Pete's Place

[chrisswim]

Super-duper lookin’ armor. Looks rich! Very rich.

[pmskaar]

Thank you very much, Chris! I appreciate it.

[PolishGI]

Bravo Pete!

Those look fantastic!

What's next on the agenda?

[pmskaar]

Thanks very much, Polish GI! I appreciate it.

Next up on my agenda? Here are some things I am working on right now or at least considering for attention.

1. Tiger Is. I have 10 of these that I have base-coated and ready to go. I started the camo work on them yesterday, having painted all the roadwheels about 3 weeks ago prior to switching emphasis on getting my Panther Ds done. This project is my priority right now. I will do the unit, a company -, as the 2nd Company of 503rd Schwere Abteilung around the time of Kursk. I have been getting a lot of pictures on this unit. While my guys won't be exact due to the limitations of the GHQ model, they will represent the unit.

2. Hetzers I have had 4 more of these sitting on nails for several years now. I finished first platoon plus the company HQ vehicles a few years ago. It would be nice to get another platoon done at some point.

3. British Cromwells. I have 2 companies worth of these. I bought the Combat Command boxes a long time ago and have painted 2 Cromwells and a Challenger. I am looking to do at least 1 squadron with Sherman Fireflys and also the later Challengers. I will paint these up as 11 Armored Division as I have the decals for that unit.

4. Arab-Israeli 1967 and 1973. This is a project for the Fistful of TOWs 3 rules. I currently have an Israeli M-48 battalion from 1967 and a Magach 3 battalion
for 1973. I have a full brigade of T54/55s for my Egyptians plus some SU-100s, BRDMs, and some BTR 152s painted for me by Begemot. I have 6 T-62s that I need to finish for the Egyptians. For both sides, I need more tanks, infantry, APCs, and artillery.

5. North Africa. I have some more Crusader IIIs that need finishing plus some German vehicles on nails that have been languishing for a very long time. I plan to do a North Africa Mein Panzer game at Southwest Con in October. I have what I need really but this should motivate me to get some more stuff done... I hope. That includes the rest of my Italian M-13/40 company.

6. Other projects on the horizon. In no particular order. I have most of the models, I just need to paint them.

Barbarossa - Need lots of Russian tanks and paint some Germans up for this period.
NW Europe - I need more British and Americans. In the works are some American M-10 and M-36 TDs. I would like to finish off my 2nd company each of M4A1s and M4A3s plus I now have some M4s to do as well. I love Shermans. Also I have some British infantry to finish and add to at some point.
1943-44 Russia. For my Russians, I have another company of T-34 76s to do. I would also like another battalion of T-34 85s plus my T-70 battalion. Completing the T-34/76s and T-70s will give me a full brigade of tanks for the 1943 time period.
For the Germans, I will be doing more halftracks and some other vehicles. The Germans from 1943-45 will also be used for my NW Europe games so they will do double duty. There are always more Germans to do.
Cold War Europe for FFOT3. I have a battalion each of BMP-1s, BMP-2s, and BTR-60s done. I need tanks, lots of them plus some of the other vehicles such as SP artillery, aircraft, helicopters etc. And more infantry. For NATO, I am just getting started. I have a dismounted West German infantry company and part of a battalion each of M-60A3s and M-1s. And Pete, don't forget the terrain!

Yeah, I will be busy for some time to come.

Have a great day!

[pmskaar]

I am now making a push to finish 10 early Tiger Is. These will be representing 2nd Company of the 503rd Schwere Abteilung in the Summer of 1943 during Kursk and after.

I had done the base coat on these tanks several years ago and they have been languishing on their nails ever since. A few weeks ago, while painting the roadwheels on my Panther Ds, I decided to paint the roadwheels on my Tiger Is as well. I even painted the tracks on 2 of them before I decided that I had better get my Panthers done.

A few days ago, after finishing my Panther Ds, I decided to get back to the Tigers. I now have added the green camo on 4 turrets so far. Here are a few pictures of my Tigers in progress. I have only put on the first layer of the green camo so far.

[Mortis57]

We interrupt of our normal programming...

I went with a similar scheme a few years back for one(!) of my Tiger I companies.


It along with it's fellow companies (and their big brothers) are on the (too) long refurb list. Here's an overall view of the two Heavy Panzer Battalions along with a few 'spares'. The painted Tiger IIs outside the storage boxes have the prototype (Porche) turrets. There's also 4 Jagdpanther IIs at the bottom (two of which are missing their guns).


We return to our scheduled service.

[redleg]

Pretty awesome work you guys! Pete, I saw the pics you posted to FaceBook as well (does that make me a FaceBook stalker?) Spectacular work, as always!

[Hoth_902]

Pete, those look great. How do you paint the tiger wheels. i have tried and failed many times.

Mortis57 - your pride of Tigers is Large.. If the Germans could have brought together mass concentrations like that, they would have maybe won the war.

[pmskaar]

Thank you both very much, Redleg and Hoth! I appreciate it. Work is continuing on the Tigers, trying to get them done but won't have them ready for the 80th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Kursk on July 5th. The Panthers are ready, though.

Hoth, not sure what I can say how to paint road wheels on tanks. It is a PITA but I sort of get in a zen zone when doing it. It takes a small brush, a steady hand, and lots of patience so as not to rush things. It also takes lots of practice. For my brush, I use a 000 brush. I usually don't use the very tip of the brush but the side of the brush near the tip.

Another key is to have the right consistency to the paint. It has to flow but not be so thin that it runs. Sometimes getting that perfect consistency is tricky but I have managed to figure it out. Since I use enamels which are slower drying, if I make a mistake, I can correct it by getting some clear thinner on an older brush and "erasing" the error. That is really all I can offer at this time.

Gazza, very nice work on your Tigers! You do have a lot more than me for sure and they look quite impressive all together. I will be very happy to get my 10 Tigers done for now. Perhaps more later.

[Mortis57]

Hoth, not sure what I can say how to paint road wheels on tanks. It is a PITA but I sort of get in a zen zone when doing it. It takes a small brush, a steady hand, and lots of patience so as not to rush things. It also takes lots of practice. For my brush, I use a 000 brush. I usually don't use the very tip of the brush but the side of the brush near the tip.

I've not tried them myself, but I wonder if these new-fangled panel-line paints would work. In theory, you should just be able to touch the tyre with them and watch them flow around the wheel.

Gazza, very nice work on your Tigers! You do have a lot more than me for sure and they look quite impressive all together.

It helps that, over here at least, the H&R Tigers are a fraction (about one third) of the GHQ price.

Of course, if I'd only bought enough of them to actually field on the wargames table, the cost wouldn't really be an issue. Over the years, I may (on the rare occasion) have fielded more than 1 Tiger I platoon but I've never fielded more than 4 Tiger IIs at a time.

I will be very happy to get my 10 Tigers done for now. Perhaps more later.

Funnily enough, I've also got 10 old Skytrex Tiger Is that I've 'relegated' to my Hungarians.

[Hoth_902]

Pete,
I do pretty well with most wheels. The ones I struggle with are the Tiger and Panther Wheels. Pretty much any wheeled vehicle that has a thin rubber tire.. Much like the M113s have. I will have to do more work on my patience and maybe get a 000 brush. what brand do you use for enamels. I use them as well and my brush selection is very limited to a 10/0 and 5/0. One area I need to grow in my hobby tool box.

[pmskaar]

Thanks very much, Gazza and Hoth!

I use Humbrol enamels. I have been using them for over 30+ years and they work for me. The roadwheels on the Tiger and Panthers are much more difficult to paint than say T-34 roadwheels. I did paint the tires on the inner wheels on these as well as the outer ones but I suppose you could use a wash on the inners and most people would not notice too much. While practice may not make perfect it does make better. I have been doing this for over 30 years now and it has taken me years of practice.

[Hoth_902]

Up until model masters demise, I was almost exclusive Enamels. I would base coat in enamel and then paint on the camouflage using Acrylics. It makes erasing mistakes easier. Its hard to do, because the acrylics do not like to go on smooth over the enamel and can smear if you are not careful. Now I am starting to dabble more with acrylics. I still use enamels and are starting to return to Humbrol and for some colors I use Mr. Color Lacquer.

Wow.. 30 years of practive, wish I had been painting that long. It shows in your work. I think I will have to find a line that I am happy with and draw it so that I can actually finish stuff and not always have every single piece I have with some level of work to do. The law of Good enough... LOL. Not getting any younger.

[pmskaar]

Hi Hoth

I am very happy with Humbrol for my work. I find they paint stands up very well to my washes and is very durable along with a good color selection.

I tried Model Master and still have a few of their paints. The problem I had with that brand was that the paint tended to pull off when I put a wash on it. For that reason, I stopped using them. They did have a very good color selection though. The same was true for a small company called X-tra Color. Their paints came in a tin exactly the same as Humbrol but with their own label. They had the perfect "Russian Green" in my opinion but alas it also tended to pull off when the wash was applied.

I am not ready to go full blown acrylic. I have lots of the Humbrol enamels and will use those till they stop making them. I do have acrylic paints for some larger scale fantasy figures that I am painting. Some of those are commission pieces for a friend and some I will keep for when my kids or grandkids decide to do D&D or something similar .... if they ever do.

[Mortis57]

Pete, Hoth, et al

I started to reply about paints/brushes/etc/ but it went on longer than I intended - so I started a new topic...