[Spirit Island]¶
Explorers¶

The Conquistadores where washed with Winsor & Newton Ivory Black, the skin with Winsor & Newton Vandike Brown; then they were glued to the poker chips.

Last weekend we played a game of Spirit Island (with the ugly plastic models :-( ), and at some point we had a coastal exploration phase, und suddenly there were quite a lot of explorers on the boards. When I did a quick count, I noticed that my miniature replacements would not have been enough.

So I also started to prepare the models I initially sorted out because of the helmet, with them I will have enough to place 1 Explorer on every land.


[Spirit Island]¶
Explorers¶

The Conquistadores' base colours are done. Next up will be an oil wash


[Spirit Island]¶
Explorers¶

For Christman I got Spirit Island - well, at least theoretically. As of today, the parcel is still on its way to us. I played the game with a friend in Decembre and it immediately went to my Christmas Wishlist.

While I really like the game, the components are mostly not really to my liking, especially because they are so different. The invader buildings for example are plastic, the Dahan's (the indigenous people) huts are from wood, etc.

Also, the quality and detail of the plastic models is okayisch, but when you are a wargamer and miniature collector they are not so great. Here you can see Norman's game who infected me in full swing.

So I went looking for 'real' substitute figures, and decided for Tin Soldier UK's CON6 - ARQUEBUSIER Conquistadores. I first thought of the ones with the pikes, as they would be quite similar to the plastic minis from the game, but they are very tall which would make storage much more difficult.

There are three different types of models, I decided to use the two with the typical rimmed helmets, this with the pointed helmets go to the lead pile.


[15mm]¶
Corporate Marines¶

Command AC

The wheel sockets were painted in the base green of the camouflage scheme, as well as the wheels. Then the wheels were glued in place and the rest of the vehicle basecoated in green. Gluing the wheels in first would have made painting the recessed parts quite a hassle.

Gunship

The gunship had a mishap when preparing it for the base coat, and lost one of it's cannon barrels. I was not able to fix that. So I removed the other one as well, and made two new barrels to replace the old ones from brass tubing. While doing that, I thought such a barrel would also make a good impression as the chin turret gun, and placed a third one there. This also distinguishes the chin gun of the gunship and the utility VTOLs.

I then also painted the model in the dark green camouflage base colour.

Utility VTOLs

I first painted the roof of the cabin in the same khaki grey base, bone white drybrush as the interiors.

When I glued the cabins in place, I became aware of a design flaw I built into them: There is no distinct line, where the interior and exterior roof meet. So I cut some 1mm strips of card to glue in place, but the card warped when cut, so I need to do these from plastic card.

The VTOLs where then also painted in the base green.


[15mm]¶
Corporate Marines¶

The Marines are done. The guy with the first aid case will be part of the command group, the casualty with the bleeding arm and the guy with the ammo case will bring the second squad to full strength. The two SAW gunners will go to the pool of support weapons.


[2003]¶
USMC Additions¶

I managed to paint the rest of the minis today, good start into the year finishing the first project early on :-)


[2003]¶
USMC Additions¶

Today I painted the boots, desert BDUs and woodland vests.


[2003]¶
USMC Additions¶

After all the 28mm stuff, I needed a change. Having some more USMC vehicles in the unpainted lead pile, I need some more Marines for crew when they exit their vehicles. At the same time, I paint up some more Humvee hatches, two closed ones and 3 Mk19 grenade launchers with gunner.


[15mm]¶
Corporate Marines¶

Time to close this project. I started by painting the interior of the cabins.


[15mm IABSM]¶
South of Cherbourg¶

The Army force is done. I now have an infantry company of 3 platoons each of 3 rifle squats (1 SMG NCO, 1 BAR, 8 rifles), 1 platoon of 3 60mm mortars, various big men and of course the company command with 5 bazooka teams.

The company is supported by a battallion level machine gun platoon of 4 MMGs; and is accompanied by a Forward Observer Team.

  • Rifle Company Headquarters

  • Rifle Company Rifle Squad I

  • Rifle Company Rifle Squad II

  • Rifle Company Rifle Squad III

  • Rifle Company Weapons Platoon

  • Battallion Machine Gun Platoon

  • Forward Observer Team

Some spare models that do not fit into the rifle company organization, but will certainly be of use at one point in time.