Priming, Painting and another P Word

Experimenting with ways of brushing on german camo

After the camo job, with the paints used - it looks okay, a little too washed, but okay

After the wash and gloss coat, next - decals and flat - oh yeah, tracks

After that, finish the Bren and 6PDR - something has to bring that monster down

Hobbytime one day - Litko mini splashes, GaleForce Nine bases, FIB infantry, CDTOB markers

Wargamers Cave in Granite City Illinois

Wargamers Cave in Granite City, IL Forged in Battle Goodness!

Some photos from recent hobby stuff.
Just about done with the Airfix Stug III, 1:76 scale. Just need decals, which I've not done in ages - 30 years. Matte varnish and tracks on. I like the camo job I did on it, though it could be a bit more pronounced.  A second, less watered down layer would do the trick.

Next up is finishing the Bren and 6 pounder. It is fiddly as all get out. Funny, I just read that on someone's blog about the plastic kits found in the Battlefront Achtung box set. That they are less fiddly than the airfix. That would be nice.

I also finished some order cubes for Command Decision, Test of Battle. They turned out okay, If I need too many more, I'm tempted to buy the order cubes they sell.

I bought some of the Litko mini splash markers to use for Naval Thunder. Litko has some cool stuff. I wish they weren't the only US company making bases - wait, there's also Gale Force Nine, and ???  I bought them at Wargamers Cave in Granite City, IL. The markers are cool looking and were $6 for 10. And I got to use them...more on a later post.

While at the Wargamers Cave, I also bought some Forged in Battle 15mm Russians and German infantry. timmy! recommended I look there for these. They're both platoon packs with 40 some figs.  First some thoughts on FIB figures:

• $17 for 40 figs makes about 12 infantry stands for CDTOB, 4 Inf Cmd Stands, a Battalion Command Stand and a couple MG stands. (though it appears I may have been slighted a MG stand. There's one firing and one with the soldier carrying it down facing. .. I would rather have two firing. They show two firing in photos on site...)
• nice sculpts with nice detail 
• looks they'll need minor clean up - though I can feel they'll need a good hot water and soap bath
• price seems decent - though you still have to buy stands for them - though I would anyway. I say all that because these are obviously designed for the Flames of War player in mind. FOW soldiers come with stands. Though they Showed me some cool rubble stands at the Cave.
• not a lot of variety in the figs - not that big o deal, but I can see it turning some people off

Second, on the store - he can get a ton of stuff special ordered. But he stocks a lot of FOW alternative stuff which I think is cool. He has a great selection of the Forged in Battle product. Pretty small shop, just room for three tables, but that's okay. Though I was surprised it was empty for a Sunday afternoon. Next time I will shop online or via phone and have it shipped for $6. It's about 60 miles from my house, so it's worth it to have it shipped.

I was tempted by the FIB figures and the Plastic Soldier company ones. However, the fact that you have to assemble the plastic figs kind of freaked me out a bit. Silly, I know, but I'm used to 6mm, where I've not had to assemble much. Modelling just isn't my thing. But hindsight, PSC may not be a bad option. First 130 figs for about $30. And they're slightly thinner than their metal counterparts which would make the next purchase:

Gale Force Nine 20mm magnetic bases. Bought these at The Fantasy Shop. 20mm is very small. However, Jerry says his CD are based on 5/8" squares - which is smaller than 20mm! So I'm going to try them out.

At the Cave he can also get the Old Glory line of figures...some of them anyway. I need to send him an email to see what he can get and what cost.

My only concern with this set of minis is that there's a lot of what I need to get to fill out the infantry. Accoring to CDTOB, this set nearly makes up the basics for a Russian battalion, however, there's a lot to get. So, something like Command Decision Old Glory are nice because you buy a bunch of different sets to round things out.

All this is why I don't blame anyone new to the hobby getting into Flames of War. They make it very easy to get involved in miniature gaming. You know your base size, your miniature size, and how to make up units. Great visuals, and even in packs that have exactly what you need. Spoon fed, maybe, but you can get in and get going. And, in many rulesets you can use these as is.

Anyway, that's it for now - in the future:
A Naval Thunder play.
A quick Black Powder ACW test
An Aces at Dawn play
Planning an army
Plans for the year...need a focus and a plan

Timmy! Is Selling Some Terrain

Contributor timmy! Is now selling some of his terrain over at Combat Wombat - http://www.combatwombatminiatures.com/tim%27s_terrain.htm

These trash bags, refrigerators, and trash cans are perfect for 15-20mm games.

Disclosure - I don't make anything on these, i'm just supporting his efforts.

More 20mm Modern Miniatures - Somalians

Second Submission from timmy!  This post he's sharing his work on  the Somalian forces for his Somali Game at Recruits.  He's co-running a game for Ambush Alley's Force on Force supplement book titled,"Day of The Rangers," at the Recruits con, in Lee's Summit, MO, on March 31, 2012.

I'll let timmy! take it from here:

The first pic is of some of the lot that I got from Elhiem.  These figures are from Elhiem's Day of the Rangers 1/72 miniatures line.

I normally prime my figures brown but because I am in some what of a hurry I primed them black. This will help with any lines or areas that I might miss during the base coating. I prime my figures with a brush using Floquil Enamel paint.

Because of the quick deadline I chose not to paint any of these figures in camouflage. I choose two to four different colors to use and mix and match them for shirts and pants.  After the base coat is done I wash the entire fig in Raw Umber.  One of the most popular pots of paint from Games Workshop is called Devlin Mud.  Raw Umber IS Devlin Mud!!

After drying highlights are layered onto the figure using a "wet" style.

All of this is done with God's own paint brush, Winsor and Newton Series 7.

Q. What do you mean by "wet" style?

My palette is made very similar to the foam that comes in blister packs.  Most of the paint that I use is Vallejo which has a built in dropper.

 

When I'm painting highlights and shadows, I drop one or two drops of color onto the foam and or sponge. I then drop two to three drops of Vallejo Glaze Medium*, then two to three drops of water.  I mix this with another brush. This gives you a very thin layer of paint, almost translucent which can be applied in layers.  So that's why I call it "wet" style.

Now for base coating I really do not thin the paint at all, just drop it on the pallete and paint away. Sometimes I might add water depending on how thik the paint is.  The water is put into a bottle that Reaper sells that is very similar to the Vallejo bottles, the drop or hole size is the same.

It works wonderfully!!!! 

Of course though God's paintbrushes are a must!!  Believe me on this one.

btw - the pipe in the last pic is a custom made LOTR pipe made by Tom Johnson, of Luna Pipes, based in Washington state.

Another btw, from me, Itinerant: I told my wife recently that I would like to get a pipe, not to smoke, but just to have - you know, just because they look cool. She said to go for it. But I'm not going to smoke it, so it would be somewhat silly.

 *Here's a great tutorial and discussion of Glazes and how to use them.

Third btw, I'm going to have to learn some HTML, I don't like the way that blogger is formatting things.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Thanks timmy! for the contribution. Any of readers have questions? I'll make sure timmy! gets them so he can answer you directly or here on the blog.

Modern 20mm Gamer Interview with timmy!

Want Bigger? Click it.

As I've recently posted, I've virtually met a local gamer (within 2 miles) that plays mainly in 20mm, but also dabbles in 6mm and others. He's know as timmy! on various forums around the webs and  He's considered starting his own blog.  Until he's ready to do that, I've invited him to contribute stories here.  We're still working through how this might work. 

As before: Click It.

In the meantime I've asked him some questions about his work on 20mm modern miniatures for Force on Force!, by Ambush Alley Games. He's worked pretty closely with Sean, the creator of Force on Force. In fact, these first two pics are in preparation for an upcoming Force on Force supplement on Fallujah. 

Here's the forum where timmy! goes into a few more details.

Here you go, the first official interview for The Itinerant Hobbyist:

From Ambush Alley Forum

Q. What scale are these models? 

A. 20mm

Q.  Force on Force, correct?

A.  These pictures were taken for the set of rules called Force on Force by Ambush Alley. It is a supplement book strictly on Fallujah Iraq. Title unknown to me at this time. This is the third book where my models will be pictured. The first supplement book is titled Day of the Rangers:Somalia 1993.   The second book is called Bush Wars:Africa 1967-2010. 

Ambush Alley Forum - WIP

Q.  Did you create any of the terrain yourself or did you buy it all? - if you made it yourself, which parts?  

A.  The buildings and roads are done by Gamecraft miniatures. (Side note from TIH: Gamecraft posts some interesting videos. Being from the marketing world, this technique is great. Show the customer how to assemble and paint your product - tremendous. Especially in video form. Don't wait for your customers to do it.) The figures are done by Elhiem Miniatures. Various terrain pieces were scratch built.

Q.  What materials were used?  

A.  Color and black and white print outs shrunk down for signs and newspapers/trash. These were glued on clear plastic sheats that I cut. I sculpted trash bags and built the fruit stand.  The trash bags will be available for sale along with refrigerators and dumpsters on Combatwombatminiatures.com.  All scratch built by myself.

Ambush Alley Forum

Q.  Do you have a particular scenario/game you're preparing for or is this general terrain building?  

A.  Again this is for Fallujah. It is in no way finished. It will be highly detailed with several blocks for house to house fighting.

Q.  How long have you played Force on force? 

A.  I would say almost two years.

Q.  Why modern? As opposed to any other era? Why Fallujah?  

 

 A.  Fallujah has always been an area of interest of mine. I was planning on building a section anyway so it worked out well. I do a lot of modern gaming, especially in Iraq. I in 04 and 05 I was a contractor providing PSD/ executive protection for several companies. So I try to take my experience and put it in a game.

Ambush Alley Forums

Q.  What's your history with miniature wargaming? 

A.  At the age of four I started watching my father paint Airfix plastic figures.I stood there for hours!  The bug has always been there. I really got into official gaming when I was 15. A store called Epic Gallery moved close to my house. There is where I spent most of my teen years. Though I always did some sort of gaming with home rules with buddies of mine. Ive been playing with toy soldiers since I can remember.

Q.  What era and scale did you start with? 

A.  At the age of 15 I really didn't have a lot of money for things. I was very very fortunate to have a friend who would buy me armies for GW Fantasy.  I also played WW2, Napoleonics and Civil war.  Heck I play anything but my time is now devoted to painting and playing with 20mm and scratch building.

Ambush Alley Forums

Q.  Your GMing at Recruits, correct? 

A.  The founder of Ambush Alley (Sean) and myself will be running a Somalia scenario for the debut of their new supplement book Day of the Rangers.

Recruits Game Convention looks like an awesome Midwest convention in Kansas City/ Lee's Summit, Missouri. Just $5 to get in and it looks like a great time with lots of vendors and games being played. I was planning to go this year, but most travel plans had to be cancelled. We'll shoot for next year.

Readers, let me know if you like this format and what other questions I should be asking gamers, etc. What do you want to know about? 

Pics of Fallujah and Priorities

These are from a gamer I've recently met, via email and phone, "Timmy!" (as he's known on the Ambush Alley forums)

Another local gamer, Dave, introduced 'cause we live a couple miles apart and could possibly find some time to game or model. His terrain skills outshine mine by far, so I'm afraid it will be a one way street on that front.

But the conversation (via email) between Dave, Timmy! and I have included topics like paint/model nights, British gaming groups and how to replicate, sharing blog posts, etc. One of the topics was the importance of focus in gaming. To that end I answered this way to the guys, which was echoing some of their sentiments and then a list of to-dos:

Focus on a scale or two

An era or two

A game or two.

Also, I was going to put up a quick post on getting focused for 2012:

1.  Finishing my WWII US 6mm - which for me means - finishing first the units to complete my armored infantry battalion and a full tank battalion and support.

2. Finishing units that are needed for some of the scenarios I already own.

3. Flesh out the terrain I have and what else I can do to make a quick, yet great looking table. Frankly, I'm using Jerry's tables as the inspiration for this - which I've mentioned before.

3. Flesh out a small scenario(s) so I can put on some games at the two local cons.

5.  Finish the naval I started.

5a. Play a couple games to see if I want to Gm a scenario at a con.

5b if yes - then buy the appropriate ships to play the given scenarios I have.

6. Work on the 20mm I have (WWII)

6a try a couple sets of rules. I already have free Rate of Fire. And ?

7. Expand the blog to include guest posts? (I'm hoping to get Timmy! and Dave to send me some info to include in future posts. They've both been doing this longer than me and can offer the newer gamer some great tips.)

 

What's interesting is that I'm beginning to wonder what's most important to me - is it the actual gaming, the modeling, the reporting, the history, GMing? I'm working through this. 

To follow on that last point. We were discussing the real reason we're doing all of this. For the others, spending time blogging or other side pursuits potentially could be a distraction from their main focus which is gaming, or terrain, or GMing, or, or, or... Again, more to come.

Rate of Fire read through and test

I received my first ever review copy of some rules! I've definitely hit the big time.

Okay, back to reality. Crusader Miniatures was kind enough to give me a copy of their WWII Skirmish rules, "Rate of Fire" so I want to give, at some point, an overview of the rules at some point. But tonight I glued some 1:72 or 1:76 scale plastic minis that I've had sitting around the house for years. Way before I was into miniature gaming.

I've got British Airborne and German Falschimjager. The Germans are probably early/mid war. But I'm not too concerned with that.

I've read through the rules now and wanted to roll some dice. I set my guys up 6-10" apart, with everyone in the open except for one element (the leader and 4 rifles.). They were taking some light cover behind my iPhone.

iPhone provided no help. The Germans rolled like crazy and took out 3 rifles and the leader. Another element, consisting of 3 sub-machine guns was also eliminated.

The stationary firing is simultaneous , which for the Brits was a good thing because this allowed them to shoot back before losing all those men. Alas, it did no good, the Brits only killed 2 vs the Germans killing 6+ the main Co.

I started to look over the morale rules but bedtime was/is calling. I'll come back to it.

Bloody action.

http://www.crusaderpublishing.com/shop/home.php