StuGs and escorts

I recently got my hands on a blister of German tank riders.  Planning on running a platoon for support with my Fallschirmjager from Grey Wolf.
Heres some pics of them all done up.  I used my usual splinter camo for the smocks and helmet covers.

I put 3 escort riders on each assault gun.  And I opted to glue them down permanently.   I fiddled with trying to cut clear plastic but gave up.  There was just so much stuff in the way and it still tended to slide off.  That and the plastic is very shiny and noticeable.

I then tried "Blue tac"  And it just wasnt strong enough.  Plus no matter how little I placed under the men it still squished out around them and was visible.

I have other StuGs without riders that I can use when I dont pay for the upgrade so gluing these guys down seemed like the best option.  I also have the dismounted teams I am just finishing up with the basing.  Not sure what Ill use them for yet as they are only 3 teams plus a command stand.  Any ideas?

EDIT:  Added pics of the dismounted guys.

Thanks for looking

Rob

Crash Action!

So with V3 transports are now very effective if used wisely.  So I figured our British Artillery teams could benefit from some mobility.  Here is enough trucks to move a whole  4 gun battery of 25 pounders.  Cant wait to see "Crash Action" at work.  (Page 49 of the V3 Rules)

Decals are from "Doms Decals"  Love them.  He lists on the decal sheet what each decal is for.  So I knew that the yellow circle with the 5 represents the 15cwt trucks for example.  Doms decals are definetely worth checking out.  You just have to remember that you need to cut out each decal individually.  Not a big deal.  :)
DOMS

Finished Typhoons

This is directly related to a post over on one my favorite Blogs Breakthrough Assault .  These are some pics of my wife's Typhoons that we did up for her Irish Guards force from Hells Highway.  We wanted to make sure the Invasion stripes were done as best as possible so my wife had the brilliant Idea of using Auto pin striping.  It was easily bought at our local Canadian Tire store.  And I'm sure any auto body or parts store would sell it.

It comes in varying thicknesses.  The stuff we used is 1/8' wide.

 Everything else was hand painted.  I might also strongly recommend planning the camo scheme before painting it by drawing it on lightly with a pencil first.
The Flames of war site has a tutorial I tried to follow as well.  (Minus the invasion stripes)

Happy Skies!

Tigers

Last weekend our local game shop held an April fools themed event.  The just of it was that anyone who wanted to join in had to bring a 1500 point company.  And for every Company fielded the store owner would field half the amount in points of his own forces to go up against us all.

The catch being that all the store owners forces would be in Ambush!  The game was alot of fun. It was unpridictable and fast paced.  The winner was determined by who on the attacking team could get farthest down the table lol.

Anyway I wanted to field a Bake Panther company with a Tiger platoon so I had to paint up my tigers that had been sitting in the Q for months as fast as I could!

I didnt finish them in time but they were all base coated and camouflaged so I used them anyways.  :)
Here they are just base coated ready for camo.  I used the Battlefront armor late war german spray.

 Here they are with Camo airbrushed.

 Colors used.  I mix just a little bit of the Rubbing alcohol into the paint.

Next I painted all the tracks using gunmetal grey.   Then it was time to spray a heavy coat of varnish in preparation for decals.

The decals were a real pain.  And I had to give up on placing the numbers on the turret sides for 3 out of 5 of these.  I dont know if it was a bad batch of decals or if the Force just wasnt with me this time, because I couldnt get them to stick.  I used plenty of decal softener as well.  But still no luck.  The last picture is after decals and a heavy black wash.

Im headed out to the garage now to do the drybrushing and details.  Even with the decal debacle these Cats are still turning out fine.......

Well I might as well carry on and add more as I go.   Did a rust wash on the tracks using watered down Rust pigment.  And then proceeded to drybrush the entire tank using 70% Middlestone and 30% buff mix.

Next Ill be painting all the details and adding dust and soot using pigments.  Then crew and Matte Varnish.  Ok the platoon is 100% done.
Im pretty happy with the result.  However I did change one thing compared to how I did all my other AFVs.  normally I use a 50/50 mixture of Middlestone/White to do the final drybrushing.  This time I switched to Middlestone/Buff.   I think this gave an overall more Yellow finish which I dont like as much as the "bleached or weathered look the white gives.  
They still turned out great.  I think I just prefer the other result more.

Thanks for following along.

Rob