US Armor for 75th D-Day Anniversary

Mark A. Morin

I am working on creating a Normandy scenario for a What a Tanker© game that I plan to run at a monthly gaming session at both the Mass Pikemen Gaming Club and the Historical Gaming Club of Uxbridge.  With the 75th Anniversary of D-Day coming up in little more than a month, I thought that would be appropriate. 

My challenge was that I really did not have enough historically-appropriate tanks and tank destroyers for such a scenario.  I did have 9 plastic British Shermans and 2 Fireflies that I bought on eBay that were well-painted.  I also had 2 resin Shermans and 2 resin Stuarts that I got from a guy who makes his own models and sells them already painted.  The British stuff came with a bunch of infantry that I sold, so the nice plastic British armor ended up costing me net only $1.40 each!  The US tanks were OK for the tabletop, and for the price (about $5-6 as I remember), a relative bargain – but I wanted better.  I also had no Germans for that theater, so that is part 2 of the project.  For this part, I am focused on five US vehicles.  Together, I will have enough to make a joint US/UK force.

Three of the five vehicles came from Battlefront and were metal and resin and some plastic:  one M3A1 Stuart (#US003); one M4A2 Sherman (#US045); and one M10 Wolverine tank destroyer (#US102).  The other two were M24 Chaffee tanks that did not make it to D-Day, but replaced Stuarts starting in the latter part of 1944.  These two were 3D printed models from somebody on eBay – and not great detail-wise.  But, the M24 was the tank my grandfather, Marcus C. Delaney, drove in Europe during WWII, so I thought I’d work on those at the same time.  I used many of the same research books that I have cited before – and I did not take pictures as these are more recognizable to most gamers and modelers.

Above, you can see the group – below is a group shot after assembly.

I mostly used my airbrush for painting – and on the M24’s I tried to minimize the 3D printer lines with paints, washes, and weathering.  I decided to try a few Vallejo weathering products that caught my eye – I made a test of them first.  Of course, these are applied with a brush!

It’s now time to share some eye candy of the completed tanks and the tank destroyer.  Of course, I am also using these 5 as the first entry for a monthly painting challenge from Australia’s own Azazel – this being “Mechanismo May ’19 Community Painting Challenge“.

Now I have 18 US/UK vehicles for Normandy – which should be plenty.  I also know that some folks are bringing some DD Shermans and a couple of Churchill’s.  I have 6 German tanks and tank destroyers for Normandy and 11 for the Eastern Front (all about 60% completed), with 3 more to assemble (plus 5 scout cars).  That should be enough for a couple of fun games.  Stay tuned as I’m hoping to complete the Germans soon.

Thanks for checking this out – below are the paints etc.  Let me know your thoughts if you would!

PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, SHADES, WASHES, PIGMENTS AND FLOCKING USED ON THESE VEHICLES:

1. Vallejo “Flow Improver”
2. Vallejo “Airbrush Thinner”
3. Vallejo “Surface Primer – Black”
4. Testors “Universal Acrylic Thinner”
5. Vallejo Model Air “US Olive Drab”
6. Vallejo Game Air “Black”
7. Battlefront “Black”
8. Battlefront “Dark Gunmetal”
9. Battlefront “European Flesh”
10. Battlefront “Skin Shade”
11. Vallejo Model Air “Bright Brass”
12. Vallejo “Base Grey Primer”
13. Vallejo “Neutral Grey”
14. Army Painter “Military Shader” 
15. Vallejo Model Air “Wood”
16. Polly S “Rust”
17. Vallejo Mecha Color “Light Rust Wash” (wash)
18. Gorilla Glue
19. Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Gloss Varnish”
20. Microscale Micro-Set
21. Microscale Micro-Sol
22. Microscale Liquid Decal Film
23. Microscale Satin
24. 1/8″ rare earth neodymium magnets
25. Appropriate decals from Battlefront
26. Vallejo “European Mud” (Thick Mud)
27. Vallejo “European Slash Mud” (Splash Mud)
28. Vallejo “Crushed Grass”
29. Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Matt Varnish”
30. Aleene’s poster tack

from Mark A. Morin https://markamorin.com/2019/05/05/us-armor-for-75th-d-day-anniversary/
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from Tumblr https://harfordhawks.tumblr.com/post/184679224573
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