Bolt Action - Fallschirmjäger (Nick)

I only finished the first of my Aussies just the other week, but with the 75th D-Day Anniversary fast approaching surprise, surprise yet another change of tack from me and one of those other projects that I mentioned was calling to me at the end of my last post!

Once again another miniature that has been waiting over two years to see completion, however on this occasion not even so much as primer had been applied just cleaned up and stuck on a base along with some buddies ready for the painting to start.

This is a project I started to join in with a Bolt Action campaign when a last minute Axis place became available, and I specifically needed something suitable for Normandy which I didn't have.
As time was of the essence and generally preferring metal miniatures when practical I plumped for the original Fallschirmjäger range from Warlord Games, wonderfully evocative sculpts as ever from the talented Paul Hicks.

The campaign (which never really got going) would have required my core troops to be regular rather than veteran Fallschirmjäger, however a quick chat with my good friend, and font of WW2 knowledge, Andy Singleton followed by some Googling and I would be portraying the Fallschirmjäger 3rd Division, in particular the newly formed 9th Regiment.

I struggled for quite some time deciding how best to paint this one (probably the main reason I stalled so long), in particular the Splittermuster B (splinter pattern) camo and the colours to use for this and all the equipment.

In the end I used a culmination of information found in articles by the afore mentioned Mr Singleton (link) (link) of Volley Fire Painting Services, Stuart McCorquodale (link) of Great Escape Games and the go-to Mick Farnworth (link) and his Artizan Designs painting guides.
I also found this excellent blog as my final inspiration to get started (using the same minis too), as well as the colours suggested in the relevant Vallejo paint collection from Warlord Games - always a good reference.

Many of the Vallejo colours I ended up using were in fact Model Air equivalents of Model Colour paints I didn't have, but applied with a brush.  However this isn't much of a problem as they work really well especially on small, intricate areas like the camo scheme where having the paint slightly thinned is an advantage anyway.
Basing was deliberately finished to match the 101st Airborne I completed in January.

Hopefully I can follow this up quickly with the other FJ's that are primed and ready to go, so that Carl and I can get some games in based around Hill 192 and St Lô in the historically authentic June and July period - then Operation Cobra maybe!

Bolt Action - US Airborne (Nick)

So just 6 days into the New Year and I'm one down already, and while that's not a miniature-a-day it is two months sooner than I was able to show anything in 2018 so definitely a step in the right direction!

This is another one of those minis that's been 95% finished for over 2 years - just waiting for insignia, matt varnish and basing in this instance ...this one's been 'screaming' at me for ages, so really glad to finally see him complete :)

This is a test piece for my US Airborne force in Normandy, especially St. Mere Eglise and Carentan as a project some time in the future so is wearing the m1942 uniform and is one of the excellent metal range from Warlord Games - these are fantastic sculpts and the detail almost paints itself.

The base uniform colour is often the subject of much conjecture, probably not helped by the quality of the material and abusive battlefield conditions it was subjected to.  For my own taste, based on the information I could find I knew I wanted a green tinted, sandy colour and finding a base colour I was happy with proved elusive until I found the Russian Uniform spray from Plastic Soldier Company which proved just the ticket.

One of the reasons this particular miniature has been on hold for so long is my indecision between 101st 'Screaming Eagles' or 82nd 'All American' divisions and therefore the shoulder patch I would apply (I was also planning the Stars and Stripes patch for the right shoulder but recently discovered this almost certainly wasn't worn by the 101st in Normandy).

Both have their merits with the 82nd badges being more colourful against the green/grey and 'All American', but as I really wanted to use the characterful 'Mohawk' pathfinder models associated with the 101st and also have models for Dick Winters and Lt. Spiers not to mention the aforementioned battles of St. Mere Eglise and Carentan it really did sway the eventual choice of 101st Screaming Eagles even though the 82nd featured heavily at St. Mere Eglise (maybe I'll add some units of those too when it comes to recreating that particular battle?).

Overall I'm really happy with the result and can't wait for a chance to paint up some more... maybe for Warlord's own D-day 75th Anniversary campaign day in June?  Although I do have to question my own sanity for adding shading to the Screaming Eagle decal before sealing with matt varnish, but it just popped too much against the drab uniform and just didn't look part of it... much happier with it now, and maybe just a 'little' OCD?

Now onto the next minis to grab my attention... need to keep the momentum going, but also not loose sight of the new project I started putting together in November with the intention of gaming and expanding it throughout 2019.