I wouldn’t waste time trying to “match”. I don’t know about your games, but mine varied from Pacific to Europe, America were 2 shades of green.
Anyway, just pick a shade of tan, and shoot them all. Home Depot sells a camo spray can called kaki, it’s light tan, bonds to plastic, 4 buck, not shiny :)
Hmm, good idea. I hadn’t thought about painting over your OOB pieces, but that’s probably the most time-efficient way to go about it. +1!
I wish I could provide you with specific colors that would match OOB units, but I don’t have experience with simply base coating. However, you could take a quick trip to your local craft store (Michaels, Jo-Ann’s, Hobby Lobby, etc. for the US) and check out their craft acrylics section where they sell acrylics for $0.75-$1.49 a bottle. You could eyeball it and approximate which colors you’d need.
For example, the Russian OOB units are maroon. At the store they’re probably going to have 2-5 shades of maroon, so you could get a few you think are pretty close. If none of them are spot on, mix until it matches. The paints are inexpensive enough that I don’t imagine you’d end spending more than $10 to base coat all your HBG units. (If you end up doing this, I’d avoid the cheapest of the cheap acrylics - you’re already on the low end, but there’s a significant difference between the $0.75 and $1.49 paints. I’d also recommend that you buy gray Krylon spray paint primer from Home Depot or Lowe’s, since that will make the paint stick better and save you time on your base coats.)
That’s my $0.02 - wish I could be more specific in helping!
What a milestone! Thanks for your hard work, and props to such an active community!
HA! I was just going to post this!
good work>!
I also came here this morning to post after I saw it on the New Yorker page. It caught me off guard at first. “My favorite game? In the New Yorker?” A happy surprise. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Spitfire! Curious, how long did it take for you to paint those units on your thread? Ive been working around the clock to get these done, and man, im running out of steam :-o …. and im getting tired of all these pieces/paints all over my dining area lol. Im thinking I may have another month… if my hands hold out that is… I actually have a game scheduled on the 12th, which is what im hoping for, have all these done, but im thinking ill be down a county or 2 :(
It takes me a very long time due to the volume of pieces, the detail, my own standards I’d like to meet, and the decals. My rough working estimate is that it takes me anywhere from 8-12 hours of painting and decaling to finish 40 pieces. It gets easier the more pieces you do in the same colors, because then you can really perfect assembly line painting.
I rarely do more than 3-4 hours of painting in one sitting, which is good because my schedule doesn’t allow for much more than that! John Brown’s project is more of a marathon project than a sprint.
Best of luck getting all of those pieces done! Enjoy the process as much as the product - I try to keep to that motto whenever possible. :-) Personally, it’s a very relaxing hobby, as I can listen to podcasts or music while I paint.
I’m just now getting to this thread, and wow, I’m loving it! I’ll jump on board and agree that your color tones are great. All of your pieces have a very muted feel to them, which I think lends itself to historical accuracy.
I feel your pain about the innumerable decals… they look great though, especially with that matte coat!
Thanks for the pics. If I get around to painting my own French pieces I’ll be referring back for your sculpt mods and paint schemes.
Pretty soon, hopefully this weekend, on my metal map thread, I will be posting pictures of Spitfires UK Europe and UK Pacific forces that he has painted for me.
I will also be taking pictures of my German Naval Fleet, as well as the Luftwaffe for the first time on my metal map.
The reason I’m adding my German pieces, i painted, is that the UK Europe is the only country done, on that side of the map, so it would look weird.
I will be taking pictures of where the starting setups would be if you were playing Global 1940.
So on the Pacific side, everything is done, except the US. There will be a couple of American planes, I just painted, and some American Flying Tigers, Spitfire painted, that are on the map.
Early 2017,
In the mean time, until I get those pictures put on my thread, those of you that haven’t been on the forums long, this thread is dedicated to the work, Spitfire is doing for me.
Enjoy! :-)
John
Looking forward to those setup photos! Your German pieces will look good on the board, I’m sure.
Gotta give props to members who paint country markers, rather then use decals, man, that’s crazy…. I’m a decal guy, I have patience, but not that much lol.
Thanks for the pics.
Happy to provide pics!
I hear you about decals vs. hand painting. I really like the look of handpainted insignia, but it takes so long I only do it on a few elite units. I’m impressed you have the patience for decals on things like aircraft! That can end up being 4-6 decals per plane if you do them on the fuselage as well. Those are the most frustrating parts for me of the whole process.
Nice job Mentok! Glad the community is recognizing your hard work.
Wow, excellent work Spitfire.
Love the camo you chose for the tanks and mech. Great job my friend :)
Thanks John, Cyanight. I appreciate it! I like the camo as well. Variations on a single shade sometimes make for the most appealing pieces.
@R:
John-where did he get the Union Jack Decals?
Hi RD -
Many of the Union Jacks are from Fighting Pirannha Graphics - they come in many different sizes, which works well for the different pieces I paint. They have good customer service. Just make sure you order well in advance because they ask for 4-6 weeks to fulfill orders. Other than that, no complaints!
Your lines are so clean! Are you using Vallejo acrylics or something different?
And for the decks on your ships and aircraft carriers: do you paint the decks after your ink wash or before?
Great work. I love the Luftwaffe. Please keep posting as you work!
Awesome thread DK. Thanks!
Had you coated your pieces with a protective coat of varnish/enamel spray? Or was it just your paint job?
Hey Resident! This an amazing table - I don’t usually frequent the threads on gaming tables, as I’m more of a painter. I had to stop and comment though - love what you’ve done here. The rolling tray and fooseball style hit marker beads are a great touch. Looks like it would make for a very integrated game. Thanks for sharing!
Great work as always Spitfire. Ships are the best, I love em.
Thanks man - I think I’ve figured out the wooden decks + ink wash combo now. It seems to be the easiest combination of effort, historical accuracy, and aesthetic appeal.
Appreciate the input!
I was just informed that this topic hasn’t been posted in for at least 120 days. What a shame! However, I bring you new work to spark discussion.
I’ve added the photos of the UK Europe pieces I completed for John on the earlier pages. Page 1 I believe. Glamour shots below!
My personal favorites are the green ground forces and the mottled camo on the infantrymen. Let me know what you guys think, or if you have any questions about the process or end result! John can answer questions about why he chose certain schemes or what he was thinking about these pieces.
What a novel idea! Thanks for sharing. How do you find that it affects ease of gameplay? (IPC values, recognizing territory control, etc)
Thanks for the feedback Cyanight!
Oh, sorry, the Ocean Camo! Right, that was the blue one. I mixed that blue from one or two blues and some white, so I don’t really remember the “recipe” for that. The dark stripes are a dark blue mixed with a dark grey to give it a deep tone.
Spitfire, what color’s did you use on the Ocean Camo Spitfire fighters, so that I may paint one, since one was missing out of my pieces?
The green I believe was mixed, but a good starting point would be Folk Art’s “Light Gray” acrylic, and the green is likely based off of Folk Art’s “Italian Sage”.