Show us yer stuff!

John Secker · Post by **John Secker** » Mon Jul 22, 2013 5:52 pm

tstockton wrote:I read where after a period of time, the floor tiles he was using for terrain squares (12" squares?) started curling to the point they were not usable -- they just wouldn't lie flat.

Many years (decades) ago I used vinyl floor tiles to based 15mm ancients - typically 3-4 figures on a base something like 40mm x 25mm. Over time some of them have curled slightly, certainly not enough to make them unusable, but they look "shabby", especially when they are lined up in ranks. I also tried card bases for my 6mm WW2, but they also have a tendency to curl, and they feel very insubstantial.

More recently I started using steel bases, cut to precise sizes - in the UK I get them from Precision Wargame Supplies. He does various sizes of bases for different rule sets, but for WW2 6mm I simply use 25mm squares. I base infantry squads on these (~8 men) or smaller groups for command, recon etc, and I also use them for deployed guns, mortars and so on. For guns being towed I use longer rectangular bases to take the towed gun and prime mover.

The steel gives them a bit of "heft", especially the infantry, and they are also a lot more secure (I superglue the models to the bases). I use textured paint and a bit of flock, fairly simple for basic squads, but for special vignettes (command, recon and anti-tank guns particularly) you can have a bit of fun with walls, bushes, craters etc.

Obviously the bases are more expensive than using cheap vinyl offcuts, but compared with the cost of the minis, and especially the time we put into them, I think it's well worth a few extra pennies.

ftm2kleszics · Post by **ftm2kleszics** » Mon Jul 22, 2013 8:27 pm

Excellent photos and paint job Luca

. I wish my miniatures could look as good. Please continue to upload photos of your work.

Begemot · Post by **Begemot** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 1:50 am

Luca - Nice work! Thanks for sharing. I especially like your aircraft.

chrisswim · Post by **chrisswim** » Tue Jul 23, 2013 2:35 am

Luca,
Great picture, the items look great. Very nice, thank you for sharing.
Congratulations. Nice job.
Chris

PostHumanRepublican · Post by **PostHumanRepublican** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 1:18 am

Some very inspirational stuff in here thank you everyone for sharing!

I'm new to 6mm (got my first GHQ models a couple weeks ago) and have decided to show a little bit of what I'm working on.

I am doing an extensive conversion of GHQ's F-16 into an Israeli F-16I Sufa. What do you guys think?

I am documenting my progress with my Israelis on my blog at http://omnijackalsden.blogspot.com/

Mk 1 · Post by **Mk 1** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 3:54 am

Luca:

I very much enjoy seeing so much of your great work! This forum can be more fun than the best hobby magazine -- so many great full-color pictures!

Please tell me about the motorcyclists. Are these GHQ German Motorcycle/Side-car figures? Do I see correctly ... have you filed down the undersides of the helmets? The color appears to be Khaki green or Khaki brown ... have you converted them to non-German figures? Maybe Russians?

I bought some with the thought of doing that same conversion. But then I also want Italian motorcyclists. And Romanians too! So I have converted NONE of them yet, because I can't make up my mind which ones to do.

sigh....

I also like the many aircraft. Great job on the painting, and great pics! I thought I might mention one thing on the Russian aircraft ... the Red Air Force in WW2 (or the "GPW") usually did not put insignias of any sort, not even red stars, on the upper wing surfaces. The stars were usually reserved only for the sides of the fuselage and tail, and sometimes on the lower wing surface.

They felt that putting anything other than camo on the upper wing made the planes easier to spot on the ground at airfields. Aircraft dispersal and camouflage were very important to them given the pasting they took in the opening days of the war.

Anyway ... great stuff! Keep up the good work!

AllenRockwell · Post by **AllenRockwell** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 4:16 am

PostHumanRepublican wrote:
I am doing an extensive conversion of GHQ's F-16 into an Israeli F-16I Sufa. What do you guys think?

The F-16 looks great. I wish GHQ would add some updated F-16s to their line up as well as an F-15 with FAST packs.

PostHumanRepublican · Post by **PostHumanRepublican** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 6:33 am

Ok one more post for today.

I had to try the conformal fuel tanks because I was thinking they are the part of the conversion that will give me the most trouble. I was right. What a nightmare. I've been doing wargaming stuff since 2nd Ed. Warhammer 40k (1994?) and I have never sculpted anything before or had such a challenge. The other CFT is going to be even worse because I have to somehow manage to match it perfectly to the first one I put on.

Still, not bad for my first time sculpting ever. If I can pull this model off it will be a triumph for me.

Cat hair shown for scale

Luca · Post by **Luca** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 1:19 pm

Thank you Mark!

I didn't know about the red stars! I'm more fond on armor than aircrafts. I used as reference a pocket enciclopedia I bouth some 10 Years ago in Prague, full of pictures, and there were a lot of upper stars. Maybe those were just "parade" aircrafts. Next time I'll stick to the field practice.

The motorcycles are german models. I didn't touched the helmets, I think they were already molded this way.

They are inteded to be french: light kaki on green motocycles, but I'l use for sore also for the Soviets. I'm too planning to buy some more to equip a bersaglieri detachment. I like the pictures of the MG mounted forward on the vehicle.

I was also thinking of converting the motorcycles in to bikes: it would be only necessary to snap off the flat cylinders typical of the germans BMW, and a result it would became a "big" bicycle. Then I would base three of these bicycle in column, to represent bicycle troops on the move, and to easily recongnise them on the table.

And finally, I was also thinking of making single motorcycle bases, representing messengers. I don't think I will ever use them for gaming purposes, but they would look great.

bye,

Luca

Sudwind · Post by **Sudwind** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 3:03 am

John Secker wrote:
tstockton wrote:I read where after a period of time, the floor tiles he was using for terrain squares (12" squares?) started curling to the point they were not usable -- they just wouldn't lie flat.
Many years (decades) ago I used vinyl floor tiles to based 15mm ancients - typically 3-4 figures on a base something like 40mm x 25mm. Over time some of them have curled slightly, certainly not enough to make them unusable, but they look "shabby", especially when they are lined up in ranks. I also tried card bases for my 6mm WW2, but they also have a tendency to curl, and they feel very insubstantial.

More recently I started using steel bases, cut to precise sizes - in the UK I get them from Precision Wargame Supplies. He does various sizes of bases for different rule sets, but for WW2 6mm I simply use 25mm squares. I base infantry squads on these (~8 men) or smaller groups for command, recon etc, and I also use them for deployed guns, mortars and so on. For guns being towed I use longer rectangular bases to take the towed gun and prime mover.

The steel gives them a bit of "heft", especially the infantry, and they are also a lot more secure (I superglue the models to the bases). I use textured paint and a bit of flock, fairly simple for basic squads, but for special vignettes (command, recon and anti-tank guns particularly) you can have a bit of fun with walls, bushes, craters etc.

Obviously the bases are more expensive than using cheap vinyl offcuts, but compared with the cost of the minis, and especially the time we put into them, I think it's well worth a few extra pennies.

I have started basing my ships and planes with a product known as "task board." I ordered mine from blick.com (iirc.....an art supplies store). The stuff can be cut easily and cleanly with an Exacto knife. It will not warp when painted. In fact, if you make it wet enough, you can bend it and it will dry in the shape you made it. I put paint and Vallejo water effects on it and put on my ship models....dry brush the wakes....and voila, a nice base! It has a little texture to it as well, so you might be able to get away with passable bases with minimal flock and paint. I cut magnetic sheet/business card material and stick that on the bottom to add heft and to make for secure mini storage on covered cake sheets or the like. I would use this material for GHQ tanks and infantry as well, but would likely use the thin sheets of the task board for those. I use thick stuff for the ship and plane bases.

Sudwind · Post by **Sudwind** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 3:04 am

PostHumanRepublican wrote:Some very inspirational stuff in here thank you everyone for sharing!

I'm new to 6mm (got my first GHQ models a couple weeks ago) and have decided to show a little bit of what I'm working on.

I am doing an extensive conversion of GHQ's F-16 into an Israeli F-16I Sufa. What do you guys think?

I am documenting my progress with my Israelis on my blog at http://omnijackalsden.blogspot.com/

Cool conversion process! The Israeli kit always looks the business!

PostHumanRepublican · Post by **PostHumanRepublican** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 7:58 am

I was unhappy with my first attempt at the CFT. It snaked way too much and in general was just too large. The shape, especially when viewed from the side, was completely wrong. I pulled it off and managed to get a more natural looking CFT on today and after 7 hours of trying, I got them both to look nearly identical. I'm still not totally happy with them but as a new sculptor, this entire project is well beyond my skill level.

Additionally I managed to get the nose about right. All that's left now is to do some more fine sanding and sculpt the pylon mounted 600 gallon drop tanks. I havn't decided yet, but I might try to model a couple of amraam-120 missiles for the pylyons mounted on the outer edge of the wings and then put the AIM-9s that normally go there on the next pylon in. Also since GHQ only modeled 3 hardpoints per wing instead of four, I might modify it to have 4 hardpoints and use the new one next to the drop tanks for the LGB.

Hope you guys think it turned out alright. If interested you can follow the progress on my blog at http://omnijackalsden.blogspot.com/. This will be my last post in these forums about this particular project until she is painted.

AllenRockwell · Post by **AllenRockwell** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 8:10 am

What is the green material you are using?

BTW, what is your name? Typing PostHumanRepublican is just too much to type

PostHumanRepublican · Post by **PostHumanRepublican** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 8:24 am

AllenRockwell wrote:What is the green material you are using?

BTW, what is your name? Typing PostHumanRepublican is just too much to type

The material is Kneadatite, commonly known as green stuff. The brand I'm using is Reaper but there are tons and tons of companies that make it. There is also white stuff and brown stuff. Games Workshop also makes it in liquid form that can be painted on. Pretty cool stuff since you can sand it, drill it, and feed it to your cat when it dries although I wouldn't recommend that last part.

My name is Ben so you guys can either call me Ben or Omni or shorten my forum handle to PHR (name is taken from the game Dropzone Commander).

AllenRockwell · Post by **AllenRockwell** » Sat Jul 27, 2013 8:33 am

Thanks Ben.

That's what I thought.... that stuff is a two part epoxy putty,,, yes it comes in a lot of brand names. From the photos it kinda looks you are using jewelers wax, that's why I asked.