Having painted nearly six hundred figures* in a month, I am pretty chuffed and feeling nearly as productive as Dean at WAB Corner.
There are a couple of 'minor' differences;
- mine were 2 mm scale, and
- they are an abstract version compared to Dean's works of art!
*The
actual count was 598, plus 26 horses, 16 guns & heavy
mortars and 17 vehicles.
I really enjoy this tiny scale. It's great fun identifying what is what (glasses a necessity) and trying to bring them out in their best light. Looking at the photos you may well ask why I bothered, but the types are clear enough even to the naked eye and there is some remarkable detail that becomes evident on closer inspection.
As well as the pleasure, challenge and sense of achievement in painting them, they are fit for purpose—to represent the entire Battle of Verdun in its entirety (and later other,
huge battles of the First World War).
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Trucks and headquarters: generic models for 'modern' periods
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Looking closer at the headquarters (note two officers sitting at desk).
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Trucks and a staff car
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Machine guns. Clearly identifiable.
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Infantry, from the front (stormtroopers at left—a bit of green and brown camo. on helmets).
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Infantry from rear. Note the packs.
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Cavalry column from the front.
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A clearer photo taken under natural light
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Above and below: cavalry from the rear under artificial and natural light. Note the leather belts.
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Above and below: 21 cm mörser in artificial and natural light
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| Their big brothers. I threw these into the same 'production line'. They need final touch-up and then will be set for the larger-scale representation of sections of Verdun. |
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Field artillery
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Heavy mortars
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Trench mortars. Not such good figures in either natural or artificial light, but 'okay' and clearly differentiated.
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Probably my favourites of all: the A7Vs and captured MkIVs (beutepanzers). Not for Verdun, of course, but for later battles.
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One can try to photograph these figures and models too closely and this large-scale complete army effect is probably a better way to look at them!
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It's interesting when the sand grains that I use in my basign mix are almost as big as the figures, but I am happy with the mud effect and smatterings of men and matériel in the mire.
Next is the French army and then I'll put them to the 'test'.
There are a couple of 'minor' differences;
That is a lot of painting, even in 2mm, and they look good all arrayed together. What base sizes are you using?
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter.
DeleteThe bases for infantry and cavalry are 20 mm x 15 mm. The howitzers are 15 mm x 20 mm (narrower frontage) and the smaller ones 15 mm x 10 mm for the field artillery, machine gun companies and mortars (reversed to 10 mm x 15 mm for the vehicles).
I am going to try OP14 for this, using the version that Graham 'Trebian' Evans over at Wargaming for Grown Ups has posted, which include adaptation for later war.
The rules as writ use four bases to represent a brigade. My plan is that two bases of infantry represent a division (capable of being scaled down to a brigade if I wish). I'll use 40 mm to 2 km (i.e. frontage of a division) or 40 mm to 1 km if brigade-scale.
I use rules as a base to start from. Already I do not expect to use the grid system (I'm not keen on them, though I know you are, of course!) and expect to use an alternative to the card-based activation/orders mechanism.
It will be an interesting 'experiment' in its own right!
Very effective and really shows off when 2mm is the 'scale' to go for.
ReplyDeleteThank you Steve, that is most encouraging.
DeleteMy wife rudely says that they look like a lot of turds! :)
Great work James, I have been looking at Irregulars 2mm range quite a lot lately.
ReplyDeleteYour work is a great advert for them.
Regards,
Paul.
Thanks heaps Paul.
DeleteI'd encourage you to get some, once you see them and paint a few I am sure that you will be hooked too!
I began with some Napoleonics which I had tinkered with a bit until I came to a suitable basing system (three infantry bases and some skirmishers on a 30 mm x 30 mm base to represent a brigade or division—or even regiment if I want to drop to that level). Now I am progressing them so as to French and Austrian armies to use alongside my 1/72 in a similar 'telescoping scales' manner.
Have you seen what Curt at Analogous Hobbies has done with them (http://analogue-hobbies.blogspot.com/2021/03/additions-to-2mm-napoleonic-collection.html)? Fantastic!
Very impressive sight, James! Not sure I could go that small.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jonathan. Not for everyone for sure, but magnificent for large forces in a manageable area, plus the figures are quite marvellous too, as I have said.
DeleteMarvellous stuff, James - 2mm is the way to go for WWI, I think.
ReplyDeleteThank you Julian. A way to go for the megalomania of the whole thing, for sure, enabling coverage of some 25 km x 20 km.
DeleteStill plenty of scope for our beloved 1/72 though!
Wow 2mm! That's some going I've been struggling with 6mm which sent me back to 20mm for some comfort lol. It's a good choice for the scale of the First World War it looks very impressive!
ReplyDeleteThank you Tony. They are a really useful scale in many respects and I find them more and more enjoyable to paint.
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