HandelHaus Summer Skirmish Series

With summer rapidly approaching and my current term at school drawing to a close, I've moved my sights forward to what I plan to do with my upcoming abundance of time. I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I'm almost sad I'm not going to be as busy... with more free time my mind tends to run crazy and create problems which don't exist...

THEREFORE, after much deliberation among my brother and I, we would like to present an upcoming preview of our first ever HandelHaus Summer Skirmish Series... henceforth abbreviated H2S3, or whatever else I may decide to call it in a drunken stupor. While he and I are still working on actual battle scenarios, we have a vague idea of what we desire to accomplish:

The year is 1983. Korean Airlines Flight 007 is shot down over the Sakhalin Islands by the Soviet Air Force, prompting massive outrage among NATO and the western power bloc. The USSR asserts that the civilian Boeing 747 was doubling as a US Spy Plane, but US President Ronald Reagan disagrees. In a speech calling then green General-Secretary Yuri Andropov a "coward," Reagan asserts that the USSR is in fact an "evil empire" the likes of which the free world must actively pursue towards destruction. 

With tensions rapidly approaching boiling point, Soviet military commanders fear a NATO surprise attack is imminent. Able Archer '83, which took place late in the same year, provided all the justification the Red Army needed to launch a preemptive strike. In early November 1983, World War Three begins.

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Ideally, this will be a series of battles strung together along a common narrative, with either myself or my brother updating this blog with play-by-plays. Most of the conflict will play out in Europe, although he has expressed some interest in running battles focusing on South Korea, North Korea, and the USSR. I guess we'll have to see how much money I have left come June.

There will likely be other battles as well, although chances are they'll fall outside the scope and narrative of our Cold War Gone Hot scenario. You may see some unrelated Flames of War, possibly Warhammer 40k, and most likely Bolt Action engagements. 

Now, with that being said, it's time to finish up painting the last of my commissioned work!

-Hands

QRF M2 Bradleys "The Wall"

Among the many lessons taught to American military planners during the Vietnam War was the need for a better infantry carrier. While the M113 was hardy in its own right, it was essentially a giant box mounted on tracks with a machine gun. And by box, read "mechanized death trap." With the 1961 invention and subsequent mass proliferation of the Soviet RPG-7 and its shaped charge round, the protection offered by most American and NATO armored carriers became alarmingly ineffective. Thusly, in the post-Vietnam era of the late 70's, the Pentagon set about developing a new carrier for mechanized infantry forces which could keep up with the new advanced M1 Abrams MBT.

In 1981, the M2 Bradley was first introduced to American combat forces. Plagued with mechanical and structural issues, it would take another four or five years before an actual operable version of the Bradley was deployed with American forces across West Germany. Sporting a 25mm Bushmaster autocannon and accompanying two-tube TOW Missile Launcher, the Bradley was able to effectively engage Iraqi vehicles during its combat debut in the 1991 Gulf War, and consistently in engagements throughout the late 1990's and  2000's. While slated to have been replaced several times over the course of the early 21st Century, each project was ultimately cancelled in favor of modernizing the US Army's existing fleet. 

The models themselves were actually pretty good in terms of casting. Naturally, there was some flash that needed to be removed, but the individual pieces all fit together perfectly and without much of a hitch. There was none of QRF's telltale "gooeyness" that is frequently present on the sides or skirts of their armored vehicles, and all lines were nice and sharp. My only major gripe, as you'll see down below, was that the turrets seemed to have divets in their rear walls. I referenced plenty of pictures to reinforce the fact that this was indeed a casting issue and not a Hands-issue. However, with enough paint and lighting magic, even the most obvious imperfections can be disappeared.

So, a little background about the process of painting these guys. I'm a big fan of the video game series Wargame. I love it, both for its realism and the fact that its surprisingly the only strategy game that runs decent on my laptop. A friend of my younger brother began playing Wargame with me and my Bro, and I would frequently make mention of the fact that I painted miniatures. I forget how the path followed, but we ended up agreeing to a model swap. He traded me two larger kits, both 1/35 scale, and in exchange I would paint him up some models of his choice. He ultimately chose two Bradleys and three M728 Engineering Vehicles, which are among other things his favorite units from Wargame.

The M728s are still in the process, but to prove that I'm a man of my word, I passed off the Bradleys to him over Spring Break. BUT... not before conducting a late night photo-shoot with some of my terrain back home. 

When asked, he told me he wanted a desert kind of camouflage paint scheme. "I'd love to see some kind of digital camo, maybe Desert MARPAT," he told me over text when asked. Its really ironic, but I have minimal experience painting desert-type camo. Typically my camo schemes are grass or woodland-styles, as it fits in better with the theme of a European war, so painting this one up was a much appreciated challenge.

The first major issue I bumped in to was the fact that Desert MARPAT is a digital camo scheme for uniforms, and doesn't translate well onto vehicles. In 15mm scale, the individual squares would appear so small that even any semblance of it being digital would be lost to the viewer. Thusly, I made an executive decision and decided it would be cool to enlarge the squares and create a disruptive rectangular pattern as my best approximation to digital camo. I was quite happy with the results. As best described in the words of my brother, "That Bradley looks like something straight out of ARMA 3." 

Suffice to say, my friend really liked the camo too and was quite excited when I handed them over to him.

One thing I do enjoy about commission work is being able to add unique customizations to each model. I feel it adds a bit of character to both the figure or vehicle in question, as well as create interesting conversation starters once displayed. In this case, he asked me to make sure that "The Wall" was written very plainly across some part of each model. The point being was that he was trying to represent a stylized version of one of his Wargame armies, codenamed "The Wall." Let me tell you, I've fought with "The Wall" on my team several times... and they are very, very good at holding the line. Like... they'll be completely encircled around a town, napalm on all sides, and still hang on until reinforced. 

The only downside was the limited space. While I could have easily painted it on the track skirts, I didn't out of fear that it would ruin the camouflage I had so painstakingly created. The rear of the turret presented the only other relatively flat surface for which to write, and I figured if you're driving an IFV into battle, you wouldn't want your enemies to see a bright red emblem emblazoned on the front of your tank.

Seeing as I'm having to type this on the tiny screen of my cellphone with enormous thumbs, I'm gonna call it quits for tonight. Stay tuned for additional updates once I get my laptop fixed.

-Hands

Coronary Embolism...

Ever experience a week where there just isn't enough time to do everything you need to do, and yet your body thinks it ALSO has time to oversleep and decide to get sick? Yea, that was pretty much two weeks ago. I have classes four days a week, for about three or four hours a day. Not bad, right? Agreed, until you throw in the group projects.

Remember, four days; I had two tests, three projects, and a major presentation. The week prior? Two tests, two projects, and a major presentation. And that isn't even bad compared to my other group members, especially the Accounting and Finance majors. Holy cow, don't even get me started. Four tests in three days... I don't envy them one bit.

Anyways, enough ranting. Last week was Spring Break here at UA, so I was able to finally finish up the Bradleys I had been promising for over a month. They came out fantastic, and my buddy who commissioned them loved the paint job. The only downside is I still need to upload pictures, so expect another post sometime this weekend.

You may recall though from a previous post I made mention of Vallejo's often confusing and counterproductive product naming policies. I present Exhibit A below to justify my point.

One is Blue Grey Pale. The other, Pale Greyblue. Please, someone, explain to me how any individual with even mild dyslexia can keep these two straight? Outside of the barely noticeable (in the picture, not in real life) difference in hue between the two bottles, I have mistaken both rather frequently for one another. Ultimately, it came down to writing their respective GW/Citadel names on the labels to help me keep them straight... of which you can vaguely see underneath my gigantic thumbs.

Granted, I don't frequently paint with colors this light. From experience, really I'd only need these two when adding super-highlights to models or possibly doing winter schemes and/or camouflage. Often they sit in my shoebox, where I keep most of my paints when I'm not using them. Also makes for a nice carry-case when I travel back home for breaks.

Now, consider this case study...

"I've seen this picture before Hands." Great, you're gonna see it again. The motorcycle driver is a prime example of my gripe with these two paint names. I basecoated the figure with Vallejo Blue Grey Pale, better know to me as Citadel Celestra Grey,. At the time, I hadn't labelled them yet under the ultimately false assumption that my clearly superior painting skills might be able to piece them, apart. WRONG! I ended up basecoating half the model in Blue Grey Pale, and the other in Pale Greyblue. Needless to say, I didn't realize this until I began washing the figure... and had to stop myself before any damage was done beyond my scope of repair.

Once I fixed my mistake, I highlighted the model with the lighter of the two colors, namely the same Vallejo Pale Bluegrey... also known to be better as Citadel Space Wolves Grey. So much easier to remember, don't you agree? Only this time I couldn't understand why my highlights weren't showing up. Guess what I did? I went full dumbass and applied highlights of the basecoat color, and didn't realize it until after an hour of work. Suffice to say, things weren't nearly as labor intensive as my initial blunder, but it does validate my point.

Please Vallejo, for my sake and the sake of painters' sanity everywhere, invent a more unique name instead of reordering the words around. Even Blue Grey and Pale Blue Grey will make it easier to differentiate!

-Hands

QRF T-72 "Pride of India"

When one thinks of India, they think of an exotic and faraway land ripe with mystery and culture. They likely think of the colonial period when the British-imposed Raj ruled over the entire subcontinent. Alternatively, you may think of the movie The Jungle Book and its myriad of fantastic characters and stories all meshed together in the deep, dark jungles. Or, if you are more of the insensitive or dry-humor kind of person, you think of it as the land of outsourced customer service and tech support call centers.

Whichever image of India best describes your view isn't my concern, but what is my concern is capturing what makes India unique. Their Army is literally an amalgamation of Soviet and American technology. While there was never any doubt that India would have ultimately aligned itself with the Commonwealth in the event World War Three broke out, many of its leaders tended to favor more socialist and communitarian policies as compared to the flagrant capitalist extravagance of the West. As my younger brother, who happens to be a self-educated expert on the colonial exploits of Great Britain, once told me, Nehru was rather sympathetic to the Soviet Union and even considered pulling India (and later Pakistan) into the fold of Khruschev.

Back in my freshman year of college, I was stuck in a dorm with two other guys. One of them I didn't get along with for whatever reason, while I still talk to the other one. Seeing as I've painted several things for his former roommate, I figured it was about time to share the love and paint something up for him.

The model itself is QRF's T-72, located under Modern Russian Armor. The turret itself was very well cast, with only a few imperfections I had to even out with some sandpaper or cut away with a hobby knife. The chassis however, was  different beast entirely. I'm not sure how QRF does their casting process, but the entire right side of the tank's tread skirt was... uh... gooey? It looked like the metal hadn't had a chance to fully set when it was removed, and as such most of them finer details were lost during the cooling process.

The paint scheme was his idea. I offered a variety of camouflages, colors, and some outright ridiculous options, but he was dead set on painting it the colors of the Indian Flag. Himself being from Mumbai, I can understand why. Beautiful city from what I've seen from pictures, but a place I probably won't ever end up going to. Anyways, the Indian Army operates I believe 2400 or so T-72s with roughly 1000 of them receiving aftermarket upgrades to bring them up to Third Generation standards. The rest I believe are T-72A/B export variants, but with plenty of reactive armor to deal with and neutralize potential threats in and around the Kashmir/Bammu border regions.

The painting process itself was split into three distinct zones. The rear was painted with a basecoat of Citadel Jokaero Orange with a highlight of Citadel Fire Dragon Bright. As I've grown more skilled in painting, I've tried to move away as much as I can from Citadel's paints. I know many people swear by them, but to me they've always come across as of poorer quality than Vallejo, and I don't do good with fancy names when trying to match up colors. However, in this case Vallejo only makes MAYBE 3 orange colors that are truly orange and not just some shade or tint of red/yellow, so I had my hands tied.

The center portion, much to my relief, was done up once again in Vallejo colors. I typically basecoat my models in black, just because it gives my heavy-handed painting a bit more leeway when it comes to applying colors. However, in this case I did up the whole model in white and went from there. As such, the center portion didn't need much attention beyond a light wash and some Vallejo Offwhite highlights. One thing I hate though is painting in whites, as there just isn't enough room left to really work highlights, I mean, the basecoat was in Vallejo Ivory which is basically three or four degrees darker from pure white, but at that point can your eyes really detect the highlighted bits? I have the same issue when painting in blacks... even the highlight ends up being the absolute darkest gray I have, and it drives me up a wall and through the ceiling.

The front portion was done in Vallejo Flat Green with a Vallejo Olive Green highlight of all raised bits.

The top of the turret was a pain in the ass to do. I'm not going to sugar-coat it... I never, ever want to paint the center of the Indian flag again. Vallejo Turquoise was the base, and I layered on Vallejo Light Turquoise in raised areas to help add some depth and bring out the finer edges.

For this tank, all the while I was painting it I was trying to figure out some kind of narrative for it. While I do love to paint these things up, I'm also a big fan of storytelling in the process so that each piece has its own unique character that comes out with the paint job. For this guy, I figured there was no way in hell anyone would drive this tank into battle. The white and orange basically scream for enemy attention, and the highly visible blue donut on the top of the turret would act as a targeting bulls' eye for aircraft. Anyone nutty enough to drive this thing into a combat situation must have a deathwish.I saw the tank more in a ceremonial or parade role, perhaps escorted the Parade Marshall or serving as a centerpiece for a photo shoot. Basically, its role was not to fight India's enemies but to maintain India's strength and act as an avatar for continued strength in the face of adversity.

Now that I've handed off the tank to my friend, I was cleared to toss up pictures onto the web. I hope you like it, and let me know what you think!

-Hands

1/35 BMW R75 Motorcycle

Sorry for taking so long everybody! Its been a crazy week... literally I've probably slept 7 hours since Sunday because of my studies. I'm not a procrastinator, but each project is so in-depth I have to make sure every sentence is utterly perfect. I promise though, I'll do my best to make this entry as awesome as my previous ones, despite my drooping eye lids and broken coffee pot.

As I said last week, I purchased this kit as part of a bulk bundle deal at my local hobby store, From what I can remember, they were having to liquidate inventory due to a lack of space or downsizing or something, but I got quite a steal on it.

In the case of THIS box, the box art looks identical to the one I purchased... no added doodads or fancy background colorings or anything. As far as I know, this particular kit has been out-of-production for probably closing on 10 years, but there are still plenty floating around from what I've been told. And contrary to what the box says, this kit was NOT anywhere close to easy when it came to the assembly. My father and I spent a good afternoon gluing each tiny piece together, with plenty of cursing and frustrations in between. However, the fact that he and I built it together is one reason why I like it so much. Growing up, my father was rarely around, not because he was a bad father but because he was an amazing father. His job required him to travel, often over extended distances for very extended periods of time. He did this for his family, so that although her suffered greatly, we would have a comfortable life. At the time, I didn't really understand it, but now that I'm older I realize that small moments like this are worth much more than anything else.

Like with my Fallschrimjäger, it took me quite a while before I got around to painting these guys. They sat in a box, in my closet, for probably close to 5 years before I rediscovered them and gave them new life. The main superstructure of the bike and sidecar was done up in Vallejo German Field Grey with a highlight of Vallejo Russian Uniform, while the tires and metal bits were coated in Vallejo German Grey and drybrushed with Vallejo Light Grey to bring out the details. My camera doesn't really do the tread pattern justice, or that could just be the result of poor lighting.

As for the guys themselves, I basecoated everything in Vallejo Blue-grey Pale and highlighted with Vallejo Pale Grey-blue. Yes, these are two different paint colors... and yes, they confuse me so much that I happened to write down their Citadel equivalents so I could piece them apart. You'd think the guys over at the Vallejo factory would be able to think up a better name for them, without just inverting the color names.

The funniest thing about the motorcycle is that when my Dad and I built it, we didn't follow the directions very well. He was in a hurry, and I as more of a nuisance than an asset, so the sidecar isn't very well attached to main body of the motorcycle. It may be obvious from the above picture, but in person it gives the bike a very severe cantilever down the center line that would be hell on Earth to compensate for in battle.

The kit itself though, from what I can recall, was actually very high quality with minimal flash or sprue issues. As I've grown older and built more complex models, it seems as though overall quality has gone down. Maybe I'm just casting my younger memories in a better light, or maybe I'm on to something. I have no clue.

Seeing as I really have yet to offer up an example, this motorcycle was painted in a style closer to how I prefer to do things. Muted colors with subtle highlights. I was taught, or self-taught myself, that most highlights should be one to two shades lighter than the base color. Otherwise, the highlights tend to look too dramatic and flashy, and take away from the overall model itself. The only exception to this is when it comes to glass or reflective surfaces such as the crew's goggles or the rear tail lamps, which even in the real world are eye-catching.

The only downside, and one of my larger regrets, is that I didn't save the original decal sheet from the model kit. Its somewhere, probably at the bottom of another to-be-discovered box somewhere in my closet. I remember it had a great variety of options, both for helmet emblems, divisional markers, and other German symbology. Had I put them in a place where they could be found, I feel they would have added a great bit of additional realism to this piece.

-Hands

1/35 Fallschrimjäger

I remember very well when I first started getting into models. I'm not gonna go cliché and say I remember it like it was yesterday, because I don't. It was a long time ago, and I have other stuff cluttering up my mind like spreadsheets and algorithms to help get in the way and make things even foggier. What I do remember though are the first set of models I ever received... well, purchased, but with birthday money, and how well (or otherwise) 10 year-old me was able to piece them together.

The first kit I bought was a combined set from a local hobby store; a 1/35 scale Tamiya BMW R75 WW2 German motorcycle and an accompanying 1/35 scale Italeri German Fallschrimjäger unit. 

For some reason, I don't recall the box art on MY version of the Italeri paratroopers being so colorful. I'll have to check and see if I still have the box laying around somewhere. Anyways though, I made mention of piecing them together... Let's just say that for the paratroopers, the picture didn't nearly offer enough angles for young me to safely assume where to put all the details. So, as any 10-year old would do, I got the super glue and went to town. Suffice to say though, once they were built and I had had my fun, I cast them aside into a box in my closet, and more or less forgot about them.

My parents are currently in the process of moving houses, now that retirement is fast approaching for my father. Last time I was home, which seems like quite a long time ago, I was cleaning out my closet and stumbled back upon them. With over a decade of experience now under my belt, I took it upon myself to do my first model kit justice and painted them up. 

(Sorry the pictures aren't great. It's kind of overcast outside today.)

Its important to note that these six gentlemen were, in fact, pieced together by my 10-year old hands, although in retrospect with the exception of one I at least assembled them along believable lines. Seeing as I discarded the original base plates as trash, I had to fashion new ones from plasticard. Their helmets are a bit mismatched, as should be somewhat obvious, but from what I can tell it doesn't really detract from the overall look of the models. 

When I approached painting these guys, I had two options. I could have gone with the basic uniform inherent to the early war, specifically German para-drops across Crete through mid-war Italy. These were a mix of blue trousers with a green jumpsuit over top. While simple and easy, I wanted something a bit more challenging. The alternative was a camouflage smock, worn towards the later part of the war and immediately after the Normandy landings in 1944.  It contained a mixture of green, brown, and tan-beige flecks combined with a field green uniform underneath. As you can probably see above, I went this route.

Somewhere written down I have a complete step-by-step list of the paints I used to achieve this look, so if anyone is interested I'd be happy to scan and upload it as part of a gallery. 

While researching, I was fascinated to learn that unlike their American or British counterparts, German Fallschrimjäger did not jump with their weapons in tow. Instead, they had to land first and then acquire their gear from an independently dropped canister. I'm not military strategist, but to me this sounds like a recipe for severe casualties when dropping into a firestorm. Another interesting thing I learned was that their camo smock was disposable, so far as to protect their torso and gear while jumping. Upon landing, they would strip out of it in favor of their lighter under-uniform. 

Earlier this year, I dog-sat a friend's dog. While she told me her dog was friendly and all of that, I quickly learned that for what reason this poor animal was terrified of me. I don't think it was me particularly so much as it was the new environment and surroundings, but the short of the matter is that he ended up redecorating my apartment. I know what you're thinking though. Where am I going with this story? If you take a look at the guy on the left, immediately above, you'll notice he's missing a boot. I have yet to find this boot, and I have turned my apartment upside down in my quest for it. Therefore, the only other possible alternative is that his foot met with a particularly delicious end as a late-night appetizer for Mr. Dog.

The camo itself looks really dark in these pictures, but this is more a result of the fact its been overcast all afternoon. Floating clouds make taking high quality pictures hard, especially when you cannot predict when one is going to float in front of the sun and block out your light. 

As should be apparent with the webbing on the back, 10 year old me threw stuff on that "looked right." Granted, at least years down the line I can congratulate younger me on doing a good job keeping things accurate, although for the life of me I don't understand why any guy would want to get his extra rifle rounds attached to the small of his back. Oh well, I'll just chalk it up to youthful ambition.

I know I also made mention of the BMW R75, which I also have down with me. I'll post up some pictures in the next few days so that you all can see it. This one is particularly special to me, although for different reasons. 

-Hands

Battlefront StuG IV

About a year or so ago, I really started refining my painting technique. Originally I would prime with some kind of black, apply the basecoat of color, and then BOOM! Done. Naturally, as I got older and the internet became more of a present thing, I quickly realized what I thought as good was more of a half-assed kind of thing. I had to take a year off of painting and wargaming when I went away to my Freshman Year of college, as there really wasn't anywhere to do it when sharing a space the size of a Mexican prison cell with two other alpha-type personalities like myself. That, and I also didn't want any of my beautiful creations getting pawned off by my roommates for pot money. When I finally survived and moved out, I re-approached painting with a different set of eyes.

The first thing I really painted in my Post-Dormitory Life was a StuG IV Assault Gun from a Battlefront blister pack. I was never a big fan of buying the larger Platoon or Company arrangements, as I very often get overwhelmed when I can't plow through 90+ tiny, nail-mounted 15mm figures in a weekend. I mean, I could, but there wouldn't be much time for eating, sleeping, or the main staple of college life; partying. I can also control expenses and workload by buying small and building up, and with frequent commuting between Tucson and Phoenix, I also had to constantly consider the realities of transporting miniatures as well. I'm a good driver, I promise... but the trunk of my car tends to become a death trap for just about anything that goes inside!

So, the StuG IV itself was a bit of a departure, at least for the time when I painted it up. I hadn't really understood the concept of how to paint camouflage yet, so I used quite a lot of reference pictures to get things to look all right. I started initially with a base layer of Vallejo Middlestone over the whole thing, and then added a layer of Vallejo German Grey across the treads. Highlights were an edging of Vallejo Khaki across the raised bits, and then some quick swipes of Vallejo Neutral Grey across the tread links.

The camouflage itself was a rough adaptation to a scheme used by German Armored groups towards the end of the Second World War. Typically there should be some red-brown in there to help break up the Vallejo Brown Violet I used, but at the time I was just starting to upgrade my collection of paints from Citadel to higher quality Vallejo. It also helped to play into the narrative I was creating for this guy in particular, having been hastily pressed into service following the Normandy Breakout without adequate camo coverage.

One of the trickiest parts about this model though was the rough texture of the vehicle hull. I'm used to painting over smooth (or almost smooth) surfaces, but this one in particular was rutty and had ridges. In short, it was a paintbrush's worst nightmare but a drybrush's daydream. That, and it also made it a pain in the ass to wash, as all the liquid pigment liked to coalesce into the cracks... and NOT where I wanted it to go.

Despite the pains, it was still quite a fun model to paint up. It was challenging, but not so much so to the point where I got frustrated and resorted to polishing off a 12-pack of Bud to ease the pain. With one exception, I haven't really painted anything World War Two-era as of late, so I'd definitely like to go back and try this style again on a few more models.

And a quick update: Those Bradleys I promised are still coming. My favorite, solve-all Secret Weapon Sewer Water wash dried out on me... because your's truly left the cap off the dropper bottle and didn't realize until a week later. I guess there are some things college can't really teach you, so in the meantime I'm making due with what I've got available.

-Hands

M1A2 SEP "Mariah" Abrams

I like to paint. I like to paint a lot actually. The challenge of trying new styles is always fun, as well as mixing and matching colors and paint schemes until they come out right.. Not to mention sitting down with a couple beers and whatever hockey game NBCSN decides to air each night also makes for one relaxing time. Being in business school, any relaxation is welcomed.

So typically when I paint, I aim for highly realistic if somewhat abstracted paint jobs. I focus on muted colors and subtle highlights. I find that this makes each model or miniature look amazing and realistic without actually moving into the realm of cartoonish. While cartoonish styles with bright colors and high degrees of highlight/lowlight contrast are all well-and-good, my own fingers are terrible at getting the required effect. And it burns my eyes looking at bright colors anyways... I get enough of that watching PowerPoints on 1950's projectors.

Its funny I say this though, because the QRF M1A2 Abrams I recently painted up turned out fantastic, albeit I unintentionally painted it in the very high contrast style I just mentioned above. I kind of sat on the fence for a few days, questioning myself as to whether or not I liked it. I never once told myself I didn't, although in some alcohol-induced soliloquies, I'm pretty sure my other half subconsciously disagreed.

I digress though. The model itself came with quite a bit of flash and imperfections I had to chip away with a straight edge or sandpaper, and while I feel I did a decent job evening things out, parts of the end model are still a bit... uh... funky? You'll notice what I mean in the pictures. Granted, I'm used to working with near spot-on perfection when it comes to the clean models Battlefront, Warlord, or Citadel (not so much anymore) produce, so perhaps I'm spoiled. Despite this, I feel things came out pretty decent.

This M1A2 SEP was meant as a gift for the husband of a very dear friend of mine, whose name may or may not be "Mariah." He's about to be deployed as a mechanic with the very same tank (the real version, mind you) pictured above, so I figured what better good luck charm than to shrink down his beast and put his wife's (or not) name on it. "That's so sweet!!" I know, you don't have to tell me that.

The build itself took about a day, considering that the water I used to pre-pre prime the model was particularly hard for some reason. I ended up having to pour Drano all over the metal to get the salt spots off, but after that painting it up was a breeze. Basecoat was Vallejo German Camo Brown and the Highlight was an edged Vallejo Iraqi Sand. Treads were Vallejo German Grey with a pretty heavy-handed drybrush of Vallejo Neutral Gray. The name was done freehand, very patiently and completely sober too!

A couple more profile pictures to show off some other angles:

So there you have it everybody! The M1A2 SEP "Mariah" Abrams. 

Up next is a small task force of contemporary US Army vehicles, namely QRF Bradleys and QRF M738 Combat Engineering Vehicles I'm painting up for another friend as part of a model trade. They'll be in this similar style, although with a very radical Desert MARPAT-style digital camo. Not something I'm used to painting large-scale on vehicles.

Stay tuned!

-Hands

Introductions!

I'm really new to all of this blogging and stuff. Usually, when I do decide to share my thoughts, they're in person with friends. Its not so much a comfort issue as it is the fact I greatly enjoy feedback, both verbal and visual. To help me work out the kinks, and get an understanding of how the blog software works and all that, I think it'd be cool to write myself up a nice introduction blog post... We'll see how it goes.

Ten things about me... kind of an interesting concept. I'm more of a long-winded, write until my fingers fly off kind of guy, but I think for your viewing pleasuring I'll keep things short and sweet.

10 THINGS:

10: I am currently a Business Management major at the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona.

9: I grew up in Northern Phoenix, which is also where I've lived the longest.

8: I absolutely love history of any sort. My favorite eras though revolve around mostly modern history, predominately centered in the latter half of the 19th Century up to the present.

7: I've always been interested in military history, as well as strategy and tactics. My earliest ever memory of what could amount to Wargaming was when I was a small child and delegated out "squads" of Micro Machines to my friends for battle.

6: I really didn't start consistently painting miniatures until I was in High School. I built plenty of plastic models as a child, but always found the painting aspect intimidating. That, and I also lacked some serious motor skills.

5: I've grew up playing ice hockey, which is incredibly ironic considering I live in Arizona. Now that I'm older and I don't have the money for ice time, I've migrated to roller and street hockey which I play typically on a weekly basis

4. Before anyone asks, my favorite hockey team is the Chicago Blackhawks. I like the Coyotes, but that's mostly because without them I'd never see the Hawks play.

3. The first ever thing I painted were three Warhammer 40k T'au Stealthsuits. I'll admit they look terrible compared to my technique nowadays, but I've never thought about repainting them. Maybe there's something sacrosanct about that jumping-off point which maroons you knee deep in a hobby?

2. As a young child, my interests revolved almost solely around World War Two. As I've grown older, they have shifted to more contemporary times focusing on the late Cold War and modern/near future conflicts throughout the world.

1. I'm fascinated with What-if and Alternate History scenarios, especially if they come with them a unique storyline and chain of events that make each scenario both believable and thought-provoking.

Now that we're all on first-name bases, I'll move ahead and start with the real guts and bacon of this blog! Pictures of many of my paint jobs will follow, as well as battle reports if I find players to join me.

-Hands