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Post by loyalist on Jan 26, 2017 1:07:17 GMT
I decided to shoot photos of the cavalry and militia units this evening because we haven't seen the sun for a week and won't for days yet. Unfortunately the photos didn't look good with a flash because the depth of field was too shallow, and the images were too dim without a flash. I'll have to wait for sunlight to take usable photos.
(Feb. 8: the sun is still missing; we had a snow and freezing rain storm overnight and there's another winter storm warning for tomorrow night. It's forecast to be overcast for at least 5 more days so no photos yet.)
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Post by loyalist on Jan 31, 2017 2:06:17 GMT
The Canadian force continues to grow. I'm painting 3 units of Rough Riders, 6 units of AQ infantry, 3 Spector armoured cars, and trying different uniform colours for the S2G lancers this week. Almost out of Vallejo Brown Violet which is needed for helmets and body armour so I've stopped painting tanks with 2 combat companies and multiple auxiliary tanks finished.
(Feb. 5: I've finished 4 units of HMGs, all of the light artillery, 2 HQ unit dioramas, 5 command units on small bases, 3 units of Rough riders, the Spectors, 3 units of cavalry, 4 of infantry, a dozen Flivvers and 4 Liberty trucks, 2 companies of tanks, 10 Mk IIt and S2G tow tanks, 3 Mine layers and 1 clamp tank.
Left to paint are a 3rd tank company, 6 heavy howitzers, 2 Anti-tripod guns, 3 units of S2G lancers and 4 units of infantry. I've run out of Vallejo Brown Violet so can't paint the rest of the tanks and the heavy guns until more arrives from the UK in 2 weeks.
I've been painting 20mm scale field positions made by Ironclad Miniatures in the UK and have finished 6 of 9 weapon pits that will hold HMG bases, and 6 earth embrasures for the medium field guns. I'm working on 9 more embrasures of a slightly different type that can be used for steam tanks and HMG or sniper teams.)
(Feb. 10: The Western Canadian Force is almost finished. All that's left to paint are a third Spector armoured car, 3 units of lancers and their command unit; they'll be done in 2 days and then photos will be posted. Unlike the 3 units of dragoons painted like infantry the lancers have dark blue (GW Kantor Blue) pre-1914
uniforms. I test painted a figure with a scarlet tunic like those worn by Canadian dragoons pre-1914, but with Brown Violet helmet and armour and then with Buff helmet and armour. Both looked good so I'm ordering more S2G cavalry to use as pre-1914 dragoons. The units painted like infantry will be used as BEF cavalry.)
(Feb. 12: I decided to paint 2 units of lancers as Hussars with dark blue uniforms and 1 unit as lance equipped Dragoons (Royal Canadian Dragoons) in scarlet tunics. (The RCD are confirmed to have had lances on occasion by an early 1900s photo.) After test painting 1 unit of hussars with buff armour and helmets I realized their
facing colour was white after 1909 and test painted 1 figure with white. It didn't look as good so all hussar and dragoon lancers have the same brown violet helmets and armour as the S2G sword-armed cavalry. Brown violet is actually a dull green - it looks OK with scarlet tunics but not as good with dark blue. I have to work today
because a major blizzard is starting this evening and it will be impossible to get to work on Monday and maybe on Tuesday. That means less painting today but all cavalry units will be finished tomorrow. Still no photos due to terrible winter weather with seemingly endless overcast - the latest blizzard will be our third major storm in 6 days.)
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Post by loyalist on Feb 13, 2017 17:50:04 GMT
Feb. 13: Huge storm raging with a storm surge inundating docks and historic properties on the Halifax waterfront and streets impassible due to snow drifts and white-out conditions. Winds gusting to 110 kph (66 mph). A good day to be inside painting miniatures!
I decided the dark blue pre-1914 hussar uniform just wasn't working with the armoured S2G lancers, so repainted the 2 blue units to match 3 previously painted units of sword-armed S2G cavalry (English Uniform tunic and trousers, Green Ochre ammo bandoliers and gaiters, Brown Violet helmets and armour plates). The militia hussars look good with that scheme. The 3rd unit with scarlet tunics and dark blue trousers looks fine and will represent the Royal Canadian Dragoons who are known to have had lances.
When Black Hat makes British Home Guard cavalry available I'll use them to represent early Martian War hussars in blue uniforms and dragoons in scarlet.
10 PM: All S2G cavalry units are finished! 3 units of lancers, 3 of dragoons with swords (all S2G cavalry have rifles and swords, including the lancers), 2 x 3 figure cavalry command units.
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Post by madmorgan on Mar 2, 2017 15:39:22 GMT
Got a couple of questions about your TO&E on the Western Canadian forces. When you say (3) Units of Spector ACs do you mean a total of 3 figures (as the AC 'unit' is defined as a single element) or do you mean 3 figures per unit, total being 9. I think you meant the former. I take it that the 'skirmishing' units are per the pdf rule on same. How do you treat the Elite units (morale boost?) and the Militia units (low morale or are they in their province?) The Mobile Field Artillery = MkIIMA or the earlier Holt version? Love the mix of Flivver, Diamond T, and Liberty (Blue Moon?) trucks. Looking forward to the pictures. Rock on dude!
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Post by loyalist on Mar 2, 2017 18:17:41 GMT
There are 3 Spectors (3 units), with 3 more based and waiting to be painted. I may add 3 more with 2 being artillery spotters for the BEF Land Ironclad. The Spectors can be used as Canadian or BEF vehicles - all will have the same colour scheme and decals. (Waiting for the next decal order to arrive - I ran out of suitably sized decals on 3 sheets of HO scale decals from Microscale)
Skirmishers use the pdf rules and the same stats as British troops allowed to skirmish. They are weak enough already with armor 3 so I didn't do anything to negatively modify their morale roles. Nearly all Canadian military units pre-WWI were militia so they're not tied to a particular province. I suppose I could use the US militia rule.
The Elite units will have the Courageous rating. It doesn't appear to cost anything for BEF/Commonwealth troops: skirmishing Ghurkas with Courageous cost the same in the pdf expansion as non-Courageous skirmishers.
Mobile field artillery are Mk II.
At present I'm assembling and converting more trucks. 2 Diamond Ts that were fuel tankers have had styrene flatbeds added with the metal sides from the open flivver kits; they look fine mixed in with the flivvers and are almost exactly the same size. The next 2 Diamond Ts will be converted to ambulances with styrene bodies, as will 2 flivvers. The Diamond T fuel tank castings were used to make more fuel trailers on Ironclad Miniatures' Faraday gun carriages.
I plan to shoot more photos this weekend; we're just back from a vacation and getting into 'real world' mode again.
Good to see you back on the forum!
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Post by madmorgan on Mar 5, 2017 10:42:42 GMT
Thank you for the welcome back. I look forward to the pics.
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Post by loyalist on Mar 6, 2017 20:28:05 GMT
Finally took some photos after adding Silfor grass tufts to the bases for a western plains look. (The photos are 'contrasty' due to the bright late afternoon sun.) One of 4 units of skirmishing militia infantry. (Blue Moon figures.) Unit command stand. Two of 3 units of medium field guns. HMG unit. There's one for every two infantry units. Spector Armoured Car - each operates with a unit of Roughriders as a scouting force.
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Post by loyalist on Mar 6, 2017 20:37:48 GMT
More photos: Field Commander and staff. The small rise the signal tower is on is a FoW resin palm tree base. Roughriders. Each unit has a Spector AC attached for radio communications. Roughriders with Dragoons coming up to engage Martian 'infantry' at dusk. Mines. 6 more to paint. Traps. 2 more to paint (3rd type).
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Post by loyalist on Mar 6, 2017 20:51:33 GMT
And a few more: More Roughriders. Three units of lancers and Command unit (S2G figures). More photos of the cavalry are posted in the Supplier thread 'More S2G Cavalry'. The cavalry in red tunics are the Royal Canadian Dragoons (who used lances occasionally); the rest are militia cavalry. Dragoon command unit.
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Post by easye on Mar 6, 2017 22:14:16 GMT
Love the cavalry!
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Post by Quendil on Mar 7, 2017 9:24:02 GMT
That is one great looking army. The cavalry are excellent. How about some army photos so we can see the entire force
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Post by loyalist on Mar 7, 2017 10:57:52 GMT
That is one great looking army. The cavalry are excellent. How about some army photos so we can see the entire force I shot a couple of the (partial) army on the table but the harsh lighting made the models hard to see so they were deleted. I'll take some when the lighting is better and the force is arrayed on a game mat, which is being shipped, instead of a white table. Note that there were no photos of tanks, trucks, and painted field defenses (20mm HMG pits, gun positions, and a command bunker by Ironclad Miniatures) though they are part of this force. This is the early western Canadian army in ~1910 so doesn't include heavy artillery, 1 pdr coil guns, Anti-tripod guns, S2G tanks, Mk IVs and specialist steam tanks. The later models are finished except for the heavy guns and regular infantry.
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Post by madmorgan on Mar 7, 2017 13:12:51 GMT
Wonderful layout and painting job. Love the basing as well. I particularly liked the pairing of a Brit AC with RR units for radio control - I'm stealing that idea for my mix US/BR organizations. Really nicely done loyalist - can't wait to see them in action !
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Post by loyalist on Mar 13, 2017 13:26:15 GMT
I've moved on to painting field defenses, trenches and trucks. Yesterday I finished 16 of 19 flivvers and 3 Diamond T tanker trucks converted to flatbeds (their fuel tanks were made into trailers for Mk II supply tanks). All the flivvers had to be mounted on bases due to their weak axles and are supported by 1/16 brass rods under the engine compartment.
Next up will be 10 more Conqueror Liberty trucks, to join 4 already completed. They're intended for the BEF force: 4 of the armored version will be ambulances.
Three quarters of the 20mm scale field defenses from Ironclad Miniatures in the UK are finished. There are 9 HMG pits, and 15 gun positions that can be used for medium field guns and command units. The IM command bunker with AQ command unit and signal tower installed looks quite good. The resin castings are well detailed and a good fit to the 18mm AQ infantry and guns.
Yesterday I finished painting the first test piece of the AQ trench system. This is a roofed bunker with one of my styrene command towers on top; I have 5 sets of trenches and 2 of heavy gun batteries to paint but they won't be needed for a few months as the first few battles planned will be early war. Photos will be posted later this week.
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Post by boxholder on Mar 31, 2017 11:37:48 GMT
Beautiful work. Great detail painting. You make my eyes hurt...right after they turn green with envy!
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