1/100 Plastic T-34/76 Kits - Part 4

One Track Mind...
Er, make that 10 track mind! The downside of production line model making for war-game is; yes, you get a nice little army of models at the end, BUT this means that every stage in building and painting becomes a intimidating and repetitive chore...

Tracks all-over primed and track links painted base colour.

I'll be discussing my exact paint process for these 1/100 scale tanks and their tracks in my next post (about my SU-152), but here's a quick overview in bullet-point form:

• Prime tracks (mine are all over light olive)...
• Paint tracks base colour - I've chosen a metallic dark-brown...
• Apply dark wash (Citadel Agrax Earthshade) all over...
• Dry-brush highlight green on road wheels...
• Highlight track tread with metallic colour or graphite pencil...
• Pin-wash road wheels and track treads with black (Citadel Nuln Oil)...
• Apply dust of mud effects (to your tastes)...
• Seal with varnish.

Next: Painting the hull and turret.

PSC 1/72 T-34/85, Finnish Armoured Brigade 1944.

Hoorah! Finished - and about time too (my enthusiasm was beginning to wane).

The Plastic Soldier Company kit is - in my opinion - one of the best 'easy build' plastic T-34/85 kits made for wargamers in 1/72 scale. I think it just pips the Pegasus model to the winning post, purely because it has the better tracks.

Although I did tinker around with this kit and made some 'improvements' I didn't go completely mad and did not add any PE refinements. The engine deck is just as PSC designed it and although the 'mesh grills' look a bit derpy I decided to settle for them as they were.

You can tell, from the chunky road wheels, that the track sections are simplified (3-piece components), but I did my best with them.

The one let down with this completion is the photography, as I struggle to get to grips with my new camera (and lighting). Hence, I have not as many finished photos as I normally have. But, on a positive note, I think I have progressed enough to start thinking about taking on a 'premium kit' (like Dragon). I'll just finish off the other two 'wargame quality' T-34/85 kits I have and I have a really nice model waiting!

Finnish T-34/85 nearly finished

What a journey this has been. I started my 'easy build' T-34/85 building project way, way back when I started kit building a few years ago. I got distracted by other models and my PSC T-34/85 got pushed to the back of the shelf, coming to the fore every so often as a testbed for a painting or weathering experiment. But now, here I am finally bringing this long-suffering model to completion.

I am applying the first stages of weathering using cheap oil paints to bleach and stain the base colours. It all gets a bit messy and doesn't look all that attractive, but you have to persevere with oils...

A little messy, at this stage the weathering oils are applied broadly, more like
washes as you streak the colours into stains using a brush dipped in thinners.

Once you are satisfied that you have the basic overall weathered effect you are after (I am aiming for a moderately worn look) you can start to work into the weathering to 'neaten it up' and add finer weathering detail....

Close-up the painting isn't so pretty, but when seen at arms length the effect is far more agreeable. You have to remember to stop painting every so often and hold the model at arms distance to check your work. Some things look too much when they are right in front of you eyes, but at two feet away they look just right (and sometimes not, of course, so you have to readjust those).

I guess I have fallen into my 'style' of painting simply by accident and what feels comfortable. It's a tad 'theatrical' I suppose, I do enjoy weathering a little too much. I don't think I'll ever be one of those 'ultra-realistic' model painters - I'll always want to add more rust and scratches or mud!

I think what I am trying to do with my model painting is to tell a story...My models are caricatures.

The wheels and tracks
The PSC track components are one of the best features of this 'easy build' wargame quality kit, far better than the comparable track by competitors like Armourfast and Pegasus. The 'rollers', or road wheels, are a different matter as - like the rest of the PSC model - they are little on the chunky side.

The level of detail on the road wheels is OK and they represent the 'Full Spider' (very late and post war) T-34/85 wheels. They are just a representation, however, and only have 10 'spokes' whereas the real things had 12 raised reinforcing ridges.* Still, they are attractive enough for wargaming, but you have to remember (I reiterate) that these are a very late-war feature of this tank, so the PSC kit will not do for early/mid-1944 representations of this tank.

* I believe this is due to the PSC model being designed primarily for 15mm scale, the 1/72 version is simply a scaled up version so some features are a little too big really (or 'chunky', as I have described them).

Anyway, back to modelling...The wheels only required a dark green wash, some pin washing to pick out the detail and then - finally - a touch of highlighting on the raised areas.

The tracks got the usual powder-pigment treatment of dark earth colours, with the raise track pattern picked out with a graphite pencil and then some touches of silver paint. This gives the impression of bare steel and I may add little spots of rust here and there (I notice that the T-34 tracks are prone to rusting).

Next: Applying mud and dirt, making the base and mounting the model.

Featured work - Great minds, or fools?

"Great minds think alike and fools seldom differ!"

It's been a while since I did a 'featured work' post, mainly because I have weird tastes and I like 'odd' and unusual examples of modelling. So, it was really exciting for me to stumble across another modeller who was undertaking a very similar project to myself.

Back in 2013, Fred Konynenburg - over on the Braille Scale Discussion Group - posted up some fantastic shots of his take on 'accurising' a PSC T-34/85! And what a superb job he has made of it too!

Model: 1/72 PSC T-34/85 by Fred Konynenburg

Spookily, this must have been undertaken at almost exactly the same time as I started off my PSC T-34/85 project. But, being clearly a better modeller than I am, Fred took the concept of improving the wargame quality kit even further than I did and has added loads more detail...

He went quite mad with the PE (photo etched) brass accessories and styrene scratch-built upgrades. In this, he has assembled something more akin to the second of my T-34/85 'accurisation' (I know that's possibly not a real word) projects, my Armourfast T-34/85 project...

My Armourfast upgrade project.

It's really cool to see that someone else finds this sort of concept interesting and worth doing. It's certainly a challenge and - in my humble opinion - is more of a test of the modellers skill than making an expensive display quality kit 'out the box' (where all the accurate detail has already been done for you). But, I understand that this is - as I say - just my opinion.

Fred's completed model displays a standard of painting that matches his modelling talent and looks fantastic...

I especially like the inclusion of the tank loader, peeping out his small hatch! I hope my T-34/85s turn out as good as this. Very well done, Fred!

Finnish T-34/85 underway again

While I wait for the parts to arrive for my next moderately big modelling project to arrive, I have time to deal with one or two older projects that I put on ice a while ago.

My Finnish T-34/85 project was shelved while I carried out my experiments into the Finnish 3-colour camouflage scheme. Now I've settled on the colours for this scheme and produced my first example - my T-50 - I think I am ready to continue with my Finnish medium tank.

The colours will change slightly over the course of the weathering process.

I finished off the hakenkreuz crosses on the turret - these I painted on by hand as I couldn't find quite the right size of decal to fit the model. Finnish decals in 1/72 are a bit thin on the ground!

But once I got this work done it was just a case of spraying a coat of gloss varnish on, ready to apply the last of the decals needed for this particular vehicle. (I do have suitable sized decals for the rest of the job.)

After the last of the decals, it will be another light coat of varnish before I start pin-washing.

Beats of War v-blog review of PSC Churchill tank

I'm posting this up not because I'm particularly a Chruchill fan, or because I think it's a terrific review, but because it's an interesting little move which highlights the different set of requirements and preferences of war game modellers as opposed to those of display modellers.

Despite the Churchill being a technological dinosaur I can see that there is a certain Steampunk-ish attractiveness to the design that would make you delight in fielding these in a game. The real tank, however, was probably less welcomed (Churchill himself despised his armoured name-sake) but it did a certain amount of sterling service, particularly in one of it's 'Funnies' specialist configerations.

Anyhoo, nice to see a model review like this on a video blog like Beasts of War as it opens up an important historical era to young gamers, which is important.

Endnote: I have made several comments about PSC kits when I have made them about them being slightly over-scaled compared to other '1/72' kits on the market. So, it was interesting to hear the opening statements by the reviewer where he mentioned that the scale was '1/72 or possibly 1/73' - even war gamers notice that PSC have 'gone their own way' with scaling! Although I think he has it confused as I think PSC kits are more like '1/70'.

Plastic Soldier Company 1/72 German Stowage set

All good things comes to he who waits! PSC have answered my wishes that someone makes a vehicle stowage set - not just with the usual crates, tarps and spare road-wheels but one that provides driver figures and other small items useful for 'dressing up' you vehicle model.

Click on picture to enlarge.

This set - which includes 3 of the above pictured sprues for £12.95 - also includes tank commander and driver figures, which is very welcome (given my moans about the lack of 1/72 driver figure sets).

There is enough in this set to embellish a large number of your German vehicles and it should last you quite some time so represents good value for money really. It's usefulness is not restricted to vehicle customisation either as the small items of personal infantry kit are particularly nice for undertaking figure conversions.

- Though a word of warning: PSC figures are slightly larger than most other makes of 1/72 figures - like Revell and ESCI, etc, so you may find the weapons a little large for integrating with other makes. -

This is a really nice set, although I still think it's missing some items, like spare headlamps and tools. Headlamps are so often neglected from 'quick build' models, as are horns, tow hooks and other smaller surface detail. But maybe I am being picky.

I hope PSC follow this set up with similar sets for other nations (Soviet set please). :)

Plastic Soldier Company - 1/72nd German stowage and tank commanders.

PSC German Halftrack for Bolt Action - Box review

This month's major modelling purchase was Plastic Soldier Company's 'German Halftrack' (SdKfz 251/D). This is intended as troop transport for my Bolt Action German infantry.

For £11 you get three sprues with which to make three vehicles, more than enough for my needs (at most I will need two). Even a cursory glance at the sprues will tell you that at three and a bit quid each these kits are worth it for their intended purpose.

There are three identical large sprues included in the box, about half the
parts are the main components and half are the 'extras'.

As usual with PSC kits there is some 'artistic licence' taken with the model design so as to make them easier to build and suitable for handling during wargaming. Tiny fiddly details are absent and larger complicated detail has been moulded onto the surface or as one-piece components.

The main hull of the halftrack is simplified and detail is superficial and
sparse. But it's crisp and open to some scratch additions if you want.

As usual with kits intended specifically for wargaming, PSC's tracks for this
kit are 'dumbed down' affairs. They have sacrificed detail in order to make
these parts one-piece components. They are what they are, say no more!

Now I have started getting into the whole wargaming thing - which raised the issue of actually handling and using my kits - I can better appreciate the reasoning behind PSC's chunky and solid kit construction. Authentic and meticulous detailing is all very well for display but I can imagine how impractical it is for tabletop gaming with the real danger of small and fragile parts breaking off!

That said the PSC 'German Halftrack' is not a dog - it's quite an attractive looking vehicle and to anyone but the expert looks authentic enough.

So, what's in the box? Well, as mentioned there is a separate large sprue for each vehicle, but I was very pleased to see that you do get quite a bit on each sprue over and above just the basic vehicle kit itself.

Extra items include stowage so you can hang bits of individual kit off
the vehicle so it looks suitable different to the other two kits in the box.

There are crew, passengers and extra bits and bobs with which to decorate your vehicles and make them more individual in character. Furthermore there is a rather nice option of building the halftrack as either the basic infantry transport vehicle or one with a 37mm AT gun mounted atop! [It's also worth mentioning that PSC have also released a special customisation set for this model allowing you to build other variants and infantry support types.]

It's nice to have all these added extras (the passengers match PSC's Late War German infantry figures, of course, but may not be such a good match for you if you have other makes as they are on the larger side of 1/72).

Some of the vehicle's passengers and optional 37mm AT gun loader or
MG42 gunner. The cut-down figure are the crew.

As you can see PSC has moulded the pieces in a mid-grey colour (in hard plastic) which I suppose is a reasonable base colour though they do supply a fairly basic 'suggested' colour scheme which consists of a generic WW2 German sand yellow/mahogany brown/dark green camo. There are no decals included so you must source your own (I ordered some by Skytrex).

There is an instruction sheet which not only details the construction of the kit but indicates how the optional parts might be used. But, as you can imagine, nothing looks too tricky and I should think you could have this kit together in 5 minutes if you wanted.

Overall I am very pleased with the purchase. Obviously how pleased others will be will depend on what they bought it for - display modellers may be a little disappointed and in any case they can pick up one very detailed Revell for less than the £11 PSC ask for this (or even a beautiful Dragon kit for not much more). But that's missing the point I think.

The PSC 'German Halftrack' set is very much aimed specifically at the wargaming modeller, allowing them to quickly, cheaply and easily build up a nice looking section of German infantry transport or support vehicles.

That said, I do like the look of PSC's halftrack, it's not hideous and there is a very definite charm about how PSC have gone about designing the thing. And the extras they include only add to the sense of value for money that this set offers. So,  I really think you can only compare PSC's halftrack to other 'easy build' kits of the same type - Armourfast and Italeri - and here again I think PSC wins out because of the extras they provide.

I'm looking forward to building and painting this kit - it looks fun!

Addendum - Note on accuracy
I'd rushed this post a little and have only just started to acquaint myself with the history of the Sd.Kfz. 251 series of half-tracks. So here's a very brief update on what I found.

The version of the '251' (or 'Hanomag' as it seems to have been nicknamed) that PSC have modelled is the Sd.Kfz. 251/1 Ausf. D, version 'D' seems to be readily identified by the enclosed side hull stowage bins. This was what confused me at first as many of the photos I came across were of the 'C' version which simply has three stowage boxes sitting atop of the side fender (Armourfast's '251' is a 'C' model btw).

Sd.Kfz. 251/1 Ausf.D captured by the Polish Home Army during the
Warsaw Uprising in 1944. Source: Wikipedia
[You can clearly see the three flush enclosed stowage bins on the side.]

The 'D' variant appears to have come into use from 1943 onward, while the 'C' variant seems to be more applicable to 1943 and earlier. Therefore, I suspect, if modelling a Normandy D-Day campaign a 'D' variant might be more appropriate.

Anyway, the basic 251/1 'D' was the infantry carrier or 'Schützenpanzerwagen' (SPW) - Armoured infantry personnel carrier - while the 251/10 'D' was a platoon leaders vehicle armed with the 37mm Pak. 36 gun. Phew!

As far as accuracy goes PSC seem to have done a fairly nice - if simplified - job of capturing the look of the 'D' Hanomag.

German Squad B - Detailing Part 2

When do you stop detailing? I suppose you can go on and on, luckily I did have a plan and I stuck to it. My main concern was the completion of the insignias - I stopped short of rank badges - and the toning down of the helmet camo.

I'll admit - and I wouldn't normally say this - that I'm quite pleased with what I've done here, small jobs that they were. I kind of feel that I'm starting to get somewhere. Though I'm really glad I didn't have to do lot more helmet insignia, I wouldn't like to have to do a full army of these!

I've said this before and I will say it again, however, you have to give Zvesda a lot of the credit here by producing such a beautifully crafted German officer figure - it made my job easier.

Next: Basing.

German Squad B - Detailing

I did a bit more to my little Germans last night, this involved picking out the details and finishing off the rifles. We're very nearly there though...

At this point it's perhaps interesting to compare one of my early attempts at one of my 'Squad A' Germans with one of these latest examples...

Early attempt at these figures on the left, latest figure on right.

I think my technique has visibly improved somewhat, certainly the level of detail has gone up a notch. But I still feel that this current technique - based on tutorials in the 'Painting War' magazine - is a little long winded and could be streamlined to suit my requirements better. I really don't want to spend this much time on painting figures when I suspect that skipping one or two of the tutorial's convoluted intermediate stages will still get me a happy medium between the two results shown above.

Next: Weathering the camo helmet covers and then basing.

German Squad B - uniforms complete (not happy)

In short the new technique for painting miniature I was trying out with this squad was far too complex and convoluted for me. In the end it's sheer fussiness - when compared to my simplified method - simply took far longer for not much of a noticeable improvement...Maybe I was doing it wrong, or I'm just not a very good painter!

To be honest, I think I could have achieved a similar effect by adding a more aggressive highlighting stage to my 'quick' method.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think the effect is bad (for me) - I just think it took me three times as long to do it as 'my way'. It has taught me a few new tricks, but otherwise I'm a bit disappointed.

Next: The fleshtones - maybe the 'Painting War' technique can improve my skin painting, we'll see.

Bolt Action - First German unit!

Completed 'Squad A', my very first full Bolt Action unit (I need to get at least another like it to make a viable playable force - and, of course, make a similar opposing force to get a game going). So still a bit of work to do before I can start really learning Bolt Action with a couple of basic forces.

More importantly, perhaps, is that this is my very first completed 1/72 set of figures! Hooray!

Overall I'm relatively satisfied with the results of my amateurish painting experimentation. Everything has been done on a 'suck it and see' basis, I haven't developed a method for painting figures as yet (but I'm working on that and we shall see if there are noticeable improvements when I get around to painting Squad B). In particular I am having a hard time with faces.

Obviously I have a lot to learn about painting figures and I'm a bit annoyed that when I varnished my guys the matt varnish - naturally - dulled down some of the vibrant colours and left them looking a bit 'flat'. Next time I may try a satin finish, just to perk the colours up a little bit.

However, on a more positive and less self-critical note, I am quite pleased with the job I made of the battle-weary dulled down camo and the equipment...

I noticed - when looking at other Bolt Action painted figures done by others - that there seems to be a trend to making colours a little more vivid. I kinda get this as - in my opinion - Bolt Action is kind of a 'comic strip' sort of game - it's like a game version of those Commando or Battle comics that I used to read as a kid. Everything is larger than life and a little - frankly - silly (I mean that in a nice fun way).

I hope Bolt Action fans who read this will not be offended!

Having vivid and brightly painted army uniforms makes sense from a tabletop game point of view simply so players can quickly recognise which infantry is which on the table. Dulled down and drab uniforms might seem more historically accurate but then it becomes a little harder to tell infantry apart then. But it's all a matter of taste (they are your soldiers) - mine are a little duller and battle-worn.

The Yanks are coming - primer coat & paints

I know I've recorded this process before - with my PSC Germans - but I'm keen to establish a 'format' for painting armies so I'm keeping a close check on how I'm doing stuff. This stage is the primer stage, I've finally decided that I will go with the white primer undercoat - I was undecided but let's see how this affects the vibrancy of the top coat colours.

It's just good old Halford's car primer white, nothing special but seems to work well. Covers and dries nice and smooth and hardly any loss of detail (it isn't too thick).

While this was drying I popped out and purchased the Vallejo paints that PSC recommended for doing the uniform, the main ones are:

• Helmet - Brown Violet 887
• Trousers - US Field Drab 873
• Jacket - Stone Grey 884
• Webbing - Buff 976
• Metal - Gunmetal Grey 863 (I've been using Tamiya acrylic gunmetal and it's horrible).

I've decided that I like Vallejo in comparison to the other acrylics I've tried - Tamiya, Revell and Humbrol. The are a consistency I like, the range is superb and the little bottles are really handy (and less messy).

As reference for how the colours might look I have turned once again to the Combat! TV series - this time the later episodes which were in COLOUR (1967)!*

* I was going to say that I don't remember this TV show being in colour - I seem to only remember it being in monochrome - but then I remembered that we only had a black & white telly until the late 1970s! I remember I threw a sicky from school the day the Radio Rentals guy brought our new colour TV (a 25" Bush). :)

Opponents for my Germans - the Yanks are coming!

Naturally, my Bolt Action Germans will need someone to oppose. I chose PSC's Late War Americans - I can't really give a reason why...I did used to like the TV series 'Combat!' when I was a kid!

Sal Mineo (left) and Vic Morrow as Chip Saunders from the television
program Combat! A 1960s TV favorite of mine. Photo: Wikipedia.

The set has 57 figures (for about £10) with all the usual WW2 US Army weapons, although I was a bit miffed that there was no M1 Carbine or 'Grease Gun' SMG. Though one positive this set has over my PSC German infantry set is that it does include a sniper figure. Here are a couple of example figures...

I won't do a full review here at the moment, but I will say that - as with the PSC Germans - despite being described by PSC as being 'Late War' infantry I'd say that PSC has hedged its bets a little here and chosen a uniform which *I believe* is a bit more 'mid war'. But the short ‘M1941’ Parsons field jacket - which ALL the PSC American figures wear - was worn during the Normandy campaign as well (Osprey 'The US Army in WW2 (3)', plate B1).

Never the less, by the time operations moved out of France (and certainly by the winter's 'Battle of the Bulge') these uniforms become less relevant. So 'late war' is a bit of a misnomer.

Generally, while crisply moulded, I don't think PSC's Yanks are as good as their Germans.

...So, it's off to my local store on Saturday to buy the suggested Vallejo paints. But it will be a while before I get around to doing anything but a test figure or two as I already have a full modelling schedule.

---------------------------------------------------

I got curious and did some searching on YouTube and was delighted to find ALL the original 'Combat!" TV shows!

Above all I remember the brilliant title graphics and theme tune (which I liked nearly as much as I like the theme-tune from 'Hogan's Heroes').

Painting PSC's Late War German Infantry - Pt. 2

It's been a bit of a figure-fest (that sounds wrong) this weekend and I got my 1/72 PSC Late War German test figures finished...

I got a lot out of doing these two models, it was very good practise and will make things a little easier when I undertake the job of painting the two full squads I have sitting on my workbench!

These Germans will be the first of my two Bolt Action practise armies - I intend to build a little American force to oppose them. Just a couple of infantry squads, some fire teams and a couple of vehicles.

So, why not 28mm you ask? ...Simple - cost!

I don't want to fork out large sums on a 28mm Bolt Action army until I know what I am doing. These 1/72 fellows were a minimum outlay as I already had them in my stash. Yes, the Yanks will add some cost but nowhere near the same cost as the equivalent 28mm force.

At this stage it's simply more important to have a couple of armies with which I can learn the Bolt Action rules and try out a few test games. At length I will decide on which army I fancy making in 28mm (I am toying with a British 8th Army force - in honour of my Dad).

Of course, all this figure painting is very good practise for my Finnish Army project...Which is what I will be turning my attention to next.

Finnish T-34/85 - déjà vu...Again!

Having reactivated my T-34/85 work for my Finnish I thought this was going to be an easy and quick project. After all, I had already started a Finnish T-34/85 model using the PSC 'quick build' kit...But therein lay the dirty big spanner in the works...

Can you get a plastic spanner? If you could, then I bet it would look like
the PSC's T-34/85 tank!

I already knew - after just a cursory glance - that this model was not the best. There were a few problems, some of which were due to my amateur modelling, but some down to PSC's design. Not a good start, but I was willing to overlook or work around some of these issues until I decided to revisit my original blog posts about this PSC kit and some of the other 'quick build' T-34/85s that I had looked at...

Link to my original 2011 T-34 post: 'Four T-34 'quick build' models compared'

Long story short(ish) - I had originally concluded that the Pegasus T-34/85 was the best of the 'quick build' '85 kits around, much better that either the Armourfast or the PSC '85s. So I went through my draws and pulled out the Pegasus '85 and guess what? Yep, it's definitely the better model!

The Pegasus 'easy build' T-34/85, a cheap and cheerful gem!

It turns out that at some point I had already rectified what I thought was one of the major failings with the Pegasus '85 kit and had replaced their weedy plastic 85mm gun with a nicely turned aluminum one. This kit is now a very nice representation of the Soviet medium tank without resorting to a more expensive 'display quality' kit (you get two of these war game quality Pegasus tanks for £8.99).

I should say that having looked at the PSC '85 again after so long it's failings seems to be immediately apparent to me, perhaps because of fresh eyes. The most obvious fault being that it seemed slightly over-scaled compared the other two T-34/85 models I have - I am sure if I measured it I would find that it is indeed to big.

...Arse biscuits!

What this means is this isn't going to be the quick job I thought it was going to be and I will now have to start my Finnish '85 project again with the Pegasus T-34/85. 

Postscript: When I first did my 'easy build' T-34 comparison reviews I eventually concluded that while the Pegasus T-34/85 was the best of the '85 kits that I would chose Armourfast if I wanted the earlier T-34/76 model (Pegasus didn't make this version). However, fast forward to now - Pegasus now make a 34/76 and if they have done as good a job with their '76 as they did with their '85 then I think they have the easy build T-34 market sewn up (they just need to do a T-34/76 m1943 now to nail it)!