Itty bitty tanks

I recently picked up a copy of Memoir '44. It's a simple skirmish game with fun little miniatures. While the game components are pretty nice, I decided to paint a few replacements from GHQ.

Here's a shot of the Churchill Mk VII:

Finishing these little guys is a snap. Although there are numerous steps, they're quite easy and lend themselves well to painting models en masse:

Prime with a grey automotive spray.

For the base color, airbrush a 3:1 mix of Tamiya XF-62 Olive Drab and XF-59 Desert Yellow.

Highlight by airbrushing Tamiya XF-4 Yellow Green.

Seal with a gloss lacquer.

Spot wash with a 1:1 mix of black and burnt umber enamels.

Lightly drybrush with artists oils. I chose a light khaki color.

Using artists oils, blend black and grey on the muzzles.

Seal again with a gloss lacquer and then flat lacquer.

I also painted the tracks grey and picked out the details using the spot wash. Even though it's hard to see, I wouldn't choose those colors again. Next time, I think I'll substitute a dark brown for the grey and follow-up with a drybrush of orange-brown to imitate rust.

At a scale of 1/285, the tanks are tiny (about 15 mm in length). I suppose you could paint additional details, but it would be a struggle.

A minor quibble of GHQ models is mold seams. On the Churchill, you can see the seams on the turrets and somewhat on the sides just above the wheels. Unfortunately, it's impossible to remove this casting defect without destroying the terrific details. I've observed this to some extent on nearly every GHQ model I've purchased. Honestly, at such a small scale, I don't know how GHQ could minimize it further - just a fact of life I suppose. Once the models are painted, you look past it anyway and forget the seems are even there.