Bolt Action Project VLOG – Building WWII Armies

All good things come to an end..
I really enjoyed this project tremendously and I'm a little sad somehow that it's now finished.
(Although I'm glad I don't need to google German names for a while now..).

Anyhow, here's 'Drei Zehn', Kurt Dörflinger's Tiger tank. Kurt and his sidekick Untersturmführer Schultz are Ostfront veterans and sit in a Tiger since Kursk. This is their new ride since their deployment to Normandy.
Both were secretly hoping for a King Tiger but at least they know this cat like the back of their hand..
Kurt is affectionately called 'Der Alte' by his crew and Schultz earned the nickname 'Der Panzerknacker' due to his habit of always having a Panzerfaust handy for fear someone could sneak up on their backside..
Neither of them knows or cares for their crew mates' real names. For convenience they simply call them 'Franz & Gustav' in memory of their very first crew back then in '41.
Both are very keen to up their tally of 25 kills and are looking forward to the battles to come..maybe they might be rewarded with a King Tiger after all!

Here the Tiger with all its base colours applied.
It looks rather colourful at this stage but the wash with Argax Earthshade will dull it down nicely.
I haven't had any instructions as to what specific Tiger it is going to be so I think I will make it a fictional Tiger Ace's panzer.
I've also painted the StuG's Schürzen in Ambush camouflage pattern. I will leave them seperately for now so they won't be damaged on their way to the BoW HQ.
Plus I rather leave the fiddly task of glueing them on to John 😉

The penultimate unit of the FJ project is done, next is -last but not least- the pièce de résistance..the mighty Tiger tank!
I'm not sure yet wether or not to paint it as Wittmann's 007. Is this too cheesy?
On the other hand.. 😎

Feel free to comment below!

I've got no idea where he belongs to tbh. The mini is fairly small compared with the other metals and the plastic figures. He was in the special weapons bag together with the figures below.
Possibly a ammo carrier for the Panzerschreck? Comment if you know the answer to this conundrum..

Anyways, his name is Till, short for Tillmann but everybody in his company calls him 'Till'. He was born in 1927 and joined the FJR6 only a few months ago. With only 17 years of age he's the youngest Fallschirmschütze in his Kompanie. And the shortest. He was so looking forward to serve in one of the most elite outfits of the Wehrmacht and now that they have indeed invaded France he wants to fight to the last to defend Europe against the decadent Amis and Engländers.
And now his Unteroffizier gave him the task to look after this silly crate. Incredible. He doesn't even have a rifle! Himmel! If he'd only know what's in it..it sure is heavy. Maybe he should take a peak?
Just as he decided to open the crate he was taken prisoner by Henry, a US Ranger and later shipped to a POW camp in Minnesota. He never found out what was in the box he carried around during the battle of Normandy..

After a little BA hiatus I have now finished the Panzerschreck team and the sniper with his mate.
I was tempted to convert plastics instead of using metals for this but although imo there are some issues with the sculpting in terms of scale (gas mask containers) I have to admit I do like Mr Hick's characterful and life-like work as he manages poses I would struggle to recreate in plastic without a lot of green stuff.
Anyhow, the last two items on the list are the PaK40 and the...Tiger!

Okay, here the whole SS PzGren squad and their ride in all their camouflaged glory.
The figures are al kitbashed. I suppose this squad won't be all too popular in a game looking at all those StG44s..hehe..

Here the finished SS PzGren squad.
The halftrack and converted crew are primed and ready to be painted 😎

After a bit of a delay I have indeed finished the third squad today.
As per usual to MG42 teams and 8 men.
Next in line are the SS Panzergrenadiers with Hanomag and the metal FJ special weapons, followed by the arty and the Tiger 😎

John and Warren have a little update on what's been happening for our Russian Bolt Action Army.

I've started building the third FJ squad and painted the squad leader.
The Recoilless Gun is next in the painting queue.
The metal crew has got plastic heads as I think they fit in better with the rest.

This one took a little longer as planned but here it is in all its glory 😎

Always useful in the game so I've made one up for the FJs.
Next up is the Panzerbüchse 41..

I know the helmets without camo cover are a little Early War but I kinda like them like this 😎

Here's how I paint the Luftwaffe Splinter Camouflage for the FJs.
Again, it's not meant to be an exact replication of the pattern but merely an approximation that is recognisable and most importantly quick&easy to achieve.
As mentioned before I admire people who paint raindrop strips but I don't think it's actually necessary in this scale (I know you disagree @cha1nzz..).
The last step of 'sharpening' the edges with the base colour isn't anything I'd do on flat surfaces like the base I've used for this demo but on a mini with numerous creases and folds it's pronouncing the pattern and makes it look somewhat tidier.

The Sturmgeschütz is now ready for action. The crew are self made from the old Heer plastics and some FJ spare heads.
It is meant to be an SS vehicle hence the pea dot pattern camo uniforms.
I have the Schürzen built and will paint them as well (probably in Ambush pattern camo) but will leave them separate for now.
Next in line will be the MMG team which is now primed and ready for painting.

The Rugby World Cup sort of messed up my hobby plans for the weekend I'm afraid..
Here the finished mortar and a comparison shot next to a plastic FJ. The metals are as mentioned before a little bit smaller but I think it's not gonna be all too noticeable.
The StuG got its camo and is now waiting for the wash. Next time it'll be finished as well..
Then it's going to be the first part of the third FJ platoon and the HMG I think. I also will try to build and paint a test figure for the SS Panzergrenadiers I will throw in as crew for the Hanomag.

Not much to show off today but despite a ..challenging..day at work I've managed to start the mortar team.
All base colours are applied apart from the camo which is going to be next before the wash.
As the camo is a little more intricate than a plain uniform I've decided to paint the figures seperately hence the temporary single bases.

German: Fallschirmjägergewehr 42, "paratrooper rifle 42") is a selective-fire battle rifle produced in Nazi Germany during World War II. The weapon was developed specifically for the use of the Fallschirmjäger airborne infantry in 1942 and was used in very limited numbers until the end of the war.

It combined the characteristics and firepower of a light machine gun in a lightweight form no larger than the standard-issue Kar 98k bolt-action rifle. Considered one of the most advanced weapon designs of World War II, the FG 42 influenced post-war small arms development, and most of its design was copied by the US Army when they developed the M60 machine gun.

John and Warren Take a Look at just what can be achieved when trying to paint a soviet army quickly ... but ... effectively!

I've finished the command figure for the Puma. Easy to convert and I like him better than the out of scale figure included in the kit. At least there is some more consistency.

I've decided to paint the Hanomag as an SS vehicle and might do a small squad of SS Panzergrenadiers to go with it. FJs (other than the Herman Goering Division) did not use it just like the LW Field Divisions didn't.

Plus it's kind of historically more accurate as FJs and SS units fought side by side in Normandy. I've also worked a bit on the second half of 2nd squad, pictures as soon as they are done.

The first half of the second FJ squad is finished and I've also converted/ kitbashed a Forward Observation Officer, Oberleutnant Falk.

As every squad will have two LMG teams I try to make the poses as little repetitive as I can. Thankfully the FJs are fully compatible with the Grenadiers and the rolled up sleeves add flavour as well. The only conundrum now is the SdKfz 251 that is part of the army box.

As far as I'm aware the FJs didn't use Hanomags, in fact they've been lucky if they had a lorry at their disposal. Question is how to get it into the army without being completely random.

The next best thing if we want to stick with the Luftwaffe theme would be the LW Field Division but I couldn't find any information if they actually used 251s. Does anyone here know? The Puma and Tiger are SS, maybe it should just be an SS Panzergrenadier vehicle..

I really like the Warlord kit's crisp details and ease of build. Only the Schürtzen are somewhat fiddly and I secretly hope @warzan prefers the beauty of the StuG not to be obscured by them...but I will build the just in case.

The gun options are a nice touch as well and the only thing missing is the iconic Saukopf mantlet.

Hatches are open as I will add crew later on and the gun shield of the MG34 would otherwise not have the support to stand upright.

I will also add antennae before starting to paint it.

Although I usually don't do this I've primed the StuG parts in their sprues as I liked the idea to have the tracks in black and the rest Panther Yellow. I am really happy with Battlefront's Spray paints so far and would recommend them without hesitation.

I've got my cans from eBay, worth checking every now and then. The mortar team will be my first metal figures for this project, first non plastic miniatures in quite some time actually.

Nice sculpts no doubt (Herr Hicks' work if I'm not mistaken?). Ever so slightly smaller than the plastics as it is rather often the case but I don't think that will be too noticeable on the battlefield.

The plastics are for the 2nd FJ squad. The chap with the fieldcap is the squad leader. The NCOs seemed to have liked the FG42 particularly..

...well, nearly!

There will be a custom made commander and maybe some more weathering. The second squad of FJs is currently being assembled and primed.

I quite fancy doing some metals after (note to myself: buy super glue first!). And there is also a StuG waiting...

I'm slowly getting the hang of painting the splinter camo pattern quickly and the first test figures are done, re-done and changed back again only to be repainted yet again..but now -finally- I'm not going to change anything and stick with this paintscheme.

The camo is obviously not a 100% copy but rather meant to give an impression of the Luftwaffe Splinter pattern. So I won't be painting tiny green strips (although I do admire people who do this without having lost their sanity!).

Hungover 'Hans' is just a fun conversion inspired by the story of a Fallschirmjäger who drank too much Schnaps the night before a combat jump mission, overslept and consequently nearly missed his bird.

His Kameraden managed to drag him on board just before take off.

Having been in a rush and probably not quite sober had forgotten to put on his trousers, helmet and weapons, just donned his smock and boots and grabbed his chute before running after his mates. He was given a pistol by his NCO and -tongue in cheek - told not to be taken prisoner by the Allies as his state and appearance would damage the Fallschirmjäger's reputation.

I'm sure the guys will have use of him!

I've also made good progress with the Puma and hope to have it finished tomorrow or Friday.

Okay gents,after seeing the chaps over at the Riverside Studio making some serious progress I really had to get going with the German Fallschirmjägers.

I usually start an army with..research! Books in the good old days, now the world wide web! Well, the occasional (e)book maybe.

For this army in particular I thought the distinctive camo pattern would be a defining feature and I spend a few moments there to find the paints/ colours I would go with. In order to get a 'feel' for the uniform I always paint the first squad individually. More often than not I decide to chance some aspect half way through and repaint the first figures...

Once satisfied I then paint the rest of the infantry in batches of 5-6 models. After every squad of footsloggers I throw in a vehicle or heavy weapons team to keep things interesting. I'll let you know how I progress and try to update this as often as I can!

John works out a highly detailed and scientific and historically accurate way to decide exactly what colour each model will be primed 😉

This is one of those projects where a colored primer is going to be a life saver. So we see if we can use some of the cans (Army Painter) that we already have lying around to get the right effect.

Soviet paint schemes are either going to be complex or very simple ... and we're about to find out.

Lets discuss the plan!

A big challenge for me was knowing just what bits to put together to create an accurate (but cool and viable) set of guys in each unit. Here I discuss with John the simple steps to take to know what to put with what!

We're trying to get as much cool info on the 8th Guard as we can.

Do you have a cool link, photo or story (or an idea for a cool list) please post a comment on this entry!