Final Paratroopers for Carentan

The MayDay convention is coming fast, and I'll be playtesting my Carentan scenario next weekend. So...everything has to be pretty much finished up this week. Will the American's be victorious this time around? Who knows!

One of the American objectives will be to secure this wounded company commander, who will be set up on the board prior to play.

American bazooka team.

The platoon command section.

Thankfully, I made progress on the final German squad this weekend as well. They just need their weapons painted and their bases completed...and we'll be good to go. I'll post some photos of the final Fallschirmjagers this week.

'Til next time.

2nd Squad

Hello fellow gaming nuts. Not these guys...you.

The 101st Airborne project continues. The second squad is now done. Here is the MG section.

And the rifle section.

Looking at the calendar, I might be hard pressed to get all the paratroopers and fallschirmjagers done in time for the MayDay convention...but I'm hoping to get a good start into the German troops this weekend...so who knows? I might still make it. Damn my slow painting. Carentan awaits!

'Til next time.

1st Squad Done

It's slow going on the figure painting front. However, I'm happy to say that the first squad of my 101st Airborne platoon project is now done.

Here is the machine gun section.

And the rifle section.

I was digging around the internet for some 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment photos (the unit featured in the HBO series, Band of Brothers) and found a number of good ones. Here is a shot of some paratroopers in their C-47 transport heading over the channel the night before D-Day.

The 506th did a lot of fighting in and around Carentan. Here is a shot in the city after its liberation.

One final shot of the rifle section.

'Til next time.

Painting 28mm WWII US Paratroopers

Well, time to get back to painting wargaming figures. I'm running a Carentan, Normandy scenario for the local convention this spring, so I've got to get hopping on the forces. I'll be pitting a platoon of 101st Airborne against a platoon of Fallschirmjagers (a la episode 3 of Band of Brothers). Here's a little source imagery for the American Paratroopers.

The uniforms are a sand color, with light khaki webbing and packs. Helmet is dark olive green and boots are brown leather.

I'm starting with Artizan 28mm figures. They come in a nice variety of poses and have plenty of character. The bare metal fig...mold lines, bent gun and all!

I prime in white.

I then do a dark ink pass. This isn't for final shading so much as my aging eyes really need help in seeing the detail of the figure. By doing this dip, I can see where I can expend effort to make the final figure pop.

Next I paint the skin (I use the method of painting the figure from the inside out, so to speak).

For skin I've recently switched over to the Foundry three-tone system, and add in a flesh wash after the shade base coat.

Next I move on to the uniform. This is the base coat with field drab and another ink wash for shading.

I layer-paint the cloth. Base coat is Vallejo US Field Drab, mid tone is Green Ochre and highlight is Dark Sand.

Leather is done with Foundry Tan.

I use this paint progression for the olive helmets and reinforcement patches, as well as the light khaki webbing/packs. Starting from the left, dark green bits start with Vallejo US Dark Green and highlight with Khaki. Webbing starts with Khaki, then the mid tone is Buff and the highlight is Pale Sand.

And the result is a US Airborne fig. Base is glue and sand painted in GW Scorched Brown, highlighted with Vomit Brown and Bleached Bone. Grass is GW static grass.

And here is the current state of the US platoon...plenty of painting to go!

'Til next time.