July 25, 2021
The Weekly Workbench began this week with the painting of 10 15mm British Mk VIB light tanks by Peter Pig. They are great looking pieces; before I was done painting them, I called Brookhurst Hobbies and asked them to special order me 10 more. I used another caunter camouflage scheme using the same colors I used on the Matildas… just a different caunter pattern.
With the Mk VIBs done, I decided to paint a British Dorchester Armoured Command vehicle. I did it in a caunter scheme as well. The Dorchester is an interesting vehicle not only because of its unique appearance but also because, in the spring of 1941, German forces in North Africa captured three of them and put them in their own service. Because they were obviously British vehicles, the Germans protected them from accidental German attack by putting large German crosses on their front, rear, and sides. The British had painted them in a caunter scheme and put large white numbers on their front, rear, and sides. It took me awhile to figure out what units these captured Dorchesters came from and what white numbers they had on them at the time of their capture. It turned out that they were part of the 2nd Armour Division and their numbers were No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3. That means that I can use a 5 on one of the British Dorchesters because 5 is one of the large white numbers known to have been used by the British on a Dorchester.
By midweek my attention turned to painting some Command Decision 15mm British A-9 and A-10 cruisers. Once again, I used a caunter paint pattern. I finished nine of each. I also discovered by the end of the week that I already had five packs of Peter Pig Mk IVBs so I called Brookhurst and had them reduce my order to five.
July 18, 2021
I began the workbench week painting the last of my 15mm British Crusaders.
With those done, I turned my attention to painting my Matilda Mk2s using the Caunter camouflage paint scheme. I sprayed the entire tank flat black, and when it was dry, I dry brushed the color over that black base. I used Vallejo Model Color. The yellow color is a mix of Gold Brown (70.877) and Beige (70.917). The blue is a mix of Luftwaffe Uniform (70.816) and Azure (70.902) and the green is US Olive Drab (70.887) and Burnt Umber (70.941). In order to lighten the green and blue areas, I mixed some Pale Sand with the US Olive Drab and the Azure. By the end of the week, I finished all 15 Matildas.
Next week the workbench will turn its attention to the Mk VI B light tanks. The ones I am using are by Peter Pig. I currently have 10 and have asked Brookhurst Hobbies to order me another five… that will be awhile.
July 11, 2021
This week I finished up the 15mm British lorries (one Command Decision, the rest Flames of War). Cutting the bases off the Flames of War lorries was hell. I don’t understand why they put the bases on some of the trucks/lorries and not on others. Most people would probably leave the bases on, but since these lorries are all going to be used together… often in convoys… I didn’t like the look of some based and others not based. Furthermore, the bases take up storage room… not good. I also completed the British Honeys (Command Decision).
July 4, 2021
Happy Fourth of July! This week was almost entirely devoted to painting 15mm British equipment for North Africa. Most of that focus was on Crusader II tanks… some with Royal Tank Regiment markings
I also painted several more British lorries… Bedfords and CMP. I added a few roundels to a couple of the lorries’ upper surfaces for air recognition which was a practice on some vehicles in North Africa. I decided to use one of the CMP as part of a mobile observation tower. I had seen one done by James Roach on his Olicanalad’s Games website (one of my links). He said his inspiration for it was one he saw in an Airfix Guide to the 8th Army. While mine is a little bulkier than his and lacks some of the fine detail he included, I think mine will serve pretty well. I made the tower out of Evergreen and Plastruct plastic.
This was a particularly exciting week for me because for the first time in a year and a half the Golden West Swap Meet is open. It was a pleasure to be back and to see that most of the key vendors from past years had returned… I worried about that. For obvious reasons their stock was thinner than in the past, but that will change as normal returns. I was able to pick up a Hawthorne Village Wiltshire Pastry Shop in perfect condition for $5. That’s a hot deal when you consider that the asking price on eBay runs between $30 and $50 for the same piece… same quality. The big problem with the pastry shop is that it comes with pastry displays embossed on the windows. I plan on using it as a home not a shop so I covered both the embossed pastry and the shop sign with Milliput scored as shrubs.
