• Hey guys,

    I’ve been painting my sons pieces to help enhance his interest in the game.  Now that we have AAR, AAP and AAG, we’ve got a lot of pieces to paint.  I almost have enough painted that we could play any of the games with only painted pieces.

    I have seen bits and pieces of websites and digital photo collections showing some other folk’s work.  With all the fever for nice looking dice, I am hopeful to see what folks are doing in this area.  I may get some good ideas or I may have some, but I’d really like to get some discussion going.  Once my new dice arrive (Thanks Field Marshall), I plan to make some digi-photos of my dice and pieces to share.

    With several copies of the game, I have found I have the luxury of painting my pieces with different themes in mind.  For example, I paint my UK ground pieces in two schemes, a regular green and an armor sand (a dull pale green) to represent UK troops in temperate and tropical climes.  This gives a better feel or the colonial nature of the UK position.  I can also paint some US pieces in OD green (army pieces) and others in a sort of camo scheme for marines.  This in conjunction with using the P38s in the euro theater and the (F?) single fuselage planes in the Pacific give me the two front war the US was fighting.  I may even paint two or three infanry and tanks of the German team in desert colors, if I can find a unique enough color to avoid any mix ups.  My Japanese troops are in either a sand color or in Japanese Army Green.  I use the JAG pieces in Asia and I use the sand pieces on the islands, again to help explain the strategic situation to my son.

    In another thread, I hope to learn where some other pieces may be found appropriate for the game.  I have raided my sons collection of “Army Men” because he has a set that is the right size for A&A.  From these, I decided to make my own Chinese infantry, and US airborne infantry and US marines.  I don’t have a use for airborne troops yet, but I got 'em when I need 'em.  I need to quiz my wife to learn where they came from.  I figure there are a couple folks that might like to do this too.  If nothing else, they come in other colors: Dk Green (like US), Tan, Yellow, and Pale Grey.  Anyway, I’ll leave those details for another thread.


  • yes defiantly post all the pictures you can. It would raise interest in this embellishment. Everybody should have one painted set for AA. It really adds alot of flavor to play.

    I will make a sticky if we get enough of these types of pictures. I have my own to contribute as well.


  • Afternoon Dinosaur,

    I’m really into this as well.  Nothing quite says “bring your A-Game” like a custom painted army.  I’m digital camera impaired so I haven’t been able to get any good photo’s to post.

    Being new to painting plastics, my best discovery to date has been the “secret sauce” = MinWax PolyShades satin 340. Not only does it do a fantastic job of highlighting all the cracks and crevasses, but it gives them an incredible protective coating.

  • '10

    WOW!  That would take a lot of patience.  I can’t wait to see the pictures.  That would be the ULTIMATE custom set.


  • Well, I made about 20 digi photos today and I’ll check them out tomorrow.  IL, send me a pm if you would so I may know how to post these.


  • use mediafire.com

    upload them in a folder as one file.


  • Well, let’s see if this works …

    http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=wcdtjxam5y5&thumb=4
    A view of Austrailia (AAP) with the Aussies, an American artillery and one of my American Marines I acquired from my son’s toy soldiers.  There is a nice stack of B17s there too with a few other American units on New Guinea.

    To do this, I decided I needed a collection of browns and greens.  The OD green was used for US units.  There are also Imperial Japanese Army Greens, and Imperial Japanese Navy Greens, Armor Sand (for UK, a very pale green) and finally a medium green, which I use for UK temperate uniforms and US Marines.  This would be confusing if the Marines were not so unlike Aussies in appearance.  I haven’t decided to paint te soldiers socks, yet.  I recommend getting a silver or aluminum for the cockpit glass and gunner positions on the bombers.  I also paint the cowling <sp?>on the airplane engines the Navy grey color in most cases.  Once you have two A&A sets, I figure you have enough AA guns and Factories to paint them for the country.  Again, I paint the glass silver or aluminum.</sp?>


  • OK, here is a little deal just a bit to the West …

    http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=ccrdngjfm9x&thumb=4

    The Japanese hold Java, but now that the Japanese Navy has been crushed, the UK colonials in India are going to pay them a visit soon.  The Japanese in this image are painted with a color called “sand”.  The weapons are “leather” as well as the boots but the bayonettes are also aluminum.  I also add a tiny red dot on the helmet or on the side of the tanks.  The tracks of the tanks and the wheels of the artillery guns are the same grey I used for the German uniforms, which is a pale grey, not the medium grey I first thought I would use.

    The UK forces are painted in the armor sand color and leather for the weapons and boots.  I was determined to have at least two colors on these pieces.

    The Japanese forces in Asia are Japanese Army Green.  THe destroyer in the background has the hull painted Navy Grey, the deck is unpainted, and the superstructure is aluminum.  The aluminum helps the detail appear on the ship.


  • Still further to the West, the UK has turned the tide against the Japanese around India.

    http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=1m2bmtjw1yy&thumb=4

    http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=glblnufkj0x&thumb=4

    The picture is a little out of focus, but the ships are from the UK fleet.  I was satisfied with the aluminum superstructure of the Japanese ships, I decided to do the same to the UK ships.  The hulls are Navy Grey, the decks are Armor Sand and the superstructure is aluminum.  The cargo ship has a Navy Grey hull, an unpainted deck and an Armor Sand superstructure.

    Another trick you may consider after you have painted a large number of soldiers is the give them a “wash” of black or brown india ink.  This will add texture to the soldiers.  The wash would be applied by diluting the ink 3:1 or more in water and then spraying onto a whole army of soldiers at once.  I use this technique in my other modeling pursuits and I use a highly diluted mixture and then apply three or more coats until I get the density I want.  I recommend you start with a very diluted mixture using extra coats until you get a sense for how it works.  The ink wash also helps make every soldier unique.


  • The Japanese are preparing for an attack on the homeland.

    http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=hjmfgykbhli&thumb=4

    More Sand and IJA green.  The only insignia I can paint is the Japanese red ball, so that appears often (the factory).  I’d like to locate a souce for German crosses and UK aircraft insignia small enough to apply the decals after painting.


  • A collection of IJN fleet photos.  This is where I started.  Some other fellow painted his IJN ships and his Zeros.  I liked what he did so much, I got my son’s stuff out and went to work on his fleet and planes.  I still haven’t decided if I want to paint the superstructures of the IJN cargo ships yet.  I tried painting them Sand, but that didn’t look right.  I may try the pale grey I use for the Germans.

    http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=tlm1bixtijn&thumb=4

    http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=taesdxkthbx&thumb=4

    http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=nbdtxrdej9x&thumb=4


  • In China, things look a little strange.  Yes, the pieces are not painted, but they didn’t come from A&A either.  These are some of my son’s soldiers again and they will be painted a brown color with other detail added.  When I find out the brand of this toy, I’ll let y’all know.  You can get a lot of extra soldiers this way for very little investment.  These add a little variety too, and I didn’t want to use little red Russians for my Chinese army in the 1940s.

    http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=njyfu9jgxy1&thumb=4


  • Here is my box of goodies from combining most of the AAG set with the AAP set.  Since I can play both games from the same box of pieces, I figured this was the right way to go.  As you can see, I still have a loooong way to go to finish painting these pieces.

    http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=wnyldxjfce5&thumb=4


  • I really enjoyed these. What resource did you use to assign the colors? did you use a book?

    Also, do you got any German/ Soviet stuff painted?


  • Here is a collection of pictures to look over the navy color schemes.  The first shows four countries, and then one photo each for the US,  Japanese, UK and German navy.  I only have one Russian sub painted right now so there is no point in showing you a little brown sub.  I accidently put a UK sub in the US photo.  The correct US sub would have the same colors as the other US warships.

    http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=xyymjb3dpit&thumb=4   …  Four navy fleets

    http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=9izzo14h2ew&thumb=4   …  the US fleet

    I’ll tell you about the Hellcats and Corsairs later.  I got these when we only had AAR because I couldn’t stand the P38s on the carriers.  The hulls and superstructure are Navy Grey and the decks are “wood”.

    http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=2m2s1ydiwvr&thumb=4   …  The Japanese fleet

    It does take time to paint the Japanese aircraft with 4 colors, but I think they look nice.

    http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=0z2o45mlk01&thumb=4   …  The UK fleet

    Later, I may even paint some Spitfires with a “Camo” scheme using green and brown, but I’ll wait till I can find some insignia for the wings before I go there.

    http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=byxeolzbxhe&thumb=4   …  The German fleet

    I liked the aluminum so well, I used it yet again on the Germans.  I tried to paint the little crosses but they are not very clean.  I’ll need either a templet or a decal or something.


  • Here are a few shots of the armys.

    http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=oty1mzd5mma&thumb=4   …  The Russians in a light brown

    http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=4yj5wjvjza1&thumb=4   …  The Germans in a pale grey

    Note, the German boots are in gloss black, not flat black.

    http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=jnb0ymwbifi&thumb=4   …  The UK army

    The medium green is intended for temperate weather troops such as continental Europe or the Aussies.  The Armor Sand color troops are for the tropical weather troops such as Africa, India and Borneo.  I decided I should leave the tanks and artillery in Armor Sand exclusively to avoid confusion with the US forces.  Because they are the same mold, I think there isn’t enough difference between my OD green (US) and the medium green (UK) to avoid confusion in the game.  I could have painted the UK forces with some medium green and then used brown for the wheels and tracks, rather than the Navy Grey I use for the same things on the US pieces.

    http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=nkxrmitmi1m&thumb=4   … The Japanese army

    I may even paint some troops of the IJN in the brighter IJN green giving me three colors of Japanese ground troops.  I also expect to paint a few Zeros and Bettys with IJN green.

    http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=mzd9gyoltdg&thumb=4   … The Americans and a Chinese soldier

    I also added a regular soldier for comparison in each of the army photos.

    In answer to ILs question, I decided on the colors “on the fly.”  I knew I wanted to paint Japanese ships and Zeros first.  So, off to the hobby story I went for some after Christmas shopping (he, he).  I looked over the paint and decided I needed Sand, Red, Aluminum and Navy Grey.  While I was figuring that out, I saw the color Armor Sand.  I thought to myself, that’s what I need for the Africa forces of te UK.  Then, before I left, I added Wood and Leather, two browns they were selling also.  I have returned twice to buy other colors, first for the US, and then another trip for Germany and Russia.  I am not trying to match any particular colors, but just trying to get the right feel for what I want.  These are not dioramas or anything like that, they are just game pieces.  I just want to add interest for my son.

    One note you will see if you look closely at the photos.  The paint is fairly soft, and the molding process leaves a finish that is not best for the paint.  The paint has started to come off on the corners a bit.  It isn’t a big deal but keep that in mind.  I suspect there is someone out there that may know a pretreatment that would help the paint adhere to the soldiers even better.



  • Those 15mm Oldglory miniatures really do turn out well once you get them painted up IL.  Nice work.


  • @dinosaur:

    One note you will see if you look closely at the photos.  The paint is fairly soft, and the molding process leaves a finish that is not best for the paint.  The paint has started to come off on the corners a bit.  It isn’t a big deal but keep that in mind.  I suspect there is someone out there that may know a pretreatment that would help the paint adhere to the soldiers even better.

    Thanks for sharing your labor of love Dinosaur.  Great work.  I’d never painted plastics before either, so it took some research and some dabbling… here is one of the best articles I found that sums it up.

    http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/183861

    – article – (and to whoever wrote this… thank you!)

    I’ll copy here the same thing I always post about painting the plastic men up for our Descent game, since we use the same technique for any plastic gaming miniatures we paint up.

    Just insert the word “T.O.I” or “Memoir '44” for “Descent”. Indeed, someday I have to get around to painting those up, too!

    ////////////

    My wife generally does our miniatures painting (she is really quite good), but for our Descent game we went with a tried-and-true, newbie-friendly method so that I could give her a hand, and still get nice results.

    Plus, we’re cheap, old-school gamers. We don’t like to pay money if we don’t have to.

    Step One: Primer
    Use White automobile primer, no-name brands from low-cost stores like WalMart, etc. Coat lightly, but evenly. The masters don’t have to be pure white (they’ll wind up looking kinda pink-ish). Don’t worry. You just want enough primer for the other paint to stick to.

    Step Two: The Paints
    Use acrylic craft paints, like “Apple Barrel” paints, from low-cost stores like Walmart, etc. Don’t buy them at craft stores, or you’ll spend too much. Each tube of paint runs about 50 cents, and ours have lasted years and years. However, for metallics (like for chainmail, bronze, etc.) we still find that the standard miniatures paints are a little nicer.

    Step Three: The “Dip”
    For Descent miniatures, we opted to go for the “Dip” method, or “Magic Dip”, as it is sometimes called.

    What is this magic dip, you ask?

    Minwax light- or medium-brown wood stain. Yes, wood stain. I know, it sounds crazy! A little can, costs about 2 dollars, lasts for years of projects.

    Some people actually “dip” their entire miniature in the stain, then wick off the excess. I find that a bit much, so instead we just paint it on with a brush.

    The Dip Method:
    a. When painting, paint broad general colours over things, but paint them in lighter tones than you normally would. So paint the beastman skin a light flesh tone, paint his loincloth a light red, leave his hair primed white, paint his sandals light brown. He looks cartoonish and ugly so far, with just general bright colours, and no details.

    b. Brush on Minwax wood stain. Light/medium Brown colours work well, because they don’t darken the original paint too much. IF you want more black colours, make it a very light grey/black, or you’ll just stain the whole thing black.

    The stain flows over everything, but then runs into the cracks by preference. It acts similarly to an ink wash, but with slightly different (and useful) results.

    The wood stain tones down the colours (that’s why you painted them lighter than you would’ve normally), blends them, blurs the edges between each broad colour band. It also fills in the cracks with dark colour, making the details POP out instantly. Finally, it coats the miniature with a nice protective coating.

    It really does blend the colours together. Our Hellhounds were painted with broad bands of 3 shades of brown, then stained, and suddenly they looked all blended and shaded, but with the cracks filled in an the manes completely detailed out. It is truly nifty to watch!

    If too much stain has pooled in one spot, use a small piece of paper towel to wick off the excess easily. Check the miniature every few minutes, to see that you’re getting the results you want.

    Let the stain dry completely, until it is no longer tacky. This can take a full 24 hours for some miniatures, but we’ve managed to paint miniatures just an hour or so after staining.

    c. Now, go back and drybrush on a few last details. Drybrush teeth white (but leave those cracks filled in brown/black, so the details still stand out nicely). Drybrush chainmail with a nice metallic silver. And so on. Just pop out those last few details that you want to call attention to.

    d. Clear-coat with a dull/matte acrylic clear coat protector. This will stop the paint from chipping through extended use.

    /////////////

    “The Dip” is fast, simple, easy, and gets results! I can’t paint a miniature to save my life, but I’ve managed to paint up my descent miniatures quite nicely. Of course, for truly nice work, I hand them over to my wife for detailing. However, for the general monstrous-type miniatures, when I just want to paint them quickly-yet-prettily, this method can’t be beat.

    “Magic Wash” method (an alternative to “the dip”)
    Another method is to use “Magic Wash”, which is a mixture of 4 parts water to one part “Miracle Floor Wax”, then mixed with paint. This forms a paint wash, which you can use instead of “the dip”, but with a similar sort of aim. You can customize the hue, tint, and colour to your heart’s content, wash it over your figure, and it’ll seep into the cracks. Make your Wash colour nice and dark (darker than what you’re painting), and it’ll also harden up ever so slightly when it dries (that’s the plastic wax component of the Miracle Floor Wax) to form a mild protective coating on your miniature.

    Either method is quick and easy and cheap.


  • I’m always amazed at step #1.  SPRAYPAINT MY PEICES… are you nuts!?

    But this is the magic.  When it dries it shrinks and creates a flexible shell around your plastic figure.  You lose none of the detail.  This shell means you can bend the rifles (e.g., the Japanese are the worst offenders) and the paint doesn’t flake off.

    So now you can paint this flexible shell with acrylics and it sticks very very nicely.  Finally, the Minwax puts another protective shell around your acrylic and you can step on these figures and they are still o.k.

    My group is very rough on my figures but they weather the beating very nicely.

    Seeing all the hard work you’ve put into your figures you should give this method a try.  You won’t be disappointed.

    Enjoy!

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