House of the Rising Sun – A beginners guide to playing Japanese – Part 3

Banzai-logo-text

Back again with another update on my Japanese company.

As we all know there is only one way to get an army painted for a dead line.  Book yourself a place on a tournament and get a painting deadline.

So that’s what I did.  Got a place on a one day tournament and three weeks to get everything ready.  No problem.

As I said in part 2 of this article I have moved on to painting my gun platoons next.

The crew were painted up using the same method as the infantry.  I used the following simple method on the guns.

Painting Guns

  1. Undercoat with MIG Grey Primer (MIG-2002).
  2. Airbrush on MIG Khaki (MIG-071) base coat.Japanese_infantry_paint_009
  3. Airbrush on Brown Green (VMC879) and a coat of Satin Varnish (MIG-090).Japanese_infantry_paint_010
  4. Next a good wash of MiG Brown wash for German Dark Yellow Vehicles (MIG-1000).Japanese_infantry_paint_011
  5. Now this is why I like Enamel washes.  Once dry you can use some Odourless thinners to clean up the gun. Just wet a pad or piece of sponge and use that to wipe of the wash where it has pooled and on the raised areas.  At this stage you can decide how much of the wash to remove and how dirty and streaky you want the guns.Japanese_infantry_paint_012
  6. Use Brown Green (VMC879) to highlight the gun and add some scratches to the gun shields.Japanese_infantry_paint_013
  7. The wheels are then painted with Vallejo Panzer Aces 6 Dark Rubber and a a dry brush of Panzer Aces 5 Light Rubber. Some matt varnish and the guns are done.Japanese_infantry_paint_014

Basing

Now that the guns are done its on to the bases.  I’ve used the same method on the guns and infantry but I will show what to do on one of the large bases.

  • The figures are glued to the base and some Vallejo Pumice Gel (599) mixed with GW Steel Legion Drab was applied.   The Drab paint was also used on the edges of the bases.Japanese_infantry_paint_015
  • I then applied a full covering of a spring tone static grass.  I am wanting to go for some generic basing scheme but I wanted it to be bright to contrast the brown figures.Japanese_infantry_paint_016
  • The guns are then glued onto the bases.Japanese_infantry_paint_017
  • Next I have added a mixture of light green clump foliage, jungle and autumn coloured grass tufts.Japanese_infantry_paint_018Japanese_infantry_paint_019Japanese_infantry_paint_020Japanese_infantry_paint_021

So I have been making some good progress with the company.  One infantry platoon and 2 gun platoons done.

I will be back next time with a bumper post showing how I will finished the Stuarts and how the Japanese got on at their first late war tournament.

Thanks again for reading and I will see you next time

Gary