"A Few Panzer III Ausf.E Saw Combat In Poland In 1939."

"They were used in the invasion of Holland, Belgium and France in May 1940."

This 10mm metal German Panzerkampfwagen III tank used to sold by “Pendraken Miniatures” as Code GR196 - Panzer III E/F 37mm Gun. But nowadays appears to have been superseded by a more detailed product under Code GRV6 - Panzer III Ausf. E/F, 37mm Gun. Rather embarrassingly, I probably bought this tiny model as part of a huge 'Battle Of Moscow" project some twelve years ago to use with an old version of "Blitzkrieg Commander", and only recently discovered it whilst searching through my dusty backlog for any Early World War Two units.

The armoured vehicle was treated to a couple of coats "Vallejo" Neutral Grey - which 'closely' matches the Out Of Production (OOP) "Citadel" Foundation paint I use for my Winter War Axis forces, and was doused in "Citadel" Nuln Oil. It was then dry-brushed with (more) "Vallejo" Neutral Grey, before having the tank's wheels/tracks treated to a combination of Gunmetal and "Citadel" Nuln Oil.

"Warlord Games" WIPs - This Confederate Command unit are slowly having their jackets 'blocked out'

In the past I've actually tried to pretty much mirror the paint scheme previously used on my decade-old Winter War tanks. However, on those Panzer IIIs I seem to have simply painted the chassis behind the tracks in plain black. I didn't think this looked all that good to be honest, as it was clearly an attempt 'back in the day' to save myself some work. Resultantly, this time round I stuck with the "Vallejo" Neutral Grey and "Citadel" Nuln Oil look. and added a single German cross onto the hull using a transfer taken from the WWII German Insignia and Swastika sheet by "Decal Details".

With my latest Axis Panzerkampfwagen completed, I've taken the possibly dangerous step of starting work on a third strip of 15mm scale plastic Confederate soldiers, despite having yet to finish two other 'identical' infantry lines by “Warlord Games”. I have done this to see whether the lessons learnt from putting a brush-tip to the first of my Florida "Straw Hats" would help quicken the inevitable slog needing to paint around a thousand 15mm troopers (plus horse, riders and cannon) will entail.

"Black Tree Design" WIPs - Three Autons awaiting a final "Citadel" wash or two

Currently, the Command unit has taken just over an hour to pigment, including them all being primed in their jacket's "Vallejo" Sombre Grey. I have though discovered that it's probably best to do their trousers first, before 'picking out' the odd person's brown shoes, as their footwear at such a small scale is super-fiddly to 'get right first time'. I'm reasonably hopeful however, that as I continue to get used to the sculpts' quite considerable detail, I should be able to finish ten-men within three hours hobby-time; quite possibly allowing me to focus on a strip per week amongst other projects.

Moving over to science-fiction, I've found my desire to paint more "Doctor Who" related models as high as ever too, so have been busy pottering about three (additional) Autons by “Black Tree Design". These 28mm metal miniatures will enable me to field a full five-figure unit (probably for "Xenos Rampant") once finished, and will probably then encourage me to get cracking on some other monsters from the company's supposedly defunct range...