Bills stuff

[Beagle]

I figured you’d like the red kepi! The 6” Napoleon is done, I’m working on the gun crew right now.

[pmskaar]

Very nice work on the Limber, Bill!

[Beagle]

Finished some German 250s for the Das Reich recon battalion.




I was experimenting with colors a little bit on these, I think they turned out pretty good, I got a little fat handed dry brushing one of them, and I forgot to put decals on

[pmskaar]

Very nice work on the Sdkfz 250s, Bill! They are the "Alt" variety. What period are you planning on using these for? Kursk maybe? I have a fair number of German halftracks that need some paint but I have been working heavy on the infantry at the moment.

Pete

[Beagle]

Thanks a lot Pete. I’m actually using the 1944 Panzer division TO&E from the Armies of the Second World War book that came with the old Command Decision game by Frank Chadwick in the early 90s. I decided to make them Das Reich in Normandy, because I was already working on 2nd Armored in Normandy, so that way I have two contemporaries. I know it’s not 100% accurate for a TO&E, but it adds a lot of interest to keep me plugging along and gives me lots of reasons to keep buying more books and keep learning. I don’t really game armor that often, so the modeling is more for learning than anything else, researching camo patterns and such.

[redleg]

Very nice work Bill!

[Beagle]

Thanks Red.

Here is my latest Yankee battery, a six pound Napoleon smoothbore. Battery #2, Second Corps.



And here is the battery with its limber.

[pmskaar]

Hi Bill! Whether or not they are 100% accurate or not, they still look very nice. I picked up a few books a few years ago at Half Price Books by Amber Publications out of the UK. They had one set of 2 books with Das Reich at Kursk and 5th Guards Tank Army at Kursk. They also did one with 1st SS Panzerkorps in Normandy and the British 7th Armored Division in Normandy.

All of these books were rich in organziation data for the various sub units and showed actual vehicle illustrations as well which are very inspirational. If you are trying to model a particular unit during Kursk or Normandy they are a very good source. Lots of good eye candy in those books plus good information.

Your Union Artillery battery looks great!

[redleg]

Bill - your artillery is glorious!!! Keep them coming!

[Beagle]

Thanks a lot Red, next up is some Federal infantry.

Pete, those books sound pretty cool, I’m gonna have to check those out. I’ve become a fan of Pen and Sword books, not real heavy on the writing, but awesome pictures and good captions. I read plenty of other heavy books, so lots of pictures works, lol.

[Beagle]

Just goofing around with the rules a little more, learning relearning more all the time, Fanshaw Bay took hits to her aft hangar, and taking other secondary armament (aft 5" mount), Kitkun Bay, Gambier Bay and Johnston started laying smoke to cover her.



And then I suddenly got inspired to watch one of my favorite moves ever, In Harms Way!!! So I stopped playing to watch The Duke kick butt, lol. When I started the smoke screens, I started thinking about Burgess Merediths line "GO BABYS GO!!!"

[Beagle]

Here's the destroyer escort that fought like a battleship, the Sammy B.

[pmskaar]

Excellent work on the DE Samuel B. Roberts, Bill! I really love the camo work you did on her. The only U.S. DE I have painted so far was the Evarts for the GHQ catalog. I enjoyed researching the camo and trying to get it right. No easy task to be sure. All your ships look great!

[Beagle]

Thanks a lot Pete. You would think painting camo on a DE wouldn’t take long at all, not a big ship, only two vertical colors and two horizontal colors, but it was one of the most challenging I’ve done. The size didn’t leave a lot of room to maneuver the brush to make the geometric angles, a pretty small canvas. I still have three more to paint for Taffy 3, and the Raymond is going to be super tricky.

[pmskaar]

Hi Bill! The small ships are really no easier than the larger ships when it comes to doing camo and, as you said, the canvas is smaller so less room for error. I have not done lots of camo on ships but it definitely is challenging. I did the Evarts, Hipper, and Shinano with camo. On the Prince of Wales, I deferred to discretion and opted to paint her in her early 1941 scheme rather than the later scheme in which she was sunk. I did the Pola as well but she was sunk before she got any disruptive camo so I got over on that one.

I am ready to do some U.S. ships in camo when the time comes. Lots of various measures to choose from depending on which ship and specific time frame. That is a project down the road as I continue to work on various 1/285th scale projects.