261 replies to this topic

[Kenny Noe]

dunno.   Thought they were well done and stole off I-net.   <grin>

[Kenny Noe]

OK, you asked for Tiger killers....   Here's a story....

 

https://www.american...e-the-rocketer/

[healey36]

Hmmm...near-silent death from above in a little airplane covered with fabric. The Major had some serious stones. Thanks for the link.

[healey36]

Picked up a lone DD at Historicon, a Fletcher-class painted by my friend Matt Schreck:

 

 

GHQ 1/2400, measure unknown. I popped her off the Litko base Matt used and rebased her using an ODGW etched base. Fortunately, Matt cements them on using white glue, so rebasing is easy. Thanks Matt!

 

 

 

[Peter M. Skaar]

Very nice, Healey!  It looks like one of the earlier U.S. measures with the various stripes and splotches that were prevalent in 1942.

Here is a Fletcher (Square Bridge) that I painted maybe 20 years ago. The model is featured in the GHQ catalog and I still have the original model in my collection.

 

[Mark 1]

OK, you asked for Tiger killers....   Here's a story....

 

https://www.american...e-the-rocketer/

 

Well, I don't know what US Army ETO force would be complete without an L4 or two.  Now, whether you want to go out hunting Tigers with it is an entirely different story ...

[Kenny Noe]

Well, I don't know what US Army ETO force would be complete without an L4 or two.  Now, whether you want to go out hunting Tigers with it is an entirely different story ...

Not me!! In a kite against heavy caliber bullets!!

[healey36]

Nice hand-painted insignia and lettering! Very sharp.

[Peter M. Skaar]

Very nice looking aircraft, Mark 1!  It is great to see you posting here again.

[healey36]

Very nice, Healey!  It looks like one of the earlier U.S. measures with the various stripes and splotches that were prevalent in 1942.

Here is a Fletcher (Square Bridge) that I painted maybe 20 years ago. The model is featured in the GHQ catalog and I still have the original model in my collection.

 

Nice subtle wash and highlights, Peter. GHQ always does a great job on presentation in their catalog.

[Peter M. Skaar]

Thanks very much, Healey!

[healey36]

Changing gears a bit; I ordered a couple blisters of 15mm/18mm ACW Union infantry from Viking Forge in the last pile of stuff. I haven't painted any ACW figures in a couple decades, so a bit of relearning. Two packs of 12 figures will yield six bases of four figures each (just five needed for a regiment, but I've got a plan for these). Temporarily cemented them onto popsicle sticks for handling:

 

 

First step will be a light dusting with white primer, I think. Not too heavy, as I don't want to obliterate any casting details. After that we'll get down to it.

[healey36]

Somehow I managed to run out of insignia blue acrylic paint, the shade I’ve generally used for Federal ACW infantry and French Napoleonic-era infantry. It’s been awhile.

A trip up to my local paint supplier proved disturbing, lol. It seems they’ve abandoned the Tamiya, Vallejo, and Testor’s lines, focusing on Tru-Color and ScaleCoat, two lines favored by model railroaders. I’ve tried Tru-Color, an acetone-based paint that seems to work well in the air-brush, but not so great with the sable brush. To be fair, they’re a shop specializing in model railroad product, so I can’t knock them.

The closest other decent shop I know of is in York or Annapolis...dagger. That’s a haul. Someone said Hobby Lobby has a decent selection of Vallejo. Whatever, I ordered a few Tamiya bottles and some Tamiya clear flat spray online. They called and said one bottle is backordered, so it’s likely to be awhile.

So it’s back to ships. I have an old GHQ casting of an Agano-class light cruiser that I assembled some 25 years ago, just sitting in the cabinet. Time she gets a coat of paint, but now I realize I’m out of bases

Misery...

[Peter M. Skaar]

I know the paint dilemma and feel your pain, Healey.  Humbrols are not always easy to get so I have taken to stocking up with several bottles of the main colors I use so that I have a supply for a while.  I have had to go online a lot although there is a shop in Tempe that sells them which is about an hour drive from where I live in the NW Phoenix area.

I have a large collection of GHQ WWII Japanese ships including the Agano.  I painted several a few years ago and a few more for the GHQ catalog including the Shinano.  On that one, a friend of mine had created a deck decal for it which I used.  That saved me as my other option was to cut and paste the deck markings from various decal sheets which is what I did with the Midway.

I will get back to ships one of these days but not sure when.  I have so much armor and vehicles to paint as well as some infantry in 1/285th scale.  I do love the ships though.

[Kenny Noe]

Paul,

 

Any game (table top or RPG) or shops near you??  They usually carry paint.   Hobby Lobby does carry Testors paint but the selection is lacking at times.

[healey36]

None that I'm aware of, but I should look around. I was up in Albany NY a couple weeks back and there is a nice game shop there (Zombie Planet); if I'd known I was low or out of some common paints, I would have restocked. No doubt there are shops around, I just need to find them. 

 

As far as paint goes, the real disaster IMHO was when Testors, owner of the Model Master line, sold out their business (I think it's owned by Rustoleum now after passing through a number of hands). Floquil, Polly S, and a number of other high-end model paint lines went down around the same time, perhaps under similar circumstances. Now the selection is really limited. 

 

Hopefully my order from Michigan turns around soon and we can start getting this infantry back on the bench.  

[Kenny Noe]

Agreed about Testors.   Used their spray colors almost exclusively.  Was told by a hobby store owner that Testors wanted to get out of the enamel business go strictly acrylic for variety of business reasons.  Supply chain, environment, etc...

 

The struggle is real to find equivalent shades!!!

[healey36]

I've heard various unconfirmed rumors of how/why Testors imploded. As you point out, a prominent one is that they wanted to escape the oil-based enamel business. I can understand that, I guess, although I still think the end-result is better versus that achieved with acrylics. I still run into issues occasionally with acrylic paint not adhering to some surfaces, a problem I never encountered with enamels. Some of the most capable painters I know, Peter included, are hanging tough using Humbrol and a few other lines. I certainly don't begrudge them that.

 

After all of my whining, it turns out the local gaming venue, Tables and Towers, has added a few paint-racks in the back, so there is a source nearby. All brands I've never tried, I picked up a bottle of Duncan Rhodes Two Thin Coats (Marine Blue). We'll see. One advantage is that, while packaged in a small plastic bottle similar to Vallejo, it includes a ball-bearing or something in the bottle that acts as an agitator. That might prove handy, as Vallejo is a bear to resuspend after it settles in the bottle.

 

It looked to me like the store may be under new management, or at least the strategy has changed. Many fewer game tables, but now a fair number of Warhammer-type kits and other Citadel products, along with the paints. A query regarding table-use fees was answered with "there is no fee", so that seems very accommodating. Maybe that's the business model most shops use; I'm just unfamiliar with it. Anyway, nice big tables, so some GQIII/FAI a possibility, certainly Mein Panzer.

 

  

[healey36]

Okay, here's my first ACW paint in a couple decades, the 69th Pennsylvania:

 

 

 

These are Viking Forge 15mm/18mm on Litko one-inch square plywood bases. The 69th is somewhat unusual in that it flies both a national flag as well as a regimental. Being comprised largely of Irishmen, the regimental featured the state crest of Pennsylvania on one side and the Irish national emblem on the opposite, all on a green field.

 

My understanding is that an HBL infantry regiment is typically comprised of five one-inch-square bases, four figures per base. I painted one extra base so I could swap it out with the 69th's regimental base, thereby creating a generic regiment.

 

  

[healey36]

The Japanese had some beautiful ships, the Agano-class perhaps the loveliest. An old GHQ casting, Yahagi's been sitting in the fleet cabinet unpainted for two decades (at least). She finally floated to the top of the lead-pile: