I decided as this was a small project I wasn't going to buy paint to match the exact military colours of the PT boats. However, after a bit of googling, I realised this wasn't really an issue as colours varied wildly (including the effects of weather)! I started off with Vallejo German Fieldgrey WWII (70.830), but it had way too much green in it (even when I factored in highlighting), so I painted over a coat of London Grey (70.836). Much better.
For a (very) brief moment I considered painting some of the boats in dazzle camouflage... but just like the American crews I gave up when I realised how difficult it would be. It looks pretty amazing though.
The base coat was followed by a few heavy dry brushes with white (70.951) mixed in. The weapons were painted black (70.950).
The cabin windows and the crew were painted Dark Prussian Blue (70.899) with some white highlights, with a small dot of Flat Flesh (70.955) for the faces. The missiles were painted a mix of metals and black to differentiate them on the table, including a set to match the ones on the Elco with silver bodies and bronze (70.998) tips.
For markings on the Higgins boats I saw something on the History Channel's documentary (it's on YouTube) on PT Boats that was simple but would stand out.
The decals were from some spare Flames of War Sherman tanks I had and were easy to apply on the flat surface (though I still used decal softener).
I also cut down some 1/72 decals I had for a Flying Tigers P-40 that was a few decades old now. It needed a few goes with decal softener due to the curves in the bow's hull, but I think it's come out alright.
Since taking these photos, I have given these both a heavy black and brown wash, and will post photos once I varnish them and glue their flags in place. Hopefully in the next few days.
Edit: the third part can be found here.
No comments:
Post a Comment