Bolt Action USMC 1000pts army

Never made a Rubicon kit before. This was quite a nice kit to assemble. As I said earlier in the project, after seeing some comparison pics I found online I am not worried about it scaling awkwardly with my other vehicles.

The only minus I can think of is that there’s no stowage. That’s not a massive issue and if that keeps the price down I am happy with that trade off. Obviously it would be lovely to have the parts to make the other variant of turret, but that’s really asking for too much and there are a fair number of changes to the hull of the Stuart variant compared to the Scott anyway.

I am unsure about the colour. I don’t think I want my tank to be as weathered and battered as the one colour image I found of the Scott, in the Pacific theatre, above. I think I may add some sandy dust style weathering and need to paint the head lamps, but otherwise this is done. Only Squad 3 to paint and I think I am all but done.

I added a few spots of green stuff, partly to fill a gap and partly for muddy sods and texture.

I used a Deathguard Green primer from above over a Humbrol acrylic olive drab from the sides. I used a watered down coat of Vallejo Brown Violet green to knock back the brightness of the Deathguard primer. I used Zandri Dust as a dry brush to help define the high areas again after the Brown Violet.

I started the weathering with some Oil Brown modelmates spray then some citadel cryptek armourshade on the tracks, road wheels and the machine gun. Then a dry brush of Leadbelcher around the tracks and machine gun and some chipping here and there. Bit of Nulin Oil and Agrax here and there for good measure, but I might try to get some more dust and sandy grime to make it more Pacific campaign friendly.

Tried to empty a sprue. All the head options, all the “two arm attached to gun” arms, all the belt options etc, but didn’t quite do it. I have used all the bodies of my box and spare sprue but one. The snags were a pistol, a couple of “firing arms”, a medical satchel and a map / documents pouch.

I ran out of Deathguard primer. I had to use my Humbrol acrylic olive drab paint and tried a bit of Plastic Soldier Company WW2 US Armour spray paint, but this has never given me  a good coat since I bought it.

The Half-track had been left unassembled for a year or two and feel that as the 1000pts is almost there it is time to think about options.

I didn’t like the chosen sprue connection points and the flashing here and there, but it was an easy build and will be interested how all of these paint up given the change in primer.

This was a happy accident. I chose a firing arm that was probably meant for a Tommy gun or something and would not line up for my BAR. So rather than hunt out an alternative supporting arm I thought it looked like he was trying to support the gun with his elbow and that perhaps his hand was injured. Happy with this gory guy. May he roll well to forgive the rough posing and pain I have inflicted upon him.

I may well use this guy as a comparison for my darker green primed guys, because I think he had the last of my Deathguard Green and came out OK. Perhaps a little clean looking in the finish and the pose is a bit less dramatic than some of his peers but he is another rifleman on the path to completion.

I looked up various images and found the allied insignia star on the side of the transport moved around, but I didn’t actually find one laid out like mine. The helmets and backpacks had been placed without proper forethought of the decals later. I usually quite like breaking a decal and have it look like it continues under some mud or a piece of stowage, but on this occasion I couldn’t decide which location was going to be best and went for my own version. I figured that if the star was moving several feet up and down the side of the vehicle and the style and size of insignia was changing too,  that there was some local on the ground license as to where the insignia was placed. Apart from a bit of sand in the back and the foot well I can use this in more than just the Pacific theatre if I choose so it is a nice versatile option. I doubt I would pay out to field this with the full 4 machine guns on it in most lists, and putting them all on is probably just asking for bits to be broken off, but I got carried away following the instructions and if my opponent wants things a bit more WYSIWYG I am happy to hang loon bands from the guns that haven’t been paid for on the list.

Nearly done with this project.

These two were primed differently but I think the variety in colour will look fine.

I like the pose of the guy running and carrying the rifle ammo pouches.

All done.

Even with the change of primer I think the unit looks unified and similar to the other two squads.

I now have a painted 1000 pts USMC army.

I am going to come up with a way to photograph my army or at least nice big sections of it. Trying to get a nice big space to lay it on and as much light as I can.