WWI US Marines finished for now

So I did actually get my Marines finished before I left on my business trip. I just didn't have time to take and post pictures. I'm unhappy with the Army Painter Matte Spray this time around. The miniatures came out semi-gloss rather than a nice matte finish as well as some white specks in some places. So that will have to be redone. I also forgot how much matte spray kills highlights so I may go in and re-apply some highlights. There are of course some things I missed even in the touch up round so I may go back in and touch up a second time. For now though they are finished and should look good on the table. I'm still not sure about mixing the Brigade Games miniatures with the Great War Miniatures but I should have enough to create platoons that consist of just a single brand if one or the other. So a few group shots here and more close ups in the gallery.

WWI US Marines - Painting Sessions 4 & 5

I worked at home last night on these Marines and they traveled with me to Troll Country Games tonight. I painted while the rest of the group played Flames of War (Finns vs Americans). These are getting close to being done, just some small details to pick out and then the inevitable touch ups. I discovered that I'm out of the style of bases that I want to use so I'm going to have to order some tomorrow. That will probably set me back a bit on getting to that ready to play with toy soldiers point. So here is a group shot and the rest are in the WWI gallery (which is getting quite full at this point).

WWI US Marines - Painting Session 3

So with one competition mini going for a stripping bath I figured I could work on the other two. I promptly found mold lines on both of those. Since the skin work was basically done at this point I didn't want to strip them so I carefully cleaned them up and will re-prime by hand when I get home. That means the Marines got a lot more attention today than they normally would have. So basic uniforms and coats are finished and I have laid in the dark layer for the webbing and other gear, which is fortunately all the same color. The first wash shade was applied as well and I'll build up to the lighter color from there. So one shot here and the rest in the gallery.

And if that wasn't enough - Marine reinforcements arrive

I finally got the heavy weapons from Old Glory. 75mm French Gun (x2), Lt Trench Mortars, Hvy Trench Mortars and 37mm Guns. Right now that should wrap up all the purchases I need to make for the Marines. With the con only a few weeks away though I have set all of this to the side so I can get moving on my competition pieces.

World War I titles that I "Need"

I was going through the scuttlebutt website last night and jotting down books that I would like to acquire. Mostly because I am a bit obsessive about a subject when I really get into it. Most of these focus on the US Marines but a fair number are about the 2nd Division as a whole. It would be nice to get my hands on one or two issues of the "Indian" the 2nd Division's newsletter as well.
Some of these I'm not likely to ever acquire as they are rare, out of print books although some have been reprinted in various forms over the years. Anyway onward we go:

Through the Wheat – Boyd, Thomas

When the Tide Turned – Kahn, Otto H 

With the Help of God and a Few Marines – Catlin, A.W. 

Devil Dogs; Fighting Marines of WWI – Clark, George B 

And They Thought We Wouldn’t Fight – Gibbons, Floyd

Belleau Wood and the American Army – Andrait, R (Captain)

At Belleau Wood with Rifle and Sketchpad – Linn, Louis C 

Suddenly We Didn’t want to Die - Mackin, Elton E

Company K – March (Campbell), William 

One Man’s War; the Diary of a Leatherneck – Rendinell, JF  & George Pattullo

God have Mercy on Us – Canlon, William 

2^nd Division Summary of Operations in the World War

The Second Infantry Division in WWI – Clark, George B

The Second Division  - Harradan, C Gordon  & Raymond Stedman

The Second Division – Spaulding, Oliver Lyman  & John Womack Wright

WWI US Marines - Painting Session 2

Well getting to paint two days in a row is quite a treat although there will be a lot more of that as the convention draws nearer. Today I finished the skin (for the most part), painted in the eyes (apparently I'm a bit out of practice) and got the mid tone down for the uniform. I have seen uniforms online and of course have several Osprey references and nothing really looked right. I have heard that the USMC Forest Green was quite close to the German Feldgrau so I mixed 50/50 Feldgrau with a Dark Olive. Its not as dark as I have seen it in photographs (although the film processing can account for that) but I think it will do. It will change a bit anyway as I add the shadows and highlights. One shot here and the rest in the gallery.

"The Devil Dogs at Belleau Wood"

The Devil Dogs at Belleau Wood; Us Marines in World War I by Dick Camp

This book falls somewhere in between “At Belleau Wood” and a “His Time in Hell”. A shorter larger format book concentrating more on the company level and sprinkled with many personal observations by the men that fought there. Unlike the other two books this one deals only with the actions leading up to and going through the action at Belleau Wood. It is packed with photographs and maps of Belleau Wood, exactly the kind of information that I have been looking for. It’s a very good quick read that covers the battle succinctly without wandering into the issues of command or going to deep into the personal experience. Another good one for the collection! This will be my main reference when I starting building a section of modular terrain boards to represent the difficult terrain at Belleau Wood, not an exact replica but something that will give the right feel to play a game over.

Finally Started the WWI US Marines - Painting Session 1

Was out at the FLGS tonight painting while the rest of the group was playing the old GW Man of War game. I was working on these Marines as well as my competition pieces. To my chagrin the primer fuzzed on one of the competition pieces so I was done from three to two for the evening and figured I would just practice on the Marines instead. The Marines are a mix of the Brigade Games miniatures and the Great War Miniatures. I'm thinking that the size difference is to much and they will have to be in separate units. The competition piece will need to be stripped down and re-primed, hopefully I will do a better job the next time around. So here is a shot of the Marines and the rest are in the new WWI gallery.

"At Belleau Wood" - Robert B Asprey

I finished this one up at lunch today. Definitely a different perspective on the battle as this is told more from the battalion and regimental level rather than the single man perspective. Definitely pinpoints the confusion created by the inability of the commanding officers to directly observe or get information on what is happening to the units under their command. An excellent book that does not pull punches when talking about mistakes made by those in charge, in fact some information is referenced from another book "Second Division Northwest of Chateau Thierry, 1 June - 10 July, 1918" by John Thomason. Thomason, called the Rudyard Kipling of the Marine Corps, had written about those issues and faults and the army refused to publish his manuscript after the war. His manuscript was published  after "At Belleau Wood" was published by Robert B Asprey. Asprey's work is well documented and well written. It touches a bit on the issues of the common soldier in the battle but is definitely geared towards how the battle was handled at the battalion and regimental level with glimpses down to the company level. An most excellent book for those wanting to learn more about this battle. This is another one you can find used all of the place; Amazon, Alibris and Abebooks to name just a few online sources.

"His Time in Hell: A Texas Marine in France" - Warren R Jackson

I finished this book off on the train ride home on Friday (1/13/2012). Its a very interesting first hand description of life in the Marine Corps during WWI. They believe that Jackson wrote the manuscript in the 20s and it some how found its way into a special collection of American History at the University of Texas in Austin. There it was found by Marine Corps Historian George B Clark who edited it for publication. His editing hand is pretty light so you really are getting the story as told by Warren Jackson. An excellent example of a man that volunteered in the first rush to join the war and his journey through the armistice. This is a great book for getting a feel of what it was like to fight in the Great War, the ceaseless artillery bombardments, the machinegun fire, the hunger and the seemingly endless marching from one spot to another without knowing where you were or why you were there. Jackson may have been unique, he participated in every major action that was fought by the 4th Brigade, 6th Marine Regiment as part of the 2nd US division. I found a used copy at Amazon for a very good price and highly recommend this book.

The Marines have landed!

I just received an email that the rest of my WWI USMC arrived earlier this week. Hopefully I will have the heavy weapons teams in my hands tomorrow and I'll have even more stuff to prep. Its starting to look a little over whelming at this point.

WWI Marines

It was the first weekend of the football playoffs and with my team scoring a first round bye and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs I didn't have much riding on the games. Saturday was spent doing other things but I spent Sunday hunkered down in front of the TV watching the Giants beat the Falcons and the Broncos beat the Steelers. There is nothing quite as mindless as prepping miniatures so out came the WWI US Marines and the files and off I went. My fingers are still sore from all the filing I did yesterday and I got the mold lines off on just over 100 28mm Brigade Games Marines. Still to come are the Great War Miniatures fill ins. These minis are US Army rather than US Marines but after Belleau Wood there were a lot of Marines dressed in Army gear. Since the US Army was providing all the supplies they refused to bring over replacements for the Marine uniforms and instead issued Army uniforms in replacement. This gave the Marine brigade in the 2nd Division a very mottled look with Marines dressed completely in their forest green uniforms to Marines dressed completely in Army drab and of course all kinds of mismatches in between. The only parts I don't have for this force is the artillery. A friend of mine ordered it but we haven't connected yet to get it into my hands.