Author Topic: Project log - modern era 20mm European theatre skirmish game (Read 12764 times)

Mr Kissyfur · « **on:** 19 April 2017, 09:41:15 AM »

Hi there

So, after a bit of model stasis (I started painting up the Imperial Assault figures a few months ago, and stalled – got heartily sick of painting Stormtroopers) I decided to embark on a project this year. The kids have very much got into tanks recently (thank you World of Tanks and Bovington Tank Museum) so I decided to put together a small 20mm game for them. The premise is modern-ish, Russian vs US. Rivet counters need not apply – I am very much mixing eras of equipment in the interests of getting on with it. 

So, to start with, here are some Russian soldiers, painted and in need of basing. These are the first 20mm figures I’ve painted, and they’re fiddly little blighters. So they look a little rougher in the close up than they do to my eyes in real life, but hey ho, the camera never lies 

US soldiers on the go:

I have to say, Elhiem figures are superb.

Some armour put together and awaiting painting:

Iv’e got a few more vehicles to do, plus an A-10 and Mig-23 and an AH-64:

Started some flight bases – tried to get a bit of weight on the bottom with a big flat washer:

Buildings are primarily Faller type HO stuff, to get that West German look. I’ve got two more buildings to do, and the ones below need painting (obviously) and a couple still need their guttering. You’ll also see my first attempt at scratch building a building – it was a garage type thing, but think it’s now more of a barn given the size! I was building it using the 20mm soldiers as a guide, but obviously that makes it look oversized compared to the HO buildings… doh. The cladding is made from coffee stirrers, which were cut in half lengthways to make them a bit more scale appropriate as planks. By gum that was time consuming. Roof is Wills sheet stuff.

The intention will be to have 4 2ftx2ft tiles, largely landscaped with fixed contours (no separate removable hills for me) and the buildings will be separately based – haven’t decided if they’ll fit into recesses in the base board (a la Captain Blood’s Quite a Big Terrain Project) or sit on top of flat areas.

Further updates as things progress…

Ultravanillasmurf · « **Reply #1 on:** 19 April 2017, 07:11:20 PM »

Nice figures, at first I thought they were 28mm ^__^.

shrubs · « **Reply #2 on:** 19 April 2017, 10:29:34 PM »

Very nice paint on the Russians! I have some Elheim 80's Soviets, lovely models. Test painted one, absolute pleasure to paint. A nice compromise between fiddly 15mm and the sheer amount of detail in 28mm, wish I would have started in 20mm sooner. Looking forward to more!

jambo1 · « **Reply #3 on:** 20 April 2017, 05:15:37 AM »

Looking very good so far, very impressive!

Mr Kissyfur · « **Reply #4 on:** 23 May 2018, 05:42:48 AM »

Goodness me, this has been dormant a while. In fairness, relocating to Singapore meant I didn’t get much further with it!

Despite the move, I managed to get a wriggle on with some stuff before shipping out in December, and have been painting away since...

I have some terrain boards that have been landscaped and glooped (6 square boards about 18 inches to a side, IIRC), and just need painting and tittivating. I’ll bang up some photos of those soon.

The miniatures all need properly basing still, and I’ll stick in a self-defence disclaimer that the sunlight was a bit bright so it doesn’t really show them off to their best advantage… I’ll try to work out a better way of photographing them… (and the US ones in particular could do with being a little closer...)

The US forces:

The Russkis:

Some (completely inappropriately painted) airsupport:

The panel “lining” doesn’t look quite so stark in real life, honest. There is an A-10, Flogger, Apache and Hind waiting to be done…

Some buildings I’ve put together – these are mostly Faller I think. They all need the grounds doing, obviously! I was planning on doing these at the same time as the terrain boards.

An overview of the main house:

Some other angles of the grounds:

Some other buildings:
The pathway needs drybrushing to finish off on this one, as well as the grounds being painted/vegetated:

Smaller house:

There’s another one that’s mostly built and primed I need to get on with as well, but no photos of that at the moment. I’ve also got a couple more unbuilt but these four will take up enough space on the board for now.

Some vehicles:

Some random scatter terrain that needs basing:

That’s it so far – some AFVs to follow at some point…

Ultravanillasmurf · « **Reply #5 on:** 23 May 2018, 08:13:23 AM »

Nice job.

number1section1 · « **Reply #6 on:** 23 May 2018, 08:43:49 AM »

Very good start, you have enough to game with already! Keep it up!

mikedemana · « **Reply #7 on:** 24 May 2018, 04:44:16 AM »

Great stuff! And I love Singapore - my favorite city in Asia to visit (and my first choice if I had to relocate, as well...).

Mike Demana
www.firstcommandwargames.com
http://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/

racm32 · « **Reply #8 on:** 07 June 2018, 02:02:45 PM »

I'm also working on a modern eastern European project and did not know about that line of HO buildings until I saw your post. Most of mine have been home made. You have done a beautiful job with them so far. Are the roofs removable or would it be difficult to make them so? I like being able to use the interiors of my buildings.

Mr Kissyfur · « **Reply #9 on:** 14 August 2018, 10:26:17 AM »

Hi there - I think you could do them with the roofs removable but I'll be having mine largely fixed, as they just become obstacles rather than internal cover. Keeping it simple!

Some minor progress on the boards and vegetation: