Completed IBG Polish Infantry 1939 (35048)

[NigelR]

Lovely work, that building looks fantastic. Well worth the effort. I sympathise as I tend to obsess over things and that slows me down. But it is worth it IMO.

Next up I'll get started on the second base and try to get everything ready for painting early next week.

And to put Nigel out of his misery, here's a pot of paint that will be used on our grenade thrower. The manufacturer has been cleverly hidden to keep everyone in suspense.

I think it's that company that makes invisible paint........

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Simon and Nigel!


Nigel, I fell down the dreaded rabbit hole and things just carried on from there. I love the process and doing the work, but I do wish it didn't take as much time as it does. A boatload of cash might solve some of the issues.



Moving along to base number two, things have gone quite quickly with no major issues. If we look back, this is what we started with. Click on photos for full size.





And this is where we are now










The foam was squared up and skinned, and I embedded a chunk of cork to give the pin a good anchor point, foam isn't real great for that. I had found a nice looking dried up branch that made a real good trunk. It was so dry that scraping out some of the interior was like working with balsa. I made some roots from twisted wire and then added my go to mix of plaster and Celluclay for the ground work. I noticed after the first application that it dried to a nice texture on the lower part of the trunk and decided to add a second layer to make the bark using a silicone shaper. Worked a treat. I sealed everything with Future that had a few drops of black wash added so I could see what was going on.


Here's a look with the figure in place.













Next up I'll need to go through my static grass and foliage stash to see what else we come up with.


Kimmo

 

[Briggsy]

Great basing Kimmo, the foam is great for building up the terrain, but it does need a good covering. I tend to use the Das Pronto stuff, messy as hell but quick and easy. I like the tree stump.

Cheers Simon

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Simon!

Everybody has their own go to for groundwork, kinda hard to avoid the messy as hell aspect regardless of what you use.


I got the basic groundwork done for the smaller base by adding all sorts of shredded foam and litter, plus a healthy scattering of ground up plaster for extra texture. I go overboard as experience has taught me that quite a bit gets lost during the painting process, so more is better at this stage. Click on photos for full size.









I basically start by wetting the areas that get covered with thinned coats of PVA, apply a layer of scatter then let it dry. Once dry you just repeat the process until you get what you want. Another coat of thinned PVA seals and glues things down nicely. The primer coat will further help to keep things where they're supposed to be.


Our cafe got an extension, it helps to define the ledge and looks nicer IMHO. The cobbles got an application of plaster and a seal with Future. The photos aren't the greatest as the upper part is still unadulterated and I wanted to show some detail rather than a chunk of white. The Future/wash on the lower portions show off the various textures quite well. You also get a peek at how things were boxed in for the window and door.










A bit more work is in the cards for the cafe to tidy up the extension and the remaining details. The smaller base will get grass after basic painting, plus I still need one standalone for our grenade thrower which shouldn't take any time at all.


Kimmo

 

[Nap]

Hi Kimmo

Love seeing the updates on both figures and the basework ....great you spend as much care on the setting ....pays off

Good pictures as well

Looking forward to seeing more

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Briggsy]

Good stuff Kimmo, I'm relieved that I'm not the only one who loses ground scatter and stuff from my bases.

Cheers Simon

 

[NigelR]

Nice work on the groundwork and the cafe.

But where's the paint.........?

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Nap, Simon and Nigel!

Nigel, you'll have to wait one more update...


We're finally at the stage where we can get some primer down after numerous detours, delays and a bout of heat exhaustion to boot. I could hear the ghost of Lt. Colombo at my side whispering "oh, and there's just one more thing" as I tried to get the final details done.

Notable additions were some straps to the backpack of our trotter. A handrail to the café fore step and a bolt to our grenade wielder. My battery was running out as I took photos (because of course it was) so I only got the in situ shots done. I will take a four view set of each figure individually as previously so you can compare them from start to finish should you so desire. Click on photos for full size.



Starting off with our trotting chap, Figure A


















Next up, our trio and café facade. Figures C, G and F
















And lastly, our grenade thrower, Figure B
















There is still some work to be done with the vegetation, but things need to be painted up some first. There will inevitably be some minor putty work needed as well which will become evident once I get some primer down. Still lots of fun ahead.


Kimmo

 

[Briggsy]

A very nice conclusion to the first half of the project and very enjoyable it has been, after the cafe and tree stump base the grenade thrower has a nice simple one, spot on. Looking forward to seeing the painting.

Cheers Simon

 

[Nap]

Hi Kimmo


Well that the builds done , all are a pleasure to follow and a great result , love the updates and the ideas and thinking when doing a subject

Bring on the painting sticks ...

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Simon and Nap!



We'll take a look at the figures in their final form before primer. The only major things that were left to do from where we left off were to attach the arms, add some straps and fill any obvious gaps and attach the heads. Polish helmet straps are kinda funky, never seen anything like them, so they were fun to get sorted out. The BAR gunner had the bipod added and a rear sight. Our grenade thrower only needed a bolt for the rifle. Click on photos for full size.
























































































Someone grab Nigel a fainting couch, we'll have paint (primer to be accurate) in the next update...


Kimmo

 

[Kimmo]

Everything is now primed, and I did manage to get in some initial work as well, those photos will be for next update. The figures got my usual coat of Burgundy mixed from 2 parts Black and 1 part each of Red and Ultramarine Blue. I like the flexibility of this shade and allows me to use my other primers as well. I'm leaving our grenade thrower for later on, he's going to be painted with with a set of paints I got to test out so it makes sense to keep him separate. Click on photos for full size.




















The bases got various shades of earthy tones for the ground work, and then I played around a bit with the cafe. Since I have a bunch of different primer colours, I can basically get a good sketch done using just them. I did the bases first to get my brush hand back in shape and used up the left over burgundy as a dark wash to help bring out details at this stage.
























As mentioned, I got a good session in to start things off and its looking good. I'll get some photos up tomorrow.


Kimmo

 

[Nap]

Hi Kimmo

Thanks for the pre primer pics , you take the original figures to another level

Interesting the mix you use for a primer and for good reasons

Look forward to seeing more on these ...especially the machine gunner

The grenade thrower sounds good to see with new test of paints

As for the bases ....good so far

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[NigelR]

Staggers up off the fainting couch........"Primer, at last, primer......"

The cafe looks great, although I'm disappointed your attention to detail didn't stretch as far as adding a bar and some beer taps....

These are going to look great.

 

[Briggsy]

Great summary, I see what you mean about the Polish helmet straps, very fiddly by the look of them. The bases are looking good too, I like that you get them going first I find if I leave them to last I just rush them.

Looking forward to seeing your painting commence.

Cheers Simon

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Nap, Nigel and Simon!


Simon, I normally do the bases last as well, since the groundwork has to be painted first and not having done much brush waving lately, it was a good idea to start here.

Nigel, if you've recovered, and if you squint hard enough at the mock up of the window several posts back, you might make out some taps. Now on to some actual paint...



I got some good initial work in yesterday to set the tones and shading on our café and path. The path base got a bunch of earth shades and some of the details are starting to get picked out or blocked in. I've found over the last few projects that adding dark purple or reddish brown washes really make earth look interesting. Black washes tend to flatten out things too much. I forgot to mention I added some Hart's Tongue fern from cut pewter sheet and glued them to the rock for now, they'll get folded into place once I have the groundwork around them done. One reason I love Vallejo Surface primer is that it remains flexible, so bending stuff like this is possible after priming.










The café was a bit more interesting and fun. Since I had some nice undertones on the concrete portions, I decided to go with bare concrete instead of the usual white overpainted version. I used a Vallejo dry brush and very roughly applied progressively lighter stipples of greys and tans. The stucco was hit repeatedly with red tones again with the dry brush and a not very good synthetic brush. I wanted a very rough, patchy finish on everything at this stage. Some dark washes were applied and areas touched up. The trim work and door came about from the underlying primer. It was a greenish grey and thought a slightly muted olive would look interesting. Again, I roughly applied layers to get decent coverage then added haphazard scratches/dry brushing with the not very good brush for a nice worn effect. The white/red trim was a late inspiration. The cobbles have been blocked in as well.














Speaking of trim, I'm not sure if I like this colour combo or not. Through the magic of photo editing software (GIMP) I whipped up a couple of variants.










I'm more than happy with the start, and the brush is beginning to feel good in my hand. More fun to follow.


Kimmo

 

[Briggsy]

Looking good, I like your idea of purple and reddish brown rather than black on ground work, will have to try that. Even if you can't actually see the colours having them in place does make a difference, well on figures so why not on ground work. The cafe looks good too for a starting point.

Cheers Simon

 

[Nap]

Hi Kimmo

Liking the bases so far , the cafe could develop into something really nice , the other base looks good , the weathering effects are working well

Looking forward to seeing more

Have fun and long may your brushes feel good

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[NigelR]

Nice paint. And it's creeping closer to the figures........

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Simon, Nap and Nigel!


Not off to a glorious start as far as the figures are concerned. My first base coat session didn't quite go as hoped or planned as the colour was way off, and the paint was decidedly shiny to boot. I ended up glazing several times and adding a couple of applications of Vallejo wash with a touch of ink to boost intensity to get to something akin to what I was looking for in terms of colour and tone. Two days of family obligations and the messing around with the initial work has left me far behind where I wanted to be at this stage.


































I've often told myself I need to be painting more, something like a figure per week to properly keep my hand in. Painting the bases felt good and so on, but then switching to a really good brush and trying to do finesse work was something completely different. Sort of like driving around the neighbourhood in a small city car and then jumping behind the wheel of a really powerful sports car on a closed circuit and trying to go fast.


Onward and upward...


Kimmo