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 Ahhhh!

Genesis of an Army:
Assembling "La Nueve"
By Mike Haught 

With the pile in front of me, I had to come up with a plan. I had quite a bit of work to do and I needed to get started somewhere. My laundry list included:

11x M3 Half-track (US201)

2x M2 Half-track  (US200)
5x M4A2 Sherman (SU071)
2x US Jeep x3 Resin (US411)
2x R.35 (IT060) 2x M8 Greyhound (US301
3x M7 Priest (US143)
3x M8 Scott (US142)
1x M15 SPAA (US161) 1x M16 SPAA (US160)
1x Company HQ (US731 1x Artillery HQ (US709)
3x Armored Rifle Platoon (US703)   
 

This week I set to work on the massive task of assembling the 1750 point army. My plan is to do the vehicles as a block and then move to infantry. So, I spent a day assembling everything—I don't want to see another US half-track for at least ten years!

For this project I got a new set of Gale Force Nine files, knives and glue to help assemble the horde of vehicles and infantry. These files are pretty much the best thing since sliced bread. Since they are small they can get into very small gaps and clean out flash.

I also got another hobby knife because, as we all know, you simply cannot have enough. I swear hobby knives disappear while we're sleeping and congregate on an island somewhere, establishing their own hobby knife culture and launching raids on the nearby island of lost socks. In fact, that would make a great movie (Copyright, Mike Haught, 2008. Universal Studios: Contact me, my rates are reasonable.) 

Gale Force Nine—Five Piece Diamond Micro Files ...

Gale Force Nine—Hobby Knife ...

Gale Force Nine—Hobby Glue ...

GFT029 - 5 Piece Diamond Micro Files

When assembling I made the deliberate decision to not attach stowage at this point. I wanted to take some time looking at photos and come up with a plan on how I want the stowage to look. Nothing bothers me more than finishing a model with stowage only to look at it and think "how is this pile of junk not going to fall off the tank at the first turn it makes?" So I need a plan first.

After a day of assembling I grabbed my Vallejo black paint and began brush priming. I like hand priming because you can be sure to get into all the nooks and crannies of the model, places that a can of spray paint can't cover.

Jeremy mentioned that an added benefit of hand priming is that you can make mental notes of details on the model and get started thinking about how you are going to paint it.

Quick Tip

One thing I've learned from making several American armies is to put pins in my machine guns so that they are removable. This way the MGs won't snap off during a game or in transport—they'll just fall out instead. I can also swap .30 Cal and .50 Cal machine guns in my half-tracks.

AAMGs

2DB Rally Point

While I waited for the paint to dry I pulled out my laptop and began compiling a project folder for this army. I do this for any army I set out to complete. I'll gather all the information that I can and put in a centralised folder. Photos, TO&E charts, histories, website bookmarks, and literally anything I can find.

When collecting photos, I find both historical photos and 1/35th scale model photos and store them for inspiration. I'll often spend a good deal of time looking at the photos, picking out details such as markings.

 

Once all the black paint dried I stealthfully stole Jeremy's airbrush and got to work. This was my first outing with one of these technological wonders. Its true what they say about using them and how you'll never go back to hand painting. So, I've claimed "squatter's rights" on Jeremy's airbrush and it is now mine. I've even made a little home for it in my hobby room. It loves me now and it has forgotten what Jeremy even looks like!
The Army

The R.35

I couldn't resist painting the R.35 tanks for the Liberated Char de Combat Platoon first! I thought that they looked quite cool and they have a lot of character, both on and off the game table. After a little research I found that the Germans repainted the captured French tanks in dark grey. When captured by the partisans they would scratch out the German markings and put large Lorraine Crosses to identify them as friendly. While not a particularly fantastic tank in Late War, it is a fun anachronism for the army.

Mike's R.35 Liberated Char de Combat

End of Week 2!

So, that's where I'm at currently. I hope to have the bulk of the vehicles painted for the next update. We'll see just how much I can get done!

Will Mike be able to finish the vehicles in time? Will Mike be saved from certain insanity? Will Jeremy be reunited with his estranged airbrush now that it has tasted sweet, sweet freedom? Tune in next week to find out!

Related Links:

Week 1: Mike's "La Nueve" Company ...

Dash For Paris ...

Free French 2éme Division Blindée History ...

Free French 2éme Division Blindée PDF ...  


Last Updated On Friday, September 12, 2008