Posts made by DMcLaren

How about squadron letters and markings for aircraft?  Hull and deck numbers for US ships?  I’ve bought HBG’s I-94 decal sheets, but as we all know, not all the decals on some sheets are usable on A&A size pieces, so it’s a mix of those and Dom’s.  All on one sheet would be pretty unique in the market.

Sweet!  Nice job, John!  Don’t you just love the HBG Stukas?  Lots of great detail on those pieces.

Panzerfausts!  Those look great!  And combat medics too- do you have special rules for those?  Great job on that truck- love it!  I especially like the canvass top- nice work there.

I clarified the descriptions in the previous pictures of the Shoho in progress to make it’s origin more clear.

Photobucket went pay to post & view.

I’ll second Andy above.  HBG has some great pieces and they paint up really well because of the detail.  Good source for OOB pieces as well.  Their Fw-190’s are a bit smaller than the OOB versions, but everything else I’ve gotten from them has been great.  Especially the Hellcats, Vals, and Stuka G’s.

Completed Shoho. This started as a black OOB Akagi bought on sale from HBG for a dime, seen on pages 1 and 4 of the thread.  There’s an orange mini sub under the aft flight deck that even has its own tower.  Gun deck under front of flight deck between the pillars.  The one thing that bothered FJO was that the stern should be pointed.  The profile is spot on, and the deck guns are about as accurate as they can be.  Best viewed by right clicking and opening in a new window.

When this piece was photographed above it hadn’t yet been dull coated. When it was sprayed, it was in low light and lead to an overspray, which dried white and made a re-paint necessary. This is how it looks after the re-paint:

“Sink the Bismark” is on Youtube for free.  It’s said that some of the dialogue is accurate (I think the wiki says that) and its a fun movie.

“First Light”, the BBC production based on Geoffrey Wellum’s book, is available for free viewing on Vimeo, and it’s very accurate, Wellum endorsed.  Unless you want to complain about the long shots of him flying in the rain.

If you haven’t seen it and you like De Haviland Mosquitoes, “633 Squadron” is also free on Youtube.  Edit to add: I wanted to watch 633 Squadron again, and it’s no longer free.

Two other views:

Thank you, John.  I’ve been enjoying your pictures as well!  Your latest made me look forward to getting to land units.

I’ve started on the Mosquitoes and have found tons of paint schemes on google.  There are also a ton of documentaries on youtube for roundel reference, and even found 2 whole films- “633 Squadron” on youtube for the Mossies, and for Spits and great story, “First Light” on Vimeo (BBC production of the book).  (“Sink the Bismark!” is also on youtube.)  Well, before I get too off track, here are the first 3 Mosquitoes (later, these get squadron letter decals and cockpit canopies drawn in):

Very nice!  I really like what you’ve done with the bases.  Almost makes territory markers unnecessary, which saves space on a crowded game board.

The “Big Wing” on our glass topped board, which is currently covered with FJO’s painting set-up and a mess of painted and primed pieces.

And some of them again after squadron letters have been applied:

We use them for “Check Your 6!” also. Here’s a group of them that failed to stop the Luftwaffe from hitting their target:

Another 2 views of the Hurricane, 303 Sq., and alt color grey/grn.

We’d bought some Hawker Hurricanes for our Anzac forces, but I had to swipe a few for the UK, since 2/3 of the fighters in the BoB were Hurricanes.  Only have one done now, so here it is with another grey/green Spit, but this one has a darker grey and a lighter green to distinguish it from the other, and a traditional dark earth, dark green Spit to represent 303 Squadron, the Polish squadron.  FJO is Polish, so I had to do that one for him.  I used the same tan on that one as I did for the others with tan, but I put a black wash over it to darken it up a bit before adding the dark green.  I wish I’d done that before I finished the others because I really like the dirty look and more authentic dark earth color.  I did it on the Hurricane as well, and I think it helps the piece look cool.  Nice sculpt from HBG, really authentic looking when you paint it up.

A few late war Spits, Czech and Polish squadron.  (These get appropriate squadron letters, shown later in the post next to a quarter.)

Another of 19 Squadron and the P-40, along with a Spit based on the Malta camo colors.  Needless to say, it’s the starting fighter for Malta.

Thank you, John!  With the Zeroes and Vals out of the way, it’s time to get back to the Spitfires.  Earlier, I posted a Mk1 from the pre-Battle of Britain (BoB) RAF.  Here are 3 from 19 Squadron, early BoB roundels and undersides.  If anyone can tell me where I can get numbers small enough to fit on the rudder of these planes, I’d love to put a red, black, and white “19” on each of these.  (Edit: I-94’s letters work great for squadron markings, as seen later in the post- aircraft alongside a quarter for scale. All UK aircraft now have squadron markings.)  They didn’t carry the fin flash yet, so these don’t have them.  The second pic also has an early Desert Air Force (DAF) P-40.  It probably has the wrong roundels, but it’s the starting fighter for Egypt in our games.

Love’em!  The arm band decal is a nice touch.  Where’d you get them that small?

Nice camo!  I may have to get some of those SS decals from your site.  Are the numbers from I-94?  Is the camo based on any historical reference?

The Vals with finished canopies: