of my viewpoints on history.  And before anyone gets pissy with me, just remember this is only my opinion on something where the world will never have all of the facts.  Should be an entertaining read anyway...take it for what its worth.

Every since becoming interested in WWII the one thing that has really bothered me was the American perception of the war.  At least as far as Europe was concerned anyway.

U-571 anyone?

Part I - American Propaganda

Growing up it was always, the Americans won the war, with out the Americans there was no hope.  The industrial might of the Americans saved the world....blah blah blah.  I don't think the attitude of the American general public as they become more educated.  But American documentaries are still as bad as ever.

Not to take anything away from those men that fought and died, but the documentaries that are ra-ra america are always like "Huge losses", "Brutal, bitter - fighting" and what ever other phrases they say to make it seem like the american suffered so much but persevered.

I was having a conversation with a few friends, and I asked them "Why do the Americans think these were such crazy battles?".  We were talking about a documentary on the Pacific that we recently watched.  He replied "I think its because the fighting was so close quarters, so personal".  The narrator made Iwo Jimi sound like it was the most intense battle of the entire was with insane casualties.  To me this summed up the whole American (media anyway) attitude towards the war.  What a bunch of BS.

STALINGRAD.

At Stalingrad both sides lost more men in 6 months then the Americans did in the entire war.  And you can't get much more close quarter and brutal fighting then room to room in -40 degree weather.

Iwo Jima Casualties
Japan - 21,844 killed
USA - 6,821 killed

Stalingrad
German - 750,000 Killed, missing or wounded
Soviet - 478,741 killed or missing

I mean come on, not even in the same ball park on the same continent.

In fact only a few months ago, someone argued with me to the point of yelling that Americans could do no wrong.  "They never bombed civilians like the Germans did", he said.  I just laughed.  That didn't even warrant a response.   Sorry to say this was a Canadian that who was all Ra-Ra America.  But he only knows  what he saw on TV.  Those few American Propoganda documentaries that make people believe the war couldn't have been won without them.

Part II - D-Day Wasn't for Hitler. 

Not that you can trust documentaries but I watched a fantastic one a few months back called "Behind Closed Doors".  It was all about the relationship between the Allied Leaders.

It also confirmed something I was starting to suspect the more I got into Flames of War and learned more about the different theatres and battles.

The Americans did not win the war for anyone.  Not to belittle their contribution but lets look at some time lines.

Most people consider Stalingrad the turning point in the war... debatable.
So, February 1943 the Soviets starting pushing back towards Germany.
The Americans were getting their ASS kicked at the Kasserine Pass.

In July 1943 the Battle of Kursk happened basically at the same time the Allies landed in Sicily.  Yes this helped pull German troops off the line at Kursk but the Germans had no reserves.  The Soviets were already on their way to Berlin before the Allies landed in Europe.

Now back to this show "Behind Closed Doors".  All 3 leaders were going behind each others backs to wheel and deal.  And the more I find out about Churchill the more I think he just wanted more territory for the British Empire.  Nothing different then Stalin.

Apparently, the Allies told Stalin they would land in Europe in 1942, but didn't.  They then told him again they would land in 1943 (D-day) but didn't.  You are pissing off an already UBER paranoid psycho.  This show basically says they continually lied to Stalin, and each other.  Then they started having meetings behind each others backs.  Churchill was the worst of all of them in my mind.

Great show, how much truth there is to it, I have no idea.  But, it was pretty convincing.

Conclusion 

After watching this show and thinking about my own screwed up theories, I am 100% convinced that the Allies never intended to land in France to help the Russians.

The only reason the Allies landed in 1944 was because they realized "HOLY SHIT" the Russians really are on their way to Berlin without us.  They had to land,  not to stop Hitler, but to stop the Soviets from taking all of Europe.

And the more I learn about Churchill the more I'm convinced he is solely responsible for the entire Cold War.  Think about it.  How the Allies carved up Europe in WWI caused WWII.  And what the Allies did in at the end of WWII caused the cold war.

Ya, Stalin was looking for territory the whole time, but so was Churchill.  Which isn't the image of Heroism we were all led to believe about Churchill, or any "Allied - Democratic" leader.

I don't think the Allies were ever worried about Germany.

Patton Was Right!

Technical Pen Take 3

Well I've decided to try the technical pen again. Last time I tried to find one no one seemed to even know what a technical pen even was. I do live in a city that is 20 years behind the times. I mean everyone here thinks AC/DC is a cool new band.

Last week someone posted some pictures on our Flames of War Canada Forum.  Little did I know that it was Glen Tarbet who was interviewed in the first Art of War book.  I always loved his style, and took the opportunity to find out how he does it.

He told me the exact pen that he uses and I went on the hunt.  This time I found the correct pen.

A Kor-i-noor with a 3x0/.25 tip

I decided to do one soviet grey coat, and see how it turned out.

Looks kinda goofy in the close ups, but I must say it looks pretty striking at arms length (the dreaded 3ft rule).  It is going to slow me down, my already slow infantry painting process, but maybe with some practice...

Thinking about doing all my strelkovy like this now.  The wife thinks it looks cartoony, but I'm finding at this scale the more contrast the better it looks on the table.

Let me know your thoughts.  

New way better?

Older Infantry for comparison

Kampfgruppe Bäke Up Close

Here are my finished Kampfgruppe Bake Vehicles. They turned out pretty well. I still have a few tiny details that I forgot, but i'll get to them when I do the vehicle crews and finish the Bergepanther. I also have winter coat Germans to paint as well to totally finish up the Kampfgruppe Bake.

I used a blue background for these pictures because of the whitewash, so we'll see how they turn out.

Let me know what you think.