Finished: Project IV/26

Panzerfeldhaubitze 18M auf Geschützwagen III/IV (Sf) Hummel, Sd.Kfz. 165

♬ Gimme dat gimme dat gimme dat shell now ♬ sang the artillerymen at some point in history. This post was very clearly missing the singing red-collared dudes, even if they were on their way to fame and glory for a few days.

Building process with surface texturing

The model was a guaranteed Tamiya kit, no problems except when my own limited spacetime awareness caused them. The first fork-up came from the racks of the spare road wheels that I installed the wrong way and they ended up being just extra stepladders for the crew. Another forkup was easier to hide and concerned the little bars that kept the gun's shield in place. The third and most irrelevant of them was that at some point I managed to get the gun glued in place and the neat elevation mechanisms became useless. That wasn't a problem because I wasn't going to use it for much more than posing for some photos, and with the scrapped diorama would've been for a store loading, not a firing mission.

This time I remembered to poke the armour plates with the thin glue and an old dedicated paintbrush. Surface texturing does work, this approach didn't show up that strongly as in the DAK Panzer IV either because I was cautious, or my painting, or for some other reason. Of course it wasn't supposed to stand out like a clown nose so maybe this was good.

Failed diorama attempt, snapping tracks

In the actual post I didn't complain that much but in the real world I did grumble quite a lot and worked on it much longer than what one might assume by the photos and texts. I was pretty close to falling into the trap of sunk cost fallacy but managed to drop the triplet into a guillotine after a few fixing attempts.

This was my third Panzerwerk Design aftermarket tracks project, and my fourth articulated AM tracks -using project ever. The first was the Panzer IV that went without a hitch, the second was the StuG III that had one track link breaking in some transfer operation, and this was the third one where both of the tracks simply snapped when closing the loops. Maybe if I had added a link per side more this could've been avoided, but my predictive weathering had made them stiffer earlier and I had been a bit concerned about their flexibility. My worries turned out to be realistic and I had to fix my stupidities later. Still, I was very happy with them and would get more in future projects. Next I'd have to try some other hull than a Pz III/IV like a Tiger or a Panther, or something not-German even if that was heretical.

The joy of camouflage and oil paints

My airbrushed camo pattern was an example of underperformance, and I could blame no one else but myself. Instead of tweaking the shapes I added the Hinterhalt-Tarnung dots. I wanted to find real life examples of that pattern on an actual Hummel but I went with my feeling, and it wasn't a hyperserious paintjob anyway. Again, this was for my own amusement and enjoyment, and especially after the waste of time and effort with the figures I found the dot painting immensely nice and relaxing.

Time consumption

To get any kind of a clue for time used I checked my photo naming convention and even if I knew that it wasn't accurately tracking 45min hobby sessions but it gave me an idea. Just using the grouping this would've been a 21h project, but I had compressed some sessions together, a full 24h day was a plausible amount of time spent all around. An amount of that was lost with the figure failure but I had been spending lots of time on small things again. I couldn't remember if I had marked this much time on any other project so far, but we were quite high in the list in any case.

Captured photons

My photos ended up pretty neat this time, even as I didn't spend an our in Krita to turn the backgrounds to #FFFFFF. Instead I left the A4 backgrounds as they were.

Continuation thoughts

Interestingly 75% of my last four German vehicles were build on the Panzer IV hull. What would be the next one? From the Flakpanzer series the Wirbelwind has always been interesting, mainly for its looks, but a Kugelblitz or a Coelian would've worked, or even a funky-looking Möbelwagen. Just the Ostwind didn't catch my interest.

Of course it was possible that the next tracked vehicle had to wait, as I had now a ridiculous idea of going for a larger scale (1:32) flying machine soon. This smelled like a 109, 262, or a Stuka depending on what the nearest shelves had available when the time came. I had had some discussions earlier, and neither Salamander nor Komet were being made in that scale these days.

Finished: Project III/26

The first Merc Lance

Finally I had the first Lance of the ISD's Devastators mercenary company painted and ready. The silly jokes for all the namings was still in progress, just like the composition of the other Lances. I really wanted to fill one Lance with LRM boats or dinghies at least. If I couldn't get four legged LRM platforms, one Arrow IV 'Mech would be also very fitting. The important thing was to get an indirect fire group into my gang.

This Lance was a heavy hitter that intended to make the enemies' ears ring with the sounds of their armor plates crumbling under the relentless barrages. You could almost hear the staccato thud of the Marauder's AC/10 slamming into a Davion 'Mech, heat sinks rupturing. 

I left the MechWarrior names unpondered because I didn't have delusions of being an author, or even good for fanfics. Should the inspiration strike me for more than the boss' name, I'd share them and probably update here as well. For any potential later tweaks I predicted redoing the canopies, for the purpleish things didn't work at all like I hoped. I'll try something else with the upcoming two Lances and then retrofit these.

Devastator DVS-2

As the boss and owner of the merc unit was captain firstName lastName, who roamed the battlefields in the cockpit of his DVS-2 while not drowning in paperwork. The captain's 'Mech's left shoulder had an american-style II as his rank marking. Of course the number 1 painted on the left shin also was some sort of a hint when you had to find your ride from the ground.

Both Devastators were of the same variant: a Gauss Rifle in each Arm, a PPC in each side torso, and with two Medium Laser in the Torsos and one in Head, and a fourth one in the back facing backstabbers. Just painting the Head and back -mounted ERLas red to turn them into Small Lasers this could've been called a DVS-11, but I tried to stick to the Classic timeline whenever the pieces allowed. Also, if blue was good in general, and the PPCs were a bit differently jeweled, this could've also been a DVS-1D with AC/10s in arms and Large Lasers in the side torsos.

Devastator DVS-2

The shop's second in command, a lieutenant firstName lastName also operated a DVS-2. This MechWarrior recognized their 'Mech, if not by the different camo, from the left shoulder's I rank bar and the left leg's number 2.

 

Marauder MAD-3D

On the much better-looking half of Thunder Lance was sergeant firstName lastName in their Marauder MAD-3D, its top hull had a <<< marking and the left leg carried a number 3 for recognition. MAD 3D carried the typical PPCs paired with a Medium Laser in both arms, and its dorsal gun was a Large Laser that removed the 3R model's problem with being reliant on ammo.

 

Marauder MAD-3R

The optional dorsal gun was, of course, the aforementioned AC/5 with its ammo load. 

KUVA 

Marauder MAD-5R

The other Marauder, decorated with a number 4, was driven by a lance corporal firstName lastName, their ego was also stroked with their << rank painted on the hull. This Marauder was recognizeable as the 5R variant by its different kind of a dorsal gun, a RAC-5 that was somewhat less ridiculous than the awful RAC-2. In its arms it had the more advanced ER PPCs but still paired with MLas rayguns. To the outside you couldn't tell it was also loaded with a Guardian ECM, a C3S system, and some additional armour.

Rear shots

 To accompany the more frontal and front-side shots I added here a few side-rear views to show the caution stripes better, and the Devastator back-facing death rays.

Now I didn't spot any more masking tape pieces on the minis. Took many enough rounds, that!

Finished: Project II/26

Altmärkische Kettenwerk GmbH Sd.Kfz. 142/1 - StuG III Ausführung G 10.5cm

At least in my home country there's a number of these Alkett-made assault guns sprinkled as decorations. One can be seen facing west-northwest in the Parola junction (roads 3 (E12) and 3051) while a Leopard 2A4 poses on the southern side. They weren't all in museums or where the conscripts get trained. With its different variants the StuG III was also the most numerously built tracked vehicle by the Germans.

This individual had a 105mm gun, based on the sources it might not be a StuG III but a StuH 42 aka Sturmhaubitze 42 aka Sd.Kzf. 142/2, even though the Sturmhaubitze should have a muzzle brake that this one didn't get. I used the name in the box, chosen by the manufacturer. They ought to know.

Method madness or the lamentations part

When I started on this I was so excited about trying the armour texture again. Then I completely forgot it in my excitement of priming the model, and caught myself a tiny bit too late. Perhaps I would remember all this on the next armoured model.

I was following the instructions to the letter and skipped all the opportunities for PE because I had not looked at the PE sheets before and spend a few moments thinking where they'd belong. I trusted blindly in the instructions telling me the options, or marking the photoetch bits like the sprues. Now I was in a situation where I had kinda bought an aftermarket set and not use any of it. Probably the only things I would've realistically used were the engine intake grilles, I really wasn't a fanatical tool clamp person.

With the oil paints the recommendation has been to have a layer of gloss varnish to protect the acrylics. As a bonus the capillary effect works better on the supersmooth surface of the shiny coat. On a couple of projects now the matt varnish applied over the glossy one hasn't gotten stuck as expected, as there have been annoying spots of shininess in places despite multiple reapplications of matt varnish. Maybe all those would behave better through an airbrush, maybe not, but these ones I had didn't go through the tool anymore and were strictly brush-only anymore. I had new stuff in the future pipeline.

I also made some silly choices with my paints, more accurately with the red brown. This one was too red for camouflage and I ended up with a circus candy bag. That was stuck in my mind for the remainder of the project and most likely caused my general displeasure with the painting in general. At least I could tone the redness down with a brushed-on Panzer Aces camo brown, the VMC paints were not directly airbrushable and I didn't feel the need to swear with the dilutions either so... brushwork it was.

 

Photos

When taking the photos I tried a different approach with the lights. They ended a bit overexposed. Maybe I'd retake the photos and update them later, but we'd start with these today.

Miniproject I/26

Mass-priming

Having all this freedom of choice was surprisingly bothersome. I didn't have the faintest clue of which BT miniature to poke next and nothing really jumped out as the next item. My cleverest idea was to just take the whole untouched mass and prime it all in a batch.

When the inspiration would strike, I could just take anything and start working on it. The latest minis I have painted recently had mostly been primed at some random calm moment, and that had made me happy. Now I'd just do that in a planned way.

VSP red

Surprisingly I still had a bit of the red primer left. I wanted to use it before it got too thick with age to go through my airbrush.

Mercenaries

I started with the most numerous of the lot, the default Company in the Mercenaries box.

Legendary MechWarriors II

Going on I had enough red primer to coat 66,666...% of the units in the Legendary MechWarriors II set. The SM1, the Devastator and the Charger got red, then I was out. It was a handy primer, and it lasted for years, and most importantly it remained perfectly good until the very last drop.

VSP black

When the red was done I switched to the large bottle of black primer and continued with the second Legends.

Legendary MechWarriors II

From this set just the Marauder - without its rooftop guns - and the Caesar went black.

Legendary MechWarriors III

Also the third Legend set's Marauder was primed without its dorsal gun options. I just didn't feel like fighting with them while priming rapidly. The Marauder was also the last one painted and was still a bit damp when I took the photo of the rest already in their storage blister. This was a nice set with a good amount of nice rides.

Clan Direct Fire Star

Probably I mentioned back in the day that the Rifleman IIC I knew first in MechWarrior II was the reason to pick this box. Not that the Highlander IIC was bad either. The rest just happened to be sideshows that I wasn't familiar with. Finding a home for them all was going to be an operation of its own.

Clan Ad Hoc Star

Pack Hunter had been painted a while earlier. The Kodiak was eager to get painted as a Ghost Bear, but I already had five of them.

Battlefield Support: Objectives

This photo showed the MASH truck's right side using the extended bit, whichever operating theatre module it was. There was just one of these modules, and it could be set on either of the sides - or left completely off.

Salvage: Battlefield Support: Vehicles

Galleon / Maxim. On the vehicles I was most concerned about the undersides, I didn't want unpainted plastic shown when taking photos from the ground level.

Salvage: Battlefield Support: Vehicles

Hetzer / Maxim. Same approach as with the previous duo, undersides first and foremost, the rest would be much easier.

Salvage: Visigoth

I didn't bother taking a separate photo of the bottom of the Visigoth.

Salvage: Blood Asp

Blood Asp could've been a good candidate for the Blood Spirits had I not already painted a full Star of them much earlier.

Salvage: Mercenaries: 'Mech

Dervish. No idea what to do with it yet.

Salvage: Savannah Master

For priming I set the tiny hovercraft on the hex base in a way that should, hopefully, maximize the underside coverage. Doing this with anything this size was a bit funny, but at least they stayed on the bases just by their pegs instead of flying away like autumn leaves. Or a five-ton hovercraft after taking a gauss slug into the side.

100mm Timber Wolf

This was the pretty and pretty large miniature. Great details.

Mass-operation operated

This all took three evenings. Somehow this made me more inspired, with all the bits and pieces being at least primed and I could just pick something up to work on it for real. Small things made a huge difference sometimes. Still, I felt like doing something else than miniatures for a change, even if it was just one scale modeling project.

Finished: Project VIII/25

Sharks of the black seas (2985–3100)

This Clan that had changed its name a couple of times during its history was a very merchant-minded, like the Lyrans. Politically these folks had been also visited both the Crusader and Warden camps, unlike my Jade Falcons. As an Invading Clan it got to my painting table despite being occasionally a softie.

Piranha

Piranha, a 20-tonner, was the only ClanTech BattleMech in this group. It was armed with an ER Medium Laser on each arm, an ER Small Laser in the middle of CT, and the side torsos were packed with 12 Machine Guns. If it wasn't anything but a very-close-up evildoer, it was doing it quite heat-efficiently.

Cougar B

My modified 30-ton Cougar was armed quite like the Puma, but looked so much cooler in my books. Both arms had an ER PPC, and the nose carried a single ER Medium Laser. To make it clear that this was a victorious Warrior, a shark mouth was painted below the cockpit.

  

Stormcrow Prime

Bringing the Star's average weight up was the first of the two 55-ton Stormcrows. This one was configured as the Prime variant, carrying two ER Large Lasers and three ER Medium Lasers. To help a bit with those, a dozen additional Double Heat Sinks were installed.

Stormcrow C

This C config was built around an LB-10X AutoCannon. To accompany this munitions-hungry tool there was a Large Pulse Laser and two Medium Pulse Lasers for medium and short range fighting.

Ice Ferret E

In the lower range of the Medium 'Mechs we had an Ice Ferret, from a newer end of the timeline, an E configuration. The Left Arm was replaced with an ATM-9 launcher I had never used in a game. To help with the expendables-reliance it carried an ER Medium Laser and a Small Pulse Laser.