German Army List

When starting to play a new game system, or when starting a new army within a currently played system, it is generally considered good practice to write an army list first, so that your purchasing and painting is goal focused rather than being based on the 'Ooh, shiny!' method.

Amazingly, I did actually follow this piece of advice with Flames of War (unlike with my 6,500 point strong Dark Angels successor chapter for WH40k!). Having made the decision to purchase the Open Fire! starter set due to its quality and cheap price, I then moved onto finding a list that used all of the bits included in the box, and which 'felt right' thematically.

The German forces in Open Fire! consist of:

 - 2 Grenadier platoons
 - 2 7.5cm PaK40 anti-tank guns
 - 3 StuG G assault guns

The Open Fire! starter box has 2 x 800 point starter forces, an Allied Armoured Company and a German Grenadierkompanie

Getting a-head

After giving the model a grey undercoat this morning I was able to get started with the painting this evening.

I decided to base coat a mix of grey and silver in order to get a dark metallic base. I then washed the model with a mix of black and dark blue to start to darken the model. I think I was a bit heavy, and worried I may lose some detail, I used a wet brush to remove some of the wash, or redistribute a bit more evenly. I would rather build up several light washes then ruin the model with one heavy wash. As the model is still drying I haven't got any pics, but will hopefully take some tomorrow.

While the body dried I started on the face. The model has 2 main flesh parts, both challenging in different ways. The arms are bare, and while they start as flesh, around the elbows they turn into a living metal that Ferrus absorbed while killing the great silver Wyrm Asirnoth. The blending of flesh and metal shall be difficult but that's a bridge to cross later.

The second area of flesh is the face. The head is beautifully sculpted, and I want to keep the paint job looking realistic. Faces I have done in the past have looked cartoonish, but then I have always stuck to skin tone paints which are often unrealistic shades. I took a skin tone colour but mixed it with so e grey to get a colour that bizarrely matched my own. I then washed with Strong Tone, before a light wash of red. I then picked out the raised areas with the original mix, I found this to be a bit to contrasting so I gave the model a light wash of Strong Tone. This tired the reader areas with the lighter skin. I  red to work out the best colours to high light bit so far I am happy.

Tomorrow I hope to bring some pics of the work done on Ferrus body.

Flames of War German Adventure

I've been a bit of a hobby ostrich recently, burying my head in the sand pretending I don't have a stack load of miniatures to paint! I blame Games Workshop entirely!

In order to ease me out of my 6-month slump I thought I'd take a look at some Flames of War models. World War II has always fascinated me from a historical standpoint, so merging two of my main hobbies (miniature painting and military history) seems a fairly natural thing to do.

Where to start?

There are an enormous amount of options for the budding painter/gamer. I chose Flames of War as the base gameset to use, simply because it uses 15mm miniatures (very common) and is an easily accessible and popular game. There are a number of other rulesets out there that use 15mm miniatures as well, however, so its all good!

A new attempt

So I have a problem. I can't work on one thing for more then a few weeks before moving onto something else. In the last 5 years I have managed to finish 5 models. This year I told myself that would change, that I would paint a small army. Six months in, I have one half finished model to show for it (who I will finish, maybe). In order to brake this habit, I have decided to post my progress on one model, from start to finish, in the hope it keeps me on track, and hopefully inspire me to build more.

So what model? I decided it had to be a centre piece, and one that would be interesting to paint. My preference for Forge World, and especially their Horus Heresy range made the choice easy, I should paint a Primarch. The Primarchs released so far have been great, each full of character, telling a story with this pose. In the end I had to go with my favourite so far, Ferrus Manus, Primarch of the Iron Hands. They are a Legion I have always had a fascination with, but usually dismissed due to how one dimensional they are betrayed in the novels. Recently, however, I have begun to see them in a new light, and reading through their background as presented by Forge World has shown me a new side to their character. But more on the Legion in the future. For now, the model.

Perparation

I began by inspecting the model for any major faults. There was a small problem with the base, and the shoulder pads were missing a little bit of detail, but as it was nothing major, I decided to leave it. I soaked the models in warm, soapy water to remove the resin release agent left over from the casting process. The release agent can make parts difficult to glue together and effect painting so it's best to clean resin models before working on them. I left them to dry naturally to avoid any damage.

Assembly

I carefully removed the parts from the sprue, first attaching the body to the base, then building the rest of the kit. I kept the head separate to make painting easier (and to allow for all the obvious beheading jokes), and also the servo arms, which will be fiddly to paint once attached. These will be finished separately and glued to the main model at the end. I have also left the display base unbuilt. This is because I have not decided how I want to base the model yet. I want to keep away from the black sands of Isstvan V, as Ferrus armour is largely black. The display base has several dead marines on it, and the colour of these Legionnaires will depend on how I choose to base.

That's all I have done so far, tomorrow I hope to undercoat the model in preparation for painting.