Big Spanish Civil War Project Part 8: Moroccan Regulares and the Casa Blanca

 This week I painted the Moroccans - the last full company needed for the project! They weren't as hard to paint as I had expected, but I ran into some interesting challenges when painting their skin. My approach to painting dark skin tones is usually to mix in white skin colours as highlights. The yellow and red pigments in these paints help to make the skin look more realistic and alive. I've found that GW's Reikland Fleshshade wash is really good for achieving this effect on a wide range of skin colours.

The whole group 

Rifle squads

The Command Base. 

I also painted a Spanish hacienda house, which will represent the Casa Blanca or "White House" which was defended by the XV Internationals at Jarama. It's another 3D print. I have another copy of this model which didn't print correctly, so I'm making it into a ruin. During the actual battle the house was bombed by a Republican plane, and the scenario I'm aiming for allows for this to happen. 

In case you haven't noticed, the roof of the house was cobbled together from bits of MDF and cardboard, as it didn't print correctly! It was a lot of fun to make. The model was painted with acrylics, and oils were used to add shading. 

I'm now working on the last squad of POUM Militia. They will be the final infantry for the project. After that I'll paint a Nationalist plane and some command staff, and that will conclude all the miniatures needed for the game. Terrain will be the next priority. 

It feels great to have gotten this far. I was doubtful if I could do everything in this project at the start, as I've never painted both sides of a conflict before, and normally only painting very small groups. I'm looking forward to finishing off the whole thing! 

Big Spanish Civil War Project Part 7: The Legion, Republican Trucks and POUM

 I made a lot of progress on the project this week. I finished the Foreign Legion company and got some Republicans done too. The Legion were quite a challenge, and I ended up painting their uniforms a few times over before I was happy with them. It was fairly frustrating at times. I'm happy to have them done, as they'll be very useful in many different battles of the Civil War.

Squad 1. There is a broken stone cross on the officer's base. 

Squad 2. The barbed wire was made of guitar string wrapping spun in a drill. 

Squad 3

Foreign Legion Company Command. The flag was hand painted using my usual method 

Company Command for my company of standard Nationalist Infantry. 

I also finished two Soviet trucks this week. They are resin 3D prints, part of the payment I received for a commission. They'll be used to transport Republican ammunition in the Jarama scenario. 

I painted the second squad/ platoon of POUM militia next. I'm doing them in between other units to keep myself motivated, as I really enjoy painting "irregular" troops. I can paint them as individual characters, even in 15mm, and I don't need to worry about the accuracy of their uniforms! 

Standard rifle base

Command base

LMG base

I painted a Schneider CA1 tank to go along with the POUM. It's not part of the Jarama scenario, but I've wanted to paint one ever since I saw this picture :

Spain bought several CA1s from France after World War One, and they were used by the Army of Africa in the Rif War. A few were in Republican hands at the start of the Civil War. A pair of CA1s were used against the Alcazar at Toledo by the JSU (Socialist Youth). I'm not sure where the one on the picture was used. The graffiti seems to show that its crew came from several different ideologies, with the POUM (revolutionary Marxist) , CNT (anarchist) and UHP (trade union) represented. 

The tank was another resin print. I added a lot of extra details with Milliput, guitar string and high-quality homemade photoetch (aluminium cut from a Coke can I found by the road). These included a man hold cover which was welded to the front as additional armour. 

I weathered the tank with a fairly heavy oil dot filter to give it a grimy look. It was a really fun model to build and paint. 

Project Checklist as of this post:

Republicans 

Infantry

XV International Brigade 

POUM Militia (2 squads done, 1 to go)

Vehicles and Transports

T-26

Polikarpov I-15

2 donkeys

2 trucks

Nationalists 

Infantry 

Foreign Legion

Moroccan Regulares 

Nationalist Infantry (extra) 

Vehicles and Transports

2 Panzer Is

Captured T-26

Heinkel HE-51

Big Spanish Civil War Project Part 6: Donkeys, Barricades and a Tank

 A few random bits I finished for my SCW Project.

First up is this captured T-26. It's a 3D print, and I received it as part of payment for a commission I did. I'm really impressed by the quality of these files. They're extremely accurate to the real vehicles. They're available here for free. It's a really good range of interwar and World War 2 vehicles. 

I replaced the handles and machine guns with pieces of old guitar string. The turret isn't correct for the Spanish Civil War but it's fine for me.

This was a lot of fun to paint. I always enjoy weathering tanks with oil paints.

Next up are two donkeys. "A World Aflame" places a lot of emphasis on keeping units in supply, and so this pair will be important. Again they are resin 3d prints.

Finally, two barricades, a very common terrain element in the Spanish Civil War. They were made from bits and pieces I had lying around. The sandbags were made with Milliput using TheTerrainTutor's mass production method. The stones are pieces of gravel I picked up outside. I made the wooden supports from burnt out matchsticks. Everything was stuck together with cheap epoxy.

I have a company of Spanish Foreign Legion on my painting table at the moment, so I hope they'll be the subject of my next post in this series. I had thought that they'd be the hardest unit to paint at the start of the project, and it seems my suspicions are being proven correct! I'll be glad when they're done, though, as they'll add a lot of colour to the table.

Still left to do in this project are:

Republicans

2 squads of POUM Militia

2 Soviet trucks

Nationalists

3 squads of Foreign Legion (almost done)

3 squads of Regulares

Possibly an aeroplane

Terrain

Trees

Roads

The "White House"

Rough and rocky ground

Big Spanish Civil War Project Part 5: Milicianas

When people think of the Spanish Civil War, milicianas must surely be one of the most common images that come to mind. On the outbreak of the Nationalist rebellion, thousands of women in Republican Spain took up arms as members of trade union and party militias. Despite the Republic's reputation for being progressive, milicianas faced opposition from their leadership. They were mostly confined to special units, and efforts were made to move them away from the fronts as soon as possible.

The A World Aflame Jarama scenario I'm working towards requires some militia. I chose to paint these as belonging to the POUM (Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista). George Orwell fought with this party, and documented his experiences in "Homage to Catalonia". 

The POUM was completely opposed to Stalinist Russia. As the USSR was the only major power supporting the Spanish Republic, the party was seen by some as a threat to the unity of the Republic. During the "May Days" of 1937, the POUM and the anarchists came into open conflict with The Republic. Many political intrigues followed, resulting in the repression of the party. 

The whole squad/platoon (depending on ruleset). By the time of the battle at Jarama, I highly doubt militia still wore civilian clothes! Still, I like the look and it could give me the freedom to use them for other parties, as they aren't tied to a specific uniform. 

Unfortunately Peter Pig don't make female command,  so I had to use the chap in the beret instead. 

 ¡A las barricadas! 

This base was a lot of fun to make. I just epoxied some gravel together. The sandbags were made using TheTerrainTutor's mass production method. 

I never want to paint dots in 15mm ever again! 

A command stand for the whole company.

At the start of this project, I bought a Really Useful Box and magnetised it. It's really fun to see it slowly filling up! I made a second layer for this box, but I'm still not sure if it will be enough to hold the entire project! 

Big Spanish Civil War Project Part 4: Nationalist Infantry

 Just finished most of a Nationalist Infantry Company. They haven't got a command stand or individually based officers yet.

I've had a few problems with this part of the project. I had intended to paint a company of Foreign Legion for the "A World Aflame" Jarama scenario, but bought the wrong models. I suppose these will give me more flexibility in the games I play in future - I'm not going to stop as soon as I've done the Jarama game.

The uniforms took me three tries to get the right shade. Frustrating, but I'm happy with them now. 

Another use for these guys could be as the Irish Brigade , made up of volunteers from the Blueshirts (arguably a Fascist, or Fascist - influenced organisation). They're often said to be the only army in history that "returned with more soldiers than when they left". Their discipline was very poor, and the Nationalists sent them home during the Battle of Jarama without actually seeing combat. It would make an interesting "what if" game to have them face the Irish International Brigade volunteers, much as they had done in the Dublin street fights some years prior. 

Some secondary sources show them as wearing the same olive green coats as other Nationalist Infantry. Some photos from the time show them wearing darker uniforms, though. I'm going to make an extra command stand for this company to allow me to "morph" them.

Group photo of the rifles.

Each group of 3 bases can be a squad or platoon depending on the ruleset. 

I've tried to go with more of a scenic look for these bases, hence the sandbags. I made them using TheTerrainTutor's sandbag maker.

Two LMG teams and some individuals. 

The lad carrying the boxes is going to be a "Runner" in A World Aflame. He'll bring orders from HQ to individual units. The officer on the right will likely be a PO in Crossfire.