German Stug 1/72 Scale - PSC - Finished

So some nice shots of the finished models! looking at these shots without the 15mm FOW side by side it is impossible to tell how much larger they are.

I am happy with the results and the anticipation of putting together and painting some of the other kits I have stockpiled in the last few months is mounting! I am thinking 88mm !!

Enjoy.

Vitor

German Stug 1/72 Scale - PSC - More WIP

Like my FOW models I painted the camouflage as per the Open Fire video guide on the Official website.

The base brown camouflage was a 50/50 mix of Middlestone and Chocolate Brown and a 70/30 Chocolate Brown and Middlestone mix for the center part of the camouflage. The green was a 50/50 mix of Reflective Green and Middlestone as a base then a 70/30 mix of Reflective Green and Middlestone for the center of the camouflage.

The trick is to 'feather' the edges of the camouflage to help the next step of blending the camouflage into the tank with a drybrush of Middlestone, followed by another drybrush of Middlestone and Bone or Ivory.

The last step was to paint the details of the tracks and other details.

Next up some show-case pictures of the finished models.

Vitor

German Stug 1/72 scale - PSC - WIP

After I finished painting up my Flames of War 15mm starter set I sat down and thought to myself.. I cant sit and get through any more of this, the scale is just way to small for me to paint up and enjoy my hobby. The miniatures themselves are superbly detailed which makes it even worse because I would like to do them justice.

Next step was to sell off my Open Fire set, which went pretty well on eBay, and to look for something a big bigger. I had my eye on Bolt Action and I love the scale of 28mm, very familiar to me. However I think the battles are quite small and you cant field the sort of mass army like you can in Flames of War.

I finally settled on 1/72 scale, slightly bigger than 15mm so easier to paint for me, but small enough to fight nice big battles if I want. I have no problem playing Bolt Action Rules with 1/72 scale. I found excellent value kits at Plastic Soldier Company and grabbed a box set of the German Stug and set about painting it the same way I did the Flames of War Stug with the exception of the primer and base coat which here is grey.

I then painted the base colour a GW Bubonic Brown which is more of  a yellow than brown.

Next layer was Valejo Middlestone.

Followed by a 50/50 mix of Brown and Black wash.

Stay tuned for the next part.

Vitor.

Terrain - Flames of War - Bocage - Showcase

 

Here are a few shots of the Bocage as they would be on the gaming table. The on above is showing a German Stug laying in wait for any unsuspecting enemy to break through the other side of the field.

The one below is the same shot without the Stug.

I placed the Bocage on top of the field to show the entire piece but probably for a real game it should go alongside the Field Terrain piece.

Vitor

Flames of War - Stug - Finished

I set about painting the camouflage as per the Open Fire video guide on the Official website.

The base brown camouflage was a 50/50 mix of Middlestone and Chocolate Brown and a 70/30 Chocolate Brown and Middlestone mix for the center part of the camouflage. The green was a 50/50 mix of Reflective Green and Middlestone as a base then a 70/30 mix of Reflective Green and Middlestone for the center of the camouflage.

The trick is to 'feather' the edges of the camouflage to help the next step of blending the camouflage into the tank with a drybrush of Middlestone, followed by another drybrush of Middlestone and Bone or Ivory.

The last step was to paint the details of the stowage and tools.


On a personal note, the model is covered with about 8 layers of paint due to my rookie mistake with the black prime and basecoat followed by the Middlestone layers not covering it enough. Secondly the drybrush finish is not the best I've ever achieved on a model again due to lack of coverage of the paint mix.

Anyhow here are the rest of the pictures for your enjoyment.

Vitor

Flames of War - Stug WIP

I started work on my Open Fire starter Stug's by priming them black after assembly, which had no poor fit issues like the Shermans. I also added some coins to the underside to add some weight to the models, I initially thought there would be enough space inside the models but the fit is pretty tight.

I then had to mix my own custom version of Valejo Middlestone as I had none. I painted my first layer onto the models and thought to myself ^&%$£ idiot yellow over black does not work so well, thinking my painting ABC's don't apply to Flames of War models!! I had to paint on about 3 layers at least to get a decent coverage.

I then washed the entire model with a brown wash to add some shading.

Next was to clean up the model where there was too much wash pooling. After that it was time to paint the tracks and wheels. I used a boltgun metal base with a 50/50 black/brown wash over the top.

The wheels are basic black.

Next up the camouflage and finishing touches.

Vitor

Flames of War - Adding Value to your Tanks Literally

Reading up on the web etc I noticed that when playing the game itself the extreme lightness of the models can mean moving them around unintentionally, so with this in mind people have added bits of left-over metal sprue to the inside to add some weight to the models to keep them in place on the tabletop. Having not played any games myself I decided to do the same just in case I ever did manage to get to play a game or two.

I went for adding value to my tanks literally by gluing euro cents to them.

They fit just right on the Sherman but the Stug was not as easy, I had to glue the cents to the underside as there was no space inside the model. I am hoping when it's painted up they wont be noticeable.

Vitor