Basing model trees: What a chore

I bought some model trees, and boy, is it a chore to base them. I tried basing them using regular glue. Didn't work. Superglue. That didn't work either. Hot glue. That didn't work. However, finally, I bought some Gorilla glue and it was all good. 

Not bad for 10 dollars for a bag of 10.

If I can get my camera to keep batteries in longer than 2 seconds (literally, I take 2 pictures and it says I need to change the batteries, ridiculous) I'll upload more. I've painted more Norwegians and Canadians along with a few more Americans, but now I'm REALLY out of primer, so it might be a little while before I paint more.
Also, Brody is coming over for New Year's Eve which we'll be doing some serious wargaming for the West Germany Campaign of Standoff: Cold War, so tune in then, or after your 24-hour hangover.

A Winter's Day, in a deep and dark December...

Ah, quoting I am a Rock, my favourite "feeling down" song by my boys Simon and Garfunkel. With the new miniatures, I've started building up my US Forces, and I've decided that they don't really have to be a specific unit, just a generic infantry unit. Well, I've almost built up a rifle company, and 3 other companies are soon to follow, building up about a battalion or so. I've got my rifle company, an anti-armour company, a reconnaissance company and 2 platoons of Light Machine Guns. I've considered augmenting them into my recon company, but I haven't decided yet. Anyhow, let's get to the miniatures I painted over the weekend, shall we?

So you can see I've switched back to the old tiles (no, the soldiers shown in the picture are NOT doing battle, their Allies, sheesh).

Starting with the so-far third Canadian I've painted. I've decided to give all of the Canadians the same type of helmet camo as the Americans.

The Elhiem support gunner with an M60.

Another by Liberation Miniatures (sorry for the blur).

And the grenadier, which I've put in the anti-armour company (though grenadiers can't attack tanks, only infantry, anti-tankers can't attack infantry, so the grenadiers are their body guards, if you will).

Though the picture is sideways, this is another Norwegian.

That's all for now, but I'll be putting more on very soon.

Painting NATO: Part 3

I painted more Americans (I'm going to cool it on the Canadians for right now), which I've decided that they belong to the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, but I can switch them around a little. Anyhow, I painted another Norwegian, and it's starting to look good for NATO.

Here they are just before I put the tiles back on the table (I did that after taking the pictures).

A soldier carrying an M16A1. This one is from Platoon 20. 

Probably my least-favourite one of the bunch, the one from Elhiem. Don't like this one, but it had to be done...

Here's one from Liberation. I think I'm getting the hang of painting the Vietnam-Era US soldiers (even though Standoff: Cold War takes place after Vietnam).

The first Grenadier I've ever had to paint. I was considering painting a heart tattoo on his left shoulder, but then I decided that the idea was kaput.

And finally the Norwegian, which is using the Pakistani set from Elhiem.

I am going to be taking a vacation for a little while, but I may put on some "Tchotchke Posts" of the random stuff outside miniatures that I do. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah!!!

Huzzah for more primer!!!

I bought more primer today, just putting that out there, and letting you guys know that more miniatures are on their way. Now all I need is some AA batteries (I'll be picking those up tomorrow).

Painting NATO: Part 2

I painted 1 more Canadian and the first Norwegian today, and so far I think they're all right, but I am going to have to wait a little while to paint the others, because I'm out of primer (darn)! All my misfortunes aside, it's time to give these new freshly trained soldiers a gander.

I decided that the newly-trained Canadians' friend which I painted earlier should be in the photo as well, but that aside, here they are.

Now you may notice something different when it comes to the older one. I added some helmet scrim to both of them, after looking on Canadian Soldiers.com, I noticed some of the Canadians in the pictures were heavily laden with helmet scrim.

The specimen that I "studied" if you will.

The Backside.

Here's the Norwegian. I had to do some research looking through some old NATO pictures from the Cold War to see what the Norwegian Army soldiers of that era looked to be. I don't know what force I'll assign him to, but I'm starting to consider using the Norwegian Army's 2nd Battalion (mechanized infantry).

As I have said, I am going to have to wait a while to paint more until I get more primer, but when I do, I will definitely put more pictures on. That's all for now!

Painting NATO: Part 1

I painted the first two NATO Infantryman this week, 1 was American and 1 was Canadian. I've also decided that I will probably not be using the "West Germans" as "West Germans" but rather Norwegians, so when I paint those up, be sure to check those out. Anyhow, here is the Yank and the Canuck.

Both of them, ah, I'm so proud of them *sniff sniff*.

The American, I don't know if you can see it too too well, but I painted on the 173rd Airborne Brigade emblem, but in combat I may vary the unit. I tend to go for the Airborne or the Marines. Assigning them is going to be the tough part.

The Canadian. I've considered assigning them to the former Canadian Airborne Regiment (disbanded in 1993). That, or the British Columbia Regiment. I'll write a paragraph or two on the units I'm considering for both of them. 

The Americans:
3rd Battalion, 5th Marines
503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment
1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment
173rd Airborne Brigade
2nd Squadron, 11th Armoured Cavalry Regiment
The Canadians: 
2nd Battalion, Royal New Brunswick Regiment
1 Commando, Canadian Airborne Regiment
2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment
3rd Battalion, P.P.C.L.I
Seaforth Highlanders of Canada
British Columbia Regiment



I don't know, you guys tell me if you have an opinion. Stay tuned!

Elhiem West German Support Group

In addition to the riflemen, I also got a support group. However, because I feel nice, I'm going to upload some pictures of some Elhiem Pakistanis, which I will be using for West German riflemen.

Here they are!

Holding the MG3.

A Panzerfaust, maybe?

Now onto the Pakistanis. I chose them to be with the West Germans due to their equipment similarities. I can already see them kicking Commie butt in the field!

That's all for now. Future sets to come soon...

Elhiem West Germans

Here are some Elhiem West German Riflemen that I got a little while ago. Enjoy!

The 3 West German riflemen, 1 platoon and 1 left over.

My favourite pose, let's name him...Pte. Rosenberg

 

Liberation Miniatures Cold War Americans

In addition to the Cold War "Canucks", I got some US soldiers from the Cold War as well (probably the early-1980's or maybe mid-1970's).

Here's the set overview. Looks like we've got a full company of 8 and 1 soldier left over.

Here's the lonely soldier.

1st Platoon, let it be known that all of the miniatures have M1 helmets and M16's, the same equipment used in the Vietnam War.

My favourite pose on the left.

Come back some other time when I've got more to show!