Hedgerow Hell!

I don't have enough hedgerows/bocage. I have a handful of garden hedges, neatly trimmed, nice to look at. But I don't have anything I can cover a table with to represent Normandy, or anywhere with hedgerows lining the roads. This has been a serious problem for me, as it has stopped my ability to host my own games. I feel that if I can cover a table in hedges, I can at least have some sort of skirmish out in the fields. I could then add in some houses, as and when I complete them.

So, over the past few days, I have been experimenting. Here are a few of my failed projects:

This is the sponge of one of those bricks I picked up. I cut it roughly, stuck it to some card, and painted it two colours. The result was very disappointing. I see very little potential here, so left it alone.

This is the first layer of cat litter, stuck onto card. The watered down glue warped the card. Had I based them on wood, or plastic, it may have had more of a future. But as is, I won't be taking this design any further. There was a similar one, with layers of card, but that was also disappointing.

Inspired by this blog post, I decided to try something more substantial. I ran down to B&Q, and picked up some wood. I got some 8mm half doweling, along with, what I believe is D wood. I don't know. I bought 2.4 metres of the stuff, chopped them up, glued them together with PVA. 

On the first two, I just stuck some clumps of cat litter, sprayed them with my hideous, black primer spray (designed for cars...). I quite like the finished product. BUT on the next one, I have attached clumps of cat litter, then coated the whole thing in bird sand. I will be spraying it black in the morning.

These are the two with no bird sand. I dry brushed the cat litter a light grey, painted the whole thing brown, covered it in static grass, and used some woodlands scenic foliage clumps on top.  

 I am very, very pleased with the result. I have found my hedgerows! The plan now is to see how the bird sanded one looks with less grass on it. I want to dry brush it lighter colours and leave some bare patches.

But as it stands, I will be using this as my future recipe. By the end of tomorrow, I will likely have put together just under eight feet of hedgerows/bocage. Ideally I want at least twenty feet. I will probably end up getting two more lots of 2.4 metre sections and just throw it all together by the end of the week.

Roads are next on the list. 

Operation: Build a Village, pt. 2.

Much delayed, due to general dissatisfaction with my house, and lack of inspiration, I finally feel ready enough to post what I have so far. It took a long time to decide what to use as a base for the house. While at work the other day, I came across good sized sheets of corrugated card, that I felt were sturdy enough to do the job for now. 

I am aware how clean the ground looks, and there are no doors or window frames, but really, I am happy enough. I feel that "it will do" until I get the time to make improvements.

With most of the remaining foam board, I finished this ruin too. Not satisfied with just having a stand-alone corner of a building, I based it, and turned it into a full ruin. The rubble is cat litter. I used Crawford and Black acrylic paints for the greys and browns. The lighter shade of grey is an older Revell acrylic, and the inside walls are a colour from a box of paints I bought on ebay. I actually like this more than the completed house.

 Now to get inspired for the next building.

It Arrived!!

I can't wait to dive into these. I have been lurking over on the forums for a long time now, looking at AARs, looking at terrain and models. I finally took the plunge. I can't wait to start playing them.

PSC Panzer IVs.

Today I completed my late war Panzer IVs. I have an early war one also, and will likely get another set of them with which I will make one late and two early war Panzers, ready for Barbarossa. 

These two were painted with the Vallejo Midstone, which looks much more yellow than my Airfix enamel Midstone. I can get used to it, though. This was also my first, large-scale outing for my weathering powders. I am not overly convinced by them. I loved how  they looked on my Soviet 45mm cannon, but this time seemed a little...flat. I will experiment more, though.

Revell Brits.

As a youth, in my hunt for more British soldiers to bolster my forces, I picked up the Revell set. I can't remember if they ever saw action, but they certainly felt my love. I found them so much better than the Esci set. My love for Brits over Americans has remained, and I am really enjoying painting them up. I find they go go fairly well with my PSC Brits (more pictures to follow), and have given me enough to probably field two under-strength platoons.

A couple of WIPs.

With some left over foam board, I thought I could make some corner ruins. I put a second floor in, which I think looks good. I just need to base it on something, which I am struggling to think of.

I liberated a bunch of these foam bricks. I am wondering what to do with them. Any ideas? Could I make bocage?

FIRE IN THE DISCO!!

...Well actually it is fire on the panzer...

Here are my first four smoke pillars. I have candles enough for a lore more, and pillow fluff enough to probably cover a whole table...but will just leave it at this for the time being. I don't intend on playing any large games.

Here is the unlucky victim: a Panzer IV that is yet to feature on the blog. I have to weather it up first.

I am very pleased with these nifty markers.

Russians: New basing, weathering powders.

After switching to static grass, I have now adjusted the actual basing material. I make a mixture of water, PVA and bird sand. It seems to be doing the job well, and provides more of a texture than wall filler. The only problem is, it is harder to paint. Maybe I will try mixing paint into the actual mixture. As such, this latest batch of Russians, I am very happy with.

The 45mm gun is the Zvezda model. It is the first one I have based with the crew. I am really happy with it. I also decided to try out my new Humbrol weathering powders on it. I am pleased with the effect. Okay, the wheels look muddier than the ground would allow, but I like it. My next project is to go back and apply shed loads of mud to my finished models.

Ingredients finally sourced.

Inspired, initially by this blog post, I have been trying to hunt down reasonably priced LED tea lights. I have been looking for the best part of a month. Amazon and Ebay all seem quite pricey for what I want them for. I found 3 for £1 on the Poundland website, and 6 packs on ASDA's website. However, they were not in my local branches. I have been on multiple occasions to find them, without success. What does a man have to do, to make burning vehicle markers, and just have fires burning all over the place?

Finally, last night, due to a desperate need for shower gel, I popped into ASDA at around midnight. I had been out, and had needed the RAC to come out and start my car...I don't just go shopping late at night for giggles. On a whim I checked out the candle section...and to my amazement, there they were! In all their glory!!! I picked myself up three boxes, because I don't know when I will see them again, a cheap pillow, and am now ready to get going.

US Infantry, lighting still sucks.

So I changed the angle of my lights, in an attempt to get better photos. I don't think it really worked. I am a little annoyed. But here is what I have so far:

This is my Platoon Leader, with a radio operator, and a runner.

Here is one of my bazooka teams, sneaking up on a target.

Below is another bazooka team.

Here is a MMG team on the move.

This is half of my squad, with the BAR team.

Here is the second half, with the NCO there.