FINISHED PROJECT - “B” Battalion of the Tank Corps, 1917

[Fugazi]

Nice Work! I love these arrangements on the bases.
Go on with your project - I wait for new pictures 

[Sidney Roundwood]

Slightly slower progress than I had hoped, Ladies and Gentlemen, owing to being busy at work.  Anyway, here's the command group just about finished.  I took a few liberties with the uniforms.  Although "B" Battalion wore, from 18th January 1917, "a band of distinctive colour 1 and a half inches wide around the shoulder strap against the seam" which was yellow ("Tank Action in the Great War", page 25), I couldn't find any record of arm-sashes being worn.  Same with the despatch rider.  In other words, the yellow arm-sashes are made up!

The chauffeur in the Prince Henry Vauxhall is from Sloppy Jalopy.  I thought he looked about the right scale for the car.  Other figures are Great War Miniatures.

I've started the Austin armoured cars and I'm hoping to get them done by the end of the day, my daughter's birthday party permitting!

[Hammers]

Effing brilliant, Sir Sidney. Beautiful colours and weathering.

[The Dozing Dragon]

Jolly good work sir. A credit to the regiment 

[Centaur_Seducer]

Agree with Hammers, splendid job on the weathering and overall look!

[Silent Invader]

Really nice paint colour scheme and brushwork. 

[Sidney Roundwood]

Thanks for the kind comments, Chaps.  I've just about finished the two Austin armoured cars this evening.



Just as a reminder of how they started....



Then a heavy wet brush of dark green (Vallejo Russian Green mixed with Vallejo Black) to serve as a base coat.



Then several coats of dry-brushing with a mix of Vallejo Russian Green with Vallejo German Camo Orange Ochre, adding progresively more of the ochre to try and bring out the contours and texture.  It's at this point that I realised that the resin casting of the cars was a little.....errrr......bumpy!! 



Then a heavily thinned (with white spirit) mix of burnt umber oil paint mixed with rust coloured weathering pigment flicked onto the cars with an old brush.  And yes, the mix and technique is straight out of the Forgeworld “Imperial Armour Masterclass Volume 1" book



OK, so it looks a bit like this after the oil colour weathering….



Then I washed a heavily thinned black oil colour into the various corners, rivets, shelves, bolts and armour plates on the cars.  I usually do this a couple of times, sometimes adding more, sometimes less thinners, trying to get the effect of shading onto the base paint.



Then I added a little more dry-brushing to simulate some mud, mixing a Plaka Yellow-Brown (Gelb-braun) dry-brush with some weathering pigments for texture and a little colour.

I added the details last, which on these Austin armoured cars were really just the unit numbers and some dark-rust weathering pigment fixed in place with an artists matt varnish on the tow chains. 



Well, that’s about it for the command group and the armoured cars.  They just need varnishing and the bases finishing off with some static grass, barbed wire and a couple of other touches and then on to the tanks later this week and next weekend!

[Mr.Marx]

Thats some really rather fantastic looking stuff there, cant wait to see more.

[gamer Mac]

Really lovely paint jobs
Like you style of painting.
weathering is great.

[Sangennaru]

 
stunning work, lovely painting, weathering and kudos for your bases! those are extremely creative! ^^

[Remington]

 

Great painting on the miniatures and lovely work on the vehicles. Beauties all three of them! I know that Sloppy is supposed to be a bit difficult to assemble but your paint-job might convince me to purchase an SJ armoured car instead of a Copplestone one. The about 10 pounds difference might be worth it really.

Thank you for the step by step. I was right: I did learn a lot.

[Bugsda]

Brilliant work   

[Plynkes]

Lovely. Please say the tanks are going to be brown, not green. 

[Sidney Roundwood]

Thank you for the very kind comments Guys.  I really do appreciate the feedback.  I'm in the process of building the tanks today, so I will try and post some pictures tomorrow.  It's looking like next week for much of the actual painting, unless I get a real move on  .  Plynkes, yes!  The tanks are going to be brown.  I'm going to try and follow the illusrtations of D51 "Deborah" in David Fletcher's Osprey book on the Mark IV tank (plate "A").  My idea is that with four tanks I've got the chance to try and vary the weathering/ mud effects.  Well, that's the plan!  OK, back to the araldite and superglue.....

[Gluteus Maximus]

I've normally got no interest in gaming WW1, but these figures and vehicles are so good I can't keep away 

I'm really looking forward to seeing the tanks!