Flames of War - 8th Army

After years of painting medieval figures for DBx and now FOG I thought I'd try something a bit different. So here we have my first attempt at some 15 mm WWII figures from Peter Pig.


Over size photo. Click for enlarged, "warts and all", photo.


"Life size" photo

At Vapnartak I bought a 8th army mortar platoon and some T34s so I could try a range of different colour schemes. I've not touched the tanks yet but I have stared the mortar platoon.

I tried a very different approach to these figures mainly because I was shocked at both the detail and small size of the Peter Pig figures. They are a true 15 mm not the 17 or 18 mm that has become standard in the major medieval ranges.

I was surprised at how much research I needed to do. I used the Artizan Designs guide in the beginning and later I found the Flames of War guide which helped with a few of the smaller details.

As a colour trial, out went the black undercoat! I used a burnt umber wash over my usual dark grey primer. I then painted the uniform and webbing leaving only the deeper shadows remaining. I then washed with Vallejo smoke diluted with matt medium. The figures really did take the wash very well. This was followed by a painted highlight in the original base colour. Finally, I painted the flesh, weapons and boots.

I tried something different with the basing scheme and I'm pleased with how it turned out so I'll probably stick with this scheme black edge and all. One thing I found that helped was dry brushing the static grass very lightly with the final base highlight; it really helped blend the elements of the basing scheme together.

Of course the true test will come when I try and replicate this standard when painting in batches. The plan is to do the half a dozen observer figures in one batch before tackling the six mortar teams in one final batch.