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.

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.

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.

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.

Brigade Games Care Package

I received one of those heavy little packages in the mail yesterday. Unfortunately I had to go visit my folks and help out in the shop last night as my father had his other knee replaced earlier this week. So I spent some time cutting, straightening and packaging up wire and completely forgot about the package till I got into work this morning. Opened it up and there they were most of the miniatures to finish off my World War I USMC force. They did have to backorder three packs of bombers from Great War Miniatures but I think I have enough to keep me busy now. Of course that also means I need to get moving on the first half of the force which I got just about a year ago.