John Brown's Painted G1940 Set - by Spitfire38

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UNITED KINGDOM EUROPE AIR FORCE

The RAF’s performance in the Battle of Britain is perhaps the decisive event of the European Theater that blunted the tip of the Luftwaffe. These planes will certainly wreak havoc on the Axis navies when they see a game board!

It turns out that decals are more visible on dark backgrounds, which is disappointing. Beyond that, I am very happy with the way that these color schemes worked out!
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Striped Desert Scheme

[Stirling, Lancaster, Halifax, C47 Skytrain, Barracuda, Mosquito, Swordfish, Hurricane, Spitfire]

Night Raider Scheme

Traditional European Striped Scheme

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UNITED KINGDOM EUROPE NAVY

The British navy. Though it is often destined to be destroyed on G1, these ships will serve the Crown with distinction when they enter play. While the disruptor camo of the Pacific pieces was more difficult to paint, there is a subtlety about gray that works well in the English Channel. I kept the yellow and white tips of the carriers to keep them associated with the UK even though they lack the wooden decks of the Pacific navy.
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Atlantic Ocean Gray
[Aircraft Carriers (2), Battleships (2), Cruisers (2), Destroyers, Submarines, Transports]

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UNITED KINGDOM EUROPE INFANTRYMEN

The British infantrymen saw lots of combat with memorable appearances in North Africa, the Italian campaign, Arnhem, and the assault on Normandy. Known for their exemplary training and marksmanship, they were a force to be reckoned with!

This was my first time trying a mottled scheme for infantry uniforms and I really like how it turned out. I will be applying these to my own pieces, as well as an altered blotch scheme to John’s US Marines in the Pacific.
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European Olive Drab
[Normal Infantrymen]

[Commandos]

[Paratroopers]

Mottled Amoeba Scheme
[Normal Infantrymen]

[Commandos]

[Paratroopers]

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UNITED KINGDOM EUROPE GROUND FORCES

While there may not be many photos of the pieces, do not underestimate the British ground forces. They proved tenacious in the protracted conflict against Rommel in North Africa - look closely enough and you might see the dust and dirt on the desert-worn pieces!
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Hedgerow Green Scheme
[Churchill, Matilda, Valentine, Priest, Kangaroo, 25 Pounder Artillery, Anti-aircraft]

Desert Stripe Scheme
[Churchill, Matilda, Valentine, Priest, Kangaroo, 25 Pounder Artillery, Anti-aircraft]

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UNITED KINGDOM PACIFIC AIR FORCE

This air force was quite extensive! I don’t know much about the history of the RAF in the Pacific, but they were certainly active against the Japanese at various points. John incorporated some neat sculpts into these forces, my favorite being the Halifax and the Hurricane. I was really hoping that the Hurricane would make it to us, and thanks to Historical Board Gaming, it has! The gray and green scheme was a historically accurate scheme, and will certainly be making it onto my personal pieces when I get around to painting them.
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Mottled Blue Scheme and Gray Green Scheme

_[Strategic Bombers: Stirling, Lancaster, Halifax]

[Transports: C47 Skytrain]

[Tactical Bombers: Barracuda, Mosquito]

[Fighters: Swordfish, Hurricane, Spitfire]_

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UNITED KINGDOM PACIFIC NAVY

The British navy… it’s finally here. Known for its ability to project naval power, the UK Pacific navy is a very formidable force to stand up against the Japanese. I’m excited to see these pieces make it onto the board. I have a soft spot for wooden decks, so I was glad when John chose a wooden deck scheme.

Deepwater Disruptor Camouflage
[Aircraft Carriers (2), Battleships (2), Cruisers (2), Destroyers, Submarines, Transports]

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UNITED KINGDOM PACIFIC INFANTRYMEN

Some of the most amazing stories of World War II come from the exploits of British infantrymen in the jungles of the Far East. Think long range patrols in Burma, the whole scale surrender of Singapore, and others.

These pieces are a pretty standard khaki in line with the sculpt and British uniform standards. On my personal pieces I like to include a few different skin tones to incorporate the Territorials that the British included in their ranks (Ghurkas anybody?). I forgot to ask John about that though - perhaps in a future nation or set!
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Far East Khaki
[Normal Infantrymen]

[Commandos]

[Paratroopers]

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UNITED KINGDOM PACIFIC GROUND FORCES

I like the dark tones of this green camo, and the new HBG sculpts were so fun to paint. The detail in the Valentines is incredible, and the profile of the Churchill leaves no room for error - the heavy tanks have arrived!
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Double Green Jungle Stripe Camouflage
[Churchill, Matilda, Valentine, Priest, Kangaroo, 25 Pounder Artillery, Anti-aircraft]

Reserved post for Russian troops.

Reserved post for Italian troops.

CHINESE FLYING TIGERS

The Flying Tigers was a group of American pilots who volunteered to fly against the Japanese to defend China prior to the American entry into the war. Trained in Burma, these pilots were fearsome opponents to the Japanese. They came to be characterized by the shark’s teeth painted onto the nose of the plane.

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CHINESE INFANTRY and ARTILLERY

The Chinese fighting against the Japanese consisted of both Communist soldiers under Mao Zedong and the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-Shek. This unlikely alliance managed to exact a heavy cost from the Japanese on the Chinese mainland. These fearsome men are depicted below in a Nationalist uniform.

Nationalist Uniform

ANZAC AIR FORCE

The ANZAC air force played their part in fighting the Axis powers in the Pacific Theater. To this end they fought with Boomerangs, PV-1s, Bristol Beauforts, and Topsy Turvy transport planes. The greens and browns of the ANZAC make for a nice contrast with their distinctive roundel. How nice they’ll look facing off against the Japanese Zeros around the Dutch East Indies!
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Flat Green Scheme

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Blotted Camo

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Sky Camo

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ANZAC NAVY

The ANZAC navy has their own sculpts now in the 2nd Edition of Axis and Allies Global 1940. John requested a three tone disruptor camo. Keeping in line with the blues, whites, and grays of the ANZAC forces, I gave them a camo that will keep them from enemy detection until the right moment!
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Tritone Camo
[Aircraft Carriers, Battleships, Cruisers, Destroyers, Submarines, Transports]

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ANZAC INFANTRYMEN

The ANZAC infantrymen, or Diggers, were heroes in the South Pacific. Their sculpt depicts them with their distinctive hat and their packs, ready for battle! I enjoyed painting these very much.
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Dusty Drab
_[Normal Infantrymen[/i]

Paratroopers

[Commandos]

_[Complete[/i]

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ANZAC GROUND FORCES

While they don’t make it off of the ANZAC islands much, they can sure look good while they hang out in the Pacific! I particularly like the Kangaroo mechanized infantry sculpt in this camo scheme.
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Bush Camo
[Armor, Mechanized Infantry, Artillery, AAA]

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@Tall:

Spitfire38 and others,

––VERY NICE WORK!
They all look impressive and ready for combat. I’m glad John now has a good start on his painted units. Again, well done.
----Oh, I think I saw some “senorRITA” bombers along with the “Guacacmole” paint scheme.  :-D

Tall Paul

Thanks! Nice pun ;) I always appreciate the humor you all bring to the site.

@jwo1984:

looking great spitfire.  Going to be great too follow this post too see all your units for the countries and see what schemes you paint.  Are you starting with all the planes first? I like the holy guacamole shceme…looks like you mixed that color nicely!  John brown certainly hired a great customizer !

Thanks man! I’m really looking forward to painting all the other units too - you’re supposed to love your hobby, right?

John’s the boss; he picks which nations and schemes I’m to paint, and then I just go to work in whatever order I want. We’ll be completing the Japanese first, and the second nation is TBD. I’m almost done with the navy, although decalling takes a lot longer than I expected :P

@jwo1984:

hey spitefire how you enjoying painting the Japanese naval pieces? any progress pics you can share???

I’ve got better than progress pics.  :-) Finished products! I’ve edited the Japanese post on page 1 to reflect the navy. Constructive criticism and opinions always welcome.

@jwo1984:

wow man I am speechless! the navy turned out stunning! really like your choice in colors, the yamato and nagato looked so good in each scheme! great job on the HBG destroyers too and the I400 super subs! I also like the variety of OOB and HBG piece selections John Brown, had the A&A 1941 Kongo in there too ! cant wait too see the other nations man! Thanks for posting and inspiring.

Inspiration - as Tall Paul says, that’s the reason we customize! I’m glad that other people can enjoy and learn from them.

I’m really happy with how they turned out as well. I almost lost hope somewhere in the middle of painting the disruptor, just because it was taking three times as long as the others. But, as I have experienced time and time again, it all comes together in the final stages, and then BOOM, they look great and I’m happy with them.

I based the disruptor camo off of Allworkandnoclay’s dirsuptor, but I added a fourth tone of tan/brown to the pieces, as I felt they needed more contrast. I was a bit stumped on which color to do the drybrush highlights in, as the piece is four different colors, but I went with a light gray, and it ended up turning the dark gray undercoat into a nice steely blue color, and brought the color palette together. My personal faves are the transports.

The Wood and Iron scheme was roughly based off of another user, Swedo’s, scheme. They are somewhere else on this subforum.

@John:

One of my main goals is to incorporate as many HBG as possible, some things, unfortunately, I left out, but hope to come back too, after this set. :-)

I just took a trip over to the HBG site to look at some of the pieces they have coming, and I’m really excited to get my brushes on them :) Send em on over haha!