Plastic Soldier Company Panther

The "killer cat with zimmerat!" Note: The brown bits are pieces of wood jammed in to hold the tracks down while the glue sets (see below):

It is a very, very nice model to make indeed (see below):

It goes together like a dream (see below):

I think the PSC Fireflys would have to get the first shot in from ambush position to stand a chance (see below):

All in all a nice addition to the Panther collection I have amassed (see below):

Note: It's getting a little crowded in the CD II Panther Battalion box, just two off the 1944 regimental requisite of fifteen tanks, amassed it has to be said over twenty years of on and off collecting (see below):

Their time on the painting tray will come!

Plastic Soldier Company (PSC) Panzer Mk IV H

As the beer advert goes, "Probably the best ... experience I have had putting a Panzer IV kit together"! Another bullseye for the Plastic Soldier Company (PSC) and no I am not on a commission (see below): 

The side skirts have been temporarily left off, but for late 1944 Panzer IV's they certainly look the part!

The only mysterious (where does this go?) part was the 'exhaust(?)' filter that goes on the rear, top left side of the engine compartment. A dream to fit together and I think it will even survive the roughest of wargamers hands. I still have flashbacks of putting the side and turret skirts on an Esci Pz IV (Ausf H) together.

All part of the Command Decision OrBat for my "1944 Panzer IV German Tank Battalion" project, to be continued.

PS My plastic"heap" is at last shrinking :)

GHQ Panzer IV H's in Battalion Strength

Here we come:

Walking down the street:

Get the funniest looks:

From everyone we meet:

Hey, hey we're the Mark IV's: 

People say we 'panzer' around:

But we're too busy upgrading:

To let incoming get us down ...

OK I'll get my coat but first before I go I should apologize to any dyed in the wool Monkees fan who happens on by (in my defense I too was a childhood follower, along with the Banana Splits). But here you have the above, a heavily reinforced (sixteen as opposed to the normal eleven Pz Mk IV H's) German 1944 Mk IV H Panzer Battalion. I can put my brush down now, an exhausted but happy man. Bonus points to anyone who spotted the GHQ Hanomag 251/1 but Heroics and Ros AA Mobelwagon :)

Note: Remember if you click an image you get a film strip but you can zoom in further by once you are in the filmstrip "right click" and select "view image" to see an even closer shot of each photo :)

1/300 Heroics and Ros versus 1/285 GHQ: One for Mojo

Left Hand Side 1/285 GHQ Pz IV H (circa 1944-45) while the contender on the Right Hand Side is a Heroics and Ros 1/300 Pz IV F2 (circa 1942-1944). Basing and painting techniques pretty much identical, although I was more refined by the time I painted the GHQ model. For the GHQ model I was more consistent in promoting a prominent 'vertical stripe' in the camouflage scheme.

Front-On:

Footnote to the above: Well blow-me after posting the pictures and looking at the GHQ model, in camera close-up (you cannot tell from looking at them with the Mark I eye-ball) is it my imagination or does the GHQ model have a slight "bent barrel"?

Side-On:

From the Rear:

Front-On again:

Another Side-On angle:

Summary:
The GHQ model is a quality beast (and noticeably bigger), but the Heroics and Ros model does the trick on the table-top for a lot less buck. I do fear for the long term survival rate of the GHQ barrels though in the typical club "roughly handled scenario", moving them and putting them away. It is a very nice feeling finishing a GHQ battalion though. I think I can say I have 'modeled' in 1/285 now  :)

( Footnote: Or do I have to put the "Crosses On" in order to say that?)

Labelling the kit?

A perverse post perhaps but I am betwixt and between experimentation. You see I left a deliberate space at the back of each stand in the Heroics & Ross "German 1944 Panzer IV Battalion" to fit in labeling information. Now this is a good trick learned from more experienced friends as you can see at a glance what the stands represent. These same friends choose to field a historically named  "Division" and follow its Order of Battle and use a printed labeling system, printed from MS Word and Excel looking very neat and professional. While waiting for a copy of said templates to arrive I got impatient and popped into my local Hobbycraft and purchased a while "chalk style" marker pen. I penned in a generic unit designation on my painted stands (see below):

It's more Art Deco than Sans Serif and I am musing about its rough and ready appeal versus small but neat type face. Whether is destroys or augments my painting style? I can always paint over the label again with  brown and revert to using a cut-out from a printed sheet (see close-up below).  

Going more generic than historic also seems more flexible, "Pz IV #4" makes as much sense that "Lehr II/130 Pz IV #4" as long as I use either: the same division or different divisions are uniquely discernible with a different labeling look (colour?).  

Your thoughts appreciated :)

GHQ 1/285 Panzer IV H Company - First Look

This little baby is a the size of a large postage stamp sitting in the palm of your hand (based on a 30mm x 30mm stand): 

The "group" photo of five together (see below):

Checking out the different lighting options on the camera, this one "flashed" (must have been from an incoming AT round at dusk):

Another "flash" this time side on (see below):

A close-up group photo, back without the "flash" setting. I think they look quite businesslike (see below):

So end'eth a batch of GHQ madness, trouble is they have SO much detail in something quite crazily small. I am exhausted doing these five! Do I need to put crosses and numbers on them while I have any eyesight left?

Footnote: 
I aqcuired the GHQ models as a gift from someone who had dabbled at WWII micro-armour at my local  club and then moved off into 15mm WWII instead. The GHQ models thus came painted and partly painted hence the lack of a brown strip at the back to write the unit designation on. Also as you can see by the pictures the 1/285 scale is just slightly bigger and thus fills the 30mm x 30mm (Spearhead) base more, making it difficult to fit one on. Hence each Pz IV H carries a little mystery as to "who" it really is. (Did someone at the back say re-base? ... Shoot that man, woman or child!)     

A fistful of tiny panzers caught on a decent camera

Hopefully the focus is much clearer on these pictures of the 1/300 Heroics and Ross miniatures of the 1944 Panzer Division "Panzer IV battalion" (see below):

The adjustable Halogen light, friend to all miniature painters on lonely dark nights, shines brightly down on them :)

Now for a bit of a closer look. Note, I tried to get a fair amount of detail into the camouflage of the vehicles, but the thought of trying to decal or paint markings on something that small froze my blood (and I know some people are capable of that sort of thing)!

The march of the Pz IV's continued (see below):

What next? Well, I do have a battalion+ of GHQ Panzer IV H's next up on the painting tray, we'll just have to see how easy they are to paint, but just looking at the GHQ level of fine detail is quite unsettling, but in a nice way.

Footnote on painting technique:
I experimented with trying to get a three-tone, late-war German style camouflage scheme by only just painting "two of the colours" (yellow and green), inking in the third as a brown shadow without explicitly trying to paint it. The theory being that 1/300 is just too small to get too busy with too many different colours to paint and blend. It is hoped that the "minds eye" may well do the trick for us with the suggestion of the third colour. It's still a tad patchy rather than stripey but good enough for my first effort :)     

1/300 WW2 German Panzer IV F2 Battalion (Spearhead/BGC)

The Panzer IV F2 kit laid out in a battalion formation two companies up (plus leading recon Pz IV platoon) and one company back in reserve. The HQ Pz IV platoon plus AA and Engineering Hanomag 1/251 mills around in the middle (see below). One feature of this compact formation is that all the individual platoons are within three inches of the Battalion HQ (central to the picture below) and thus would get a +1 rally from suppression modifier. The command radius of the HQ is twelve inches (on the attack, doubled if defending a designated static position), with the exception that the recon element can still be in "command" (double)twenty four inches away:

Sweeping down for a closer look at the leading elements. I still have to put unit marker notation on the rear of each stand, along the brown strip where I have left a "space".

Even closer still. This is about as in focus as I can get with the Blackberry's camera. The jury is still out as I am perfecting my factory painting technique. I think it looks too spotty, or when things are so small as this who cares, they are going to be viewed from six foot away!

Trouble is I care too much!

First stab at the finished product 1/300 Heroics and Ross: Panzer IV F2's and a Hanomag 251/1. The base coat of Tamiya XF-60 Dark Yellow, covered by a wash of Games Workshop Devlan Mud. Strips of Tamiya Olive Drab XF-62. An additional wash of Devlan Mud, a tad watered down, followed by a lighter highlight of Olive Drab XF-62 mixed with the drying remains of a Sunburst Yellow (now contaminated with various greens it has to be said) over the green stripes and Dark Yellow XF-60 mixed with Anita's Acrylic Cream. Just to experiment I dabbed another Games Workshop wash, a redder Ogryn Flesh as a final brown wash. I then had a dab here and there with tiny amounts of Anita's Acrylics Cream. See below for the result. 

The bases were small,granular grit (I forgot to top up with some sand from the local beach at the weekend when I took the family out for the fresh salt air - tires the kids out!) laid over wood glue which works a ton better than the old PVA I previously used. The grit and glue is allowed to dry and then a wash of Anita's Acrylic Earth Brown is soaked into the surface. When dry a Anita Acrylic cream light wet brush picks out the tops of the pebbles. Patches of watered down PVA then catch a light flocking (not the static grass type but the more crumbly stuff) of a green/brown mixture.   

Well that's my home grown "cookie recipe" for painting and basing the 1/300 toys. I am not too sure that this works well, I think it looks a tad spotty rather than stripey. Meanwhile on the painting tray I finally took on the "Four Horsemen" so desperately needed for my next Impetus game (see below for a look at Mr. "War"). 

Again the Blackberry is a poor choice of tool to get a fine detail, I will try and get my other camera on the case. These 28mm figures were hit with the standard three tone painting scheme I adopt for the big scale stuff. The hardcore element of the figures was painting the darn horses, how to get various shades and a mottled skin (see below). This is something I wrestled with and had to resort to reading my daughter's "Horses and Ponies" books. Answering questions like what colour is a horses tail and mane to be painted? Sometimes "just brown" is not the answer.

Soon the "Four" shall be unleashed on the unsuspecting Impetus world as my learning adventure continues ... scene fades with manic laughter echoing away ...

Painting Tray (continued) 1/300 and 28mm Renaissance

There's nowhere to hide "Four Horsemen" (+ Charles V Holy Roman Emperor), the paint is going to catch up with you (see below) no matter what you do: 

Except the GHQ Panzer IV H's jumped the queue and took a coat of Tamiya XF-60 Dark Yellow for the team (see below). The level of detail again is quite frightening for the small scale (1/285). Again I started and finished the phase in "battalion" production mode.

Flesh, flesh (see below)! The "Four Horsemen" are officially started. OK, quite a tame start but from small seeds come great trees!

Next: Painting Tray 20mm distraction diverts my attention from the "Four Horsemen".

1/300 Panzer IV Battalion's painting cont ...

The Panzer IV F2 battalion gets the Tamiya XF-60 Dark Yellow effect (base coat), a little too much of the Afrika Korp look about them in the first instance but nevertheless a decent base colour (see below):

A close up (yes again  I need to use my camera not the Blackberry). Despite the 1/300 scale the Heroics and Ross figures have a fair amount of detail to them  that comes out with a touch of selective painting (see below):

Now in their "Anita's Acrylic Metallic Black" (watered down wash/paint mixture) 'undercoat' the GHQ Panzer IV H's models stand as a definitive standard of detail (almost too much fine detail, to the point of seeing spare track links laid over the front of the hull and coils of spare wire hanging off the back of the engine cowling). Slightly bigger at 1/285 scale but a lot smaller than the Skytrex 1/200 early war stuff I have (see below):

I am still working on a "factory production phase" all of one per battalion through a stage at a time. Hence the Pz IV F2's are all yellow base coated and the Pz IV H's are all metallic black undercoated. Next up, time to base coat yellow the GHQ Pz IV H's.

The 1/300 Panzer IV Hoard Revisited

Take II: Heroics and Ross Panzer IV F2's laid out in a Spearhead/BGC battalion formation (there is an engineering half-track and AA PzIV lurking in there somewhere too). The Panzer IV's are getting an Anita's Acrylic Metallic Black undercoat over which the Tamiya XF-60 Sand Yellow base coat is being laid. 

A GHQ Panzer IVH battalion(+) equivalent formation. Barrels now straight (or as straight as I can make them) with a Tamiya XF-1 Matt Black undercoat applied to the barrels over the original Panzer Grey (yes, wrong period paint chosen by the original owner, but it's all getting redone anyhow).

The whole painting tray (including my 28mm Renaissance Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, again avoiding the paint). The thing about 1/300 or 1/285 scale is that there are lots of them that need to be painted at the same time! The factory style painting operation commences. (Note: The fifth horseman below, is not an additional member the troublesome foursome [Famine, War, Pestilence and Death], but the Holy Roman Emperor himself  Charles V [from Redoubt Enterprises], chosen as a suitable Renaissance commander for my Impetus Army)

Note: I am working from the left hand side of the table over the the right hand side :)

Painting Tray Update: 1/300 WWII and 28mm Renaissance

A 1/300 Heroics and Ross Panzer IV F2 (see below), donated to me from a very  good friend at the Hartlepool wargames club. This was part of an exchange of 10mm Pendraken ECW miniatures one way and a profuse quantity of assorted 1/300 Heroics & Ross and GHQ 1/285 models the other way. I am just left wondering how to paint these mini little beasts, so here are my first stabs (see below). 

It is a pity that my Blackberry camera does not seem up to taking photographs of things very small, losing the fine focus needed.

I was trying to go for that late war three tone camouflage look using Tamiya paints and left over odds and ends from my drying up Games Workshop pots. I discovered no point trying to micro-manage every brush stroke. Inks and washes may be the way forward.

Overall I m not convinced with my first attempt (even though I have not yet flocked the base which makes a huge difference). I cannot afford to take too long on each model but at the same time want to have a little highlighting and character if possible. I am not convinced that dry-brushing alone is the answer, inks and washes, hmm, successive layers? Model wise I am not far off the OrBat of a 1944 Panzer Division (Spearhead) so that is quite a lot of stands to do (100+) so I do need a mini-factory production process, rather tan an artisan approach.

Behold my painting tray  organised chaos (see above). Two 1/300 Panzer IV battalions, one H&R (Left Hand Side) the other (Right Hand Side) GHQ. Yes I know the 1944 Panzer Division OrBat has one Pz IV battalion and one Panther battalion, so effectively I have a 'spare' Pz IV battalion, which is nice. Lurking in the background are my "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" (28mm Renaissance fro Redoubt Enterprises). These will constitute a much needed Impetus Mounted Crossbow (CL) unit in my renaissance army. However they have been lurking around my painting tray for some time now successfully avoiding any contact with the paint brush. The goal is to get them painted in time for my next game of Impetus!

One slightly negative comment to make about the 1/285 GHQ models is the darned bendy barrels they have. They are finely scales, so fine in fact that the slightest touch of the gun barrel means that it twists and out have to come the tweezers. I sent several hours straightening those sixteen GHQ Panzer IVH's and they are still not quick right. I can see that handling and storing them will be a pain!