Saturday, March 1, 2014

From BurkhardS: 28mm WWII British Universal Carriers with Crew (110 points)


From Burkhard:
After painting a lot of infantry for my poor bloody infantry, I felt they needed some transports to make sure they would not be so foot sore. So here are some Universal carriers for them. All the models are from Tamiyas 1:48th scale range. The tracks, tanks and flamethrower for the Wasp Carrier are from Gasoline. Now I really like these models. Very nicely detailed, robust (our dog stole one while drying and chewed on it without any damage that could not be repaired within 5 minutes) and completely accurate. And there was a time when you could get these off eBay dead cheap. 
I had some fun weathering them. So far I have mostly worked with just some basic airbrush work on my WWII tanks, but I wanted to go a different route on my Brits. So these were primed with Vallejos Bronze Green primer applied with an airbrush. Up next I slapped decals (these came with the kits), sealed with Solvaset. Again the markings are for the South Lancs to match the Infantry. Afterwards I went for a wash of Dirtbrown by Modelmates. 

This was only to be a test since I had never used them, but I was impressed with the results. Now you do not only apply this wash, but it is meant to be partly removed again in a second step. Hard to explain, but in the end you get a nice color variation in the large areas and shadows in the recesses and near the corners. The next step was a first for me as well, as I did highlight everything with Faded Allied Green pigments from MIG. Never did that before, but it was great. The end result after the wash had been darker than what I wanted, but the pigments took it right where I had hoped for. Marvelous! Up next a coat of varnish, painting of details and another weathering with artists pigments to dirty them up. Crew added and another coat of varnish and they were done.

Now the mini are from Victory Force. James has always believed in his range to be compatible with scale models on the market. So when a couple of customers asked for crews for Tamiya's Universal Carriers he sculpted them. (I can claim some credit, since I donated one of my assembled Carriers so he had the measurements.) And he did a great job, providing minis that really fit the models. 
They even fit the cramped passenger compartment. Just not on all my Carriers, since I had been stupid enough to stuff two of them to the rim with ammo crates. so one one of them, the passenger actually has to ride said ammo boxes and is sitting higher. ;-)
Wow, you've done a beautiful job on these carriers Burkhard. I've always been a big fan of using larger 1:50 and 1:48 scale vehicles with  28mm figures. The vehicles just seem to have that much more presence and impact on the tabletop than the 'standard' 1:56 scale offerings. You've also done a brilliant job on the carrier's crew, the little details like their shoulder flashes are a great finishing touch. 

These five Universal Carriers and their crews will give Burkhard 110 points. A wonderful group of models, bravo!

17 comments:

  1. Great looking minis! And the background you are using for the photos really helps make them alive

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  2. Hola
    Magnifico trabajo con estas minis
    un saludo

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  3. Great work on the carriers, they are wonderfully done. Well used and still chugging along! Don't spoil your infantry with vehicles though. All of us infantry men have two trucks, a left one and a right one! ;)

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  4. Impressive work from Burkhard - nice photography too. The weathering technique is very effective. Dean

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  5. I like the way you photographed them as well. You can see all the detail work you did on each one. Excellent brushwork!

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  6. Good clean painting and well composed and executed pictures.

    Cheers, Ross

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  7. Lovely looking vehicles Burkhard. No way I'd ever ride in a pie tin full of petrol though regardless of how good it looks!

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  8. Thanks everyone! I am very humbled by the words from such illustrious painters! I am very happy and proud with the way the weathering came out!
    And I am glad you like the pictures. It seems these are the first for some time that came out fine in a long time!

    @David... Well they will be even more spoiled soon. I also have halftracks and Ram carriers for them. ;-)

    @Micheal: The funny thing is, many of the German accounts from Normandy mention that they would have loved those carriers.

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  9. Really great painting work! Very fine!!!

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  10. These are spot on, really work well

    Ian

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  11. I have a soft spot for carriers. These are great. I now want to buy and paint some.

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  12. Thanks again guys!

    If only the wash had arrived in time, these would have been my entry for the vehicles round!

    @Clint: Not only you! I also have a PanzerjƤger Bren to paint. I doubt, that I will be able to do it as part of this Challenge, but either over the course of the year or for the next one.

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  13. Really good work. They look excellent.
    chers

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  14. Thank you both, too!

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