Building 10 and the L Shaped Barn

It was a productive weekend despite some setbacks. First the setback, my printer is acting up again. I attempted to print both some windows and some fences over the weekend. What came out was a very thin sheet of resin on the print plate. I think that I will have to take it apart again and see if I can work on it.

I was able to prime and start painting several buildings. The two I bought from TableTop Terrain (the cafe and L shaped Barn) were primed as well as two German Jadgpanzer IVs and a 76mm Armed Sherman tank. Bringing these back inside, I started to paint. I did the roof on the L shaped barn and the roof on the model I am using for Building 10. I caught a bit of motivation and finished both off.

I am really happy with the Barn so far. Building 10 is having some roof issues.

The JadgPanzers have a base coat and some "DunkelGelb" on them. I need to figure out how I want to paint them. I painted the 76mm Sherman but it looks rather plain without some decals. I need to get some for both the Germans and the Shermans. I did not base any further infantry. That is still on my to do list, both Germand and US.

I am reviewing my trees. I am not entirely happy with how they are turning out. I need to figure something else out. The trees look more sugar frosted than snowy at this point. But overall, this is coming together.

Current State:

Singling Update

The town square of Singling is coming along well. There will be 13 buildings on the table for this setup in 15mm. Of the 13, five are completely done. Another five are in a partial state of at least 50% done. Of the remaining 3, I will need to buy 1 and can use existing files for the other two. I made a map previously showing what I have build overlayed on a map of the town. I updated this with the currrent state of the buildings.

The main need is a damaged rowhouse where troops can fire down upon the street below from a hole in the roof. As to the rest, I have some trees as mentioned before for orchards. Those should be done in the next few days. And the fences. I have some low stone walls that I can use for the garden near building 10. I need to print more walls for the ones near building 28. That should be easy. I gave 3d printed the dung pile that sits in the courtyard between buildings 8, 9 and 10. It needs to be primed and painted. I also have some windows to print for the School House as well.

I have ordered the last few LMG teams for the Germans. Both the Germans and Americans need basing. As to armor, this is where I have work to do. I have printed 2 German Jadgpanzer IVs. I would like to have at least 4 of these. I have some already painted Panther tanks. It would be good to have about 2 more. I have files to print them but I am hesitant given the issues I had with the US Tanks. For the American tanks, I need a couple different types. There are 75mm gunned, 76mm gunned and a single 105mm gunned Sherman. I printed two 76mm tanks. The problem here is the tab for the turret is too large for the hole in the hull. I have been sanding one down to attempt to get them to fit. I glued the treads to the hull as well. One of the treads has proven to be quite fragile. Of the 4 sets of treads that I printed, three have broken during cleanup. Disapointing but they do seem fragile.

I should be in position to start playtesting the scenarios fully in the next few weeks. I plan on making these available in both What a Tanker and Chain of Command versions. Honestly, WAT seems to make the most sense given the descriptions of how the battles went.

Reinforcements

I purchased a lot off of eBay of what I thought would be a full winter platoon of Germans. They were based for Flames of War. The painting was very nice and the miniatures looked great. I bought these because I needed to get three additional LMG teams for my Winter Panzer Grenadiers. What I ended up with was five stands of 4 riflemen and a single LMG team with two additional riflemen. Very disapointing. Unsure of what to do next, I reached back out to Gajo Miniatures who I bought my first painted platoon from. Gajo is fantastic. They said they will sell me just the LMG teams. Now I am just waiting on the invoice from Gajo. These I won't have to remove the base from and rebase individually. I should have gone with that to begin with. The miniatures I received are still really nice and I will find a use for them somewhere. Possibly for a mid war regular infantry platoon.

I also received a second eBay purchase that I am 100% happy with. This is a set of Plastruct tiles for the buildings. I can finish building 28 now. Once the roof tiles are complete, I still need to paint the roof and add some water stains/dirt to it. For a very simple 3d model I based off of the measurements on Google Earth, it is not too bad. I also need to make doors as well.

Based on the city description, I have, one of the dominant colors of the houses in Singling was pink. I chose this for the Warbases townhouse that I have built. The building is getting close at thsi point. The roof is fully built. I am currently trying to figure out the windows. I think I need a white technical pen to finish out the window frames. I used a gloss varnish on the windows to try to make the windows look better. I need to add some water stains on the building as well and paint the roof. But it is getting close.

I am still trying to work out a couple of more buildings for the scenario but I am getting close. I need somekind of apartment or rowhouse behind buildings 8 & 10 (Building 9). I have a really nice one from Sarissa that I have started to build. This will probably serve for this. And a ruined one for Building 12. The ruined one really just has roof damage that a bazooka team can use to engage the enemy armor from. I think I found a vendor from the UK that has what I want on eBay. I would have to make the damage sections myself. For Buildings 8 & 10, I have one 3d printed building that I have started work on. I have an old Impudent Mortal L shaped MDF building that I am looking at modifying to be the other building. The way the roof is shaped will take work to get it looking normal. I will need a chimney to add to it as well. I have not started on it yet.

Lastly, I have started to base my German Infantry. Basing is a chore that I don't like but has to be done. I have about 1/3rd of the German Infantry based. None of the Americans are based yet.

The trees that I worked on didn't work out too well. I used some PVA spray on the trees and sprinkled snow flock on them and it didn't look good. I am trying something else to see if that will work.

Over the weekend, I pushed through and finished off two buildings. Building 28 and the pink building that I haven't figured out where it will go.

German Armor For Singling

I managed to 3d print two JadgPanzer IVs. These are Bergman models downloaded from Wargaming3d. They printed really well. Very happy with the results.

The US 76mm Gunned Shermans that I printed are another story altogether. The parts printed really well. However, the tab on the turret that fits into the hole in the hull is way too big. I am not sure how to fix that. I may need to attempt to reduce it. I may cut that tab off with a band saw and see if I can find the right size wooden dowel to replace it with. If that works, I will be really happy.

I do have some other Shermans and some Panther tanks for the remaining American forces. These are painted and ready to go. I could use a couple more Panthers. I have not yet based any of the infantry. I just made an eBay purchase for some additional Germans to complete out the platoon with additional light machine gun teams.

I did begin to winterize some trees. I based about fifty of them and gave them a light spray of Gray paint. I will try to give them a brown wash next and lastly glue some snow flock on them. I think these will look great.

I did get to spackle the Warbases Townhouse and get some paint on Building 28. I also managed to order some additional roofing tiles. I am not sure if I have the right size but the price was OK and it should be close. For building 28, I only need the ridge tiles to complete the building.

With this done, my next concern will be how to simulate the hillside that the town is built on. The school was built on the side of the hill with the basement exposed on the back side of the building and completely underground on the front. I will need to figure out how to have the hill and the building together. I had originally 3d printed a lower to the building but it is a different size than the one I am scratch building. I will need to sort that out.

The hardest part of this is waiting in between steps.

Singling - The Orchard

In the first scenario of the campaign, there is an armored attack uphill through an orchard. All of my current trees that I have are summertime trees or late spring. I have a handful of fall trees. So I need a large orchard of winter trees.Looking through the bits box, I came up with fifty-eight Woodland Scenics armatures. These range from small trees barely bigger than the 15mm miniatures I have to about four inches tall. This should be a nice variety of sizes.

Now that they are bent into shape, I will need to decide on the basing. At this point, I am guessing that individually will probably be for the best. I will give them a light spray of gray paint and then a brown wash. This should make them look less plastic. Once this dries, I will use a spray adhesive and then sprinke them with some snow flock. We will see how that looks.

I also have to make two winter gardens. I have not figured out how I will do that yet. Anyway, it is progress.

Singling Progress - 4/6/2025

I did manage some hobby time over the weekend. I completed the roof on the Warbases Townhouse. I still have to plaster the building. I am not sure what else I will be doing to it yet. Nor what color to paint it.

Next, I was able to get some work done on the Building 28. I got the roof tiles on and have them taped down. I also put lintels above the doors and a shelf below each window. I have the ridge tiles cut for the roof but may not quite have enough. Will have to check. I also 3d printed some chimneys for the building. I didn't plan for the chimneys when I did the roof. This may cause me issues.

So where am I with this? Actually, I think I am more than half way done. Here is the setup with the buildings i have so far:

I am really onely missing one building. I plan on buying a rowhouse that will sit behind the L shaped buildings. There are some stone walls that I have that need to be added and I need to print some more fences for around building 28. These will be 3d printed. I am happy with the progress so far.

Singling Revisited 4/3/2025

I have run out of some needed items. First is some caulk and super glue. I ran out of both. I also ran out of gloves for the 3d printer.

Building 10 needs to have a crack repaired in the building. The caulk is needed for that. Building 28 needs roofing tiles and some work done on the windows and doors. It is largely spackled. I also need to add some chimneys. I made some basic ones in Tinkercad. I will add some brick paper once they are printed.

Hopefully, I can get more work done this weekend.