Well, it's the start of a new year and I've just finished a big project for myself and Gray Ghost. These three Shermans are part of 1st Platoon, B Company, 37th Tank Battalion. They were painted and weathered last week, just in time for the January SSCC Meeting in Cincinnati.
Big Bad Betty below is one of my two Shermans and the two behind her in the picture above are Phil's. All three, plus the one not shown in these photos are part of our fictional TASK FORCE COMBAT unit. The 37th Tank Battalion had a B Company full of Sherman tanks, but as far as I know they did not look like the ones on this table.
Last summer when Phil and I were building our M2A1 half-tracks, he decided that he wanted to letter his vehicles for the same unit I was doing so that he could participate in photoshoots for my TASK FORCE COMBAT online comic. So far our unit includes four Shermans, four Stuarts, 3 halftracks, a couple of Scout cars, weapons carriers and multiple Jeeps; and about 60 some infantry figures. I'm sure that there are probably larger units out there, but we are pretty pleased with what we have been able to put together thus far.
Here, a couple of infantrymen try to get some information from French citizens about what lies on the road ahead.
A majority of my vehicles have been weathered and detailed, but this new Sherman and the half-track both need to be weathered and kitted out. I've got quite a bit of gear for the half-track already and as you can see uniforms and gear to create a squad to go with it. I still have a few crates and bedrolls to complete for the vehicles.
One of the things I did as I worked on putting the unit together was to create a Handbook that describes the unit and some sector maps that will provide an outline for creating future stories. So far, only the initial episode has been completed and placed on this website. I know it seems like it is a long time between episodes in my various comics (it is). Creating vehicles and building units unfortunately takes quite a bit of time and then on top of that, weather conditions effect what can and cannot be done (it's snowing here today). I am hoping that before too long I will be able to do a couple of small indoor shoots that will allow me to move the story along just a bit. And I need to do the same with THE BAR AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE as well. Just thought I would let you all know where I am with all of this - PM
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