Recon Reports

I finished a small platoon called the Airlanding Recce Platoon. In game terms it helps mark targets for other units.. Though this platoon is considered to be too expensive to use in a game I enjoyed painting the vehicles and experimenting on the bases. I also painted the Staff Team for the M1A1 Airlanding Battery and I got a little creative with the basing. On to the pictures!



Painting the crew of a vehicle is just like painting regular figures. Except mounting the crew on cardboard bases does not work so well! Here I use my thriftiness to mount the figures. A few used finishing nails and a leftover piece of insulation foam and VOILA. It is now a cinch to paint the crew.

I have standardised the colours I use to paint each figure. The light brown basecoat is Vallejo Game Colour "English Uniform". The smock is painted first Citadel Foundation Colour "Tau Sept Ochre" followed by Citadel Paint Color "Scorched Brown" and Citadel Foundation Colour "Orkhide Flesh". Gear and Helmet are also painted "Orkhide Flesh" followed by a drybrush of Citadel Paint Color "Rotting Flesh". The berets are Citadel Paint Color "Red Gore" mixed with just a touch of purple or dark blue (doesn't matter too much) highlighted with Citadel Paint Color "Scab Red".

The dismounted crew of the Recon Patrol is painted and ready for basing. At the same time I finished up the Staff Team for the Airlanding Battery, Royal Artillery unit. I picked the figures for this team with the idea that they would be consulting and staring out into the distance.


I used a few layers of drybrushing to further accent the vehicles. The part that would be metal such as the twin machine gun on the jeep or the shovel on the back of the universal carrier were painted Citadel Paint Color "Chaos Black" and picked out with the metallic Citadel Paint Color "Bolt Gun Metal". The tracks were also painted in "Chaos Black" and a heavy drybrush of the metallic Citadel Paint Color "Tin Bitz" was used I later highlighted the tracks with "Bolt Gun metal". I used the same colour to represent wear on the front mud guards of the universal carrier, as if the carrier had been nosing through some tight spots. The completed crew figures were then broken off the finishing nails and glued into place.


I took a different track in basing these figures. Instead of applying the putty around figures glued to the bases, I applied the putty first and then glued the figures through the wet putty. I don't know how these figures will hold up to use on the table, but I found this method to be less messy. Note the piece of cardboard on the base of the Staff Team, it will be made into a stone wall.

It is hard to see in the picture below but I have scored the dried drywall compound with blunt knife to create a rough grid pattern. Be careful since the compound may flake. Use a dry brush to gently remove the grit that comes up. Also remember that the rows of consecutive bricks don't line up!

The bases for all of these miniatures was done by drybrushing consecutivly lighter colours. The dirt areas got different shades of brown almost up to a yellow and the stone/rubble started with a very dark grey almost black colour all the way up to white. The progression can be seen in the following pictures. Note that there were more than three layers of drybrushing done.

Here is the completed Airlanding Recon Platoon. The vehicle bases got the same treatment as the other units, I had to be careful not to get paint on the vehicle itself.

Below is the Airlanding Battery, Royal Artillery Staff Team fully painted. I added a little extra detail after the stone wall. I figured they have to be discussing something. The question is: Have they got the maps the right way around?