Gunnar's Pacific Adventure

[arget8]

So, with the news that Richard Clarke of TooFatLardies is working on a Far East supplement for Chain of Command, I've decided to finally take the plunge and make my Pacific forces. Right now the plan is just for Japanese, USMC, and US Army, with British troops planned for when Warlord replaces their British plastics, which I imagine will be within the next year.

I have my first platoon of Marines and Japanese built and based. I'm still deciding how to do the bases, since I need them to serve double duty as island hoppers and in the CBI.

Below are the first ten Pacific Theatre US Army test figures painted. Still have to varnish them, but that's a job for a better day. This is where I would normally stop on WWII minis, just basecoat and wash because I like them toned down. That said, I almost think they might be too dark. What do you guys think?

Squad Leaders


Platoon Leader and Platoon Sergeant


Group Shots



Does anyone have thoughts on basing?

[Oldgamer]

Maybe a light sand sagebrush on the bases? I have done mine this way, then added some tufts for a little vegetation. A lot depends on the setting for your games as you can have sand, coral, black sand and earth shades, try to pick a base finish that blends into most of these.

[arget8]

That's kind of the issue. I'd like to play both China, Burma, India and the island hopping campaign, so it's either jungles or sandy/volcanic rocky islands.

[Shahbahraz]

I think they look great, but for me, they do need to be lightened up a bit. Contemporary images show a huge variation in uniform colour, with bleaching very apparent.

I would also agree with other posters. Some base variation would be good. I would be tempted to try and do dried palm leaves, which would be suitable for coral atolls and (if you scrunch your eyes up) jungles.

One of the things, I would love to do convincingly is sweat stains. (In paint of course; real life it's easy..  )

[arget8]

I will be putting some guys in there with even lighter uniforms. I'll be testing that with my Marines, since they pretty much fade to the average color of the Marine uniform  before it fades completely to light gray.

Yeah, since this is a entirely new type of basing for me, I'm a little hesitant to commit to anything yet. probably need to test a few things out.

Sweat stains are a bit beyond how far I want to take these guys. My Dux Brit and GoT guys get far more detail than my WWII guys. I personally don't really like seeing modern soldiers sticking out like a sore thumb on the table, despite the artistic reasoning behind it, so I keep them simple and a little grimy-looking. This is what I typically paint like.

[arget8]

First squad of my Marines (minus a rifleman that I forgot) are ready for basing, once I figure out how I want to do them. The next squad will have even more faded uniforms.

[Shahbahraz]

I reckon they look great - and the dark ages warrior is very nice indeed. As you say, it's very much a matter of taste how much you turn up the contrast on figures.   

[arget8]

Thank you. I'm using the guy that's missing to experiment with more faded uniform colors, so he should look slightly different.

[FreakyFenton]

They look good! And if you like them, I suppose they're perfect!

I have to ask though, did you only use Warlord's USMC sprue? Or regular G.I's as well?

Thanks in advance!

[arget8]

They look good! And if you like them, I suppose they're perfect!

I have to ask though, did you only use Warlord's USMC sprue? Or regular G.I's as well?

Thanks in advance!

For the US Army, I used both. I also have some Marines with Army arms as well that are still unpainted. The Army figures will pass for guys wearing the HBT uniform pretty well, you just need to shave off the epaulets and the bit of the Parsons jacket below the belt. I also plan on using Marine bodies, as it seems that the dress code in the Pacific Theater was pretty lax compared to Europe. That said, the Army was much better about wearing their gaiters over their pants as intended, especially in the jungle, which makes sense.

Here are some more minis that I just finished up a day or two ago. More US Army and some Japanese. I have the rest of the first Japanese squad finished, but I haven't photographed them yet. I will say that the camera is not forgiving on the simpler paint job with close ups, haha. Maybe longer shots in the future.

[FreakyFenton]

Cracking work!