Lucas and Wil,
––First let me say that both of you do EXCELLENT work and I’m very happy with results thus far. :-D
----I rather liked the USMC camo scheme being o.d. green with blackish-green camo stripes like “Allwork” had done previously and Lucas’ prototype pics had shone.
----My only comment was that the black wash had darkened the green on both the U.S Army and U.S.M.C. schemes as to be virtually indistinguishable from each other. IMHO I’d prefer the blackish-green camo stripes on the Marine scheme to be more obvious,…and the plain o.d. green of the U.S. Army units to be just that,…green.
----I think that if the remaining units had a tan or light brown wash rather than a black wash the green would be lighter and the blackish-green camo on the U.S.M.C. units would be more obvious. Does this sound logical? I respect and request both of your opinions on this.
----Lucas,…if you would please post that pic of the U.S.M.C. bulldozer in the camo scheme and one of the “Flamethrower” Shermans you painted. For some reason I can’t d/l it onto my tablet. Anyway, you can see that the green is almost as dark as the camo color and it isn’t as distinct as I’d hoped for and looks very close to the Army scheme. Do the two of you agree?
“Tall Paul”
@Tall:
––Lucas,…if you would please post that pic of the U.S.M.C. bulldozer in the camo scheme and one of the “Flamethrower” Shermans you painted. For some reason I can’t d/l it onto my tablet. Anyway, you can see that the green is almost as dark as the camo color and it isn’t as distinct as I’d hoped for and looks very close to the Army scheme. Do the two of you agree?
“Tall Paul”
I agree the colors are so close as to be hard to distinguish from any distance. I can try to rectify this in a couple ways. One, may be to not even use a wash, or if I do, to apply it only in the recessed areas. I feel as though any wash, brown or black, will seep into the paint and darken it. I could make the pieces look very much like the Sherman bulldozer picture here, but I would basically apply no wash and lighten up the stripe color. I was under the impression you wanted something more akin to Allwork’s “dark camo” batch, in which the OD Green is dark and the dark green is even darker, almost black.
Do you like Wil’s idea of brown stripes outlined in black? Or would you rather I just lighten up the scheme as it is?
Lucas,
––I think that it would look better if the overall scheme was lighter, thus making the green camo stripes more obvious.
----I would be glad to pay for a TWO prototypes, one using a tan or light brown wash,…and one WITHOUT a wash of any kind to find the best solution. This would be simpler and IMHO better than a brown outlining of the camo stripes. I don’t want to overburden you with highly complex schemes more than necessary as we have a LOT of work yet to be accomplished and I really enjoy your paint jobs. Thanks again.
----And using Wil’s request to mask my own,…I’ll ask if you have any close-up pics of the Anzac Stuarts? And I’ll also agree with Wil in saying Great work on the paint jobs!
“Tall Paul”
@Tall:
Lucas,
––I think that it would look better if the overall scheme was lighter, thus making the green camo stripes more obvious.
----I would be glad to pay for a TWO prototypes, one using a tan or light brown wash,…and one WITHOUT a wash of any kind to find the best solution. This would be simpler and IMHO better than a brown outlining of the camo stripes. I don’t want to overburden you with highly complex schemes more than necessary as we have a LOT of work yet to be accomplished and I really enjoy your paint jobs. Thanks again.“Tall Paul”
No problem. It should be simpler to keep the scheme lighter than to make it darker as I have been. If I need to do an extra prototype (when we get to that stage) I can experiment on one of my OOB pieces… no need to pay for extras.
The technique is called pin washing where you don’t wash the whole model but only put the wash in recessed areas to keep the base coat from darkening. The dry bush highlights the dark spots and the base coat but since the basecoat hasn’t been darkened, the color looks brighter.
You could also differentiate the US army Tanks with “invasion” stripes around the turret since I have not seen pics of Marine tanks having them.
Like these.
http://www.track-link.com/gallery/717
http://www.track-link.com/gallery/2640
Actually these were more pre and early war markings done in white. Yellow was later used for lower visibility as in the sherman in the second pic.
here’s more ideas
http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/US/M4_Sherman.php
You could also differentiate the US army Tanks with “invasion” stripes around the turret since I have not seen pics of Marine tanks having them.
As in the white/black aircraft invasion stripes? Ultimately that would be Paul’s decision; I paint as he requests. But a good thought regardless.
Lucas,
––I guess I must confess to being ‘human’ and ask if you have a progress report on the German Luftwaffe you’ve been working on? You do such great work,….I just thought I’d ask. We’ve got a new thread just for all of the German aircraft and armored units that are in the works. Keep up the good work, buddy.
Go “WarMachine Team” :-D
“Tall Paul”
@Tall:
Lucas,
––I guess I must confess to being ‘human’ and ask if you have a progress report on the German Luftwaffe you’ve been working on? You do such great work,….I just thought I’d ask. We’ve got a new thread just for all of the German aircraft and armored units that are in the works. Keep up the good work, buddy.
Go “WarMachine Team” :-D
“Tall Paul”
Being human is the best excuse to ask questions…
Progress has been slow of late, for many reasons that personally frustrate me, but I can send you some updated pictures if you would like. I will have all aircraft complete and ready for shipment by Saturday the 20th, if not sooner. Given the time I have each week that I can work on them and the remainder of the work left, I will make sure they are complete by this date. You deserve them sooner, for all your patience, but if you can wait until the 20th of this month, they will be ready for battle.
Lucas,
Being human is the best excuse to ask questions…
Progress has been slow of late, for many reasons that personally frustrate me, but I can send you some updated pictures if you would like. I will have all aircraft complete and ready for shipment by Saturday the 20th, if not sooner. Given the time I have each week that I can work on them and the remainder of the work left, I will make sure they are complete by this date. You deserve them sooner, for all your patience, but if you can wait until the 20th of this month, they will be ready for battle.
––I truly empathise with your personal frustrations and hope they ease up for you.
----That’s cool, the 20th will be OK, but please don’t “rush” your work to make the deadline as I value your excellent work. Also, I don’t want you to feel “pressured” in any way by my asking about them. I hope you have as much fun as always doing these units.
––IMHO this “huge batch” took 2-3 months instead of the one month projected. I believe smaller batches with faster turn around times would be better.
----Pics of your work are always welcomed and appreciated by everyone, not just me. You should post a couple of them here on YOUR thread showing what your working on. Of course, send me a bunch of pics, too.
----BTW, is there any chance you might be able to attend HBG’s Gaming Convention next year? It would really be great to meet and play an A&A game with you and Wil using these detailed/painted painted units. It would mark their FIRST TIME being used in a game.
“Tall Paul”
@Tall:
––BTW, is there any chance you might be able to attend HBG’s Gaming Convention next year? It would really be great to meet and play an A&A game with you and Wil using these detailed/painted painted units. It would mark their FIRST TIME being used in a game.
“Tall Paul”
Paul,
I truly appreciate working for such an understanding and helpful individual as yourself. It has been and will continue to be fun and an honor to do this for you. I will try to post some pics.
As for the convention, I cannot say at the moment. What month/day is it supposed to be? I believe I saw that it was in Tulsa, right? I would love to be there… we’ll see what the wife thinks about a road trip out West.
Lucas,
––Since I am still having some “issues” with my new tablet just post the pics of each German aircraft ‘prototype’ here on your thread as I can see and enlarge them easily here. Thanks, and I’ll look at the pics later today.
Go “WarMachine Team”!
“Tall Paul”
Paul,
We had no internet when I got home last night so I was not able to post the pictures. However, we have it now and I am uploading them as I write this. After supper, I will post them. Look for them later this evening.
Since internet at home sucks, I was only able to upload 2/3 of my pictures today. The rest will be up tomorrow morning.
These are mostly profile pictures so Paul can determine how the numbering schemes look. Due to space/color issues, I had to make some modifications from the original intent. However, I can say these modifications will make the planes look more true to their historical representations.
This scheme is what many would consider the prototypical Luftwaffe camo. Which is why Paul chose it. This is a large batch (8 of each aircraft below) with (4) planes of each type in the colorless scheme, (2) in red and (2) in yellow. The Ju-52 transports all have white markings for recognition purposes. There will also be swastika decals on the tails of most planes, however, since I am still working on them and handle the tails a lot in the process, I have not yet put them on. They will probably be the last thing done.
While they are very nearly done, they are not final products. And I always seem to want for better lighting.
Here is No. 1:
HBG Ju-488 - designation H+1 (for Heavy Bomber)
As you may or may not be able to see, there is a molding issue to be dealt with here. Right where the red ‘H’ is, there is also a sizable divot from the plastic mold which distorts decals placed on it. I may be able to fix this issue with an extremely small amount of contour putty, but I am unsure of the result and have never attempted that before.
No. 2 HBG Me-262 - designation J+3 (for Jet Fighter)
Again, not finished. Needs some touch up. I had to use the black numbers over the yellow stripe because white numbers would have been virtually invisible.
No. 3 HBG Ju-52 - designation T+2 (for Transport Aircraft)
Paul’s preference was that the transports be easily identifiable by the white markings.
Again, not final product. Paint needs touch up work before the shipment.
Nice work Hoff!
No. 4 HBG Do-17 Medium Bomber - designation not assigned
This was one that we forgot about Paul. I assume we will give designation ‘M’ for Medium Bomber, but I wanted to check with you first. We should have enough decals (red and yellow) for this designation, but I will have to check tomorrow when I have access to my materials again.
As with some others, this still needs canopy work.
Here is one overall to chew on until tomorrow. One is with flash the other without, because you can see different attributes better in one vs the other.
Have to go for now, but will properly annotate tomorrow. Thanks boys.
Next: HBG Me-110 - designation L+3 (for Long Range Fighter)
