Based buildings for the Eastern Front

It's been slow going for me lately, but I wanted to post a few photos of my Russian village pieces on bases.  They aren't much to look at but I'm pretty happy with the dirt, grass, and foliage colors...  something I've struggled with for the past couple of years.

Here is a small Soviet farm complex...  I plan to complete an orchard and some crop rows to make up a small collectivized farm. 

...A small cottage...

Russian Orthodox Church, based with a rough stone wall.  I wanted a little more detail on the base (like trees, etc.) but decided to keep it plain to allow infantry bases and vehicles to take refuge without too much to get in the way.

Not much else going on for now...  I hope to find more time to paint in the coming months...

GHQ 1/285 Russian Orthodox Church and KV-2 Tanks

The Eastern Front has always been my preferred area of World War II study...  the grand battles of encirclement, the vast peasant steppes, the rubble strewn cities, and the total and complete defeat of the Nazis.  The Eastern Front of World War II was a vivid and brutal battleground of epic proportions.

I've been experimenting with undercoats, ground covering, trees, etc. for probably 2 years trying to recreate a good general representation of the Ostfront landscape in miniature...  to my disappointment much of it hasn't looked quite right (if anyone has a good suggestion on a COLOR photo book of this area of the world, I am all ears!).  At any rate, I've decided to focus for now on the buildings and vehicles of the time and perhaps the terrain will fall into place.

Here are a few photos of some Russian/Ukrainian buildings that I just finished and wanted to share.  I know the onion domes on the Orthodox church are a bit bright, but I actually followed a color photo and I think it turned out pretty close!

A tack and coin added for scale reference...  these guys are tiny!  I love the detail!  If you've looked at some of my other photos, chances are you've seen a few KV-2's in other scales.  The KV-2 is such a cool chunky-looking tank; even though it made little impact and broke down more often than not.

Here is a mix of GHQ and CinC buildings (mostly GHQ).  The thatched roof on the large log cabin is very nicely cast...  it's a shame that GHQ didn't do a better job on the roof's of the other Russian buildings.  Hopefully with some nice dirt roads and some extra details, I'll get this looking like a nice Russian village.

A closeup of the KV-2; it's hard to see but this actually has a Soviet slogan on the side of the turret ("For Stalin!" or "For Motherland!"...  can't remember which).  The graffiti is dwarfed by the massive size of the turret, it might look better on a T-34.  These decals came out of a new I-94 Enterprises 6mm Soviet decal set.  The center of the panels and turret were highlighted/faded with my airbrush.

It's been awhile since I've painted and posted anything, I hope you enjoyed the update!

Shelby Foote's "The Civil War: A Narrative"

I realize that the theme of World War II is "Central" to my blog; but several months back I got an itching to read a thorough account of the American Civil War.  I've always wanted to read Shelby Foote's 3 volume narrative of The Civil War; but being daunted by it's 3000 pages, I've always deferred.

Enter Audible.com...  Audible has been my commuting staple for the past year or so and suddenly 3000 pages didn't seem so daunting.  I just finished the last book (Volume 3) and all told, it was probably 150 hours of listening.  I paid $14.95 for each volume and it was well worth the price.  The narrator was excellent and the collection kept my keen interest from start to finish.

I have to admit that I never knew the American Civil War was so enthralling and diverse.  From the Ironclad naval battles to the long-odds cavalry raids of Nathan Bedford Forrest.  Shelby Foote does a great job at bringing out the personalities of the great Civil War leaders and figures of the time.  I've heard that being a Southerner himself, Foote tends to slant towards the Confederacy; but in my opinion this was not the case; I believe it was a fair and accurate account.  This was a nation defining struggle of immense proportions and I learned a great deal about it from these books.

The only drawback that I feel I've encountered over the past few months listening, is that I now have a nagging desire to paint some American Civil War miniatures and replicate The Army of the Potomac and The Army of Northern Virginia on an epic scale.  I might have to change the name of my blog to "ACW and WWII Central"  :)

GHQ 1/285 6mm Desert Vehicles

I continue to be "mothballed" and unable to do any painting at the moment, so I wanted to keep the theme of sharing my old work going.  These photos are from a large North Africa project that I painted a few years ago; it included Italian, DAK, and UK forces.  I've posted a few photos of this project, but here are several more.  Enjoy.

Old Flames of War Miniatures Photos

Still not much time to paint anything new, and someone on my previous post asked me to post "more" of my old photos; so here you go.  This time 15mm Flames of War Miniatures by Battlefront...

Wittmann and his staff in 007.

A dirty Soviet KV-2; I love these big beasts!

Winter Tiger I's.

Exaggerated chipping on command unit of Panzer IVH's.

Platoon of German Tiger II's.  These were featured in Battlefront's "Art of War II" magazine.

German captured KV-2, winter white-washed.

Sdkfz 184 Elefant's.

More Miniatures photos from years past.

August always seems to be a busy month and this year is no exception.  I regret that I haven't done any painting for a few weeks so rather than silence I figured I would post some of my photos from years past.  Don't worry though, I got a new airbrush this week that I'm itching to try out...  so hopefully I'll have some new posts soon.

15mm Shermans - Miniatures by Battlefront

Me-109 in 1/285th - Miniatures by C in C 

1/285th Me-109's in flight somewhere over the Ukraine.

1/285th British Daimler armored cars - Miniatures by GHQ, building Unknown.

1/285th Soviet Armor - Post World War II.  Miniatures by GHQ.

Last but not least, 1/285th Tunisian Tiger somewhere outside of Tunisia :)  Miniatures by GHQ.

Oh no! Here we go again!

I swore I was done with GHQ (It's a long story)...  but I got one of those darn "Summer Sale" post cards in the mail this weekend and then stumbled upon some of my painting from a previous life.  I'm still amazed at how much detail can be packed into those little dime sized miniatures (1/285th scale).  If you haven't seen GHQ miniatures before, I encourage you to at least take a look at them and admire their detail.  Their website isn't quite up to today's standards and some of the pictures on the site are poor quality, but I assure you the miniatures are little works of art, even in their raw pewter state.

At any rate, in a moment of weakness this weekend I splurged and bought a couple packs (ok, ok, I actually bought several packs).  I'm going to try putting together a SMALL and LIMITED Eastern Front Scenario and paint up a few units.  In the mean time, here are a few pictures of GHQ miniatures I painted a year or two ago.  Enjoy!

My Painting Room... er, Corner. Hope for those in tight places.

I feel compelled to share a small part of my own personal hobby, mainly because I know there are others out there in similar situations.  Many of you are blessed greatly by the existence in your homes of a dedicated Hobby Room; I sadly am not so gifted.  In fact, with 3 kids and a wife who hog the whole house, I have little room to myself.

My solution:  entrench myself in the laundry room!  For me, this is actually not such a bad thing as it's surprisingly quiet and the laundry machines get little (if any) use.  Honey, if you're reading this, I'm just joking :)

I think the key for any hobbyist with limited space is to use it wisely...  keep what you frequently use within arms reach (neatly organized mind you) and then find organized storage for the rest.  Keeping your working surface clean will add to your enjoyment when you do finally sit down to paint or model for a little while...  These are all my own opinions keep in mind.

In the space behind my laundry room door, I built in the basic framework of my hobby area and it wasn't expensive.  I keep everything clean and out of the way and there is plenty of space for both laundry and hobbies.

My working surface is an inexpensive Formica counter top cut to fit my wall (I got this on clearance at Home Depot for $15); it is mounted on a basic steel frame that is anchored into the wall; caulking applied to give it a finished look.  This allows me to place a cheap Ikea metal cabinet underneath on one side, and my airbrush compressor on the other; still affording plenty of leg space.

My paints are stored in some basic wood-trim shelves that I easily mounted and painted.  Other Items like tools, paper towels, etc. are all stored near by.  The framework for my shelving and baskets are all Closet-Maid wire shelves and accessories (again, pretty inexpensive).

Lastly, all my supplies are stored in matching baskets up on top of the shelving above my counter top...  out of the way so that they don't clutter up my working surface.  It's clear to see when you walk in, that it's my hobby space; but when I do finally sell my house, with the baskets and paints taken down, the area looks just like a laundry folding counter top and shelves.

I look forward to the day I'll have my own hobby room to claim...  but for now, I'm pretty happy.