Bolt Action Yanks [22]

I'm less than comfortable with the bases on the infantry, so have been looking at various ways in which I can tart them up a bit. As they're supposed to be wallowing in the rain drenched mud of the Reichswald or the Westwall, I can't really smother them in PVA and static grass, so an alternative approach is clearly required.

I've been looking into some suitably Autumnal leaf scatter materials from the likes of Antenociti's Workshop, but the rather steep price tag has been less than encouraging. As a result, the homegrown option is looking like it might be worth a try, with a couple of jars of well past their sell by date French cooking herbs as a strong contender.

I'm thinking a soupcon of Basilic with a delicate whiff of crushed Fines Herbes...?

Bof!

Bolt Action Yanks [21]

I drybrushed the bases on the infantry this evening, using Foundry Rawhide Shade and Rawhide, which is my usual method when finishing off the base painting for 28mm figures. The resulting bases don't look too bad but they'll need another spray with Army Painter dullcoat to tone them down a bit. I also need to think about some clumps of vegetation or perhaps some scatter material to break up the rather muddy monotone muddy appearance, especially on the heavy weapons bases.

Bag the Hun Yanks [20]

The tanks and half tracks are now on the workbench, ready for some washing, drybrushing and weathering in as minimal time as I can manage. I was intending to do all sorts of baggage and stowage on the AFV's but I just don't have the time, so they'll get painted up without any super-detailed modelling extras. I'm only going to tackle one of the M4A3 Shermans for the moment, as the Bolt Action rules limit any armoured support to a single, very lonely tank.

Bolt Action Yanks [19]

I was supposed to be playing a follow on game of Dead Man's Hand at the club this evening but the Ministry of the Interior decided that she had to attend an NASUWT meeting instead, leaving me with the inevitable sprog wrangling. I was looking forward to the game but it will have to wait a little longer before I can unleash the Mexican bandito posse on the unsuspecting gringos. I've made the most of my time otherwise, so have textured the bases on the US infantry using the homemade gunge mixture, ready for a drybrush tomorrow.

Bolt Action Volksgrenadiers [1]

As I'm on the home stretch (?) with the Bolt Action Yanks, I thought I'd kick off the other half of the equation with some lovely Artizan Miniatures late war German figures, a handful of which have been sitting in a box for at least a decade. They're really good figures with loads of character and plenty of painting angles, which is always a good thing.

These were originally intended for conversion into pulp era arctic explorers, believe it or not, but that project never got off the ground. As a result, I have a ten man pack of late war German infantry in smocks that will be a solid foundation for a reinforced Volksgrenadier platoon, with a particular focus on the 330th Volksgrenadier Regiment, which was heavily involved in the battle for Geilenkirchen in November 1944. 

I've ordered a handful of additional packs of greatcoat wearing infantry, which will be a good match for the figures that I already have and will help to bulk out the force into something more than a couple of squads. When this will happen is a bit of an open ended question....but I'm hoping that it won't be too far ahead of my other impending projects?

Bolt Action Yanks [18]

I've really enjoyed painting up the Artizan late war US infantry, even though it's taken far longer than I would have liked, so I thought I'd add a few extra bits to round things off. I've realised that I needed a couple of additional riflemen if I wanted to go mid/late war, so have added a pair to fill in the gaps. This will allow me to lose a BAR gunner from each squad but keep to the textbook twelve figures.

I also neglected to paint up a rather splendid rifle armed sergeant figure, so he's been added to the extras as a potential squad leader, along with a second M1 carbine armed junior officer. The other figures are a three man crew for a Warlord Games 57mm M1 anti-tank gun that I found on Ebay, adding some much needed punch to the reinforced platoon. I'll paint this lot up alongside the AFV's and softskins.

Budget Basetex Base Texture Test

I had a go at mixing up the ersatz basetex goo yesterday evening. The  recipe is pretty simple, although I made it up as I went along and the quantities are a bit of a guess:


1 tablespoon ready mixed filler
1 tablespoon PVA glue
1 tablespoon Raw Umber acrylic paint
1 teaspoon Burnt Umber acrylic paint
2 tablespoons of sand / grit mix

Stir it up and slap it on. I had a go at a test base and it turned out to be not too bad. It dried quickly and is now rock hard, so ready for a wash over and some dry brushing, together with a tuft of weedy grass or two. It's supposed to look like a typical bit of terrain in the Rhineland or Westwall, which were characterised by terrible weather and lots of mud.

I'll try to get the real bases done with the mixture today but I have some work to shift before I can get on with the texturing proper.

Budget Basetex

I'm experimenting with my own home brew, bargain bucket version of Basetex, which involves a revolting concoction of PVA, ready mix filler, brown acrylic paint and sand. I'm not sure that it'll work but I'll give it a try in an attempt to texture the bases of the Bolt Action figures in one simple process. Wish me luck!

Bolt Action Yanks [17]

I dipped the rest of the figures a couple of days ago then left them to dry before spray varnishing them with Army Painter dull coat this morning. As you can see, the assembled reinforced late war platoon consists of two squads of twelve men, each of an NCO with SMG, two BAR gunners and nine riflemen. I can split these two squads up to form three understrength Battle of the Bulge squads of eight men with only one BAR gunner per squad and an extra NCO squad leader drafted in from the platoon HQ.

The HQ itself consists of a 2nd Lt with M1 carbine and a bodyguard armed with SMG's. One of the SMG figures can be swapped out and used to accompany the medic attached to the platoon. The fire support element of the platoon consists of two bazooka teams, two .30cal medium machine gun teams and a single three man 60mm light mortar team. The reinforced platoon works out at a pretty decent 560 points, not including the attached tank and half tracks, assuming they are all rated as late war regular troops.

I now need to finish off the insignia and tackle the base texturing, before I paint and decorate the bases themselves. In retrospect I should have textured the bases before I undercoated the figures, as they'd now only need a bit of dry-brushing to finish them off. Bugger. Never mind, as I have a cunning plan to mix my own homegrown DIY basetex style goo to slap all over the bases and make them look like a muddy winter  in the Rhineland.

Foundry Bushi Buntai

I've scraped the proverbial barrel to put together a third buntai from my old Foundry figures, with a couple of extras from Ebay. It's a very small force but will pack quite a punch, especially if I go for the level 3 and above option from the rulebook. They're lovely figures and I particularly like the archer, who looks as though he's walked out of a seventeenth century Japanese wood block print.....stunning!