"Remember what the general said; we're the cavalry. It would be bad form to arrive in advance of schedule."

My British Airborne group (special order) finally arrived:

I cleaned and based the two company command teams, the observer and the staff teams. By my estimation I have everyone standed or on painting sticks I need for my Airlanding Company. The exception being I haven't bought the Tetrarchs, nor have I bought all of the necessary jeeps I need.

My progress so far:

• Company Command, cleaned, based & primed
• All my Airlanding platoons (4) are all primed and have the flesh painted.
• All (8) 6 pdr AT guns are assempled; primed & base coated in Russian Uniform.
• AT crew, cleaned & primed
• 75mm pack howitzers (4) are drilled out, assembled, primed and base coated in Russian Uniform.
• RA artillery crew, cleaned and primed (observer & staff teams cleaned, primed and based)
• Sniper teams (3), Light Mortar teams (4), PIAT teams (6) & Pathfinder team (1) are primed, basecoated, based and bases textured.
• Mortar section cleaned and glued to painting sticks (Observers based and bases textured)
• MG Section cleaned, based and bases textured.
• Two (three)Objectives have been built and mounted on a textured base.

Not sure how I ended up with three objectives. I guess I will use one to test out my base colors

Tim, they call him...

One if by land, and two if by sea;

"One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be..."

Ok... how many if by glider?

I have been working on my British Airlanding company some more.

My progress so far:

• Airlanding platoons (4) are all primed and have the flesh painted.
• 6 pdr AT guns (8) are assembled; primed and base coated (Russian Uniform).
• AT crew cleaned and glued to painting sticks
• 75mm pack howitzers (4) are assembled; primed and base coated (Russian Uniform).
• Royal Artillery crew cleaned and glued to painting sticks
• Sniper teams (3), Light Mortar teams (4), PIAT teams (6) & Pathfinder team (1) are primed, basecoated, based and bases textured.
• Mortar section cleaned and glued to painting sticks (Observers based and bases textured)
• MG Section cleaned, based and bases textured.
• Two Objectives have been built and mounted on a textured base.
  

I have the British Airborne Command on order. It contains some seated airborne troops & drivers as well as the staff, observers and the command team for the Royal Artillery.

On the bases, I am taking extra care with these guys... trying to hide the figure bases with Liquatex sand/resin stuff. I want to work out a different set of colors for the actual base color. Something darker and richer than what I am using now.

That's all for now...

Tim, they call him...

"Well, as you know, I always felt we tried to go a bridge too far" - Gen. Browning

I have found something interesting out this past week. It is very satisfying to work on two very opposite projects at the same time. I have been spending a lot of time working on my AWI cavalry and light infantry. When I find them frustrating or boring...I just switch back to my Brit' Airlanding company

It means nothing gets completed fast...but I don't reach those 'blocks' I used to... at least so far.

So for my MW Airlanding Company:

• The four Airlanding platoons are cleaned, glued to painting sticks, primed and base coated flesh; next comes flesh wash and highlighting.
• The MG platoon is cleaned, based and the bases textured; next step is priming.
• The Mortar platoon is cleaned and glued to painting sticks; next step is priming.
• The Airlanding artillery platoon has been cleaned, guns assembled, crews glued to painting sticks; next step is priming.
• One A/T platoon is cleaned and assembled; next step is gluing to paintsticks and priming
• The other A/T platoon is still in the blisters.

I have a fifth Airlanding platoon in a blister. I plan on using the extra figures for the artillery command and staff team and perhaps a platoon of Royal Engineers (flamethrowers).

I will work some more on my Brit's when I get home tonight.

Tim, they call him...

Skin game...

Man I hate painting infantry!

I finally got all the skin painted on my Brits. I started using Vallejo's Suntanned Flesh, but it looked to pale. I know these are supposed to be pasty Brit's, but I wanted something darker. I ended up using an old bottle of Ral-Partha flesh, which is a little dark, but covered well. I think I am going to go back with the Vallejo paint and highlight the faces. That will give me some depth on the figures. I think pants and boots are next. I am not just avoiding the Denison smocks camo, but I rather paint them last. Less chance of accidently painting over the smock that way.

Tim, they call him

Decisions, Decisions

I finally decided how I am gonna paint my Brit's. As usual I did some research and came up with a plan. Rather than spray prime in white, grey or black, I glued everyone to popsicle sticks and brush primed them with thinned down (approx. 50%/50%) Vallejo English Uniform. I picked this trick up from a gentleman on the Flames of War forum. So far it looks like a good decision.

I put together one of my painting guides to remind me what I am doing. If you like you can find it here:

http://www.stugiii.com/Brit%20Airborne%20Guide.pdf

Most of the pictures are from http://www.6th-airborne.org/index.html and are used without permission (I asked them, but they never replied to my email).

Tim, they call him...

The British Are Coming!

I spent last night cleaning up the miniatures for my basic Parachute/Airlanding plotoons. The two man teams (Pathfinder, PIAT, Sniper & Light Mortar) I glued to small bases. Everyone else went onto popsicle sticks for priming and painting. So that gives me:

• Company HQ (2 teams; 6 figures)
• Pathfinder team (1 team; 1 figure)
• PIAT teams (6 teams; 12 figures)
• Sniper teams (3 teams; 6 figures)
• Light Mortar teams (4 teams; 8 figures)
• Platoon HQ's (4 stands; 12 figures)
• Rifle/MG teams (18 teams; 90 figures)

Hmmm 6+1+12+6+8+12+90=135 infantry (so far). I suppose I should mention that I hate painting infantry. I hate painting them, but I enjoy playing infantry...even against tanks.

Tonight I will get eveyone primed and maybe start painting the flesh...

I am also going to put together one of my "painting guides" for British Airborne troops.

T

My Insanity Continues...

Ok sports fans... I spent a day going over the D-1 lists and came up with my painting list. Since the internal organization of British Airlanding platoons doesn't change between mid and late-war, I just need to make a few support changes to morph the company from one period to the next.

Late War - British Airlanding Company List

Company HQ

HQ Section

1 Sniper team

Airlanding Platoon

HQ Section

1 PIAT team

1 Light mortar team

3 Rifle Squad (5x teams)

Airlanding Platoon
HQ Section
1 PIAT team
1 Light mortar team
3 Rifle Squad (5x teams)

Airlanding Platoon
HQ Section
1 PIAT team
1 Light mortar team
3 Rifle Squad (5x teams)

Airlanding Mortar Platoon

HQ Section

1 Observer team

ML 3-inch Mortar (2x teams)

Airlanding Anti-tank Platoon

HQ Section

4x OQF 6pdr gun

4x Jeep

Airlanding Anti-tank Platoon
HQ Section

4x OQF 6pdr gun
4x Jeep

Airlanding Battery, Royal Artillery

HQ Section

Staff team

1 Observer team

2x M1A1 75mm pack howitzer

2x Jeep

Airlanding Armored Recce Platoon

3x Tetrarch Light tanks

Total List Cost: 1490

Mid War - British Airlanding Company List

Company HQ
HQ Section
1 Sniper team

Airlanding Platoon
HQ Section
1 PIAT team
1 Light mortar team
3 Rifle Squad (5x teams)

Airlanding Platoon

HQ Section

1 PIAT team

1 Light mortar team

3 Rifle Squad (5x teams)

Airlanding Platoon

HQ Section

1 PIAT team

1 Light mortar team

3 Rifle Squad (5x teams)

Airlanding Mortar Platoon
HQ Section
1 Observer team
ML 3-inch Mortar (2x teams)

Airlanding Anti-tank Platoon
HQ Section

4x OQF 6pdr gun
4x Jeep

Airlanding Anti-tank Platoon

HQ Section

4x OQF 6pdr gun

4x Jeep

Airlanding Battery, Royal Artillery

HQ Section

Staff team

1 Observer team

4x M1A1 75mm pack howitzer

4x Jeep

Airlanding Machine-gun Platoon

HQ Section

1 Machine-gun Section (2x Guns)

Total List Cost: 1480

I will also pick up a Typhoon or two for airpower.

I think I have enough figures to make four airlanding platoons...I can always use the extra to bump up the points or use them as engineers. I could also use the extra teams to swap out the light mortars and field parachute platoons if necessary.

Time to go clean and prep the miniatures...
Tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel...

Tim, they call him...

My Insanity...

In 2007, I started a blog (http://360.yahoo.com/decurion2000) to chronicle the painting of my USMC Rifle Company. It has evolved since then, but I can't help but notice that my Rifle Company is the only Flames of War force that I planed, purchased, painted and finished in a logical and organized manner.

Since then I have painted a lot of miniatures, but it is hit and miss...some bright shiny object attracts my attention and my focus gets distraction is focused elsewhere and my mini's languish unpainted and unloved.

So, I have decided to return to the successful formula and blog my painting progress...or paint to my blogging progress? Either way... Rather than finish some WIP (god forbid!). I have decided to start anew. I have a number of armies worth of unpainted led, so turning to the boxes stored in the "Holy of Holys" I selected my British Airborne troops.

Market/Garden has been one of my favorite campaigns ever since I read "A Bridge too Far" when I was 16 or so. Several years back I started buying British Airborne troops. I now have several pounds worth just begging to be painted...

I began by researching the lists. One thing that quickly became apparent was there was little difference between a mid-war and a late-war force... Goodie! The US Para's underwent a dramatic reorganization leading up to D-Day and it is difficult to morph an mid-war into a late-war force and visa versa.

I started with late-war (that on is on Army Builder). I quickly decided that I wanted to to an Airlanding company rather than a Parachute one. The reason? Support options... The plain truth of the matter is I will be facing tanks (good ones) if I play late war. The airlanding units get better support units. Both airlanding and para platoons are Fearless Veterans (unlike the US!), so I wasn't "downgrading". The only real difference is para platoons consist of a Command team; a PIAT team, and six Rifle/MG teams. The airlanding platoon consists of Command team; a PIAT team, a light mortar team and five Rifle/MG teams. Basically a Rifle/MG team replaced by a light mortar.

I am off to work on my list...