Fire For Effect!

Updates

2011-12-31T08:54:00.000-08:00

Hey folks,

Have been busy with life an only recently started painting Flames of War miniatures again. Here are a few of the things I've been working on.

KoningsTiger (Tiger II or King Tiger):

This is your top-of-the-line Battelfront kit. Very nice, great for customizing. Loved putting it together. Too bad they cost $22.00.

More, yes, more Fallschirmjagers:

In my never-ending quest for THE perfect paint job on Fallschirm I continue to work until I get there. The two figure stand is for Infantry Aces. "Oberleutnant Bruno Blok" (fictitious) and his runner.

PJK 41 4.2cm taper-bore AT guns. Shame Battlefront only has them available in mid-war and not late war.


These are a combination of the 3.7cm and the Soviet 4.5cm guns. I took the gun shield and sanded it down to simulate the two piece shield, then cut the muzzle ring off the long barreled 4.5cm Russian AT gun. Painted them up and walah! Now just need to finish the crews up in tropicals.

M-3 Honey Caunter Scheme:

Catch this Step-by-step at WWPD.net

"Ada" and her two cohorts - Kit Review

2011-06-16T16:07:00.000-07:00

I finished up the two remaining Marder IIs so "Ada" wouldn't be lonely. They look a little shinny but its the pictures. They are actually pretty matt. Also, I might be adding foaliage to these three.

The commander above is a regular infantry guy I had laying around. I cut his head off and used the half-mini from a Panther kit as a head replacement. He's supposed to be wearing a Italian Camo private purchase jacket.

As you can tell, I used pigments to build up the mud in the chassis aroound the supsension areas.

KIT REVIEW

Last week when I finished the "Cassino" Objective I felt it needed some small details. I went online and looked for "HO" scale weapons and came up with these two kits from "PREISER". They are listed as "HO" Scale WWII gear (I got them from Hobbylink.com). One kit comes with mostly infantry gear and some weapons while the other is strickly weapons. The scale is a bit off for Flammes of War. THEY ARE SMALLER! Yup they are a bit smaller than FOW weapons but one can barely tell. You could not use the weapons as replacements but they are fine for detailing vehicles of objectives.

I used an MP-40 with the stock extended to add a weapon to one of the observers in the "Cassino" Objective.

And an MG-34 and ammo box as gear to one of the Marder IIs above.

"Ada" and New Objective

2011-06-01T16:58:00.000-07:00

I worked on these for the last two days. Needless to say I work slow.

First off is "Ada". Platoon commander for a 3 or 4 tank Marder II Fallschirmjager PanzerJager Abteilung I circa 1944.

Another picture of "Ada". All that is needed is some slight pigment weathering and a final coat of Matt sealer. The pictures don't do the miniature justice.

And finally a new objective.

Update

2011-04-20T17:53:00.000-07:00

Need to make some terrain for Kublacon in May and started cranking out some bocage and such.

This is two 10-12" pieces of modular bocage. They are not completed need a few touch ups here and there. Sorry for the last few pics they were taken with my iPhone.

PAINTING GUIDE

2011-04-12T14:48:00.000-07:00

Max's Guide to Painting WWII Fallschirmjagers

(PART 1)

If you are like me and have a huge affinity for the history and equipment used by the German Fallschirmjagers during WWII and you play miniature wargames, I'm sure you've assembled somekind of Fallschirm unit.
This is but one of many guides out here in the web designed to teach you how to paint your miniatures. This is not THE only way to paint FJ figures but one of MANY ways. I've been comlpimented by many blog visitors and fellow wargammers on how I've painted my Fallschirm. I've been asked by a few to share my colors and techniques so I decided to take a break from my Aufklarungs company and paint a few Fallschirm minis!

COLORS:
The basic guide in Battlefront's “Hell's Highway” is what I tend to follow. It is very informative. Just beware the book states to use a brown color for the boots which, although not incorrect, brown boots where rare during wartime.
There are three different smocks that were used during the war. The Type II, which was a step in style, was worn during 1939-40 exclusively. These were seen worn throughtout the war but were not as common after 1944. You would not see a squad of fallschirm wearing all Type II smocks during or after Normandy.

Type II Smock aka "Step-In". Most came in Grey Green but some were made in Splinter "B"

The color I use to paint this smock is Vallejo 924 “WWII Russian Uniform”. In my opinion it is the closest color for this smock. As a note, there were examples of Type II smocks manufactured in the Luftwaffe Splinter Pattern (Splinter B). These were said to be issued to the Sturm Regiment but I do not have any validating information.

The Type III smock was introduced right before Crete in 1941 and saw service during the operation though most Fallschirm still wore Type II “Green Grey” smocks. The Type III was designed so the legs could be unbuttoned for easier removal. This made it easier to put on and take off. For the purposes of modelling at the 15mm scale one would not know the difference unless the smock was unbuttoned at the legs which would make the miniature look like a overcoat.

Type III Smock in Splinter "B"

The Type III smocks came in two colors (some say they were also made in Waffen -SS “Pea Dot”); Luftwaffe Splinter “B” and Water-Tan. Splinter “B” differed from the Heer's Splinter “A” slightly. The patten was similar but the green “rain drops” in the pattern went vertical instead of horizontal in the Luftwaffe “B” pattern.

Type III Water-Tan (aka Marsh)

For the Splinter “B” pattern I use Vallejo 821 “German Beige” for the base, 872 “Chocolate Brown” for the brown, and 823 “Lufwaffe Camo Green” for the green.

The Water-Tan (or Marsh) pattern came out in 1943 (some say 1942). It is similar to the Splinter “B” in pattern but with different colors. At 15mm scale the pattern would almost be identical.

For the Water-Tan pattern I use Vallejo 978 “Dark Yellow” for the base, 982 “Cavalry Brown” for the brown, and 893 “US Dark Green” for the green. A varient would be the 821 and 872.

Splinter "B" Helmet Cover

STEP 1: Clean and Primer

First step I take is clean the flash as best as possible from the figure, wash in warm soapy water, and let dry. Once dry, I give the figure a wash in rubbing alcohol, let it sit for about 10 minutes and then use my airbrush to primer the miniature with flat black paint (usually Vallejo Flat Black). Any flat black color will do. After this coat has dried for a few minutes I do a light overspray of a light gray primer. Again, any primer will do.

STEP 2: Base Colors

The miniature in this guide is being painted in the tropical scheme. The uniform worn in the mediterranian was usually the tropical pants although "continental" wool jump pants were not uncommon. I elected to paint this miniature without a helmet cover and painted his helmet in a "turtle" shell camo varient that was seen in Italy.

Second step is to lay down you base colors:

Part                                                                                                  Vallejo Color
Face and hands                                                                               “Beige Brown” 875

Helmet (non-helmet cover)                                                              “Green Ochre” 914

Helmet Chin Strap, Breadbag                                                          “Field Blue” 964

Type II Splinter “B” Smock (Base)                                                  ”German Beige” 821

Belt, Pistol Holster, Tornister Straps                                                “Flat Black”

Y-Straps (Cavalry/Light Weight)                                                     “Calvary Brown” 982

Tropical Pants                                                                                 “Middletone”

Continental (Jump) Pants                                                                 “German Grey” 830

MP-40 Magazine Pouch*                                                               “US Dark Green” 893

Canteen                                                                                          “German Camo Brown” 825

Canteen Cup*                                                                                 “Middletone”

Note I did NOT paint the green and brown camo on the smock. This is done after step 4.

*- German pouches were originally made of leather but even early on in the was they began being manufactured in cloth. They were made in green, tan, and field blue. Same thing with the breadbags. The canteen cups, as well as mess tins, were often repainted in the field. Originally these came in black or field grey btu troops often repainted them.

STEP 3: Gloss Varnish and Wash

Third step is to let the miniature dry well for several hours. Once dry, seal the miniature with several light coats of gloss varnish. Once this is dry (I let mine dry for about 2-3 hours), I give the model a good wash of Vallejo Black and Sepia washes miked with water (3 parts water, 2 parts black and 1 part Sepia). Let this dry for atleast 4-5 hours.

STEP 4: Dry brush/highlights

Fourth step is to highlight the base colors. The emphasis here is on the garments, helmet and skin. I use a combination of drybrushing and highlighting using lighter shades of the base colors. I lighten the base color using Vallejo “Sunny Skintone” or any other flesh color. It works for me as it “seems” to have a more subtle transition than white.

STEP 5: Camo

Step four is when I lay down my brown and green camo. Using a 5/0 brush, I thin the respective color with water or yoru favorite thinnerso it flows really well. Study the camo pattern and note how, for example Splinter “B”, you can note its almost a “Y” or even “L” type shape. Take your time and generate the “Y”s and “L”s. A trick that I found is to section the smock off. Arms, back, chest, and skirt. Remember that when the garmet is made the pattern will not continue in these ares as the cloth is cut cutting the pattern off.

I start off with the brown.

Then go to the green. I make my green mix in witht the brown as they tended to overlap each other in the printing process.

More to come.......

Steveogradskie Vodka Factory

2011-04-06T11:54:00.000-07:00

I painted up one of JR Miniatures buildings to donate to Steve's (What would Patton Do) Stevograd city.

Its pretty much dont just going to hit it with some pigments, seal it and ship it off.

Day Off #1 - Modular STUG III, Vickers Mk. VIC, and Panzer IV Hs

2011-04-05T15:25:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Well day off #1 (that is from the Commander and 5 year old). Got some stuff done spent the better part of 6 hours doing some modelling.

I have 3 more STUG IIIs to build for my Fallschirm and for general use. I decided to make them modular much like the PZ IIIG/Hs I posted last week. So I used the 1/16" x 1/32" magnets and magnetized the three gun barrels for the STUGs. No I can field 75mm, 75mm "Pig Head", and 10.5cm.

Next I dusted out the airbrush again and painted up a few goodies after I built them. Last night I finished a Vickers Mk. VIc for early war. Today i gave it a primer, base coat and camo. I'm fairly happy with it.

I used Russian Uniform Green and Violet Brown. Not sure if the base color (Russian Uniform Green) is gonna work. I had to darken the Violet Brown a bit.

Shes not close to being done yet. I just felt like painting something different.

And finally I built and painted these three Panzer IV Hs for my Aufklarungs Company. I built them, primered and painted the camo. They are far from done. Antennas, camo netting, and finish up the detail work.

LATE MARCH UPDATE

2011-03-29T20:17:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I posted anything. Been busy with life stuff.

Finally finished the Panzer IILs and Sdkfz. 234/1s.

The Panzer IILs came out OK. Experimented with using 4 lb. fishing line for the antennas and so far they are holding up well. I went a little overboard on the weathering.

I started using Vallejo Pigments for weathering after seeing the Flames of War You Tube video on the Panzer IV L/70 video. I researched pigments more and tried using techniques used on 1/35th scale tanks.

Some techniques worked, others did not. I had problems with using isopropil (sp) alcohol as the setting solution. If I used too much the alcohol would eat the matt varnish. So I'll have to research it more to truly be happy with it.

The Sdkfz. 234/1s came out well. I tried using a different base color on one of them for variety and I think it came out well.

All the Panzer IILs and the Sdkfz. 234/1s were given full decal treatments. The 234/1s did not get turret numbers but got license plates.

(More pictures at the bottom of the page)

I'm on a North Africa and Eastern Front kick for some reason. I started delving into Early War stuff. I bought some Panzer III G and Hs for Early and Mid War Afrika. Since I wasn't sure if I wanted to build the vehicles as 5cm L/42s or 5cm L/60s I decided to magnetise the barrels and give me the options. I guess I'm being a bit anal.

Thanks to the guys a WWPD for invigorating my interest in Africa although I still want to field an Italian Tank Company!

Coming up next month:

Two new building projects. Once is a multi story French hotel and I'll be building a 8 building city block and a JR Miniatures factory for WWPD Stevograd.... destroyed that is.

2nd Kompanie Gepard Aufklarungs/116th Aufklarungs Battalion

2011-01-31T19:41:00.000-08:00

About two weeks ago I finally got started on my Gepard Aufklarungs Kompanie for FOW. Our gaming group started a late war infantry escalation league. The first game was last wednesday and players were to have the HQ platoon finished and based. Unfortunatley I did not get a chance to completely finish.

The IC Sdkfz. 250/5 and the 2IC Sdkfz. 250/5.

The Weapons Platoon Command Sdkfz. 250/1 and two Sdkfz. 250/8 with 7.5cm gun. These are from Quality Castings.

Sdkfz. 234/1 2.0 cm gun.

One Zuf from the Panzer IIL platoon.

Busy.....

2011-01-25T17:53:00.000-08:00

Hey folks,

Been been busy with just life stuff. But I got to do some painting this past week or two.

I was also able to almost finishe my Comand Platoon for my 116th Aufklarungs.

More later......

M-5A1s

2010-12-31T16:36:00.000-08:00

Hey folks,

Sorry I've been out of it for about a week now with this virus that's going around here in California. Just posting some older pictures of my Stuarts that I use for my US Airborne guys.

Enjoy!

Updated Pak 38s

2010-12-21T07:37:00.000-08:00

I didn't leave well enough alone...

Short Update

2010-12-15T01:10:00.000-08:00

Russ from the NORCALFOW group and I putt together a Total War scenario (Cassino) that is scheduled for Jan 2nd at Endgame in Oakland, CA.

Well I'm going to have a BUSY BUSY two weeks if I want to get this done in time. I need to:

1- Start painting my 3rd FJ Platoon (Battleworn wearing, gulp, water tan and tropicals)

2- Finish my Pak 38s and one last "proxy" RSO

3- Finish 1 STUG 10.5cm

4 - Paint the JR Miniatures "Cassino" Building and RR station.

5- Make a ton of hills.

Yeah I got my hands full. And the last 3 days the commander (aka wife) and Short Round (aka the 4 1/2 year old) have been out of it with the flu.

So I got some stuff done in the weee hours.

First off is my first FJ wearing water-tan smock. I think it came out pretty good.

The next project, which I did tonight, was to finish the Platoon Command Team for my 3 Pak 38 unit.

I also decided to go all out and rebase my two Pak 38s.... go tone done but I'm 99% happy with the rebase.

Made huge leaps with the destroyed building.....

Not completed.... 90% done.

And finally got these Little arty markers done...

Need to make three times what is shown...

Fallschirmjager Company Command and RSO Objective

2010-12-07T18:14:00.000-08:00

Worked on an objective I've been wanting to do for a while.

When I was young my dad used to subscribe to "Military Modeller Magazine". There was a great diorama of a RSO resupplying a Type 166. Well I've always like the RSO so I decided to make an objective similar to that diorama. Its almost done just wanted to show you guys what I have so far. All that is really missing is the resupplies which will be glued on later.

Working on some mid war FJ command stands. The first I'm not too happy with as the color of the grey green smocks aren't doing it for me. im using Vallejo 866 and I think I'm going to switch to 886. The figures are old school Battlefront from the early FJ kit. The two in the type-two smocks are radio crewmen. the castings are.... well... inferiror to what they have now but I dig the poses. The second command stand is a group of three wearing tropical pants. These are modelled to be used in mid war and late war Italy.

The figure to the right is also old school Battlefront FJs.

!Bienvenido! (International Welcome)

2010-12-06T20:22:00.000-08:00

! Hola mis amigos latinos y europeos! Por favor, si usted tiene alguna pregunta o comentario que me haga saber. Puedo hablar, leer y escribir español con fluidez. Nací en Argentina y emigró a los EE.UU. cuando era joven, pero todavía lo hablan a diario. Yo soy un modelador primero y luego un wargamer. Estoy mirando adelante a oír de usted.

(Hi my latino and European friends! Please if you have any questions or comments let me know. I speak, read, and write fluent Spanish. I was born in Argentina and immigrated to the U.S. when I was young but still speak it on a daily basis. I am a modeler first then a wargamer. I'm looking forward to hearing from you.)

Max

10.5cm LG40, FJ Mortar crew finished, and guess a new project.

2010-12-06T14:50:00.000-08:00

Hey folks,

Lazy day off here enjoying some free time. Hope you're enjoying the pictures and projects. Make sure you check out News From the Front podcast on WWPD blog. Great interview with Wayne from FOW, covering some great rules, and good chat from the guys.

Today I've been putting some 10.5cm LG40s together, finished off a 8cm mortar crew, and started a new FJ project. The boards and bocage have been put aside due to weather. Enjoy a few pictures.

Haven't picked up "Cross of Iron" but I'm writing up two more book reviews for WWPD blog.

Destroyed Building, Bocage, and no time.....

2010-11-30T12:21:00.000-08:00

Hey folks,

I've been kinda busy with life and the holidays this past week and haven't made much progress on my projects. If you follow the What Would Patton Do blog you'll notice I did one book review and there's one more to be posted. Please check them out and let Steven over there know if it's a good addition or not.

Thanksgiving week was a loss as far as modelling but I did get to hang out with the "Unofficial East Bay Wargamers" at Steve's house. I did get some dry brushing in and took a few photos of Steve and Josh's game.

And one last thing. Since I recently found a copy of "Flames of War" in Spanish I gave it to my dad. I immigrated here from South America when I was seven and my dad, who pretty much got me into WWII history and modelling, and I will try to get a game in next tiem I'm down. If any international followers out there know of any players in Spanish speaking countries point them to this blog and I might start doing a blog in Spanish!

Steve and Josh setting up for a 1500 point Late War US Legs vs. German Landsers!

Cross of Iron Update: 70 pages into the book. Very good so far and the translation from German to English is pretty good. The characters have depth and the friction between Steiner and Stransky can already be seen building and the characters have not even met yet!!

As Shawn Morris would say, "You GODDA have cows!!"

Steve's Germans dug in waiting for the assault.

One of Steve's two sniper teams. These are Josh's. Sorry abotu the poor quality of the photo.

Just some more random pics. They aren't very good I took them with my $Phone. These show Josh's leg infanty on the move. Josh is a phenominal painter.

Some more of Josh's US legs. I think these were his Chemical Mortar Plt. Nice to see my terrain being used.

I continued working on my second ever demolished building. I'm using a Game Craft Miniatures model and demo-ing it for the "Ville de Mort" board.

This is a 5.5"x6" base two story building I'm workng on. Its getting there. This one will be both bombed out and burnt crisp.

And finally a prototype Bocage idea I've been working on. Took ideas from Shawn Morris and two more ideas I found on teh web and added them into the recipe. Since I have storage issues I have to make my terrain modular. Taking Shawn Morris' technique but using smalled diameter rocks (this may change to adding larger rocks into the mix), I'm using 1"x1" green foam onto 2" wide 3mm board and building them as Shawn does. I used cut straw (thanks Shawn!) to mount the 2"-3" tall trees onto the Bocage.

The prototype is not done yet and I will post more pictures later this week.I'd love to hear what you guys have to say. Tips and critiques welcomed!!!!

WWPD #6, More FJ Pak 38, and Heer MG-34 crew.... oh and a few buildings.

2010-11-21T21:29:00.001-08:00

Well I got do catch up a bit today (my first day off) as the wife and little guy went to do some bonding with her horse.

Pulled out the old buildings projects and started the base colors and such. I was re-listening to WWPD and patiently awaiting Episode #6 to hear the interview with Shawn Morris.

About 8pm or so I logged on and downloaded the episode and to my surprise Steve and Joe mentioned me and the blog in the podcast!! Thank you guys!

I picked up a copy of Willi Heinrich's "Cross of Iron". This is a fictional book about a platoon of Heer grenadiers (supposedly mountain troops) in the Eastern Front. I'll write a full review of it when I finish it.

Also, just finished reading two sets of rules cover to cover. Too Fat Lardies "I ain't been shot, Mum" and Old Dominion Games Works' "Mein Panzer". Two very different yet very good sets of rules. Review to follow.

Here's the pic of the Heer lMG team from earlier this week. Still not done a bit more highlighting and a coat of Magiic Wash. I'm slowly getting the hang of "leg" infantry work.

I pulled out the buildings for "Ville de Mort" today and started with base colors. Not even close to being finished but I'm one to show pictures of stages just to show you guys what I do. The small two story is the "Cafe de Mort" and the one to the right is what I call the general store.

This is two of three residential buildings for the board. The roofs are all removable. The base colors are down I need to go back retouch a few things, magic wash and dry brush.

Here's a picture of the 5 buildings still in various stages of completion.

And finally a few more pictures of the Pak 38 from earlier this week. Unfortunately the pictures did not come out well.

The crew is from the artillery pack with no modifications. Two were painted wearing tropical pants, the other two continentals (wool). Just a note, originally FJ leather gear was brown and an order in I think 1940 stated all leather gear was to be died black. Well FJ tried not to do this and attempted to hold off converting as long as possible. The "Alte Lehr" troops kept their old brown boots, belts, cavalry Y-straps (as opposed to the regular Y-straps) to show the new troops coming in they were veterans.

On the other crew I'll probably paint one crew members in a step in grey green jump smock.

The Pak 38 model is from Old Glory/Quality Castings. Its a multi-piece kit (they sell them in 3s). The detail is much crisper than the Battelfront kit. The ammo box and ammo are from the BF "German Ammo Pack". I cut the box down to size and cut the rounds down by about 1/3rd.

Enjoy!!

Brought to you by Pak 38.....

2010-11-17T16:54:00.000-08:00

I always liked the Pak 38 5cm AT gun. Don't know why but I think it looks kinda cool. Anyways, the pak 38 I think is under rated in FOW. With ROF of 3 and an AT of 9 nine it won't do much to Shermans but it will wreck havoc againts Stuarts and half-tracks.

I've never played a Afrika or Italian front battle and I've been meaning to do either an Italian armored force or continue with my fallschirm. Well with Christmas coming money is a littel tight to go out and buy Italians so I decided to paint up a Pak 38 with FJ crew.

See what you think.

Sitting bored in court....

2010-11-16T19:28:00.000-08:00

Yet more Fallschimjagers.....

I was sitting in court all day today (on overtime thank you very much) and was looking thru my photobucket pictures and thought I would share some pics of some omre FJ stuff. For those of you who haven't figured it out yet I'm a nut for Fallschirm stuff. I guess re-enacting in an FJ unit for 15+ years will do that to ya.

A pair of my late war FLAK 36 Fallschirm guns.

Sentinel Miniature Painting's awesome MG bunker with Fallschirm sMG.

These are a few Fallschirmjager conversions I've done. The one pointing anf the one with the MP-44 will be for a late war platoon. The one holding the MG-42 and the last figure will be for a mid war Italian Front platoon.

I was looking forward to getting a game in tomorow night with the fellas but unfortunately Steve had to move our regular game night from Weds to Thurs this week. So looks like I won't be able to move lead around for a few weeks due to my works schedule.

Basing 101st Airborne Guys and MORE FJ

2010-11-15T19:37:00.000-08:00

A while back (summer 2010) I made a how to video basing your minis. I posted them on you tube.

Pictures came out a little dark.

Part One

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycK-a3ljn0U

You might be able to see the painted re-enforcement patches on the sleeves and knees.

Part Two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ATZDxjr5bw

Part Three

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQgXqFpeFZQ

I built two of these (#101 and 102).

These were my first Battlefront and 15mm miniatures. I learned a lot from building these two Marder IIs. First off, BF got the gunshields wrong so they had to be modified. Thee Marder II is a great tank hunter in FOW. I never got to play with these as I sold them to a friend of mine who really wanted them. These are on my painitng schedule in the future.

Fallschirmjager

2010-11-15T19:18:00.001-08:00

These are some older pics of my first army. I built a Late war (Festung Europa) FJ Kompanie. I've since changed my painitng style for FJs but I still think these hold up. It took me a LONG time to paint these.

To the right here is one of my platoon command stands armed with SMGs with panzerfaust.

This is one team of my 12cm mortar platoon and one of the Spotter teams.

These are a pair or Marder IIIs. They were fun to build and paint though I painted them in a semi "Ambush" pattern which would be wrong for the time period. I think they look good though.

A pair of Stug IIIs with 75mm L48s. I'm building two more, one with the 10.5cm option as I think they are under rated. I was not happy with the way the decals came out. since these pics were taken I fixed the decal issue.

I forgot....

2010-11-15T15:00:00.000-08:00

I've forgotten I had this blog.. Never really intended to use it as a "standard" blog just a way to post some projects and such.

Over the last year my 15mm wargaming has been sporadic. Not until about 2 months ago when I re-connected with a few guys in the area that play. These guys are good people and we all seem to get along. Steve, Armando "The Crazy Italian", Nick, and Lt. Adan. I met Steve through a good "kid", Josh. I get together with them about twice a month, role some bones, and move some lead around. Good people.

Another thing that got me full-tilt into wargaming was WWPD podcast with Steve and Joe. WWPD (What Would Patton Do) is a podcast abotu wargaminng. hopefully the boys will stick to mostly WWII stuff and FOW but hery its THEIR show.

This week I was inspired to work on some Fallschirm minis I had on my workbench. Carlos from Sentinel Miniatures Painting gave me some tips on painting. If you ever need an army painted or any miniature painting (he does fantasy as well) look him up and tell him I sent you. He also does some kick ass resin buildings.

"Ville de Mort"......

I had been on vacation two weeks ago vising my folks and brought down some buildings to work on. This go me re-invigorated to work on my "Ville de Mort" project that has been stewing for many years. Shawn from The Terrain Guy is a master and has some great terrain builds on You Tube.

"Ville de Mort" is a grand 4'x4' section for 15mm wargaming. The project has 27-30 buildings including a large church. I laid out the beginnings of the board this week with a few of the buildings I have started. As i was drawing the layout Cole, my 4 year old, was making sure the buildings will hold up to playing abuse. So far they are "wargamer proof".

About 3'x4' of the table will actually be all buildings. The buildings are all custom made using GameCraft Miniatures kits. The Ville will include a large 9"x6"x5" church on one corner. The center of the town, about 3 square blocks, will include a 4 story tall "Hotel du Mort" and the "famous" "Cafe du Mort". 1/4 of the ville will be shelled buildings and the rest will be multi story large living areas. Its ambitious to say the least.

Early war stuff.....

I got the early war bug about the same time i was down at my folks place as my dad and I sat down and watched a few WWII documentaries on "The H". I got home and dusted off my early /mid Grenadiers and decided to test out Carlo's new technique on some non camo guys. Ill taker some pics later but here's a Sdkfz. 250/3 I did up a few months ago.

And finally.....

My dad gave me a book on the 653rd Independent Jagd Battalion for my birthday last year. I was hoping Battlefront would come out with a JagdTiger by now but they had not. I went ahead and purchased a Quality Castings/Old Glory JagdTiger and it got here this week. I guess I'm spoiled because the quality of their stuff is way sub-par. It was the mold lines from hell kit and it is much smaller than any of the Battlefront stuff. The JagdTiger is slightly longer than a Tiger II but this kit is a bit smaller than BFs KonigsTiger. I wasn't sure if I was going to paint one up for use on the filed or just as an objective marker for FOW. I think it'll probably be an objective marker. I've added a picture of it primered. I'll end up painting up in panzer gray with ordinance tan lines.

First Post!!

2009-08-20T17:45:00.001-07:00

Hey folks,

Max here welcome to my Fire For Effect! web-blog thingy. This blog is for me to rant and rave about my current hobby.

My love for miniature wargaming started back in 1984 when I attended a model/game convention in Pasadena, California. I grew up with my father, and my hero, who built 1/35th and 1/72nd scale military models (mostly military vehicles) and is a huge WWII military history enthusiast. I remember building my frist model at the age of 7 and continuing thru high school until other interests, and lack of time, got in the way.

That fateful day in 1984 pretty much cemented my love for wargaming. Mr. Steve Lorenz was running a intro game to his fantastic “PANZER WAR” rules in 1/285^th scale. The miniatures, the terrain, everything had me hooked.

Today, some 30 years later, I’ve moved up to 15mm but still pretty much play WWII. In 2006 I picked up my first Battlefront miniatures and a rulebook for “FLAMES OF WAR”. While the rules are “OK” I prefer other rule sets. With the popularity of FOW it is difficult to get players to try different rulesets, even if you don’t have to re-base.

Well that is all for the first post. Enjoy my blog!!

Max