I’m supposed to be painting up a regiment of ACW cavalry, but then a few 20mm AB World War II figures, and an order from MMS in the UK showed up on my doorstep…
These are my ‘test’ figures. You can tell they’re officers because of all the pointing. To sum up AB WWII figures, these are simply the best 20mm figures I’ve laid hands on. The detail is absolutely fantastic, and at the risk of sounding like an idiot, I’ll posit that the detail makes painting the figures easier. My painting is a little dark at gaming table distances-I’ll probably lighten my basecoats for future figures, and do a bit more highlighting on these guys.
This little guy is a PZIIL recon tank. Rarer than hens teeth, but perfect for support in a platoon-level skirmish game like Chain of Command. These models are VERY nice, though they do require some cleanup and modeling skills (not much, though, as evidenced by the fact that I was able to complete the model in about 2 hours). I haven’t quite figured out how to do the big triple antenna that mounts on the starboard side, yet. I’ll soon ruin this model with my painting…
Please excuse the iPhone pictures above. I have been making progress on those ACW cavalry, but it’s slow going, and I don’t have much to show for my efforts, yet. I did make up another 30 trees, as well, but who wants to see that?! Not me.
ArkieGamer 
Comments
The detail is fantastic and so is your painting.
Well, thank you sir-that’s very kind of you to say!
It’s really all just block painting with acrylics, a selective wash using Army Painter Strongtone, and then highlighting with the same basic colors I did the block painting with to counteract unwanted tinting from the wash. It’s a fairly quick way to get decent looking figures on the table.
Very nice minis Mr.Arkie and a really interesting choice of tank, it’s so easy to go straight for Tigers and Panthers but there is a plethora of interesting vehicles that are much more suited to skirmish gaming. I can’t wait to see it all painted up!
Thank you, thank you.
The PZIIL is the WWII equivalent of the obscure indie rock band that only the really pretentious and cool kids know about!
I actually have a couple of tigers that I bought when I first got into this hobby, but have never finished painting. I plan to dust them off, and use them to get up to speed with my armor airbrushing skills.
In a skirmish game, it seems like if you put a Tiger on the field, then suddenly the entire game is about killing the Tiger. Which could occasionally be fun, but would be totally stupid if it happened every game.
I really like yoir test minis. The AB range seems to be extremly well sculpted. I guess that is true for all AB has to offer. I think you are right witht the details making it,easier to paint stuff. If details are soft or you don’t know what the blob is supposed to be, the miniature will take longer to paint.
Thanks! I really hate trying to figure out parts on a poorly sculpted miniature. Even worse is when something like a strap, or layer of clothing isn’t continued from front to back, or under some other detail, disappearing and leaving you wondering where it went! Sharp detail really helps with this wash-shading style of painting, too.
Very cool.
Thanks, Frank.