Airborne April (5.7. Last Red Devils with Jeeps and a tank!)

[Nysse]

To combat my ever growing pile of unpainted lead I decided to start themed months to get projects done. To kick this off I present Airborne April! I'm planning to tackle two airborne forces for WW2 in two different scales. Red Devils in 28mm and 101st Airborne in 15mm. The 101st is already about half done and I'm planning to get the support sections done during April. The Red Devils are completely without paint except for a few minis that I've painted a few years back when I originally wanted to start Bolt Action

So the plan for next month is to get all of these guys done. Hopefully the shame caused by failure to deliver will inspire me to actually get them painted

101st in 15mm

• Mortar Platoon - done
• 57mm Antitank platoon
• Glider Field Artillery battery
• Jeep Recon platoon - done
• AOP post
• Command stands - done

Red Devils in 28mm

• HQ with medics and forward observers - done
• 2 Airborne Squads - done
• 2 Recon Jeeps
• HMG team - done
• PIAT team - done
• Sniper team - done
• 3 inch mortar team - done
• 6pdr anti-tank team
• Flame Thrower team - done

As a sneak peek I've got most of the Red Devils more or less based and waiting for basecoat. I'm going for the slightly cliche Arnhem theme to try my hand at making rubble bases.



So stay tuned! Starting off with some Flames of War stuff to get a good painting flow going

[flags_of_war]

Great stuff. Ill be doing more of my Red Devils in April as well. You have a made a better start than me though as your guys are all based

[Johnno]

I'll be following keenly as my Red Devils need painting also. Mine aren't based yet. (In the mail). Hopefully this will motivate me.

[tomek917]

Looking forward to this, great start on those bases!

[Nysse]

Thanks guys! flags_of_war & Johnno I'm looking forward to seeing your Red Devils too Nothing improves efficiency like a bit of sparring

Got the first stuff done. These guys have been sitting on my desk with only a basecoat for what seems like ages. And embarrassingly they have grazed far too many battlefields without paint on.

I finally painted my company command with their bazookas and the last three rifle/mg stands to take my infantry platoons to full strength. The resin bases are from Kerr & King. Nice way to add a little character to the minis. They are definately not the best quality though as all of mine have quite a few blowholes and other problems. Luckily most of it can be fixed rather easily as most of the detail is just ground or rocks, so it's not that big of an issue.

I also tried to paint the insignia and the national flag on them again. Makes the guys pop out more without too much extra work.

Bit more on the blog for those interested.

Next up the Jeep platoon.

[warburton]

Good work; I look forward to seeing the 28mm stuff next...   

[Nysse]

Thanks warburton! No 28mm yet, but at least now I've got some of the brits started so maybe I'll have them done soonish.

I quickly finished the recon jeeps for the 101st. Decided to go with the armoured version as the battlefront kit doesn't really work that well without the armour plates even if it's not historically accurate. Quick paintjob with a green basecoat followed by a dark yellow highlight all applied with an airbrush and then followed by edge highlights. After that only the uniforms and tires were really left along with some grime streaks. I didn't have any US decals available and all the local stores seemed to have them only on mail order so no stars on these guys.

[pocoloco]

Great stuff Nysse! 

So what's the plan for May? Monster May?

[tomek917]

They look great! And you can always add stars later

So what's the plan for May? Monster May?

Perhaps Magyar May? 

[Nysse]

So what's the plan for May? Monster May?

Actually Monster May is high on the list for possibilities I've got a few Warhammer monsters begging for paint. Though I did finally get my Empress Kickstarter goodies a few weeks back. Some other folks at my club have them too and there have been plans for a pacific themed Force on Force campaign in the summer, so I might have to go with Modern May Terrible choices that a man must make in his life...

Perhaps Magyar May? 

Don't tempt me! Must resist urge to buy more FoW...

[pocoloco]

... so I might have to go with Modern May

Now, come to think of that, it might be my destiny for May as well 

[Nysse]

Well I managed to finish the first Red Devils squad finally! Next up the command teams and some support weapons as the final rifle squads have been trying to make their way to Finland for roughly two months already. Though a local store has Warlord boxes going for -50% and there's a bunch of the Red Devils boxes just waiting for someone to pick a few up... I don't have any need for more MG's, mortars and PIATs, but -50% is quite tempting

Anyhow a fairly simple paintjob with the uniform receiving base colours and one highlight followed by a wash to add depth. The berets were surprisingly hard to paint though as getting any depth and colour variation without having them look shiny was really difficult. Flat cloth surfaces are always a bit annoying in this way. Or then I need more practice

I didn't add any insignia on these guys as I'm still waiting for Warlord decals that I want to try to see how well they work. Would save me a lot of time and eye strain if they look good enough

The bases are still a bit WIP. I'm not 100% satisfied with them, but can't really figure out what more to put on them. So any tips on urban rubble basing is welcome Especially the ones with only bricks look a bit bare at the moment, but I'm not sure if I should add a bit of foliage and grass or just more rubble.

Anyways a few more pics on blog for those more interested: http://engineered-gaming.blogspot.fi/2014/04/red-devils-rifle-squad.html

[Paleskin]

28mm loveliness!

Looking great,keep it up!

[Nysse]

Thank you paleskin!

[tomek917]

They look great!

About the bases, perhaps some broken glass? Spent shells? Wood in some different colors?
I'd avoid foliage, might look weird.