Allow me to add my compliments as well.
Some things I see that I like in particular --
- One of the Lafflies has been based it with a figure with binoculars standing in the back, and a kneeling figure near the vehicle. This is an interesting composition. I've never seen this done before, but to my eye it immediately says "mobile HQ". I shall learn from this approach!
- Ammo boxes at the back of the stands for deployed guns. Like that bit of detail on the bases.
- You put a touch of black on the ends of the gun barrels. I do this too. I see so many people who don't do this with models at these small scales, yet it's such a small and simple step and I find it adds so much to the general impression (that these are GUNS!).
- I appreciate the way you have painted the interiors of the open-topped vehicles. In general, I appreciate when soft vehicles / trucks etc. get some loving attention to detail. Many gamers (myself included in some of my forces) tend to focus on the tanks and the infantry, and leave the trucks as dull blobs. I think it adds to the overall visual effect when even the trucks look distinctive.
- You have put what I expect is a unit identifier, on the right front fender of each vehicle. Maybe it's a red heart against a white square background? Were these hand-painted? I applaud this level of detailing -- it adds character to the units you field. Of course, early war French units tend to have a lot of character anyways, since the camo patterns are so varied and intriguing.
A propos the camo patterns, it is somewhat unique to French units of this period to see the canvas covers on the trucks camo'd to match the trucks. This is (from my readings) wholly appropriate, as most French units applied camo just months prior to the campaign (during the "drole de guerre"), and it was common to paint the canvases at the same time, with the same paint, while the canvas was actually on the trucks.
For my French artillery prime movers (in 6mm scale), I did through try to give at least some separation to the canvas. I weathered it differently (heavily dry-brushed with an olive green which tended to dull the colors, before also dry-brushing with a lighter shade of the base color to highlight the raised surfaces). The result makes it look like a different material than the rest of the trucks. On a different army I also tried using different primer colors for the canvas of the trucks, which worked out well. This is not a criticism, but just some additional ideas of how one might make soft vehicles look even more interesting.
Keep up the good work!
-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)
