28mm Warlord WW2 Soviet infantry

Last week, and after 7 years of patient waiting,  I painted a box of 40 Warlord WW2 Soviet infantry for my friend JMM. All figures became different from one another as both the sprues of bodies and weapons easily allows for it. 

The figures are very good, even if time consuming at assembling due to separate weapons that sometimes are tricky to glue to the arms. Here one of the officers became an NKVD officer, a kind of psychologist,  specialist at persuasion. 

Only two figures got converted. One of the laying down bodies became a radio/telephone operator with extra radio and telephone made out of EverGreen plastic. The other other is the obvious Vassily Zaitzev with a cape made of tissue paper. 

 The Soviet standard uniform (L) was painted with Vallejo Russin uniform while the Telogreika was painted with Vallejo Grey Brown. I painted them as I paint my 20mm figures: black spray as primer; followed by the main colors; then, main colors with 50% white all mixed. The helmets get a bit of metal color mixed with dark green as somehow they become more lively. 

AOE 28mm Waterloo - Hougoumont compound and La Haie Sainte

From the French lines you would have a certain difficulty trying to grasp the size and importance of  Hougoumont in the morning of the Waterloo battle, adding to that some poor reconnaissance and maps.

Now you can't see them but on those days the woods of Hougoumont hide the complex from French eyes which led Napoleon not to pay the attention it deserved with catastrophic consequences for his side. 

The model of Hougoumont is an old Draper model bought from Miniatures Wargames a few years ago and I think still available. 

I followed mainly this drawing from the Carnets de la Campagne Vol.1, dedicated to Hougoumont. 

But in order to portray the full Hougoumont complex you need an orchard with an hedgerow looking at the French side ...

 

... and a garden enclosed by a new outer brick wall and an inner masonry wall. 

The pigeon house doesn't come in the model so you need to build it. This one is from card. I also made some thatched roofs using old pieces of linen as on the model on the Waterloo cyclorama. 

The famous South Gate of Hougoumont. 

The model of the chateau is designed for 20mm but goes well with 28mm as the true Hougoumont in 28mm fills any decent table leaving no room for anything else. 

Let's move a bit to the east. 

La Haie Sainte is the Airfix model with a few additions. 

It's necessary a small orchard looking south and a pond inside the farm...

... and also a garden looking north.

And here you have two of the main "breakwaters" of Wellington.

28mm LOTR Minas Tirith

 And now for Minas Tirith. It was mainly made in heavy card and the usual styrofoam. This piece are in fact some 20 pieces, and the final result is this one.

The parts are separate for easy storage and space. One of this days I will show you my Osgiliath, but it still has to be built.

Not as many levels as in the movie. Just trying to pick the flavour of the movie´s model and, one day, wargaming it.

Kinder Eggs are good for eating and modelling.

My kid still must be thinking: " were is my cowboy´s tree?".

I built eleven  of the formidable trebuchets Minas tirith was defended by. Seven  are GW (glups!).

Dr Jackill...or is it a Troll as PC says?

28mm LOTR Helms Deep

During those mad years of LOTR I built a large collection of GW fantasy 28mm figures and accessories.

But the larger models- the fortressses and cities, for instances - had to be scratchbuilt.

Here it goes my approach to Helms Deep, using mainly styrofoam.

The door is one of the few elements made of wood and it opens with the help of some pegs.

The broken statues were made of Green Stuff.

The stairs are plastic glued to the styrofoam. This model gave me a big pleasure to build as you can work styrofoam quickly and with nice results. I tryed to use the same techniques I saw in GW magazines of the days ın which LOTR was rocking copying shamelessly those big modellers and painters they have.

28mm AOE1815 Waterloo- Marcognet Division

Marcognet Division with General D´Erlon himself leading. There is a mix of metal and plastic Perry minis and Victrix.

Flags are out of the box paper flags by Perry Miniatures.

The Aide de Camp of D´Erlon is also Perry metal. A nice moving figure climbing atop of his horse.

Some figures, like the 1st voltigeur, has Victrix and Perry parts.

The famous FN 100 Perry reference (plastic french Inf.) has loads of modelling possibilities allowing the Pokalem and the Bonnet the police to be portrayed in many figures, besides being able to create many different moving and firing figures.

"General D´Erlon, the British Heavy cavalry is coming . We are F******"

Drummers and flag bearers are Victrix plastics.