In my backlog of “almost finished” Flames of War armies was my Japanese Navy Land Forces (Marines). These had been sitting around getting dust, while they awaited final basing for quite some time. As such, I decided their time had come and finally wrapped them up.
The models used were the basic Japanese infantry from Battlefront. The marines wore basically the same uniform as the army, with the noticeable difference being that the uniform was in green instead of tan. They also used army provided equipment, so no challenges in using the figures Battlefront manufactures for doing the force. I opted for the infantry for no other reason than I did a Naval Tank Company (just wanted some grey Japanese tanks) some time back and just wanted my infantry to match. I figured I would do enough infantry and artillery to fill out the tank company and add a few extra stands in case I had to field a small Japanese infantry force.
The models are based black and just block painted in olive green. The equipment is mostly khaki. To be honest, these have been sitting on my painting table so long, I totally forgot what colors I used! I opted for two different shades of khaki on the gun batteries (OK, I forgot what color the first one was and ended up choosing poorly….). Some flesh and weapons and the troops were done.
I decided that I wanted a base look that would allow me to use these troops in either tropical or jungle terrain, so opted for a sandy base with some greenery. I mounted all the troops and crews on the required FOW bases and then covered each using Vallejo Sand pumice. I then hit that with a Sepia wash and let that dry. I then drybrushed all the bases with Tamiya Dark Tan and then hit it them again with Vallejo Iraqi Sand. I painted the boarders with some Vallejo brown tan to lighten things up.
For the vegetation, I used my old stand by Scenic Express Mixed Turf (it is a mix of flock and static grass). I then went back and added some bushy looking tufts that are sold by Army Painter (I liked the leafy look). Hit the whole army with some Testors Dull Coat and there we are, an army all done and ready to go. Or, maybe I should add some HMGs next……
- Manteuffel