Winter War project log (29.1.): LMG squad done

[Nysse]

Hiya all! I just finished my first batch of Finnish Riflemen from Baker Company's Kickstarter. I decided to go a bit different way from most of the ones I've seen by painting a warm white snow suit starting from Khaki. Went a bit overboard with the highlights so it actually looks a bit too clean Well maybe they are new arrivals at the frontlines with their shiny suits.

Not the best minis I've seen, but good tabletop quality. Though there are some sculpts that are just plain ugly and weird.

I've got a full platoon of Finns and Russians both coming up, plus tanks, guns and trucks. Trying to finnish   all of them in time for the biggest gaming event in Finland in the end of July. My club is planning on building a table and holding a demonstration game there as we have quite a few guys who participated in the Kickstarter and also the 75 anniversary of the start of the War coming up next November.

More pics and some ranting on my blog if you are interested.

[von Lucky]

Looking good - I think the white came out fine.

[Lord of Jerwood]

Looking good can't wait to get mine 

[tomek917]

Those look great!

What event is it in july? Is it in Helsinki?

[Nysse]

Thanks guys!

von Lucky: Yeah it looks fine, but maybe a bit clean. Matches the propaganda photos well though

tomek917: It's called Ropecon. Held in Otaniemi in Espoo, but it's about 15 minutes by bus from Helsinki center.

[Helen]

Nice work on the subject.

[tomek917]

tomek917: It's called Ropecon. Held in Otaniemi in Espoo, but it's about 15 minutes by bus from Helsinki center.

Sounds interesting, and not too far from Stockholm after all! I might have to come and visit!

[Nysse]

Sounds interesting, and not too far from Stockholm after all! I might have to come and visit!

You should! Plus then we can order a bunch of tax-free drinks and Snus from you on the way (at least if you take the traditional party boat instead of an airplane) 

It's originally a roleplaying convention, but board, card and miniatures games have taken quite a large part of it for themselves. We actually have one of our club members in charge of the whole miniatures side of the convention this year, so it should be good. At least some terrain and painting workshops and they are also trying to get a few famous sculptors to give presentations and maybe hold a class on sculpting. And of course gaming

[Nysse]

Yesterday we got started on building a Winter War themed board at the club. We ended up going for a Motti battle, which was a very characteristic Finnish tactic especially during Winter War. It was used especially effectively against mechanized Soviet units which were restricted to moving along the narrow forest roads of Finland and could be easily cut off and separated even by smaller light infantry troops. These separated sections could then be destroyed one at a time even with smaller forces.

The board will be made up of three 120x60cm modules with some modular features like woods, buildings etc. as we wanted to keep it suitable for other eras and games too. And adding extra boards should be easy too with standard pieces.

At the moment we have the basic terrain shape done and waiting for glue to dry. Looks pretty rough at the moment, but everything will be covered with filler and all the shapes will be smoothed out. But that's left for next weeks project day.

Couple of more pics at my blog if you are interested.

The road taking shape



As befits a Winter War project, some blood was spilled during construction with 2 out of 5 guys cutting themselves.



Finished shape with two opposing hills and a road going through the center. The hills can also be positioned next to each other to form a larger hill together.

[von Lucky]

Looking good.

[Nysse]

Managed to finish another squad during the weekend. And today it's terrain day again to smooth out the board details with filler in preparation for painting and flock.

Here we have a command team and an automatic rifle squad with a captured Russian DP-28 'Emma' light machinegun. Finnish troops usually preferred the Russian gun and used those whenever possible instead of the finnish made LMG that was issued to them. The Finnish gun suffered from a low ammo capacity and it wasn't a very reliable weapon in battlefield conditions. A tradition continued with the newest Finnish MG design that has sometimes jokingly been called the worst machine-gun ever designed. I don't think I ever shot it during my time in the army without it jamming at least once.

I simplified the painting process a bit by removing the darkest shadow colour and brightest highlights to speed up the process. These won't ever be of showcase quality thanks to the sculpting so not really worth the effort. Good enough for the tabletop so I guess I'm happy with that. I also added mud to these guys (and the previous batch too) using stipling. First time doing it on something else than tanks. Looks quite nice, but there is still a lot to learn. Any tips on painting mud are very welcome!

More rambling and images can be found on my blog for those interested.







The LMG gunner seems to be related to some Elves at least judging from his face.

[tomek917]

Those look great to me!

Have you ever considered using weathering powders for the dirt?

[Nysse]

Those look great to me!

Have you ever considered using weathering powders for the dirt?

Thanks!

...and yes, I use pigments on armor. I decided to go with stippling on these as it's a bit faster and that's what I've seen most people use on infantry. Might give pigments a try at some point, but I find that they are a bit better suited for an overall dusty finish rather than mud splashes. I also have some product from Marutechnics that seems like extremely fine sand mixed with paint. Might give it a try as it looks great on armor, but I guess the built up mud effect is a bit much for infantry. Should work wonders with guns etc. though.

[Quendil]

Looking good, will be following this as I wait for mine to arrive

[Nysse]

Thanks! It is taking a surprisingly long time for some people to get theirs. Darn casting machine breakdowns.