Despite a noticeable drop in my mojo over the past thirty days, I have still decided to take the unprecedented step of maintaining my focus upon "Pendraken Miniatures" 10mm range of Second World War models for a third month. Admittedly, I have recently found myself getting a little tired of base-coating, shading and then dry-brushing a seemingly endless line of armoured vehicles. But with the very real prospect of finally being able to play some (non-Winter) Early War tank battles now on the horizon, I think I can still find the enthusiasm for one final dive into my 1:160 scale backlog.
With this goal in mind, I have therefore already finished the last three of six 10mm metal British Crusader II tanks I somewhat erroneously bought from “Pendraken Miniatures” at Salute 50, thinking I could use them for my Battle of the Bulge Allied contingent. Due to their quite considerable size, the trio were individually super-glued to plastic 40mm x 60mm rectangular stands and undercoated using "Vallejo" Leather Brown primer.
They were then layered with a double-helping of "Vallejo" Russian Uniform WW2, before being doused in "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade, and later dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Russian Uniform WW2. In addition, I also 'picked out' their predominantly covered tank tracks and Besa machine guns with "Citadel" Abaddon Black, before slapping a combination of "Vallejo" Gunmetal and "Citadel" Nuln Oil over the metal plates.
Finally I placed a Union Jack transfer by "Decal Details" on both sides of each hull to proudly declare them as being British. This move is clearly far from being historically accurate. However, I may well use them for some fictitious Operation Sea Lion or Very British Civil War battles in the future, and therefore possibly apply some Commonwealth insignia to a few additional tanks to specifically mark them out as Canadian or New Zealand owned armoured vehicles.
Disconcertingly, my enthusiasm for the hobby definitely took a bit of a battering during the past month, predominantly because I stared at one 10mm tank too many. In fact, if not for the unexpected arrival of my Marvel Zombies: Galactus The Devourer expansion set by “CoolMiniOrNot” – which really whetted my appetite for pigmenting some straightforward 32mm scale figures, I dread to think just how few models I’d actually have finished in June.
Fortunately, such lethargy appears to have now left me, and having sorted through a few old plastic bags and received some significant new arrivals, my passion for my two “Pendraken Miniatures” projects is back. Furthermore, I suddenly seem to have rekindled my interest in “Doctor Who”, which may well lead to all sorts of weird and wonderful extra-terrestrials receiving an unexpected coat of paint…
Glad your mojo is back! Painting the same things can be monotonous, but unfortunately it needs to be done to get an army finished I suppose. The Crusaders have turned out well, but still not my favourites!
Your top 5 manufacturers is interesting with 3D prints still on top, although with them not featuring in that many recent posts I wonder if they will hold the top spot come the end of the year? Pendraken must have a chance, surely?
Love to hear your enthusiasm for the hobby has returned! ^_^
Excited to see more offerings posted here soon Simon.
Great work on the trio of tanks Simon, hope the motivation doesn't keep dwindling and you can continue on with getting some models finished.