My first 28mm WWII figures...Renegade

[Blue in vt]

Howdy all!

In an effort to get some of my friends to do some Table top Wargamming with me I have branched out into WWII 28mm gaming.  My situation is a little odd in that I will own both forces...and paint them...I'm not expecting to be playing "out" anytime soon...so with that in mind when a great deal on a lot of British and German miniatures from Renegade came along I jumped on them...as I understand it they don't really fit well with many other ranges but I like the sculpts and the price was right so I bought them.

These are the first WWII minis that I've ever painted and in fact the first historical models as well so I'm looking for some constructive criticism of the color choices and the paint jobs.  I'm hoping to crank out two table Top quality forces (a platoon per side) fairly quickly... I'm not terribly happy with how these turned out...but its a good start.

My first Brit Trooper:



Not real happy with his face...may need a sepia wash or something

My first Wehrmacht trooper:



Should he have collar tabs?

Are his pants too green?

How should I base these guys? on washers?  If so how do you "level" out the ground....some kind of putty or filler?

Thanks for your advice in advance

Cheers!

Blue

[Michi]

Very nice start on the subject, though early war German pants were grey...

[Calimero]

It look good to me except that the backpack should be the same color as the webbing. Also the upper part of the Lee Enfield rifle is made out of wood, not gun metal. Here's a WWI gun but it's basically the same thing…



My first Wehrmacht trooper:



Should he have collar tabs? Yes, you can paint them if you want to, it would look better. I always paint the coat’s collar dark green rather than grey myself but I’m not really sure if it was the case on actual uniform…

Are his pants too green? Short answer, yes. They should be grey.

How should I base these guys? on washers?  If so how do you "level" out the ground....some kind of putty or filler? You can either use washer, penny or commercial bases (I prefer to use Litko 7/8” round, 1.5mm thick, bases myself). To do the bases I basically just use some white glue and some sand to "level" the integral base of the figures.

Here are some of my own WWII German (early war hence the greener uniform coat)… Not the better picture I’m afraid;



Hope that helps

[Blue in vt]

Thanks...those are all very helpful tips....I'm glad that I asked!

The idea for the green backpack came from the artizan Brit painting guide which calls for it to be Khaki green...they suggest Vallejo Russian Uniform (924)....mine is probably a little too green...it would probably look better if it were beige as well though...thanks for the input.

Keep an eye on this space for round two which will incorporate as much of the feedback from this thread as possible.

BTW...what is the thing on his back below the backpack...I have it painted Brown but I'm not sure what it is supposed to be///   sorry I'm new to this!

Blue

[Calimero]

That’s a folded entrenching tool… it’s a canvas pouch with the wood handle of the tool visible. It could be painted as the webbing too except the handle which should be brown.

[Blue in vt]

Thanks...mystery solved.

I should mention that I'm gunning for a late war feel with these guys.

Cheers,

Blue

[Faber]

very nice. I'm painting wermacht guys too. Maybe you can try to shade him a little more with GW washes, Badab Black on the uniform and Devlan Mud on the brown stuff.

[Blue in vt]

Alright...well here are my next 2 attempts...I've tried to incorporate as many suggestions as possible...I'm much more happy with these though I think the Brit is a little on the light brown side...  anyway let me know what you think.





Cheers,

Blue

[Chairborne_General]

looking nice-yup late war definitely. Poor chap might get on a fizzer though as personal webbing (apart from some units) in NW Europe-not Italy, should be blancoed. Blanco is KG63 a green colour kind of valejo russian green. The respirator bag was also green with a lighter coloured tab-I have one as I recreate British inf/paras.

[Faber]

they look better even if I do not think that a miniature should recreate the exact colour of any detail. For my personal way to paint WWII, the main target is to reach the global effect and I think that both the british and the nazi are ok!

[Calimero]

I agree with Faber, both figures look good

[Blue in vt]

Thanks guys...I'm pretty happy with these...I think they will look even better when based.  I'm off to the hardware store to find some washers!

Cheers,

Blue

[Chairborne_General]

1p coins? might even and rather strangely-be cheaper!

[Blue in vt]

A good suggestion...but I'm in the US so they are hard to find...

Plus I hope to find something magnetic so I can transport them safely.

Cheers,

Blue

[Chairborne_General]

I should've guessed -the VT bit! Good luck in your search. I wish I had gone magnetic myself as moving your figs about is a huge problem sometimes...