The Ride of the Valkyries in 15mm

I'm painting a huge Vietnam Commission for a customer. Here are some of the eighteen helicopters in the order. I didn't get all the decals, which were forgotten when the order was posted to me. So you will see that some helicopters are "bare". The Helicopters are from Battlefront.

The gun ship's sharks teeth were hand painted as Battlefront's transfers are hopeless.

Where there are markings on helicopters, they are for the the 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion which famously supported elements of the 7th cavalry at LZ Xray. Battlefront probably decided to offer these decals due to the popularity of the film "We were soldiers" which depicted events of that battle.

Command Decision 15mm Panther tanks

I've actually painted, and repainted, these tanks a few times. I gave up on my harder and Steenbeck airbrushes (two!) and ordered an Iwata. After fooling around with the Iwata I got terrible results until I realised that the nozzle was clogged. Doh!

This present incarnation of my tank tactics has the vehicles base coated, then ink washed, and then "highlighted" in parts again with the base colour, which is desert yellow in this case. The over sprayed camouflage colours were sprayed quite faintly (except on tank A where the brown came out a bit heavy) as this is what I've seen from most period photography. This could have been as a result of wear and tear.

I've lettered the tanks to make commenting easier. Any thoughts?

Italeri Roman infantry (set number 6021)

There are many nice, and very cheap, plastics sets on the market. I've painted this set of Romans for someone in Australia

The building in the background was there so I could check the colour balance for the camera. I broke my Canon SLR camera, which will take months to get fixed, and have had to use my "holiday" camera. After a lot of experimentation I managed to get some decent pictures. At least the colours in the photograph are an accurate reflection of the colours on the figures.

28mm American War of Independence (AWI) militia

I've just finished these figures in a mixed group someone sent me. I am not sure, but I think these figures are from Perry miniatures. There are some other Perry miniatures in the figures I received, but none come close in terms of the quality of the casting. If all Perry figures were like this I'd never buy anything else.

I made the fence from 2.5mm thick 3 ply wood. I'd seen something similar at the Tripples show in Sheffield. It makes a nice prop for photos, and works with everything from 15mm to 40mm, depending on where you place it in the photo. With smaller figures I put it in the 'distance', so that the figures don't look out of scale.

10mm Seven Years War Prussians for Pendrakens competition

These are my entries for Pendraken's painting competition. It is surprising what can be done with 10mm miniatures. These figures are far more detailed than some of the 15mm castings of yesteryear (if there is such a word.)

Everything is based on 0.8mm thick formica. I bought the material in an 8 feet by 4 feet sheet. It is intended for laminating desks, tables, etc. In sizes of up to a couple of inches square, it is very rigid. It doesn't warp, and you can cut it with scissors.

All the flags are hand painted.

These are the famous 5th "Brandenburg" Cuirassier.

The Prussian 5th Black" or "Death Hussars". A 'must have' for all budding Fredericks.

King Frederick William, of Prussia, had a big fetish for big men. He accumulated two and a half thousand large men, most over six feet tall, and some more than seven, by any means, including kidnapping. When Frederick the Great (Frederick the second) ascended to the throne he reformed the late King's beloved Lieb-Grenadier regiment into a single Grenadier Guard battalion. This is a depiction of that battalion.

A twelve pounder Prussian artillery piece & crew.

This is the 40th Infantry Regiment, a Fusilier regiment, from the Prussian army of Seven Years War. I think they were uniformed on the same principle laid out in Johnny Cash's song "A boy named sue." Wearing this sort of clobber turns you into a hard man after one visit to the local pub ;-)

10mm TB line miniatures Warmaster Ancients (WMA)

When they aren't busy making Bond girls, the Italians turn their hand to expertly crafting fine 10mm figures. These figures are from Tridente Bologna's TB line miniatures. They are Central European Peasants with bow (TB4180). I have them based for Warmaster Ancients, to play the WMA Medieval supplement. I've painted eight units but only took pictures of a couple of units as the only difference between units is the tabbard colours.



I have many, many, more units in the pipeline. Actually, I think I have everything 10mm Medieval miniature they sell. I have some more peasants, with various weapons, close to completion and Teutonic knights that almost ready.

Old Glory 28mm 1st edition Bavarian infantry

I haven't posted in a while. This is my opening salvo for the new year. I have finished thirteen battalions of Bavarian infantry: ten line and three light. Each unit is 36 men strong. This should be enough Bavarian infantry to be going on with. Actually, I have enough castings for a few more units. I am thinking of painting one as Baden infantry.
The figures are full of character. People who like Front Rank probably hate them.