"Two Irish Guards Sherman troops (in 28mm)" Topic

Just posted the pictures of my two finished troops of Irish Guards Shermans on my blog:

link
(There are tons and tons of clickable pictures on the post!)

Yes, these are 28mm not 15mm!

All models are Tamiya, with one from Hobby Boss. Crews are by Warlord Games.

Enjoy,

Burkhard

P.S.: And here is the mandatory pre-view (as I said… lots more on the blog):

Great looking stuff as always, the camouflage strips really look the part, and the stowage looks spot on. Nicely done

Thanks Bracken… Glad to please!

Nice finish on these-great work.

Thanks grossman!

Very nicely done, thanks for sharing. How'd you do the Hessian tape?

Thanks!

Basically it is gauze dyed green. Then I took rectangular punches from my spiral binding machine, cut them in half (lengthwise), soaked them in diluted white glue. While still wet I placed them on the gauze and once dry gave them another coat of diluted white glue. Once dry I painted and highlighted them. That is it!

They look awesome!

I couldn't tell which one is the Hobby Boss? How would you compare building it with the Tamiya kits?

What colors did you use on the Hessian Tape? Is that the same stuff infantry would wear on their helmets?

Yes indeed they look the part!

Thank you too guys!

@ Ashenduke: regarding Tamiya vs. Hobby Boss, it depends. Most HB kits contain photo etched parts, although not necessarily the ones that actually benefit from it. Otherwise I often felt, that the HB kits have the nicer detail, although not by much. On the other hand the plastic on the Tamiya is thicker and more robust. Same goes for the die-cast lower hull on the Tamiyas.
When it comes to assembly the KV series from both companies assemble just as easy, as do the Shermans. If you hate painting tracks, I would go for a HB Sherman though since they come with black vinyl tracks. The tracks on the HB T-34's is an absolute pain in the behind and if you need just a 1941 model I would go,with Tamiya there.

The stuff the infantry wear on their helmets is called Burlap, but I think essentially is the same fabric. But I think burlap strips are ripped from the piece of cloth, while the Hessian tape comes as strips from the factory, so the edges should be smother.

Regarding the colours use. The brown is a German artists acrylic called "Havana Brown". I do not know of a real equivalent. The closest thing is Vallejo "Burnt Umber" (but not quiet… It is as dark but has a slightly red hue which Havana Brown lacks). The highlight is just mixed with white. The green is VAL Camouflage Olive highlighted with VAL Russian Uniform WWII.

Hope this helps,

Burkhard

Those tanks look great!

Thank you Berzerker!

Wow! That's just fantastic!

Eric

Thank you Eric!

Tim,

thanks a lot. Figures are by Warlord. I had to use some trickery to get them in, since the Tamiyas come with a sort of pedestal to place minis on. but those are designed for full body minis, while the Warlords are just half bodies. In the end I cut pieces of wooden rod to length, painted them black and glued them in place to bridge the gap.
I would say I spend about three to four hours each tank. I think the part that took the longest was indeed the tracks. The Tamiyas all come with link and length and have to be glued on (at least with IMHO) before painting. Which meant I had to paint all the tracks after the basic paint job which always takes me ages. The tracks themselves were painted iron-oxide brown (which is almost black). Then I dry brushed the rubber parts in a dark slate grey and the track guides in gunmetal. Then I brushed reddish brown pigments onto the whole tank with the tracks receiving an extra liberal amount. The tracks on the Hobby Boss were far easier in this regard. They are black vinyl so I did not (have to) paint them brown and only began with the dry brushing steps.

Thanks again,

Burkhard

Pretty awesome man.

I did the same thing to fit my crewmen in btw. 1/48 is the way to go for 28mm

Thanks!

Mounting the minis that way seemed to be the only logical solution.