WWII US M4A1 Platoon, 15mm, Flames of War

    

This is a platoon build of five American M4A1 Shermans, from February 2009. A Flames of War platoon box, it came with solid resin hulls and metal accessories. I don't believe the decals came with the box set, but rather from a separate decals sheet bought to outfit several boxed sets over time. The turrets are loose, and I had not learned about using rare earth magnets to secure them in place yet, but may do so in the future (alternatively. a little BluTac works nicely for that purpose). Here are the pices laid out for inspection!

   

   

One of the nice aspects of FoW miniatures is, they don't require much (if any) cleaning of mold lines and such. A soapy mixture wash and dry are about all it takes to get moving with assembly. First on, I use a black Folk Art acrylics basecoat hand brushed on...

   

The bottom of the turrets and the inner hull area they sit in are left unpainted, but everything else is covered with acrylics.

  

These represented my first ever miniatures building and painting experience, so I was learning as I went. I would later understand that a primet coat is probably the way to go with these, as it likely helps the paint go on smoother and present a better surface that will hold the paint (not chip off) as time goes by; however I'm not entirely convinced this is totally necessary, as my miniatures are now past a decade old and still holding up perfectly after many gaming sessions.

Layer 2

Next step is the first primary color coat, which in the American armor case, is Olive Drab; again, this being Folk Art acrylics, which I buy at Michael's Craft Store with 40%-off coupons (I'm a frugal New Englander!). So, as you can see from the pictures below, the black undercoat provides a nice opaque canvas for subsequent layer, which I believe brings out a truer color in tiny miniatures.

 

 

Alone, this isn't bad for color, as seen in miniatures such as the Shermans in Axis & Allies Miniatures, but the beauty of Flames of War miniatures is the fact that you paint them, and therefore, you decide how much realism you want to try to achieve. For myself personally, I try to get as accurate as possible to what was actually fielded in WWII, but tempered with understanding that highlights and enhancements in tone and hue are necessary to bring out the realism in so small a scale. This all done in Folk Art acrylics.

 

Layer 3

On this next layer. rather than an entirely covered layer, more of a drybrushing technique is used to "dust up" and "Dirty up" the miniatures. I want them to look heavily used in the field, and not factory fresh.

 

 

 

 

Note that the M2 Browning .50 Cal. machineguns were left black, with highlights; and the tow chains and treads were left green. Having achieved the look I wanted, I was ready for the next step...

Decals

Next came the decals, which add so much to the look of the miniatures. They are extremely small of course, so getting them off the decal sheet and in the right placement on the miniatures are a tad tricky.

 

 

As mentioned earlier, miniatures such as Axis & Allies Miniatures come prepainted, but not very well, and the detail isn't near as marvelous as FoW miniatures. Here's an example of an A&AM nini next to these FoW minis...

 

So next up was painting the accessories (ammo crates, bags, etc.) and touchups. And then, some weathering, but in order to protect the paint job on the tanks, I apply a home brewed dullcoat mixture of Future floor acrylic and white glue -- this is a nice, non-toxic alternative from the traditional lacquer spray can (I always try to stay away from toxic materials). Once the dullcoat is applied, I sped up the drying process with a mini hairdryer.

 

 

Weathering

The final step in the painting process is weathering. Again, I want a heavy field use look so, more mixtures of Folk Art acrylics.

 

Coats are applied in drybrush and washes, the latter being more wet and diluted.

 

 

Protective Coat

Krylon Matte Finish is a great product for miniatures work and provides a nice protective layer to guard against all the handling the miniatures will go through in gaming. It can be found in any store that sells art supplies.

 

The Finished Work

 

 

 

 

These were not only my first experience with miniatures building and painting, but also remain a favorite finished product on minis. They have been used in Flames of War and Axis & Allies Miniatures gaming, and always get high marks of appraisals. I still to this day, really like using Folk Art acrylics, as they go on nicely and are dependable. Being a cheaper line of art acrylics, the manufacturer uses a cheaper pigment in the mixing of their brand -- this means the pigments are bigger, which translates to a "sandier" consistency, though extremely small to the eye -- which looks more realistic on these armor miniatures, mimicking the metal used in construction.