Show Off the Good Stuff 2010

Each year my local modeling club hosts a show in Moscow. This year was one of our best yet. I entered wargames figures, as I always do, and this year I also entered quite a few tanks. I've enjoyed returning to armor modeling, but it does hurt my wargames figure production.

Here are some photos of my entries this year.

AWI Continentals

I entered my figures for British Grenadier!, Arnold's Command at Saratoga. The figures received a gold ribbon and the special award for best gaming miniatures.

I also received gold ribbons for my FoG Carthaginians and my 28mm HäT Napoleonics.

1/72 Sherman V

I suppose the Sherman might also be considered a gaming miniature, since I know a lot of people game in 1/72 scale, but this one is definitely not for handling! I put a lot of work into all the tiny photoetched brass parts on this one. I got a silver ribbon for this model.

1/48 KV-2

This is the Tamiya KV-2, built straight from the box, and this one definitely will be seeing the gaming table with my 28mm figures. I got a silver ribbon for this model.

1/35 Kugelblitz

This is the Dragon kit, again straight from the box. I wanted to practice building tracks from individual links. I got a silver ribbon for this model.

1/35 M4A3 76(W) Sherman

This is the Italeri kit, with Dragon DS tracks from a Sherman V. I added Verlinden stowage. The camo net is cheesecloth. I got a silver ribbon for this model.

1/35 Panzer III L

This is the Tamiya Panzer III L, again straight from the box. I used the figure Tamiya provided with the kit, which is a pretty ugly thing. I made the groundwork from plaster, acrylic resin, MIG pigments, sand, and a little water.

I built this tank in just four days, and I left it on the shelf, unpainted, because I didn't think I had done that good a job. I finally put some paint on it while Austin and I were practicing using our airbrushes. This kit received the only gold ribbon I got for my armor.

1/35 SU-122

This is the ancient Tamiya kit, dressed up with Master Club resin tracks and figures from Dragon. I was attempting a weathered whitewash with this one, but the white faded almost out of existence during weathering. I got a silver ribbon for this model.

1/35 France 1940 Diorama

Each year the club chooses a special theme for the show, with a special award for the judges' top pick. Nothing says 1940 to me like surrendering Frenchmen, so I decided this would be my entry. The Hotchkiss is the wretched kit from Trumpeter. The figures are Dragon. The church and diorama base came from Miniart, and it was the single hardest model I've ever worked on.

I used kitty litter for rubble, and I tried to tie in all the groundwork with some pigments. This diorama received a gold ribbon and won the show's theme award.

So if you've wondered why my painting production has seemed to fall, here's why. I've been enjoying armor modeling more than ever before. I'm probably not as good a modeler yet as I am a wargames figure painter, but it's not for lack of effort!