Category Archives: Aircraft & Vehicles

Always The Last To Know?

The good news is that this isn’t another relationship situation.  The bad news is that it looks like the Tanks! franchise has been discontinued.    No posts in quite a while and no merchandise in the store.

While I use the less expensive Zvezda models, I did enjoy checking out the site for scenarios and information.  I guess I will go over to Flames of War for news updates.

Meanwhile, I continue to build up my late war Germans in anticipation of creating some urban combat scenarios.  Here’s the latest additions.  One more traunch of kits to finish up for a representative set of both German and Soviet AFVs.

 

 

More Tanks

Working on my latest batch of Zvezda 1/100 (15mm) late-war German tanks.

After trying adhesive putty to delineate camouflage, using both brush and spray paint, I tried using a small sponge.

The sponge seemed to work best.  I used a couple of umber and black washes to gritty the tank up, and then a little bit of touch-up using a Q-tip.  I do enjoy tanks, because my lack of precision and technique can be superficially covered up by applying dirt, grime and weathering.

The result…. it “looks good on the table” (which is a miniatures equivalent of  “Bless His Heart”).

Here are some dynamic before and after shots taken in the usual crypt like lighting.

 

Tanks…..And Stalin’s Tanks

Finally finished up the late-war Soviet and German tanks purchased some time ago.  They were languishing  in a painting induced purgatory, victims of my incompetence.

Painting early war tanks is straight forward.  Single color, weathering, dirt & grime…done.  Later war Germans are something else.

There are some excellent resources on the web about how to paint them (#1 and #2) .  The problem is I just couldn’t leave it alone and do what I was told.

Instead, I tried using the Blu Tack (or its far less expensive counterpart Blue Stik), along with spray paint and, just to make things more interesting, ignore cleaning out some stray landscape flock from the painting box.  The result was ridges along the color lines, and grit all over the tanks, like a molted zimmerit paste.

It took a awhile to psychically recover from this screw up.  But, in the spirit of clearing out all the miscellaneous bits and pieces before the next  big project, I trudged to the finish.  The results……..well……..(let’s blame it on the bad lighting).  If they look glossy, it’s because I finished them in gloss coat.  Perverse, but they seem to look better this way.

Undeterred from this episode I bought some more late German and Soviets.  Exotics.  What started out as a “let’s get a few late-war tanks and fight in an urban setting” has ballooned into something else.  And, don’t even get me started on the continued scale printing problems with the paper buildings.

During this sad process, I picked up a copy of Stalin’s Tanks.  Had read some positive comments, and remembered it as something I thought about buying way back when.  The hope is I can mash up this rule set along with Tanks!  to add a little depth  to a beer and pretzels game from another beer and pretzels game.

Backburner…..

Getting the twitch for some new miniature games, but with minimal budget outlay.

First quasi-project is Western Gunfights using the Fistful Of Lead (Reloaded) rules.  They’re available over at WargameVault.  My real hope was to use them with smaller 10mm figures.  No real options there.  Tempted to work with 20mm “Punitive Expedition” figures, but that’s a pricey proposition for what could be a “one and done” game.  So, found this at the local vintage toy store.

Cheap, can fabricate some buildings, and if it’s fun……go to the more expensive option.

Also purchased an Osprey title on the Technical vehicles.

 

Now all revved up (no pun intended) on a miniatures treatment using 1/285 GHQ vehicles.  Again, pricey, but no real options for low cost tactical minis.  Very, very tempted.

Armour Camouflage and Markings

Back from a week in the Sun with friends.  Nice way to spend the time.

Just before departure, I  received the last of three books ordered to help with the Tanks project.  All of these involved camouflage and markings throughout World War II.  I already had one book covering the Polish and French campaigns.  Each of these four books, while originally published many years ago,  is highly recommended.  Here’s a few comments on each.

The cover says it all.  I was especially intrigued by the widespread use of tankettes and carriers by the Allies.  Many of the photos were of abandoned Allied armor, which shouldn’t have been a surprise, but the sheer frequency of breakdowns reported was astounding.

 

This is the only book not published by Arms and Armour.  George Bradford is well known for his profiles series.  I was not overly impressed with it at first glance-through, but subsequent readings proved it to be a very satisfying overview, complete with scale drawings of all the armored vehicles used during the campaign.

Another volume with Steven Zaloga, the well known armor expert and author of the popular  Panzer Colors series.  This volume includes a helpful survey of German Panzer unit insignia, as well as an interesting discussion of Soviet tank inscriptions. Vehicles from Romania and Hungary are also covered.

 

This book begins with a very interesting discussion of the purposes and techniques of camouflage.  The author emphasizes the effects of dirt, dust and foliage on armor camouflage, and the differences in philosophy between the Great Britain, United States and Germany.  To me, the illustrations aren’t consistently as good, but I am a fan of profiles and not aspect renderings of equipment and aircraft.  Most of German vehicles photographed were captured, with only a few shots of them in action.

Prices for these books – all used- range from the reasonable to the absurd.  It took time and effort over a period of months to locate quality copies at good prices.  I feel the money was well spent.

Tanks – Brit Cruisers Finished

Finished them up right before I left for a Southwest hike/bike/drink-beer-with-friends trip.

The A-9 didn’t have a power turret, and both A-9 and A-10 had a variety of mechanical problems.  The question I’m mulling is how to reflect that in the Tanks rules without starting down the slippery slope of too much chrome.

Instinct is to have a die roll if the tank moves more than 1 move in a turn.  Roll of six, tank breaks down, and must be repaired in the appropriate phase.  Maybe use the Bail-Out card, in which the crew abandons the tank and no firing that turn.  It’s an idea.

Here’s a hasty photo of them.  The two A-9s in the front.

Tanks…. Brit Cruisers

Purchased Plastic Soldier Company’s Cruiser Tanks.

Function of bad packaging by Zvezda and bad thinking by me.

Zvezda markets their Mk IV tank as a Crusader.  Not the case.  It’s actually an A13, which would have been just fine for my 1940 Brit vs. Germans skirmishes.  But no….overthought plus faulty research (there’s a great combination) resulted in the decision to make the purchase of PSC’s A9s and A10s.

Not a bad thing.  They’re fun, especially the wacky A-9.  But, the assembly process was something.  Not to complain, because any company that will create  quality models of this type of obscure and ineffective AFV is to be commended.  On the other hand, here’s a scan of the turret assembly.  OK, I’ve been spoiled by that snap-fit world……

 

There were problems.  I’ll ascribe those to my ham-fisted modeling techniques and lack of perceptional awareness.   It took me two tries to figure out that you build the turret from the bottom.  Yes, look at the damn thing from the bottom while manipulating the pieces with glue soaked fingers.

Resulting fit was not the greatest, but I used my New/Old Best Modeling Friend.  Apply, sand, prime,  base coat and everything will be just fine.  That’s the best thing about AFV modeling…….cover mistakes with dirt…..that’s authentic!

Speaking of Vortexes – Pt 3, or Vortex Subsiding

The photos at the end of the post sum up my latest gaming efforts.  Finished the initial batch of tanks, and getting deeper and deeper into Advanced Squad Leader (ASL).

Managed to find a helpful article for painting the late war Pz IV and Pz V.  Also picked up a tip here on gloss coating the painted tanks, and then applying a black wash to bring out the camouflaged model’s highlights.

The early war Pz IVs were a piece of cake, with most of the effort involved in dry brushing mud and dirt.  I’m looking forward to this low effort painting for the early-war German and Russian tanks that are on the way.  I really like the Zvezda tanks.  They have some detail and are easy to assemble.  The plastic Flames of War/TANKS are great, but a little more fiddly then initially reported.

Not content to simply play the damn game, I downloaded a bunch of David Graffam’s  paper buildings over at WargameVault.  At a buck each, it’s money well spent, and there’s a free guide to help with assembly.  Never worked with this medium before, so another learning curve.

Speaking of learning curves, the TANKS page over at Boardgamegeek has a tank card template file for download.  Works with the “GIMP” graphics program, which always get me thinking about Pulp Fiction.  Haven’t got that up and working just yet….kinda afraid.

The best part is that the whole project has calmed down and I can start enjoying it rather than spinning around.

 

Speaking of Vortexes – Pt 2, or Dancing on the Head of a Pin

So much for the master plan cited in my last post.

Had some extra cash, found the Zvezda models cheap, with low shipping, at The War Store.  Couldn’t resist.

Continued my research on how to paint the tanks, and ran into this and this.  With the cheap tank savings, I paid a premium to get the “right” paints.

More research on painting led me to not only the FOW website, but also Warlord Games.  The Warlord site was really helpful with articles on painting the Sherman, and German tanks.

Started painting the Shermans.  There is literally no difference in the colors so hotly debated in my research.  Jeez, what am I trying to do?  All of this shading, washing, dry brushing etc?  Does it really matter?  Nice coat of olive drab, light dry brush, paint the tools, get some dirt on the damn thing and DONE.  Are the “right” paints really going to make a difference?

The right and left sides of my brain are screaming at each other.

Speaking of Vortexes….

Last post I described the descent into ASL.  Not content to stop there, am in a controlled free-fall into another gaming vortex.

Just like the aircraft fetish described earlier, I have developed one about armor skirmish games using interwar/early WW2 tanks. This has been about 6-12 months in the making.  First thought about ASL, but that was too complicated.  The Infernal Machines module for Landships has interwar armor, but it is also a complicated board game.  The old SPI Kampfpanzer has flaws and can be spendy.  I really wanted miniatures, not cardboard.

Then I started messing around looking at  Shapeways’ 3D models, which come in a variety vehicles and scales, but are not cheap.  Here’s a link to one provider. Lots of possibilities, but I was having trouble finding rules that were fast, fun and in no-way -shape-or-form like Tobruk.

Somehow, someway I found Tanks.  The game is a late war, 15mm,  skirmish-game offshoot of Flames of War (FOW), but uses plastic models that are easy to assemble.  The starter pack is relatively inexpensive, and you can even read download the rules from their website. Also, the scale (more about that later) is compatible with all the FOW stuff that’s out there.  Here’s the Boardgamegeek page with reviews. I’d summarize it as a miniatures, tank skirmish, version of Heroes of Normandie (HON), without some of the hyperbole.

Each tank has a capabilities card, which can be augmented by crew-members with varying skills.  The components are first class, and even include some good quality (again, think HON) 2D terrain pieces.  As earlier mentioned, I found assembly very easy, with plenty of painting guides at the Tanks homepage.   You can even build different versions of each tank.  The Sherman was a little more problematic.  I wound up going over to the FOW website for more , especially when in comes to peripheral items.  The basic instructions are, well, basic.

For earlier tanks it will be a matter of making up my own cards.

My initial purchase included the Starter Set, which has two Shermans and a Panther, as well as a M10 Tank Destroyer and PZ IV. The individual tanks (which come with cards) are about $10.00 each.  The folks at Amazon offered Zvezda PV IVs at $4.95 each, so I grabbed a couple.

I discovered that Zvezda offers a number of early war British, German and Russian tanks and at a lower price than their FOW counterparts.  Fantastic!  Ahhhhhh…..but there’s scale. The Zvezda tanks are 1/100, which is a little over 16mm.  The Tanks models are supposedly 15mm.  OK, not very much difference, right?  Take it from me, the Tanks models are noticeably larger than the Zvezdas, and they should be smaller!

Now to the controlled descent part of the post……..

Step 1:  Finish up Starter Set and the two Tanks models.  Start play in a late-war mode. Gauge enjoyment (it’s not a simulation).

Step 1a:  Download paper building models and/or use HON terrain buildings.  If all of this is fun, go to Step 2.

Step 2:  Buy Zvezda models.  BTW, they are “snap fit”, with few pieces, good fit, and detail enough for me.  Mess around with cards and enjoy France 1940 and Russia 1941 skirmishes.

Step 3:  Shapeways for Japanese tanks (vs. Russians 1939 or Chinese), as well as fictional interwar fights using early British tanks/tankettes.

Hope to finish up assembly/prime/black base coat  of all Step 1 models this weekend.