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.

Lion Rampant - bidowers (Nick)

Ah, so the Dark Ages miniatures mentioned at the close of my last post slipped by the wayside for one reason or another and Plan B was put into action for the games at Salute - thanks to Carl for some last minute beg & borrow on that one! (don't worry they are on their way, just not finished... yet!)

Instead I finally finished my first proper unit for Lion Rampant, well two units really as they will mostly be used as bidowers which are taken in units of six.

These guys have been waiting something ridiculous like two years for the bases to get done, and although I desperately want to go back and add highlights and more detail in the faces, I guess it's better to finish some more units to this standard first!

The miniatures are all medieval slingers from Curteys Miniatures, primed with various green and brown sprays from Army Painter, Plastic Soldier Company and even and old can of Russian Green from Miniature Paints for the main tunic colours.  Then matching colours and a few alternative 'spot' colours were used throughout to hopefully create a muted, rag-tag but cohesive appearance.

If you look carefully you might notice the odd instance of a brighter green and yellow, these are my chosen livery colours which you should seen popping up in every unit.

After picking out the hands and faces with Dwarf Flesh, a liberal wash of Vallejo's Sepia Shade 'Dipping Formula' was applied and that was it apart from the long awaited basing.

The bases themselves are deliberately fussy to convey the impression of scrub and undergrowth were these skirmishing troops are most likely to be found, taking advantage of whatever cover and broken ground they can find.

Even though I only had to finish the bases on these 12 (and I may come back to them later), I'm calling them done for now which bumps my yearly total up to 46 completed so far... not that many as we are now into May, but at least I get to keep these ones and it all counts as off the lead mountain!