Kitchen Table Update #5: Sdkfz 251/22 (Pak40)

Been busy this weekend, instead of the painting shots here's some work I've done on converting a Warlord Sdkfz 251 into a 251/22 with Pak 40. This one has been sitting around for while, with out bits done here and there, however you would have thought this an easy conversion, it wasn't! The Warlord Pak40 itself has a horrible out of scale barrel and muzzle break, and the shield doesn't slip into the 251 body to well. I obtained a 1/48 75mm barrel and married it up with the "jobbed" pak40. The clearing the interior was also a pain as its a one piece cast. Also the thickness of the mudguards is significantly out of scale so these were also slimmed down.

The crew are chopped around Warlord Pak 40 crew, these have the separate head option which make up some nice figures in the end.

I intend to have this one modelled with foliage, so have added some field modified "chicken wire" support as so often seen in Normandy and onwards in responce to the allied air cover.

And finally, my kitchen sink! no prizes for guessing the contents! This is a mundane but vital part of the process, which i do after the initial clean up work. No magic ingredients, just washing up liquid and an old toothbrush.

Cold War T54's

No excuses, bit of a theme here, some more cold war soviets, and still more to come. This time 20mm kit T54's, iconic tank this one. Again the premise was Cold War, therefore weathering limited to mud and dust, no rust streaks and ostfront scratching to fall back on. I will admit the weathering on these took 3-4 months on and off, i just wasn't happy and kept revising techniques untill i was satisfied ( so please no how-tos on these ones!). I can be a PITA sometimes with my work, commission or otherwise and have been known to re-paint even at some late stages. If i'm not happy with it, it won't go out the door!

And just to prove i'm fallible, i have (since posting) found a slight mistake on these, which i'm sure will be pointed out in bold when i hawk these over the forums.

As always click on the pics for warts and all pics.

2nd Panzer Div, Ardennes (in 15mm)

Half of a commission here, bit of a mixture of manufacturers, Peter Pig ( Panthers),  8 Rads, Horches, Demags ( CD/Skytrex) and Kerr&King 251's with BF crews.

Warlord Bren Gun Carriers - without bases

Lovely remodelling job from Warlord, these really do look the part now, painted with MTP camo, Guards Armoured, Normandy. They come with moulded in driver torso, seperate heads and two bren's, one for the AA mount and one "up front".  All decals on these two are Dom's Decals, if you can make them out under the dust!

Warlord Churchill - Normandy Stalwart

I really like the Churchill visually, probably my favorite Allied vehicle. As a painting canvas the straight surfaces and lines are great to show a variation of tonal finishes. Anyway, you've had the WIP shots, now here's the finished article.  Painted as it comes, no mods (as per Warlord display criteria).  Nice solid kit with no fiddly bits, just the Mg's, barrel and TC hatches to add on. The pictures show two different lighting settings, am not convinced which is best.  I've spent some additional time distressing the paint finish, not the "en vogue" gamers huge over scale scratches (its depicted as Normandy, so not in theatre long enough for that Ostfront  vibe!) but rather tone changes and fading combined with dust. Most pictures and movie reels show a heavy layer of dust, i am working up to this as i feel its difficult to pull off convincingly in 1/56th without it looking like a newbies bad hair day with MIG pigments (which incidentally guys, aren't the panacea everyone thinks they are!).

The TC is a Warlord figure but is not included in the kit (one of my stock dummies). Hopefully we'll see a Crocodile soon as well.  I now have a raft of new Warlord Hun opposition awaiting a start date, so Normandy fans will be pleased over the next couple of months.

The techniques are subtle so warrant a full screen, please double click for "warts and all" or alternatively visit my flickr for maximum viewing pleasure.

ISU 152

Plastic kit, actually painted as Cold War, but no discernable difference. Sorry cant recall make, but lovely AB crewmen.

as always click on for full fat pictures

"why do i get the 12.7mm all the time!"

Kitchen Table Update# 4 Allied 28mm

Just a teaser today, but you should be able to see some progression between the WIP shots.
First up JTFM Staghound and Warlord Quad (converted), both at the final weathering and detailing stage. Note decals applied and sealed, crew started. The two crew come with the Staghound, I've chopped them down a bit but nice additions. The Quad, has had a canvas roof added, rear superstructure mounting arrangements and rear view mirrors.
(as always click on the pictures for full fat "warts and all" views)

Warlord Churchill, just after decaling, you can also see the effect of washes and oil paint fading. The Quad is the unconverted version, as it comes

 Warlord Churchill, essentially post airbrushing, pretty plain huh!

Converted Quad alongside its standard cousin, you can see the effects of oil paint fading, sneaky Warlord Bren in progress, note no base!.

The next shot shows the painting detailing on the canvas tilts, prior to washes.

This little ensemble is the Warlord 25pdr set. I have mounted the figures on metal washers and fashioned the master bases to facilitate removal. The 25pdr has been slightly modified with the top shield replaced and modelled down.

And also hanging around, 12SS combo, two separate commissions. Heavily mod'd JTFM 251'Ds, mod'd JTFM 234/1, PzrIV and another lovely little Luchs ( with Warlord commander) more of these in later posts.

On to Berlin

Late War Russians, T34/85s and ISU152. I believe these little beauties are SHQ, they are all metal, nice and robust gaming pieces. I have added crew, one Milicast and one AB. As always, more "full fat" pictures in my flickr galleries.

Now Sold