Normandy

Flames of War - German Hitlerjugend from Normandy

Recently i had the honour to be commissioned to paint a vast army of Germans from Flames of War, i've posted previously about these fellows but now the second half of the commission is completed they are even more impressive!

I find it quite funny that you could put a Space Marine (which doesn't exist in the "real" world) and i could tell you it's affiliation, probably home planet and preferred method of warfare and yet, place a World War 2 unit or tank in front of me (which, you know, actually existed) and i haven't the foggiest what it does or it's strengths and weaknesses.  Having said that i quite enjoyed painting these models, the tanks in particular were a joy to paint, all the years spent practicing on Space Marine Rhinos really pays off once you make the switch to painting something and attempt to make it look realistic!

Painting the infantry presents their own unique challenges, i like to lavish detail onto infantry models and they are normally a strong point for me, but in 15mm, even the casting is fighting against you for fine detail, and the overall look of an army is much more important than the tiny details (but they are still fun to sneak in here and there.)

When it came to assembling the infantry in the first wave, i had the daunting task of being faced with 50+ models that looked identical, and at that time not knowing the difference between a Panzerschreck and a Panzerfaust.

But i learn quickly when i can and learned to love the little fellas for the unique challenge they presented, the second batch were far easier to paint once i had the experience with the colour scheme under my belt and a predetermined plan instead of sitting around chewing paintbrushes and looking confused, i put in a couple of days solid work and managed to polish off the tanks and remaining infantry at a pretty good pace, i even went back and added some extra detail to the infantry i had painted previously to bring them all into line with each other in terms of quality, which isn't something i was paid to do, but i'm a perfectionist till the end!

The addition of a "Special Character" in the second wave of models was quite interesting as well, riding in a Panther tank he isn't readily distinguishable from those of his squadron, so i made sure during assembly that i fitted the front mudguards to his tank prominently and made sure he was poking out the top hatch, as well as painting up the numbered insignia on the side of his turret from the box, i think he came out pretty well, and his mobile Tank workshop piece was great fun to paint, a little diorama in it's own right!  Hopefully the client will like them!