From SylvainR: Tray 11 - 6mm Early WW2 British Trucks (60 points)

This is my final WW2-6mm entry for this year's Challenge. After finishing the French, the Allies minors and half of the early Germans, I am presenting units for an army I started last summer: the British Expeditionary Force of 1939-40. Since most of the infantry and support weapons were already painted, they were quickly re-based before the start of the Challenge. I now offer some trucks, my favorites :-).

First, we have 18 lorries, namely Thornycroft trucks, to transport three infantry companies. The fourth company was already painted and is not shown here. The models are from GHQ.

For the photo, below, of a single truck, I used the flash of my cellphone. It seems to better show the details.

Next, we have 4 Humber "Box" cars, to carry company HQs. The models are from CinC.

Four Morris 4x6 tractors, for towing big guns. The models are from GHQ.

Four CMP Quad tractors, often used to tow 25 pounders guns. The models are from Heroics and Ros.

That's all the 6mm miniatures I had prepared for this year's Challenge. Soon, I will start sorting, organizing and preparing a new pile of unpainted models, so you can expect to see the completion of the BEF next year, as well as a battalion of motorcycles for the German army along with a few other surprises.

Points claimed:

- 30x 6mm vehicles at 2 points each = 60 points

Total = 60 points

This will also count towards the "Really Little Guys" duel.

Thanks for reading!

From Millsy: I've been so impressed by your 6mm stuff Sylvain I couldn't resist jumping in on one of your final posts to add my 2c worth. You have such a crisp, clean style I find really engaging and it only seems more impressive given the tiny scale. 11 trays worth of tiny men and machines is quite the feat and you must be justifiably pleased by how much you have painted over this Challenge. Well done mate!

From SylvainR: Tray 10 - 6mm Early WW2 German Armored Vehicles (54 points)

It's only a little tray this week, but, as you will see later, it's a big step in my WW2-6mm project. These are early WW2 German armored vehicles, namely a few armored cars and a company of Pz35(t) tanks. All the models are from GHQ.

First, let's take a look at the smaller armored cars, five Sd.Kfz 221, an early design armed only with a machine gun. You will note that the ground work is greener and darker than what I used to do so far for the French and Allies minors. My initial plan was to make all the terrain identical on the bases for a given theater, then add a specific color to the side of the 2mm thick base to distinguish the nations (ha ha, what was I thinking). Well, play testing with my desert armies immediately showed that this was far from a good enough visual clue. So when came the time to work on early WW2 armies, I decided to emphasize the differences between armies by using two different kinds of flock: a lighter one for the Allies and a darker one for the Axis. It seems to work well. I added "balkenkreuze" on the side of the vehicles, but they are barely visible.

Next, we have four Sd.Kfz 231 (6 rad) and 3 Sd.Kfz 232 (6 rad) with the easily recognizable antennae over the roof. Even if the documents show that the "8 rad" version had much better cross-country performances, I really like the look of the "6 rad". Its shape is so evocative of early WW2. GHQ provides photo-etched antennae with their miniatures, that you "simply" need to cut, fold and glue into position (not mentioning that you have to drill tiny holes on the hulls). Let's say that this whole process helped me refresh French swear words that have not been used much lately.

The last fifteen models are Pz35(t), "borrowed" from Czechoslovakia by the Wehrmacht. I already had a company, but a second one was needed to complete a battalion. Note in the third photo, below, how I tried to simulate "movement" within the company. You see the tank before crossing the stone wall, on top, then clearing the rubble. After a few drinks, this special effect becomes unbelievably realistic.

When this army was donated to me, 95% of the miniatures were already painted, so I spent the summer of 2023 putting them on bases. I had to buy only a few additional miniatures to complete the army, which I am presenting to you today. This gives me 13 trays, which I will consolidate later, after the Challenge is over.

I now have completed not only another army but also another "theater". I was able to accomplish quite a lot during this year's Challenge!

Points claimed:

- 27x 6mm vehicles at 2 points each = 54 points

Total = 54 points

This will also count towards the "Really Little Guys" duel.

Thanks for reading!

Wow Sylvain, the work you've put into these models really shows. I just love the groundwork, you don't even see that level of detail on most 15mm or 20mm models. The vehicles crossing the dry stone walls are especially impressive. The details on the gravel roads are superb as well. 

54 points added to your tally!

Dallas

From SylvainR: Tray 9 - 6mm Early WW2 Allies Minors Tanks & HQs + Italian tankettes (95 points)

I spent the previous week in New York celebrating 20 years with my wife, so production was halted, but this week I have a tray of newly painted WW2 goodies.

First, a small units of Italian L3-35 tankettes captured by the Greek army. All the miniatures are from GHQ.

I tried to simulate the rough terrain of the mountainous areas where the Greek army was able to fend off the Italian offensive.

Below, a close-up from behind on a single tankette. The plowed ground behind the tracks turned out well on this one.

Since I did not have any L3-35 for my Italian desert army, I made a company with some extra tankettes.

To complete all my Allies minors armies, the only units left to paint were battalion HQs. I added national flags to the name tags as a visual cue. The first three HQs are for the polish army. So far, my HQ vignettes are mostly colonels getting out of their staff cars and using their binoculars to observe the front. This time, I added a little bridge with a little river flowing underneath for the "general". I also started to add sign posts, often indicating famous battle sites. The tank battalion commander has two tanks ready to move forward. The names are those of Polish officers who fought the German invasion in 1939. The miniatures are a mix of GHQ, CinC and Heroics & Ros.

The next three battalion HQs are for the armies of Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway. For the Netherlands, I simply picked the name of a high ranking WW2 officers. The Norwegian name is the maiden name of my mother-in-law, whose grandparents came from Norway to settle in Saskatchewan. The Belgian name is for Arthur Kepenne, a gentleman and retired policeman I met in Belgium in 1989, who fought the Germans in 1940, was captured, survived as a prisoner of war in Konigsberg. He was adamantly pro European Union, the only way, in his mind, to avoid future wars. I just wanted to honor his memory with this small vignette. I made the Norwegian terrain very rocky while I wanted some water for the Netherlands.

The last three battalion HQs are for the Greek army. Papagos and Pitsikas, two Greek officers, fought hard against the Italian and German invasions. Sangarangos is for a good friend and fellow wargamer in Regina. Again, very rocky terrain for all these bases.

 

The base for Sangarangos has a sign post indicating the village where his parents grew up that reads "Vogatsiko". You can see the colonel commandeering an abandoned Italian truck.

This is our gaming group in Regina, made into battalion HQs. I will add my name later, when I will get to work on the late war Canadians (see the "master plan" below), namely the "Vandoos", the Royal 22nd Regiment, composed of French Canadians. For the other Canadian HQs, I intend to use the names of our friends and fellow wargamers from Winnipeg. I hope this is OK with you guys :-).

The completion of these battalion HQs means that the Allies minors project is now finished, with a total of 7 trays.

I can now strike off another project from my "master plan".

Points claimed:

- 40x 6mm vehicles at 2 points each = 80

 - 30x 6mm foot at 1/2 point each = 15

 Total = 95 points

This will also count towards the "Really Little Guys" duel.

Thanks for reading!

Great work here Sylvain and I love the personal touches you've given your models. The family tribute is a lovely touch and I know anyone in our group would be honoured to have a namesake amongst your work. The 6mm-scale signposts are amazing - I'm assuming you've printed them out and stuck 'em on rather than hand-lettering - very clever. Excellent to see this progress on your grand project!

95 "big" points for you!

Dallas

From SylvainR: Tray 8 - 6mm Early WW2 Polish Tanks (64 points)

This week's tray contains a battalion of polish tanks. These miniatures sat unpainted in their original boxes for decades. It was one of those side project that never got to fruition... until now.

First, here is a company of "7TP dw". The designation means "7-ton, Polish". These tanks were inspired by the British Vickers 6-ton tank and feature two turrets armed with machine guns. Only 16 were produced, so I guess you see here all but one of the full production. The Company HQ is a 7TP jw because I had only 15 models of the dw variant.

 

All the miniatures are from CinC.

 

I did the typical 3-color camouflage pattern of the early WW2 Polish army.

 

Next is a company of "7TP jw". This version of the 7TP had a 37mm gun with a co-axial machine gun in a single turret and was a much serious treat to the early German panzers. Models are a mix of GHQ and CinC.

 

The groundwork is identical to the one I used for my French army. This tank battalion of 7TP tanks could be complemented with Renault FT-17.

This time, I did a better job at fitting the models in the tracks, so they don't look like they are floating above the ground.

Points claimed:

- 32x 6mm vehicles at 2 points each = 64 points

Total = 64 points

This will also count towards the "Really Little Guys" duel.

Thanks for reading!

Very nice work here Sylvain! I always think of "TP" as standing for "toilet paper" and this may be apropos as the Poles got pretty much "wiped out" in '39. Thank you, I'll be here all week...

But seriously, these look great in their camo and I'm happy to add 64 points to your tally!

Dallas

 

From SebastianR: Neither big not clever (24 points)

So I have made some... spicy varnishing choices in order to keep the challenge ball rolling. I now have a comprehensive theory of frosting. It's just moisture. And sometimes a can going bad, but mostly moisture.

In order to get these warhound titans done I risked two gloss varnishes, and just about got away with it, despite it being ~10deg and damp. I wont be doing that again.

I shouldn't have to explain why these Legions Imperials titans fit the bill for Oversized Books. Are they the biggest models I've ever painted? No. (Although they might be some of the biggest I've painted since before uni). Are they the biggest 1:1 scale models I've painted? Also no. They're not even the biggest 1:1 scale models I've painted this challenge, with the Type 1934 being as wide in beam as the Warhound is tall (warhammer lore inconsistencies notwithstanding).

But they are the walking embodiment of the silliness of the 40k (or 30k as the case may be) setting. Proof that not only do sci-fi writers have no sense of scale, but that they think the square-cube law is for other, lesser, forms of nerds.

And I'm completely in love with them. As I assembled them, I was overcome with a real sense of adoration, to the extent that I've swiped myself a half price Adeptus Titanicus box set to augment my force of wildly impractical warmachines.

The colour scheme and livery is an attempt at the Fureans... er... legion (?), although sans flame templates I settled for the ubiquitous hazard stripe markings, and both yellows I used are probably too yellow; I must add more orange for subsequent engines. But I do love my big stompy JCBs.

I'm still learning lessons about masking and airbrush use.

They'll be matt varnished and flocked at a later date once the humidity has come down and I can avoid frosting them for a third time...

So that's 2 6mm vehicles... *raises eyebrow at Dallas* 2 six millimeter vehicles... *cough*...

2*6mm vehicles AT18 Warhound Titans x 12 points each for 4 24 whole points

Challenge location at 20 points

for 24 points

Sebastian, Sebastian, Sebastian... good try on the oversized books but it's gonna be a "no" from me. The spirit of the section is to submit a large model, and while these represent huge vehicles, there's no getting around the fact that they are... small models. I think that scoring them at two points is a bit miserly though. Delving back into the Challenge archives I've seen a score of 12 points awarded for an Adeptus Titanicus Warhound Titan, so I'm gonna go with that. Coincidentally it tallies with the points total you'd claimed anyway. I like the colour scheme for the Legio Fureans titans here. Good work!

Dallas