Panzer Marsche!

Haaaloooo, Possums!!! So, an old client coaxed me out of my lair to build him a combined arms combat brigade for Hammer's Slammers, and it was all down hill from there…


So here is a step by step visual narrative of the production of this twenty vehicle combat group, done to a Germanic theme in both force mix and finish for your consideration:

Starting with those handy plastic appetizer dishes, I used everything from plastic spoons left over from takeaway meals to the ubiquitous plastic rhinestones, and even a very handy old fashioned multi-wire connector to produce a nasty heavy multiple guided missile launcher AFV. The main guns on the battle tanks were wood nails, while the appliqué armor plates were self adhesive decorative plastic tiles for scrapbooking bought at a fire sale price in bulk from the local Tuesday Morning store. 

Once the assembly had reached a satisfactory level, off to the spraying station for a coat of flat black primer:

And then the camouflage base color is added, a two-shade combination of Americana/DecoArt Wrought Iron followed by Timberline Green…

Once dry, onward to the first pattern color, again Wrought Iron, which is a very dark shade of green:

And so comes the third color, Poly-S German Uniform Grey (aka Field Gray or Feldgrau):

And then the dappling begins to create that classic German "ambush pattern" followed by detailing the point defense laser emitters with Americana/DecoArt Gunmetal Grey:

Next, decals, most prominently the classic German Maltese cross and tactical numbers and markings:

And then comes the weathering, and the point defense lasers get their active look with a dot of Liquitex artist's acrylic bright red paint to give them that "instant of firing" look:

So off to the spray table for a shot of Testor's Dullcote to seal the work and protect the decals from wear due to handling. As they dried, I finished flocking the bases each of these anti grav AFVs would be mounted on, and added reindeer lichen. Once the models had dried, I brought them back to the work table and glued them on to the pushpins I use for just such projects. Plastic pushpins give the right height for an anti grav vehicle, are cheap and readily available, and I can use white craft glue to attach them to the precut wooden bases I pick up for dirt cheap at the local craft store.

So here is the finished anti grav kampfgruppe in all of its menacing glory:

So there you have it, a complete grav panzer kampfgruppe ready for action (just add futuristic panzer grenadiers). This group has now been boxed up and is awaiting shipment to their new owner, who has promised to post photos of their going into action for the first time on his own wargaming newsletter, and I *am* going to hold him to it, youbetcha, Space Possums!

Now, what to do, what to do… Oh, I know… Mwahahahaaa!!! Mark also convinced me to do up a second force, a bunch of civilian paramilitary militia/rebel types, so looked what we gots here:

Technicals with buzz bombs and power guns, anyone? Mwahahahahaaa!!! Stay tuned…