I’ve been working on this project for 6 years and counting now. I still need to paint cruisers, German aircraft carriers, and French units. I’ve been waiting for the new German units and French units to be released by www.historicalboardgaming.com. For these pictures, I’ve set up the board with Destroyers substituted for the cruisers. I used 1/72 scale soldiers purchased from online and other custom units. You’ll notice neutral countries have actual painted soldiers to represent them. This is my first time using Google Photos for hosting, so let me know if there are any issues with viewing these, such as the pictures not being publicly available, requiring a login, etc.
During this photo shoot, I was on a beach vacation with the family wanting to head out to the beach, so it was a little rushed and I was contending with a 1 year old, a 3 year old, and a 6 year old, who were all eagerly playing with the pieces and had promised to put them back (except the 1 year old)… so you’ll notice they’re not evenly lined up and you’ll notice some oddities, such as Australian fighters being placed with the US units and German V2 rockets being placed with the US units, also some soldiers are knocked over.
Here is a picture of the starting setup for Global 1940 with DD’s substituted for Cruisers (click on the pictures to enlarge them):
https://goo.gl/photos/oPSAXTKD84VzPRoh6
Here is a closeup of the US Pacific setup. Note that the naval fighters had yellow wings. This was done up until some time in 1941 and was used to aid in locating any aircraft that were ditched at sea. You’ll also notice the old fashioned helmet on the marine, which was common for the US pre and early into the war:
https://goo.gl/photos/V6BDSS862Xw41oLX6
The US Pacific player also has more modern aircraft and soldiers to select from as the game goes on. Here’s the available US pacific units. Note the panel lines on the 1942 era Dauntless and bullet marks on the Avenger. Each unit has been painted to look like an actual unit. All boats from the different countries have the name of the specific boat painted on the bottom, so you can tip it over and see which actual boat it is:
https://goo.gl/photos/Yiaaow917HyQDT7E6
Here are the Japanese units:
https://goo.gl/photos/WeuhvW6x49u5siYaA
Some pictures of Japan on the board:
https://goo.gl/photos/rUEbbJVAC3RNuNF87
I agonized over getting the right ‘Pearl Harbor attack’ colors for the aircraft. According to a group of guys who have for decades been obsessed with getting the right color and sharing out what that was and that frequent/host www.j-aircraft.com, the color is what they call “gray-green”, which is not the common grey or white that popular culture has them sporting during the attack. I used pictures they posted of relics they said matched the color to match the color. I’m mostly pleased with how they turned out, since they appear grey green in some lighting and tan in others, which is a peculiar effect I noticed from pictures of relics and colors of models these guys approved of. I do think they turned out a bit dark though compared to some (but not all) black and white photos. Here is a closer shot of Japanese aircraft:
https://goo.gl/photos/ScoCkr5XUzZwo3Uu5
ANZAC and India units (minus the Australian fighters the kids moved to the US Pacific area):
https://goo.gl/photos/vzEJxDEiv6wQEVUNA
The Australians viewing the threat on the horizon (Japanese carrier and fighters in mid-late war theme):
https://goo.gl/photos/kUY6sUeFNdLYYukv7
My 3 year olds favorite soldiers to play with (at least the ones that hadn’t ‘walked off’ to other areas), the Chinese soldiers. A couple Mongolian soldiers and a Pilipino soldier also seem to have made their way over to this group:
https://goo.gl/photos/K76dgPk4zEny75R5A
Transitioning into the Europe Theatre…
Brits, Scots, Canadians, South Africans:
https://goo.gl/photos/LPMa6sXghiQNpt9YA
A sampling of British units. The British employed pinkish-white spitfires for low level recon. The pinkish fighter was based on a 1941 photo of a recon Spitfire. Note the panel lines painted on:
https://goo.gl/photos/MFvWBBFhsK4XXqWd6
Sadly, in my frantic rushed photo shoot, I neglected to take a shot of the painted Italian units. You can see a lot of them though in these shots focusing on the European theatre for the starting 1940 setup:
https://goo.gl/photos/poQVr4wEsv2UsUig6
Another Europe Shot:
https://goo.gl/photos/eDGGgVPhHB3nEdi48
The Italian battleship “Vittorio Veneto”. Unfortunately the camera focused on the background and the ship is out of focus, but you may be able to make out that life boats were painted on the turrets, there are little details such as anchor chains, AA, windows, and other small marks:
https://goo.gl/photos/ZetP4E9iTShU6z556
The Italian aircraft carrier Sparviero is based on a mid war Italian camo scheme (the actual carrier was never launched):
https://goo.gl/photos/4w9Vp9MadtnFA7ri6
Russians. Their Carrier was also never launched, but the scheme was taken from a Carrier that Soviet Russia launched post-war:
https://goo.gl/photos/Hixd36Dmq7jkBdk8A
Germans (minus the rockets which ended up with the US Pacific units):
https://goo.gl/photos/v6ypk6kDqgSXFqyE7
A sampling of German late-war units includes Tigers and bombers purchased form historicalboardgaming along with some custom made Me-410s and a FW-190D “Dora” painted based on a mix of color and black and white photos found of the “parrot squadron’s” FW-190D’s:
https://goo.gl/photos/DHBSkfCMuhYMAFg29
US Europe along with some French units. Notice the “Operation Torch” scheme for the Dauntless and Wildcat and historicalboardgaming units such as the Thunderbolts:
https://goo.gl/photos/fTCMsYeV4FN6ovYA9
A final picture of the Europe theatre starting setup:
https://goo.gl/photos/bfDu97vYEqSx1qmH8
It has been a massive time consuming project which I wouldn’t have done if I knew how long it took and wouldn’t do again, but at least it gave me enjoyment and I hope to enjoy it with my son and friends in years to come. Hope you enjoyed the pics.
