I have managed to sort the figures into a green and a tan pile - and that is about as far as I have got! the next step will be to see how may of each pose I have and how I can then think about organising the forces. An email from Bob Cordery mentioned the possibility of painting the figures as the US Aggressor formations which seemed like a good idea from a generic 'wargame type wargame' perspective but I have plans for something rather different.
If I ignored such details as the cut of the uniform and the style of helmets and personal equipment and merely painted the uniforms in the appropriate colour (and thereby rendering myself liable to being burnt at the stake as a heretic) I could in fact field forces for the three main 20th century army types - khaki green, brown and grey. That certainly ticks a number of boxes in terms of usability and also means that I could extend the same idea to vehicles. All I would do for example, would be to paint a tank as a tank of the appropriate army. There is a precedent for this as Hollywood did this all the time - the previously mentioned M48 (actually an M47) doubling up as a King Tiger in the Battle of the Bulge being a good example.
As far as the painting technique to be used is concerned I will be looking at simple and effective. An overall uniform colour with flesh, equipment and the headgear detailed and then washed or 'dipped'
This is still very much on the early planning stages and is very much an infantry only affair. Once I have a clearer idea of how much I have in each of the various poses I can make my plans with a little more details.
I am, for the record, hugely excited by this....;-)
8 comments:
Hi David,
As a person who bought hundreds of these for my little cousin I can vouch to you that they do look nicer when painted up. Try Vallejo khaki for one group of uniforms with a darker khaki for webbing. The helmet is field drab. Shoes are brown leather.
The second group are gray with dark gray helmets and black leather work.
The third would be in what Vallejo calls british uniform brown with dark brown fittings.
Are any of the figures Japanese types? Vallejos Japanese uniform color would be great for that with leather brown fittings and a funky brownish helmet.
Since these are all just tokens for play, you can go as far as you want. Your toys, your choices.
Try discount stores like Walmarts for cheap vehicles in plastic from our friends in China.
Good going, lad!
Jerry
A/K/A The Celtic Curmudgeon
There is also precedent in the toy soldier world such as Herald's "Khaki Infantry" which were eventually re-released in grey as the enemy.
I would suggest a traditional plastic toy soldier paint job. Base colour, flesh, webbing, boots & weapon and a contrasting helmet.
Hi Jerry,
My thoughts entirely re the paint jobs - the main thing is to get them on the table and gaming with them. The only 'extra' will be mounting them on bases!
My thoughts entirely re our friends from China - I have seen a lot of material that could be pressed into service so once again I will be on the prowl!
All the best,
DC
Hi Ross,
I am currently swerving between basic and washed or toy soldier for the paint job - in fact I will try both on a couple of figures and see which I prefer.
Having a single source of figures for everybody is positively liberating!
All the best,
DC
I did a bunch of 54mm WWII Canadian infantry by spraying them with Testor's olive drab then picking out flesh & equipment with my usual paint and putting a wash over top. They have served off and on for a decade now and still look good to me,
Great find and an exciting project.
Hi Ross,
I am liking this idea more and more!
All the best,
DC
Hi Sean,
It has insanity written all over it - so it must be worth a shot!
I still cannot get over how little this has cost so far though.
All the best,
DC
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