Project Cassino and the assembly begins

Since the miniatures are going to be used for a skirmish game (1:1), I have decided to build a German fallschirmjager squad of 8 figures. While not a full squad, during a campaign few would be up to full strength. The idea in the back of my head is to have one squad of Germans, and several squads for the Commonwealth forces. By doing it this way I am planning on building just what I will need for my first scenario. This will keep interest peaked, and give me a good base to add more figures at a later date.

I believe that diversity is needed when choosing figures for small scale gaming. Putting the same pose together would be boring and unimaginative. So I put some thought into what figures from the kits I wanted to put together and what ones I may modify. Since I need to trim them from their sprue and clean up the mold lines etc. by lightly sanding them, I will build one figure at a time so I don't confuse the parts between models.  Besides cleaning up the figures I will test fit the parts before I glue them together. I use a cyanoacrylate glue which is gap filling called "Insta-Cure +". Kind of like super glue but gives you a chance to adjust the pieces a bit before bonding.

As I build each figure I will then drill small holes in the bottom of their boots and install pins. I then attach them to a balsa wood block so I can hold onto this while I paint the figures. It not only gives you a good grip, but now you can't muddle the paint job with your oily hands.

Here are some pics of work in progress (you can click on the pics to see pictures up close):

 The above MP40 was three pieces, and when put together is just a beatiful piece.

The balsa blocks I put together to use as holders for the figures. Notice after putting the knealing figure together I decided to keep the heads off for ease of painting.

Well that's all for now, until next time.

Cheers