British Airborne - 28mm

[fred]

Something a bit different from my normal 10mm figures - 28mm plastic Warlord British Airborne. I'm building up a platoon plus support elements, initially for Bolt Action as that is what the group want to play, but hopefully for some Chain of Command too.

Soo far built up one and a bit sections, along with an observer / officer and a PIAT.  I have gone quite Sten heavy on the second section.

The raw figures, built this week:



And after getting them sprayed and initial painting done today:


Main colours blocked in, green camo done on all, and brown on about half. Next step is a good strong wash to tone down the smocks (they aren't as bright in real life), then on with flesh and webbing.

I'm quite surprised, and pleased, at how quickly these have come on. I was expecting them to be rather slow to paint.

[Helen]

A nice start to your project.

[stuzzar]

Looking good, I have just ordered a couple of boxes of these so will be following your progress with interest

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Good start, keep up the pace (unlike me ^__^).

What colours are you using?

[Belisarius]

I like these , hav,nt saw them made up before , keep posting your progress.

[fred]

Thanks chaps.

They are easy to build, as most of the arms come ready attached to the weapons, and the small kit (water bottle, entrenching tool, pouch and bayonet) are all in one piece.  The downside of the arms being on the weapon is that its hard to repose the figures.

One thing I did find with basing on coins, is that lots of the running poses are quite hard to attach with superglue, so I cut small pieces of plastic card to glue the figure's foot to (with polystyrene cement) then superglued this to the coin. This was much easier (and I think probably a stronger bond too).

Colours, all Vallejo:
Trousers - english uniform
Smocks - game colour desert yellow base, flat earth and olive green with a drop of military green
Helmets and other metal work - olive green with a drop of military green

I'm kind of following the painting video on the Warlord site.

As with all gamers, I've already done this in another scale - http://www.kerynne.com/games/BritishParas.html

[fred]

Does anyone have any photos of Warlord paras against 1st Corps or Crusader? Or know how these ranges match (or not!) again each other?

[tin shed gamer]

Hi Fred,

I can help a little here, The newer 1st corps Airborne fit nicely between both.
All the jeeps are correct and loaded correctly. The howitzer is on the correct carriage,The airborne carriage Not the air portable carriage others have mistakenly used. The 6pndr is beefer than the warlord one (personally I feel the warlord one is more like a 2 pndr in diameter.) but a similar size.(can post image tomorrow on 6 pndr as I've both undercoated.) the helmets on some of the earlier 1st corps airborne,are a little oversized which is a styling rather than a sculpting choice, As the range has a fan base that's been running for over twenty years. So the newer figures are sculpted to bridge older collections, and to compliment more modern tastes,and manufactures
That said all the drop markers ,parachutes and drop canisters,ammo dumps etc will work nicely with crusaders or warlord figures.

The jeeps ,ordinance,and support weapon systems crews will easily take head swaps from both Crusaders and Warlord. The infantry will take crusaders heads quiet well . Where as the warlord metal heads can be quiet small(no idea when it comes to the plastics, Not been commissioned to paint any.)

Mark.

[fred]

Thanks Mark, that is helpful, the various accessories for 1st Corps look good, and that is a useful pointer about the Jeeps, I'd missed those when I looked earlier on my phone.

It is particularly the size of the 1st Corp infantry against the Warlord plastics that interests me most, so if anyone else has both, it would be good to hear.

[fred]

Got some more done on these chaps tonight. Strong Tone wash across the bodies and legs - you can really see the impact of this, as the centre chap hasn't been washed yet.

Then boots & weapons with black,
Woodwork in a mix of Light Brown and Beasty Brown (also used this to add some highlights to the smocks),
flesh base coat,
and on the right hand four webbing done in Russian Uniform.

Next step is the webbing on the rest of these guys, then hair, which should put paint on everything. Then washes and highlights on all the small bits. Then back to the other six to finish their smocks and webbing.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Well done.

Puts me to shame, I painted one figure over the weekend.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

Did you prime or undercoat the figures?

From the pictures it looks like you have painted directly onto the plastic.

[fred]

I can see why you might think that, Mick. I sprayed them with grey primer, which was pretty much the same shade of grey as the plastic. So I certainly attempted to prime them but quite probably missed bits as I couldn’t see what might have been missed.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

OK, thanks.

I was curious because, when I have written painting guides, I have always emphasised that a primer / undercoat is needed.

[fred]

Absolutely- the plastic is quite shiny it looks like acrylic paint would just slide off.