From JohnM: 20mm WWII British Paratroopers (48 points)

From John:

British Paratroopers:

These 20 mm figures were a bit of a challenge. I have never painted personal camouflage in the past, and the dennison smock that the these paratroopers took me 3 goes before I had it right. I am sure they could be done better but for war gaming they look OK. I will get better on my next go with them. 

The figures are from TQD castings, and really they are quite nice. Beautifully proportioned, with lots of neat stuff, my only complaint are that they are on slotta bases. I had to hack off the slots for the Senior Leaders as I base them on nickels, rather then pennies, but I used the supplied bases for the men. 

The faces are just great, although I think I have to work on the mustache on the chief. 

I have ordered more figures as I have decided that I will do a whole platoon for Chain of Command. 

The proportions are a bit wrong for a paratroop section as I was short of rifles, but that will be corrected when new supplies arrive. We have two senior leaders, a Piat Team, a Bren team, a 2" mortar team as well as troops with rifles and SMG's. It is funny how all the little imperfections are missed until you photograph figures, but I have always found it a challenge to go back and fix things.

Great work John! You've done a very nice job with the dennison camo. I have found giving the camo a light was of Agrax Earthshade really helps to tie the various colours together. Try it out on a test figure and see what you think. 

Are some of these fellows using captured weapons? The LMG team looks like they're firing a MG-34 and the leader a MP40?

Slotta bases on 20mm? That's just cruel. I really wish manufacturers would drop the use of slottas as they're just so restrictive. Not everyone wants to be proscribed to a certain design of base. Makes me crazy.

These paras will give John 48 points. Nice job!

From MikeP: 20mm WWII German Waffen SS (60 points)

From Mike:

Entry #4 from me. Slowly on track to making my par objectives.

We have a section of 20mm SS German infantry, and my first attempt to paint Peadot camo, which I gather is one of the Holy Grails of WW2 miniature painting.   Not sure if I got it quite right but I am happy with the result. 

The figures are by CP Models / TQD Castings - the names seem to be used interchangeably.

In general I like these figures, they have good detail, and the weapons seem proportional to the bodies.  The arm on the pointing squad leader seems a bit long, but otherwise no worries.  Whoever sculpted the kit knew what they were doing, it's very accurate. 

The five German casualties are from AB Miniatures.  I wasn't planning to enter these but as I had the German paint palette revved up, it seemed to make sense.   I can't say enough good things about this company.  If you do WW2 in 20mm, they are the gold standard.  Great fun to paint.

Excellent work Mike (I actually thought these were 28s). The dot-pattern camo came off very well. 

This group will give Mike 60 points to add to his tally.