M1A1 light howitzer

I took quite a long time since my G.I.s got howitzer support, so it was good idea to restore another second hand miniature. Model below was purchased a while agobut when it arrived I realised there was a part missing: gunners left palm holding the rod. Back days had some plans how to repair it but all in all it was put into string bag and forgotten.

Until now.

I found the piece last week and decision was made to cross if off the list of shame. I had some spare bits after painting winter infantry squad so the gunner got his missing palm. Also decided to replace original metal heads with placcy ones. These are great btw.

Colors were chosen to fit "summer" part of the army, Must admit whole force painted with green tones looks just just great especially if placed on fully finished game table. I think problem with painting US army is sth similar to painting skaven or goblin fantasy army: painting basically everything brown or green is just damn boring but when it's done - final result was worthy effort.

So here they are: 45 pts worth light artillery ready to stop nazi offensive. The third guy was placed on separate base so it's easier to mark the casaulty. I did similar thing with medium machine gun team a while back. Which reminds me I must start fielding this thing...

Bits on the base (crate and oil drum) come from Warpainter online store (I got other really cool stuff from this producer back days). Sadly the site is suspended for a while now - looking forward to be re-launched, because there were some WW2 Hungarian army vehicles which I'd love to slap some paint on...

Defiler (Cryx)

Spring cleaning time has also hit my painting desk. Some time ago friend of mine sent me printed fire burst. At first I wanted to use if for Bolt Action US army but all in all dropped this idea - M1 flamethrower was simply way to small for such a burst.

So it's been waiting for the proper moment. 

As it happened there was old Cryx Defiler piece staggering around painting station. It's equipped with solid nozzle which is just perfect for little cinematic effect.

I like original Cryx color scheme, but I like "realistic" painting even better. Most of painting is just simple airbrusing upgraded with washes and dry pigments. Works surprisingly well if done clean. Red is natural opposite color to green so the burst was painted like flame instead of fluff-wise acid spit. For the opponents I chose oldie Stalker bonejack and bunch of mechanithralls - old, dry corpses simply burn like hell!

I had lots of fun working on this lil' pest - hope you like it:

Jagdpanzer 38(t) "Gulash"

Howdy,

July is nearly over so I'm glad I was able to boost painting statistics by one more model:
Hungarian tank destroyer - Jagdpanzer 38(t) "Gulash".

After 38.M Toldi it's the second unit for my (veeery slowly) growing Bolt Action Hungarian army. It's more painting than gaming project actually. Because of trying to relocate to Big City and some other life issuses, I don't have enough spare time to paint another infantry swarm. But I have just enough time to practice Hungarian ambush camo and slap some paint on Warpainter's candies... 😊

It's the second Hetzer I've painted during my hobby career. The previous one was painted for my brother almost 4 years ago (sigh!). That one was Warlord's model - it was simply horrible sculpt and cast (sorry...). The new one is Italeri's production - clear, sharp, absolutely no complains.

Once again I gace a try to painting some camo, which was such a relief after painting all those US vehicles! I am even more happy I managed to resist the urge of applying mud - every time I open the pot I get berzerk  and ofter ruin the paintwork.

Hope you like the paintjob. 

Some more heavy support from Warpainters foundries should come next... 😎

And my whole Hungarian force at current state. Almost 300 pts ready for battle! 😁

Laterz!

Eldritch Jeep

A while back I painted some Jeeps to support my Bolt Action US force. It turned out there was one more model left. At this stage I have more Jeeps my army can use, so decision was made this one is coming back where it came from - to the manufacturer 😊

Obviously it wasn't supposed to be a "normal" gaming model (more like a souvenir) so it got unusual paintjob and some eldritch junk inside: I imagined it leaving some excavation site or maybe ancient graveyard, loaded with robbed stuff.

Must say I really like the final result - working on model was quick and pleasant (the piece is pretty simple) and adding the bits was just fun (these also came from Warpainter btw). Pink color is pretty unusual on tabletop battlefields but I've painted such models before: Italian Autoblinda and German Brummbar. Choosing unusual colors is ton of fun every time.

So here it is. 

Below - some pathetic christian priest trying to stop grave robber from stealing ancient tomes and mysterious flask (split-second before getting bullet in the stupid head):

And the wheeler in the full grace:

38.M Toldi

So after dealing with several models from fantasy and dark (yet pretty pointy-teeth and vivid) future range World War II theme stepped on my painting desk once again. This time it's something rather unique: hungarian light tank 38.M Toldi from Warpainter's range. 

I must say I got this cute model a while back but couldn't find decals for Hungarian armor. But thank to Marcin, who's running Bolt Action dedicated blog - 4generals (there're tons of supercool photos and scenarios - definitely recommended!) shared some spares with me. Which means long waited painting process could be started! 🥳

Painting was pretty challenging - Hungarian army ain't very popular among Bolt Action players, so there's not much pics of painted miniatures in the webspace (compared to US, Soviets or Germans that is). Basic idea was to give a try to camo pattern. What you see below is the very first WW2 camouflage from under my brush, but I really like the final result. Hope to test it also on 40.M Turan.

After model was sealed I had that strong urge (once again...) to add some mud effect but my experience is after the mud jar is opened I can never stop before model is at least half-dirty. So in order to make it look kinda "clean" I used only dry pigments. Which actually makes perfect sense: the tank got dusty while running away from the soviet front 😊

Hope you like the final result:

And here's the answer to big question: 

why Hungarian army got ass kicked in Soviet Union... 😋😉

M16 MGMC

After providing German army with the pink love machine the time has come to get something nice for the US force. Especially because I want to try something new on enemy Italians...

The general idea is to save some precious points by replacing "normal" tank by mobile AA battery - Italians use mostly light vehicles so HMG battery supported by anti-tank gun should be enough for them. And once again I've found something cool in the Warpainter's offer.

Must say the model available there is much better then Warlord's - much sharper and better detailed. There was some spare space around the gun so I also got stowage set - just to add some shames and colors to make whole piece look (hopefully) more interesting.

The turret you can see has been salvaged from the failed Krautmower project - that model has never seen the battlefield anyway so it became perfect candidate for parts donor. 

The turret is metal (Warlord) and I prefered some extra weight on the back, instead of printed battery. The barrels have been replaced with thin rods - original barrels are just way too bendy for safe transport and gaming.

I was pretty satisfied about the paintwork - it was pretty clean and bright, but when weathering came I just got carried away... Again... On the other hand war is a dirty hell 🙄

That's it for now, time to roll the new toy out and shoot some nazis... 💀

Brummbar

My acid odyssey is still on apparently. 
See no other reason why my, usually dark and monotone, painting turned into cosmic rainbow or war candy... 🤔 

And here's another one: SdKfz 166, Sturmgeschütz IV für 15cm StuH 43, nicknamed Brummbar (that is: Grouch). Must say I like short name much better.

In Bolt Action the piece is damn tough, heavy howitzer but the model wasn't painted for gaming. It was commissioned by friend of mine after she spotted pink Autoblinda. 

 

As for the model it's another Warpainter's marvel. The piece is sharp, all pieces match well and cleaning & preparations before painting were no  problem at all. Definitely recommended for both German commanders and little girls 😁 

The client likes it so I consider job done. Time to paint something green finally...

 

Beep! Beep!

Hey again,

This time my US force got some new toys to deliver flamethr...  Eee... Eee... Democracy! Yes! Democracy! To deliver democracy even faster!

Recently I got some more fresh prints from Warpainter - this time it was US army Jeep bundle. It's the third attempt to paint models from this manufacturer after M12 GMC and Renault FT 17 and must say I am very pleased about this stuff. Printed models sure have pros and cons but it's just great source of models unavailable from the major players. 

Especially if you plan running army of Italy or Hungary... 🤩

Below is what you get in the box: 3 Jeeps including armored one and one with tarpaulin. Models require little cleaning .and because of simple construction painting is pretty fast: it took me 2 evenings to paint each of these.

As for cons - these wheelers have no crew 😑

On the other hands the intelligence reports some works about it have already been undertaken so you just better check Warpainter's site once in a while...

And the Jeep family alltogether:

🤘

Teaser

Apparently real life has striked me hard once again so there's nothing fresh painted so far. But since the bloggy is just everhungry I decided to throw it little something: 

teaser of what I am working on right now:

Hope to see it finished soon so I can move to Warpainter's jeeps... 

M12 Gun Motor Carriage

Hey,

So last week I finished M12 GMC - was working in a bit of rush because I was wanted to see it on the battlefield next day (it was huge disappointment - the 'uuugest barrel in the army performed like total crap - missed 3 times aiming for a building... Still it was fun to watch infantry hidden there, running like hell out out of the cover after the thing rolled in).

Anyway - the model is rather unique so wanted to make it even more cool.

It's a static model: it's task is placing in safe position providing heavy support. So I added some crew - they all comopse really nicely: I can imagine the commander is getting coordinates while the other two are having chit-chat waiting for the orders. Crewmen are mixed crew of Warlord's M7 Priest and M3 White scout car. And the model is available here.

Despite it's recent miserable performance I am seeing it during the next game, no doubt about it. It's just way too cool to be left in the display case!

"Hellooo? Mooom? I'll be home today"

Spare bucket is a must-have during any conflict:

And a scale shot: was asked to show it compared to Sherman so here it is. About same size: