Flames of War, Open Fire painting progress.

Plenty of models to paint in this boxed set. Once all constructed I set about painted the German forces first, these were the paints I had easily at hand at and a colour scheme I have already been painting in current months. This was also the majority of models to be painted and a good chunk to finish first.

German forces - Open Fire

Allied forces - Open Fire

I have quickly discovered that painting these infantry in their full detail is comparable to painting a force of this many individuals in any scale. That is 85 models in this case. These plastics are very well detailed and contain far more accuracy and attention to details than many other larger scaled kits.

My first concern was whether to affix all models to the bases or not. I had seen all infantry affixed in a line to something else to ease painting. I decided to glue most of the models to the bases and only keep key models separate, those which severely hampered access to the other models on the base. This made handling and storing the models easily without much risk of losing individual men.

QUICK TIP: To affix the separate models to the bases temporarily I used Pritt Stick, simply applied to the bottom of the round base. This was secure enough for handling the infantry base and for most paint application. Even when dried the model can be easily lifted off. When ready, scrap of any excess and the model will stick done correctly with plastic glue as always.

Uniforms under way, two models not glued permanently.

Note, before starting any base colours I inked all models over a white undercoat, Devlan Mud naturally. This not only helped emphasize all details on the flat white model (I can not imagine trying to see these details on black) it also creates a subtle natural shadow for each colour applied afterwards.

Now with the base colours, listed below for comparison or anyone's interest. Camo patterns, mettalics and highlighting yet to come.

Infantry

Vallejo - German Fieldgrey : Uniform.
Foundry - Buff Leather Shade: Camo smocks/helmet covers, panzerfaust/schrecks.
Foundry - Deep Brown Leather Shade: Webbing, weapon straps, pouches, holsters, boots .
Foundry - Butter Fudge: Skin.
Vallejo - German Camo, Drak Green: Helmets, gasmask canister.
Vallejo - Flat Earth: Flask cover.
Vallejo - German Camo, Beige: Bread bag, ankle wraps.
Foundry - Bay Brown: (All wood) Weapon stocks, trenching tool/stick grenade handles.
Vallejo - Black Grey: (All metals & misc) Rifles barrels, pistols, machine guns, grenades, spade, flask top, ammo boxes, Officers jack boots, binoculars, radio.

Stug's & PaK40's

1) Foundry - Bay Brown
2) Foundry - Deep Brown Leather Shade: Heavily dry brushed

Flames of War, Open Fire, Sherman fixes.

Battlefronts' Flames of War - Open Fire boxed set is quite an awesome box of toys. However currently there are a couple of awkward problems with the construction of the allied Shermans included in this set, as any who have tried to build them has attested on many forums.

But these problems can be fixed relatively easily. At least the models from my box were fixed like this, I hope that it is helpful for all.

Lets start with the main issue. The right hand track piece on every Sherman tank will be crooked, resulting in a tank that leans at best (If you glue and physically vice grip the model in your hands in two places until securely welded) and has ugly gaps in many places. Never fear with one easy step this can all be resolved!

Here we have the 4 main components, we will only need to fix the left most piece shown here.

To fix simple cut away the part shown. Ultimately this will not hamper the construction, you can leave a cm of the front portion to ensure a solid model.

Easy as that. This tab/shelf sits on (and can be glued to) the top edge of the lower hull component, but it angles downwards by a fraction at the rear of the model. When the components are put together this will very firmly push all other pieces out of alignment. Thankfully, with this removed the models fit together perfectly!

Before

After

Wham, bam, Shermann. 6 new top notch and squared up Sherman hulls built in minutes.

One other small problem involves the Turret magnet placement for the Sherman Firefly, this is a far smaller issue and readily fixed in many manners. I wanted a nice secure housing for the magnet to be glued in. The remedy was found on the sprue themselves. The regular Sherman open hatch piece will fit the magnet almost perfectly inside. So I clipped off the hatches, sat the magnet inside and filed down the top of the hatch. This can be a little work, unless you have a decent side file at hand (working the fiddly piece against the file will be considerably easier than visa versa).

Completing construction of the magnetized turret at this point involves a number of careful and patient steps.

1) Super glue the magnets into the housing as shown above and into the turret. (obviously with the correct polarities for affixing turret to hull)
2) Allow time to dry securely. (Dependant on your Super glue)
3)When dry, let the magnets snap together and cover the bottom of the hatch piece with plastic glue.
4) Place the turret firmly and squarely into position.
5) Allow time to dry securely. (This time will be the welding of plastic so I would leave for 20-30 minutes)

These step will ensure the turret is level and perfectly placed. Simply gluing the hatch piece to the hull can inevitably result in wonky turrets.

On last general construction tip (This may already be a standard method, but seems fitting to add it here).
After avoiding wonky turrets, its time to avoid wonky barrels. I initially found gluing the barrels for the Shermans rather tricky, especially if you try to glue these to the turret with the mantlet attached. So the last quick tip is gluing the barrel to the outer mantlet separately while it is flat on the desk/cutting mat as shown below. This allows the barrels to be placed firmly and as straight as can be. Once all dry fixing this to the turret is a doddle.

A wild doddle appears!

Stug Fodder.