Anyone who's seen my 653rd Schwere Panzerjäger conversions knows I'm a sucker for visually unique armies. Part of the reason I play German forces so frequently is the wide range of crazy vehicles they fielded during World War II. Truth be told, the sickness started long before I found Flames of War because you see I'm also a model builder. I brought that world over with me to miniatures wargaming. The net effect is I finish fewer armies than I'd like, and most are never "out of the box." That also means I probably don't have the best "tournament winning" army - but dang it I look GOOD losing.
As Battlefront enters the "home stretch" in World War II, I'm lining up the list of "stuff I'd like to do" in 15mm using Battlefront miniatures as a starting point. Right now the list is fairly extensive and will likely take me years to complete, but the end result should be very satisfying.
Given the release of the Jagdtiger list, I really want to convert a couple to the Porsche suspension version to add character to the 653rd list. The miniature as depicted works great for the 512th, but the 653rd had more variety. This is at the top of my list, but the conversion is non-trivial as the Porsche suspension version needs not only new running gear, but zimmerit on the hull as well.
With the re-release of the mid-war monsters, there are several minis I'd like to build from the Tiger (P) - including an updated Tiger (P) late, another Bergetiger (P), and both versions of the VK 4502 which I could run as a proxy for Tiger II's.
With the release of the non-zimmerited Tiger II, I'd also like to do an E-50 and E-75. Yes, I know Heer 46 has them - they're not accurate based on my drawings. The Forged in Battle ones are better, but still have some issues on the front hull. Of course, once those are done - I'd like to do an E-10 and E-25, but those would be far more hard core scratchbuilds.
On a less exotic front, Battlefront has provided a very nice final production Panther G without zimmerit. They have also given us a very nice initial production Panther G with zimmerit. Unfortunately there are a lot of units that fielded vehicles without zimmerit, but lacking many of the "final production" features. I'm hoping to make up a few of these as well which will involve some mantlet sculpting, rear deck changes, and exhaust modifications. Once I have that together, I'll likely make an F with Schmalturm as well.
... and somewhere in all of this I'm going to finish up my Flakpanzer T34 and 39H OP.
So that's my "vision" - anyone else have "big plans" they want to share??? Confession is good for the soul, I'm told.
Not so much of a confession, more of a plea for help...I'm about to start a Russian tank army. Normally I hardly model at all, I want to get on with the paint job asap. However this time I'd like to introduce a bit of character.
ReplyDeleteMy first purchase will be 10 PSC T-70s, I was hopinh you'd have some ideas/examples of easy things I could do to add some character...thanks in advance
Still working on finishing my first army - from 2009! Though not for FOW, I too want things to look right and to that end, spend far too much time per mini. I don't think I have the 'sickness' to the degree you seem to but its bad!
ReplyDeleteSometimes I find myself making a latch for a 3mm fender storage box for the second time after dropping the first into the dust under my workbench and thinking to myself, am I nuts?!
Troy
I think we're all a little nuts... I'm in the midst of completely reworking my painting/modeling area to make it more effective... I hope... :D
ReplyDelete