Wednesday 23 September 2009

US Armoured Infantry

Here's one I've done previously, to use the infamous 'Blue Peter' presenter catch-all phrase. A mixed manufacturer picture of an Esci White Scott Car (OK so there are no decals, what's new there then), part of a Hasagawa M3 Half Track and some (squad of) my Revell WW2 American Ardennes infantry. These were done as a trial batch a couple of years ago.


The plan was/is to set a factory production system and "go through the lot" (and there is an awful lot of bare green plastic) in a week. They were my first attempt at the PVA pre-coat system, but suffer methinks from too much PVA covering too much detail.

The paint scheme is taken from the back of the Revell box and is now in question. These are slightly later figures than the Valiant Miniatures 1942-44 GI but I do so like Valiant's painting guide. Also, although not a fan (or rather I am ignorant of the Flames of War system) their 'all the colours you need' US painting pack looks quite an attractive option too.

The above however will remain painted as is for posterity and more importantly are wargame ready :)



5 comments:

Al said...

Nice Geordie,

I've lamented many times Valiant's overall figure size and chunky style. If only their imagination had run to matching scale and proportion with that which was currently available, until this happens I won't buy them.

Al

Geordie an Exiled FoG said...

Hello Al,

Hmm, I take heed of your words. Maybe I have spoken too soon about my Valiant infantry. They have been washed on the sprue and are about to emerge into the light of day. I will see how they look compared to my Revell ones. Watch this space ....

Cheers

Arquinsiel said...

The Flames of War paint sets are just Vallejo paints repackaged. If you've used them before you know what to expect. If not... I find them a bit watery compared to the GW paints I normally use. I've been told to expect higher pigment density but this is almost uniformly not the case. I don't know what's going on there. Also, their paint sets tend not to have *everything* you need unless you get the "Quartermaster" set too. Even so... their German Armour set was rather different from advertised, with the colours not even coming close to matching those shown on their miniatures.

Geordie an Exiled FoG said...

Thanks for the advice. It is much appreciated :)

My one query with respect to the FoW Vallejo paint sets (noting that you really need two to start) was how I was to adopt them to the GW shade-base-highlight system I am used to.

Just adding white/black gives mixed results and playing around with the colour wheel and adding the right primary colour is well, tiring. No guarantee of replicating past results either - so it emphasizes a do everything at one go approach :(

They do have certain colours found almost nowhere else though, such a British Uniform green (WW2 Khaki Green).

Geordie an Exiled FoG said...

Update .. Some days later I also bought a packet of Italeri US Infantry (Old Esci?).

Reasoning being: They offered more poses, were made of hard plastic and I am seemingly questing in US infantry mode.

How compatible will Italeri, Revell and Valiant be altogether? Hmm.