Accurate Miniature Equivalents for Custom Painting your 1940 E&P

Hi, I wanted to share the table I built for my A&A 1940 2nd Edition game board. I also built the model airplanes. The two pictures are my grandfathers in WW2, one was an airplane mechanic stationed in England and the other was a tank commander in the 3rd Armored Division Spearhead. Those are their flags adjacent to their photos.

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I should note that I have units from Classic, Revised Edition, 1941, & 1940 with some significant color variations. So in some cases I may be matching a different edition. So for example, I think the early UK units are darker than my 1940 versions explaining why I choose a darker color. Plus with the cheap paint, I worry that the color consistency is less consistent bottle to bottle.

When I indicate A + B paint colors, I mix then 1 to 1.

@jeffcamis:

I determined the biggest size that would fit on my dining room table would be 28 inches by 51 inches.  Can I go to a print shop have them down a map and print it in that size?

You definitely can print the map I shared with the community (look at 2Huskies link) at this size.

@barnee thanks, I was inspired after watching Midway to do them like that, and to differentiate them from fighters for my less observant friends. I liked it so much I did my Stukas and Japanese tacs the same way as well.

I have seen lots of people here use acrylics and I have on occasion. Most of my paints are enamels though. I find that is stays wet longer (which is a good thing) and doesn’t clump up nearly as much on your brush. I also use enamels in my airbrush. I find that enamels are actually much easier to clean than acrylics. While acrylics are water soluble, they don’t just dissolve, especially if already dry. It involves a great deal of scrubbing and scraping. With enamels, all you need is some mineral spirits cleaner and it takes the paint right off with very little effort. Cleaning acrylic paint out of my airbrush was hell the first time I did it… never using acrylics in there again. In terms of the finish, I can only assume that enamels hold up better to bumps and scrapes than acrylic paint does.

Someone once asked if enamels, by default, have a glossy finish to them. They do not, as long as you are using flat enamels, which seem to be the standard. I use flats and they have an excellent, non-shiny finish. I feel like enamel colors are a little deeper too, on the whole, but I suppose it depends on the brand of acrylic you use. Vallejo seems to be a popular choice for acrylics. I use predominantly Model Masters (Testors) enamels. In general, I would just said to find a brand you like to work with and produces the results you like. Don’t buy super cheap paint… you will get the results you pay for.

Good luck!

@Midnight_Reaper said in A&A Unit Identification Charts:

Also, let me thank you for all the work you put into this. It is both practical and beautiful and I think it’s great work, top-notch in all aspects.

-Midnight_Reaper

Much appreciation. I enjoyed putting those charts together. I own a WWII atlas that was actually published during the war, and which contains all sorts of interesting information about the military situation around the world, and one of the sections at the back has a recogniztion chart of Allied and Axis aircraft, depicted as black silhouettes. It’s a neat feature, and it was the main inspiration for the A&A unit chart project

Nice! I like how you kept some of the original piece color in the mix on the French Navy. Lookin’ good all around!

This is really nice. It’s good to see someone put so much effort into the game, no matter what the version.

It also makes me want a three season room.