Dragon M26

This was built a few years ago, 1997 to be accurate, and took 2nd place at an IPMS regional show.


It is the Dragon M26A1 as used by the USMC during the first year of the Korean War.


The individual track links were a pain. I modified the model to show a tank with the fenders removed. I also opened all of the periscopes. As a tanker, I notice little things on other peoples models that bug me, number one being a tank closed up for battle with no open periscopes. Is anyone looking out?


Thomas V. Willoughby

Titan Build No1 - The feet and legs

After two days hard work I have assembled the basic feet and leg structures.

They are not finished, of dear me know. I have only added the feet, knee and thigh pistons. There are still the ankle and hip pistons to go.

John

Corpses

Someone asked for a close up of the mutilated body of a Guardman on the 'dozer blade of a Blood Pact tank.

A certain amount of green stuff was involved for intestinal loops.

300 quids worth of resin

Yup, this is what three tons worth of resin looks like.

Now all I have to do is make it.

It comes with an ownership certificate and the address of a good therapist,

John

Cheapo Wargaming

EBay is an excellent source of extra vehicles, something in demand these days for competition players, or so I understand. They are rarely pristine but a new paint job and a bit o' weathering can hide a million sins - as anyone who has bought a second hand car is all too aware.

However, there comes the time when you buy a real dog. Something that has been so wrecked by glue that it is unsalvagable.

I bought such a Leman Russ that had been the proud possession of a small boy. He thought he had done a good job but the sponsons were upside down and the sides were so smeared in glue that the model looked as if it had been plasma bombed.

I could have sent it back and broken the small boy's illusion of competence but I am not that heartless a bastard.

What I had was a cheap bit of terrain. I pulled the tank to pieces and rebuilt it - then I wrecked it. Have a look at brewed up real tanks for inspiration.

This tank has been struck in the engine compartment by a pentrator round of some sort, burnt out, left on the battlefield, hit by some sort of fire-barrage and abandoned to fall to pieces with rust and corrosion.

Rogue Trader

I think this is a Spyglass Pirate Captain model but I thought he made an excellent Rogue Trader dandy or even an Imperieal Naval Officer. Now all I have to do is figure out how to make his bodyguard

Blood Pact Infantry

I picked up some Pig Iron Feral Militia who are just perfect for Chaos Blood Pact troops. They have a wonderful ragged look plus bizarre masks.

Pig Iron have just released special weapon militia models - oh joy.

They are also a good source of heads and weapons as seperate items.

I highly recommend them. You can find their address on the side bar of this page.

I am still experimenting with paint layering rather than drybrushing-inking. The technique fascinates me but I definitely need more practice.

John

Oooh, you lookin' at?

Muties.

These are old second hand models off eBay that I have tarted up a bit with some add ons and a quick paint job.

John

Sherman M4A3E2 Jumbo by Tom Willoughby

This is the old Tamiya M4A3E2 Sherman Jumbo by Tamiya. It has some accuracy issues but when I built it it was the only available model.

I replaced the front transmission nose piece with a resin alternative as Tamiya had not remodelled it from another Sherman kit. The replacement was several inches thicker. I had to make weld seams on the new front and on the side plates. I also added photo etch tail light guards and the MG clips.

Another modification was to open the periscopes and add guards. Its markings show it to be part of the 6th Armoured Division.

The tank commander figure is Verlinden and is slightly over scale. He must be a Texan (it's all those BBQ dinners to blame, JL). I hope you guys like the model.

Tom Willoughby









Additional Note from John:
I have noticed how historical modellers treat a kit as a starting point and then go on to quite extensively modify and improve it. I think maybe there is a lesson for us wargamers there.

Blood Pact Urdeshi Usurper SPG with U90 Assault Cannon

I put up the basic-painted version of this model earlier.

This is my definitely final finished version. I have added Blood Pact decoration including the fresh, legless corpse of a Guardsman. A Blood Pact Trooper has cut his hands off for souvenirs.

This tank can be played as a Leman Russ but makes a better light super-heavy tank (good grief, I sound like a WRG Army List - Light Heavy Infantry etc.) based on a Malcador with a Basilisk gun capable of direct fire only.



http://www.coolminiornot.com/232039

Blood Pact Urdeshi STeG 4 Light Armoured Car

So here it is, finally, the Blood Pact Urdeshi battle car. I will probably play it as a Hellhound or the other one that sprays toxic acid. That seems to me to be very Blood Pact.

I have gone again for a badly maintained, dirty, rusty workhorse. This is the equivalent of a Vauxhall Viva that has been too many times around the M25 and too few times into the workshop.

I have made it a half-track conversion of the sort that were used in Russia in Winter. They took the wheels off and slotted on tracks. The kit is of a Russian copy of a British vehicle from the mid Wars period.

Blood Pact Urdesh N20 Pattern Half Track

I showed an early version of this model a few weeks ago.

It is kitbashed from a Revell WWII German Artillery Tractor, Catachans, various GW bitz and MiniMax Traitor Legionairres. The armoured cab is scratch built.

The N20 is described in the Gaunt's Ghost series and The Sabbat Worlds Crusade Source Book, both by Dan Abnett.

The Blood Pact are not known for their strict adherence to maintenance schedules and never wash and wax their AFVs.

My thanks to the blogger who suggested putting soot on the bonnet under the flame-thrower.

I have put a pic on Cool Mini or not:
http://www.coolminiornot.com/231918

Seek, Locate, Exterminate

Ihave been selling off many of my old models on eBay partly because my wife and I will be fleeing the empty nest for a smaller house and partly because I have opened a Titan fund.

So my collection of Dr Who models are going. I had about seventy or eighty 28mm scale Black Tree figures and here are a few.

The Titan fund is now at 60%.

Ratling Sniper Old Models

I looked at some of my old Rating Sniper models and decided to rebase them. I think the bases cost more than the models.

The Ratlings are looking for a suitable pile of debris to hide, that is, find a favourable sniper position. Careful lads, a Commissar might be listening.

Cadian Mechanised Scouts by Shaun Murphy

I could not resist putting up some of Shaun's latest kitbashes.

He has a whole squad of these,

John

kitbashed Gun Servitor

I finally got around to finishing my kitbashed gun servitor. It is made from scrap plastic obtained from half a dozen different kits.

I was inspired from a description in a 40K novel of large clunking servitors.

John

Warp Rift

I needed a warp rift for my renegade armies so I created this.

The rift is polished agate froma magic shop. Magic shops are a great source of interesting bitz and are often found near Games Workshops.

The base is from Troll Trader in Newquay (where I was born). I painted the screaming faces in layers using colours on the other side of the colour wheel from the rift to get a contrast.

The rocks are slate gray layers. I tried to 'light' them from energy spilling out of the rift.

I put this one on Cool Mini or Not.

http://www.coolminiornot.com/231421

John

British M3 Grant by Tom Willoughby

The American built Grant was a very important tank. It was a stop-gap measure in that it added a 75mm gun in a sponson. That was needed to fire high explosive shells at German anti-tank guns,

The Grant was a key weapon in the British Army's victory at El Alamein. It was later used by British forces in Burma where modern armour was unnecessary and it was highly valued for its reliability and robustness.

This example is in the colours of the 7th Armoured, the famous desert rats.

The kit is an old Airfix 1:32. This is not a great kit and it is interesting to see what Tom has had to do to make such a great model.

Firstly, he has filled all the gaps. Secondly, he has added baggage. Real tanks are home for the crews but there is very little room inside and so luggage goes on the outside - lots of it.

Tom has also added rivets. I hate adding rivets and never get them right. So, Tom, how did you add the pox-cursed rivets?

John

Cool Mini or Not

I have put up my daemon engines on Cool Mini or Not:

http://www.coolminiornot.com/231272

and

http://www.coolminiornot.com/231271


John

Blood Slaughterer - Forge World

These are pics of my latest model, the Khorne Blood Slaughterer.

This is a very delicate model - I have already had to repin a leg after battle damage.

It is an extremely well designed kit but I get the feeling that it was intended as a display model rather than a gaming piece.



Red is a swine to layer. The carapace was achieved by a mixture of terracotta and bright red in various mixtures with layers of Citadel red wash. I used Tin Bitz/Shining Gold layers to create a tarnished look for the brass, especially around the bolts.



Forge World use grey colours for the mechanical bits (see below) but I decided to go for a less realword more shiny daemonic look. I kept the mechanics fairly simple. One could go to town on them but I think it would look messy.

Mud Spattering a Tank Model

The pictures are of a Tamiya Cromwell kit from Tamiya, modelled and painted by Tom Willoughby.

Note that Tom has improved the kit by adding seperately purchased crew, gun barrels and grills.

This very nice model illustrates a point about real tanks: they get very, very dirty and the crud sticks and dries brick-hard. Tom tell me that no one who has ever had to clean a tank will underestimate the crud factor.

The mud spatter in an environment like Northern Europe is actually a mix of mud and ground up vegetation - in some parts of the world they still make housing bricks out of the same material.

Tom makes his own using the following formula: ground florists foam, white glue, Polly-S dirt paint, rail road grass, some cut up longer railroad grass and water thinned to desired consistency.

He advises spreading it liberally on the running gear and letting it dry like you would apply a wash dries like a wash. The aim is to get clumps like real mud.

The Cromwell was Britain's last cruiser (cavalry) tank. It was designed in 1941 to replace the Crusader and was extremely fast and manoeuvrable. It served in armoured reconnaissance regiments. It was the main battle tank of the 7th Armoured Division (the desert rats), Ist Polish Armoured Division and the Czech Armoured Brigade in NW Europe in '44. The last variant of the Cromwell, called a Comet, had a variant of the the superb British 17pdr fitted. The 17pdr was the best allied anti-tank gun of WWII. It was also retrofitted to British Shermans, the variant being known as the Firefly.