Modelling Archives - Steven's Balagan

WW2 Painting Guide: 14th Army in Burma

15 Aug 202131 Jul 2021 by Steven Thomas

In my pile of lead I have two, count them, two battalions for the 14th Army in the Burma Campaign. One Welsh. One Gurkha. So I figured I needed a painting guide. Luckily most of the troops in the 14th army wore the same kit. Same with the Chindits. Whether the early redyed Khaki Drill (KD) or custom Jungle Green (JG) the troops in 1943-45 wore “grey-green” which was, once in combat, far more grey than green. Recommendations are for Vallejo Model Color although I occasionally mention alternatives using Humbrol paints.

I’m indebted to the various wargamers that have gone done this journey of exploration before me, particularly Mark Davies (aka Jemima Fawr), Doms Decals, Mick in Switzerland, and Paul Scrivens-Smith (AKA scrivs).

Making ravines and depressions for Crossfire

16 Aug 202120 Mar 2021 by Steven Thomas

I’ve had a go at gullies and depressions before. But they look too much like hills. So I decided to have another go modelling just the edge of the depression. Then I took this concept further and modelled a modular ravine system. I featured both of these when I asked, How does my Burmese battlefield look? In this post I share a bit more about how I make these features.

How does my Burmese battlefield look?

16 Aug 20216 Mar 2021 by Steven Thomas

I am always impressed by Brett Simpson’s Pacific War tables for Crossfire. He inspired me to improve my jungle terrain. More jungle will be useful for Burma, Portuguese Colonial Africa, and Vietnam. I made some steps before we played the Pick up game in Burma, but I wanted to make my tables even better. So I’ve been bolstering my crossfire terrain and now have Pagodas, rice paddies, Bamboo groves, boulder fields, rock fields, palm trees, ravines, depressions, Burmese houses, jungle undergrowth (not featured here), crests (not featured here) and cliffs (not featured here). Some of these I’ve posted about previously, and some are yet to come. Now, after all that effort, I wanted to know two things. Do I have enough jungle terrain to fill a table? Does my jungle terrain look good enough? So I got it all out and threw it on a 6’x4′ table. I can definitely fill a table. And I reckon the table looks good enough, not perfect, but good enough.

Planning my Cool Ruins for Crossfiregrad and Ponyri Station

18 Aug 20219 Jan 2021 by Steven Thomas

I have lots of ruins already, but I’ve mentioned “cool ruins” a couple of times over the last couple of years. Most recently in my 2021 Confessions of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian where I planned to “Buy, build, paint more 3″ x 3″ sectors so I can play both Crossfiregrad and Ponyri Station solely with cool ruins”. So what do I mean by “cool” Ruins? Well Ruins that look the best in my collection (i.e. commercial MDF structures that I’ve enhanced) and that are 3″ sectors. I don’t have enough. I want more of them, lots more of them. Here is my plan.

2021 Confessions of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian

23 Sep 20212 Jan 2021 by Steven Thomas

Confessions of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian - Banner

2020 was a good year for wargaming projects and I thought I should lay out my plans for 2021. Crazy megalomaniac plans, of course.

As usual I’ve done a brain dump of my active projects, i.e. those all projects that are more or less “in progress”. No off the wall fantasy here. They are all active but I have to admit that some of them are on a slow burn. A very slow burn. So I’ve split the list into parts: likely in 2021, unlikely, and background activity. You get to have a say in the priority order – see the aside.

I found a new Dulux paint for Dark Sand

8 Aug 202126 Dec 2020 by Steven Thomas

Back in 2014 I started using Dulux Paints for Wargaming Bases and Terrain. Dulux paints are house paints and much, much cheaper than modelling paints like Tamiya and Vallejo. And I use a lot of paint on bases and terrain so saving money was a big incentive. But the last couple of times I’ve been to the Dulux shop they said “Sorry we don’t have 23YY48254 Medium W45 / RAL1001 any more.” This is the Dulux equivalent of Vallejo (123) 70.847 Dark Sand, a colour essential for flocking my bases. Oh, no. Disaster.

The good news is I’ve found an even better replacement.

2020 Reflections of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian

18 Aug 202119 Dec 2020 by Steven Thomas

Reflections of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian - Banner

My Confessions of a Megalomaniac were my 2020 aspirations. How did I do? Not too shabby I reckon, despite “the Virus”.

WW2 Painting Guide: Anglo-Indian Tanks in Burma

9 Aug 20216 Dec 2020 by Steven Thomas

Tac Signs for Stevens Anglo-Indian Tanks in Burma - Banner

I have already chosen my Anglo-Indian tanks in Burma and now I need a painting Guide for them. My guide is customised for the vehicles I want. If you want something wider in scope then I can recommend two invaluable sources for Anglo-Indian tanks in Burma, both by Mark Davies; British & Indian Armoured Units Of the Burma Campaign: A Painting Guide (V1.8) and his excellent series on the 14th Army on his Jemina Fawr website (lots of links below). I have used both for my own guide.

Making Bamboo Groves for Wargaming

16 Aug 20214 Jul 2020 by Steven Thomas

I’m already doing the Portuguese Colonial War. Adam got me interested in Burma. Chris and Jamie are talking about Vietnam. So, inspired by Brett Simpson, I thought I’d make some Bamboo groves to extend my on-table jungle.

Rafa “Archiduque” paints Minairons’s Spanish Civil War Figures

1 Feb 2020 by Steven Thomas

Every now and then I have a chat with Rafa, aka “Archiduque”, from Rafa “Archiduque” Miniatures Painting Studio. He got in touch recently and, after our chat, I had a look at his blog. Specifically his Spanish Civil War Gallery. Wow.

Rafa has kindly let me post some of his work here. Amazing. Have a look.

2020 Confessions of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian

23 Sep 202111 Jan 2020 by Steven Thomas

2020. New year. New decade (depending on how you count these things). 2019 was a good year but I want 2020 to be even better. My crazy inner megalomaniac demands I monologue about my world conquering (i.e. overly ambitious) list of what I’d like to get done this year. Get ready for the ride …

Metal Measuring Sticks for Big Bases and Small

8 Aug 20219 Nov 2019 by Steven Thomas

I’ve been playing DBA for years, and all measurement is in multiples of 1 inch. However, many games are moving to base width as a measurement, which for most people are the 40mm wide DBx bases. But I’ve moved to Big Bases including for Big Base DBA. That means I need 2 inch measurements and 80mm measurements. Here is how I solved this problem.

Spanish Painting Guide for the Thirty Years War

18 Sep 20197 Aug 2019 by Steven Thomas

Since I’ve published Tilly’s Very Bad Day I figure I should update my painting guide for the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). Although the title refers to the Spanish this is the guide covers all troops in Spanish service whether Spanish, Italian, or Walloon.

Imperialist Painting Guide for the Thirty Years War

6 Aug 2019 by Steven Thomas

Since I’ve published Tilly’s Very Bad Day I figure I should update my painting guide for the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). This is the guide for the Imperialists throughout the war.

Swedish Painting Guide for the Thirty Years War

5 Aug 2019 by Steven Thomas

30YW-871 - Swedish - Pike and Shot - Yellow Brigade

Since I’ve published Tilly’s Very Bad Day I figure I should update my painting guide for the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). This is the guide for the Swedes. It is applicable for Swedes throughout the war but of course it is most relevant to the Swedish Phase (1630-1635) and after.