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Tuesday 31 May 2016

LATE WAR BRITISH INFANTRY FOX HOLES

I have been contemplating how to represent Infantry in fox holes for a while now. 
Thanks to Andy: Tiny Hords whose work, inspired me to make my own Section of British Infantry in fox holes.
Mine  are based on magnetic sheeting for easy storage, with the added benefit of removing the figures, if they suffer a casualty.
This is achieved  by placing magnets on  the underside of the figures with the floor of the foxhole layered with thin metal sheets.

Section includes 3 man Bren team, 6 man Rifle team and a Junior Leader.
Assembled cut down figures with earth magnets glued into the base.
Black Primered
Figures painted and sealed with a coat of Gloss vanish followed by Matt vanish.
To work out the size of the foxholes, I used 20 mm plastic bases with the final base shape cut out from a  magnetic sheet:see Magnetic bases
Small pieces of tin are glued onto the magnetic base roughly where the figure will be located.
Used  plastic sprues from remnant kits to build up peripheries of the foxhole and glued into position.
View of the completed foxhole periphery. 
Figures in their foxholes.
Next step, provide protection to the figures while modelling the foxhole from the putty.
Cut out a piece of Glad Wrap,place figure in the middle, pull together and seal together with stick tape.
Cut off excess, figure is now protected from putty.

Using Milliput build up the outer area on the base of the foxhole.
Next step, build up the the inner area, the floor first and then the  sides against the plastic sprue. Followed by the outer sides of the foxhole against the plastic sprue.
To build up the top edge of the foxhole, roll small pieces of putty into rolls and place on-top of the plastic and blend in with  a sculpting instrument.
Place the figures in the foxhole, check the fit, and repeat the previous step making height adjustment to the foxhole  while leaving the figures in position. 


Completed putty stage of foxhole with a few personal items added such as Grenades,back pack spare ammo, digging implements etc.
Black primer applied,allowed to dry and painted with a coat of Vallejo Flat Earth 983.
Wash with a coat of Agrax Earthshade and dry brush with a 50:50 mix of Vallejo Flat Earth 983 and Iraqui Sand 819.
Paint the floor of the foxholes with Vallejo Black Grey 862 allow to dry and wash the inner wall and the floor with a coat of Nulin Oil.
Using the 50:50 mix of Vallejo Flat Earth 983 and Iraqui Sand 819 lightly dry brush the the inner wall and floor.
Painted the odds and ends and added a couple of Tufts.
Applied coat of Gloss vanish followed by Matt vanish.
Completed foxholes

Infantry in their foxholes





18 comments:

  1. Ingenious! Very well done indeed. They really do look properly dug in
    Thanks
    Matt

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Matt,always good to receive your comments.
      cheers

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  2. Lovely work, John. Being able to remove individual figures is a nice touch.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Andy and a big thanks to you for the inspiration.
      cheers

      Delete
  3. Lovely work, John. Being able to remove individual figures is a nice touch.

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  4. Thanks Andy and a big thanks to you for the inspiration.
    cheers

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  5. One of the best illustrated step-by-step tutorials I've seen. The accompanying text links everything logically and cohesively. Enjioying your work a great deal.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Peter for your comments and glad that you are enjoying the Wargaming Stuff.:-)

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  6. John, your ideas, modelling skills and painting are some of the best in the hobby. Your WW2 British collection is going to be so unique, I look forward to the Germans.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Pat, your very encouraging with your comments.
      cheers John

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  7. John, good work on getting these into WSS magazine and cheers for the shout out.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Andy and thanks for the inspiration,
      Hope to recive my copy of the mag soon.
      cheers JOhn

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  8. Great idea! Now I know what to do with all those Brits I have still in sprues.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks merry, good to see you have a use for the left over Brits
      cheers John

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  9. These are excellent. Where did the decals come from? Have you seen the new late war British from Empress?

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Ash for your comments, the decals came with the Warlord plastic kit and yes have seen the Empress one, very nice.
      cheers John

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  10. excellent stuff John
    Inspired me to do my own!
    Cheers
    Mark

    ReplyDelete