HMGS / Pacific Southwest

Archive for the ‘Painting’ Category

Hello fellow gamers,

Since our esteemed President, Bill (Witthans), was kind enough to plug my fledgling painting service, I thought it only fitting to provide some more information (prices, services etc.) and some examples of my work.

I have been painting miniatures for about 30+ years in one form or another starting with car kits and moving to 1/32 scale military, then to 25 mm role playing figures and finally 28/30 mm fantasy, Sci Fi and historic.

Below are some samples of my recent work on Royal Navy, Pirate, Fantasy and 40K.

My prices are dependent on the amount of detail a given customer will want, but generally speaking I charge $5.00 – $7.00 a figure for 25 – 30 mm foot. That would include base colors, washes and simple highlights (dry brush etc.) Mounted 25 – 30 mm would run $10 – $12 per figure for the same type of service. 20mm run $3.50 to $4.00 per figure for foot, 15mm $1.00 per figure for foot. Anything smaller then 15mm or larger then 30mm would need a price quote.

Priming, prepping and basing are all separate charges usually an additional $1 to $2.

I will put together a more comprehensive list of services and prices and update you all very soon.

I can be reached by E-mail at Colonel Winky or by phone at (818) 675-5399

Thanks for your time,

Colonel Winky

Economic times are hard on us all and war gamers are not exempt. One of our members is fighting back by opening a painting service. He is HMGS/PSW member, Bengal Club founder,  friend of many of us and can be trusted to get you your mini’s on time,  and in tip top “Bristol” fashion! No need to ship them off to some far away land to be painted by a chained pygmy who only last week was painting flowers on pots…. Have someone who really knows what a “Scottish Highlander” really looks like paint yours! Col. Winky is taking orders for Historical-Fantasy-Sci/Fi in all scales. Colonial’s a specialty! I’ve seen his work and its A-OK! Call Jerry Kegley at 818-675-5399 or email him at colwinky@aol.com

The Korean War has been called “The Forgotten War” and that is true in gaming as well. Overshadowed, as it is in real life, by WW2 and the Vietnam War, players of this period are justified if they feel a bit neglected. Much of the equipment and tactics of the war were hold-overs from WW2.  But, in the air, it was a time of change. While the age of the jet had begun in the skies over Europe,  the age of jet combat began in the cold air over the Korean Peninsula. Here, veterans of the World War further honed their skills alongside novices untried in combat. Pilots on both sides laid the groundwork for modern air combat in aircraft that could trace their heritage to the jets of the defeated Luftwaffe.

Norm Harms, of Scale Specialties, is releasing decals that capture the markings of the US military air wings early in the war with four new sheets for 1/300 miniatures. Three of the sets cover markings for the North American F-86 Sabre with the fourth showing some love for the F9F Panthers and Cougars of the US Navy and Marines.

US0007 & US0008 Markings for USAF F-86 Sabres of the 4th FIW

US0009 & US0010 Markings for USAF F-86 Sabres of the 51st FW, USN & USMC F9Fs

US007 and US008 have markings for two squadrons of the 4th Fighter Interceptor wing. The first sheet covers 1950 to 1951 while the second, features the yellow theater markings that adorned Sabres from 1951 through 1953. The broad yellow bands on the wings, tails and fuselages started as the second set of squadron markings for the jets of the 4th Fighter Interceptor Group The first version is depicted in US007 while US008 shows the later version. The unit markings for each of the three squadrons that made up the 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing are included on a smaller, separate sheet that accompanies the larger sheet.

When the second Sabre group, the 51st Fighter Wing, arrived in theater, the yellow bands were applied to their aircraft as well and they served as markings for all Sabres in Korea. This was ordered by the Far East Air Force (F.E.A.F.) to allow pilots to easily – and more importantly quickly – distinguish between the F-86 and the MiG-15. The 51st differentiated their aircraft from those of the 4th with a checkerboard pattern on their vertical tails. This unit featured some particularly colorful aircraft including “The Huff” and “Mig Mad Marine.” These aircraft are among the six specific airplanes covered on US009 which is dedicated to the 51st between 1951 and 1953.

I chose to do “The Huff” from this sheet. It was flown by 2nd Lieutenant James Thompson of the 39th Fighter Squadron in June, 1953.

Each aircraft’s markings are indicated on the sheet with a number which corresponds with the aircraft’s nose art which appears on a smaller, included sheet. As I received these decals before the instruction sheets were completed, this made getting the markings right simple. I had to use a little online search to get the markings positioned properly on the mini – a Raiden product (number 109) – but having seen the instructions afterwards, this will be a no-brainer even for someone completely unfamiliar with the period such as me. Since the aircraft is in an overall natural metal finish, and the miniature was not oxidized, I simply applied a gloss clear coat. The jet intake and exhaust were painted black and the canopy was painted a light blue (GW’s Space Wolves Gray).

Raiden 1/300 USAF F-86

The checkerboard tail markings include the aircraft’s serial number. The positioning of the tail markings is indicted on the sheet with a guideline but it was easy enough to properly position it. A larger “buzz number,” which is the last three digits of the serial,  is attached to the national insignia for proper spacing and ease of application. The national insignia and the “USAF” lettering aren’t specific to any aircraft. The wing stripes are marked to indicate their position on the wing. The curved fuselage stripe appears to be a challenge at first – and Norm has included a spare pair “just in case.” In fact, Norm has included a few spares on here – enough to mark a seventh jet should save for the fuselage and tail markings. However, I found these easy to apply. He’s put a small notch in the black stripe on either side of the yellow band to indicate centerline. From there, it’s a simple matter to allow the decal to wrap around the fuselage. The band is supposed to rest right against the trailing edge of the wing. I got it close, but the decal wrapped so well on the underside without a visible break or weird angle, that I decided to leave it “as is.” In addition to the insignia, this sheet and the other Sabre sheets include the anodized aluminum blast shield that surrounded the six 50-cal machine guns in the nose. I could’ve painted this with a darker silver, but I wanted to try it out and I’m pleased with the results even though the Micro Sol wrinkled it up in a rather frightening manner before it laid flat.

I should point out at this time that all the decals have their own carrier film so you don’t have to worry about cutting into the artwork. These decals are professionally silk screened under contract by a major producer of decals. I use Micro Set and Micro Sol without any issue and they conform well to the miniature.

"The Huff"

Perhaps the most challenging was the tail checks. As I mentioned before, there’s an outline on the decal sheet to help with positioning. The challenge comes from lining up the opposing sides. I positioned the decals on the leading edge of the vertical tail and that left some (intentional) overlap on the back. Because of the angle of the rudder, the overlaps would not line up. I trimmed one side but let the other one lay over the back of the rudder and then painted it with GW’s Bright Silver after it had dried and it blended in.

The large dragon marking on this aircraft has made it a favorite of modelers for decades. It was allegedly inspired by Lt. Thompson’s third kill, a MiG-15 – possibly flown by a Russian pilot – which had a large dragon painted on its fuselage. Norm has rendered this dragon, and the little-known “Bill’s Baby” artwork on the right hand side.

One of the other F-86′s in this set is the seeming incongruous “Mig Mad Marine” which was flown by John Glenn on his second Korean combat tour as part of an interservice exchange. It was in this plane that he shot down three MiG-15s. On his first tour, he flew F9F Panthers in Marine squadron VMF-311 which is included on the last sheet along with those of Navy squadrons VF-51 and VF-52 which flew from the USS Valley Forge and USS Essex. Unlike their USAF counterparts, the Navy and Marines flew in a relatively staid overall Insignia (or “Corsair”) blue paint scheme with white markings. Because the aircraft were already blue, the national insignia was merely the white star with the red and white bars. Ted Williams, the baseball player was also a member of this squadron. While I could not find out the aircraft number of Major Glenn’s ride, it would appear that Williams flew in airplane number 6 at some point in time. I hadn’t researched that at the time – and number 6 isn’t an option on this sheet in any case although with some work, you can convert one of the “S” tail markings to a “6″ if you were so inclined. The Navy markings for VF-51 are usable on both the straight-winged F9F-2 Panther and the swept wing F9F-8 Cougar.

1/300 USMC F9F-2 "Panther" of VMF-311

1/300 USN F9F-8 of VF-51

The decals are very straightforward and aside from Testors’ ModelMaster Insignia Blue, the only other paint is on the vertical tail tip and the silver along the leading edge of the wing in addition to the wingtip tanks on the Panther. The aircraft number and fuselage insignia are one piece as is the aircraft number and squadron code on the upper starboard wing. There are markings for four Marine jets and six aircraft each from both of the Navy squadrons. They fit well onto the two Raiden miniatures and I’ve been told that they should work on other brands of minis as well.

This period and aircraft are of particular interest to Norm as he grew up near the California production facility for the F-86 and lived near NAS North Island and Miramar where the Panthers and Cougars roamed. These sheets will make their first appearance at the Toy Soldier Show on Saturday, March 6th at the Marriott in Irvine. And, Dave Winfree of I-94 Decals will present them at Cold Wars, March 11-13 but you’ve seen them here first!

They can be purchased directly from Norm at http://www.ss-sms.com/

I took on this project as a gift to a long-time friend, Sgt. Major Ed Leukemeyer, USMC (Ret) who served in Korea and Viet Nam. He’s not a gamer, but he’s proud of his service. He’ll be getting the F9F-2 Panther and a Raiden F4U Corsair in Korean War markings (I used another set from the US0010 set as they fit “close enough.) He has a few models on display at his house, but none which are from the years of his service. I enjoyed the project as it was a diversion from my usual 1/87 and 28mm minis and I could fit them in during the week when time was only available in short blocks.