Painting 20mm 1940 BEF

1940 BEF Rifleman

With my French forces painted, I wanted another force to face the Germans and of course the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) seemed like a natural choice, especially as I wanted to run the Many Rivers to Cross PSC with them.

I had backed the Studio Historia Kickstarter For King & Country: Britain at War Vol 1 BEF (1939-1941) so I had the models I needed. I recommend these models but printing at 20mm presented its own challenges as some of the modelling is a little over detailed resulting in some very thin parts of the model in 20mm. I replaced the rifles to get rid of the flimsy rifle straps, thicken up the bits I needed to print and spent way too long trying to get the damned Norton motorcycle squad to print (a personal nightmare). I also edited a lot of the STLs to make them standing and more to my liking, all in all these models took a lot of tweaking.

My required list to play the PSC and also permit me to fill out most of the Support List with is:

Basic 1940 Regulation Platoon

• Senior Leader or two and a Platoon Sergeant
• 4 sections each of Junior Leader, 3 man Bren LMG, 7 riflemen (I will probably do extra rifle men as well)
• 2 x 2" mortar team with three crew
• 2 x Boys Anti-Tank rifle teams of 2 men 
• Medical Orderly
• Engineer Teams 
• Thompson SMG options for Leaders
• Sniper Team
• "1 pounder" 25mm Anti-Tank gun (I can use the French one for this from Colonel Muller)
• Engineer Section (a throw back to the v1 rules, a Junior Leader and two three man engineer teams (no flamethrower in 1940) and can be equipped with Explosive Charges from the Support List.
• Vickers MMG
• 2 pounder Anti-Tank gun
• Forward Observer for fun

Of course any 1940 BEF force had lots of Blanco, in fact Blanco No.97 Khaki Green (Medium) is the Blanco of choice. The standout feature of these early war troops is their green webbing and I wanted to try and get it right if I can.

Painting Guide

Largely based on the excellent Painting Panzer's guide... 

with a few tweaks by me:

• Undercoat with 70.601 Vallejo Grey Primer.

• Paint uniform with 70.921 English Uniform.

• Paint the skin using 70.815 Basic Skin Tone and then apply two washes of ArmyPainter Quickshade Flesh Wash to bring it to life.

• Gas mask bag on chest, helmet chin straps and any rifle straps 70.988 Khaki

• Blanco webbing, water bottle straps, backpack, shovel case and gaiters in 70.924 Russian Uniform WWII.

• Water bottle body in 70.880 Khaki Grey

• Rifle woodwork and small bedroll in backpack with 70.875 Beige Brown.

• Bayonet, rifle metalwork and boots with 70.862 Black Grey.

• Helmet and Gas Cape with 70.887 US Olive Drab.

• Officer belts, straps and pouches in 70.846 Mahogany Brown

• Officer "cavalry" trousers in 70.988 Khaki

At this point all the dull stuff is done and you will feel disappointed that it all looks a bit pants - time for the wonder of washes!

Give it a wash of 50% Army Painter Strong Tone all over thinned with of 50% Vallejo 71.361 Airbrush Thinner. I usually do two washes as sometimes just one wash isn't strong enough for my liking but each to their own.

Now to the fun stuff that makes the figure really shine. When highlighting I basically repaint back with the original colour and then a highlight colour diluted down so it isn't too strong , some people mix paints but I am too lazy and just dilute with a dab of thinner.

• Highlight uniform with 70.921 English Uniform and then further highlight with 70.824 German Camo Orange Ochre.

• Highlight the Blanco with 70.924 Russian Uniform WWII, and then 70.891 Intermediate Green and then final touches with 70.885 Pastel Green. I found this really makes the early war webbing pop in a lovely limey green.

• Gas mask bag, helmet chin straps and rifle straps with 70.988 Khaki, then highlight with 70.884 Stone Grey

• Water bottle body with just 70.880 Khaki Grey

• Rifle woodwork and small bedroll in backpack with 70.875 Beige Brown and then further highlight with 70.843 Cork Brown

• Helmet and Gas Cape with 70.887 US Olive Drab and then on the helmet a dry brushing of 70.891 Intermediate Green

• Highlight noses, cheekbones and knuckles using 70.815 Basic Skin Tone.

• Officer belts, straps and pouches retouch in 70.846 Mahogany Brown and then highlight with 70.818 Red Leather

• Officer "cavalry" trousers in 70.988 Khaki and then highlight with 70.884 Stone Grey

Cpt. Cholmondley-Warner is judging your painting!

To help identify figures on the table, I have gone for painting edges of the bases 

• Senior Leader in dark red

• Junior Leader in orange

• Bren gun teams in grey

• Riflemen in plain black

Section almost finished with just the basing left to do

I hope you have enjoyed this guide and happy painting the sea of beige and khaki!

I will post some more pictures later of more finished figures.

1940 French Platoon Gallery

I had the opportunity to get someone who knows the right end of a camera from the wrong end to take a few photos of my 1940 Frenchies. I must say I am very pleased with the outcome!

 

French War Memorial

With the upcoming "Come and 'ave a go if you think you're LARD enough 2026" but a few short months away, I think it is time to start churning out some terrain (as well as finishing the forces as well).

Feeling slightly burnt out from painting a sea of brown uniforms, I thought I would spend a morning putting together a First World War memorial for my Battle of Biville-la-Baignarde scenario I will be running. 

I wanted a small provincial war memorial, fitting for a small village like Biville-la-Baignarde and Google shows the actual item:

Now this posed a challenge as I couldn't find a figure like that anywhere so I decided to make a suitably French war memorial. I wanted an angel or similar female figure and after much searching found a female figure actually used on a real war memorial in Fulham & Hammersmith. With the figure found I wanted a nice plinth and recalled seeing one in the excellent Eskice's collection. My plan was to use the angel instead of Eskice's figure and change the base about as well.

With a little editing and fiddling (and resizing to 20mm) with I had the components I needed to print.

Print plate all set up

Once printed (and the sword was so fine I had to print several replacement parts and fix them afterwards), it was time to assemble and crack on with painting this. All paints are Vallejo by the way.

I wanted a nice aged bronze figure, so started with a coat of GC 72.058 Brassy Brass.

Very brassy indeed, this will need toning down

To begin to tone this down, next a wash of Agrax Earthshade to add some tones.

Agraxed!

But still too bronze, so time to add some age. A very dilute wash of VMC 70.969 Park Green Flat to add some real texture and age.

Looking much better

Finally another dilute wash of 50% VMC 70.969 and VMC 72.023 Electric Blue to make a turquoise wash to blend in nicely. Once this was done a dry brush of original GC 72.058 Brassy Brass and then a final highlight with VMC 70.801 Brass, an voila!

Now to finish the base and pretty much done. I just need to varnish her and she can go on to the table for  the Battle of Biville. Very pleased with a Sunday mornings work.

A few closeups of the statue first before the final finished item.

Finished War Memorial

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed painting it.

Painting 20mm 1940 French

And so the pile of grey resin printed shame must be addressed...

First thing was clearing my painting desk (which is why my missus calls me "Captain Chaos") and just having the paints and brushes I need in front of me.

There are a few colour photos taken in Dunkirk by a German photographer Weper Hermann of 13 German Mobile Assault Unit that included French troops here, here and here. Given the passage of time, these give the uniforms quite a brown tinge, and I also noticed different colour belts and boots too. I will try and add in this variety to the squad.

I am going to focus on the core infantry platoon first, so three squads, V-B squad and senior leaders.

Starting out, I base the figures on 20mm metal washers (that will stick to a magnetic sheet) and supplement with a magnet that fits int he base to increase magnetic stickiness (that's a word I think?).

Next undercoating using Vallejo Grey Primer and applying it with a cheap Temu airbrush that is just about up to the job. I prefer a lighter primer as it makes the resulting paint job brighter on the table top.

Sonic Sledgehammer video is the basis of what I am attempting to do, I like using washes but not in a speed painter style and this one looks pretty much perfect.

So what follows is from Sonic's video with a few tweaks by me to totally convert the paints used to Vallejo:

• Undercoat with 70.601 Vallejo Grey Primer.
• Paint uniform with 70.921 English Uniform and then a very heavy dry-brush with 70.879 Green Brown.
• Paint the skin using 70.815 Basic Skin Tone and then apply two washes of ArmyPainter Quickshade Flesh Wash to bring it to life.
• Main backpack 70.824 German Camouflage Orange Ochre.
• Leather belt, ammo pouches and belt chest 'suspenders' in 70.846 Mahogany Brown plus edges of backpack leathery bits also the chin strap.
• Small bags, water bottle and strap across the chest in 70.821 German Camo Beige
• Rifle woodwork with 70.875 Beige Brown.
• Boots with 70.984 Flat Brown or 70.875 Beige Brown or 70.846 Mahogany Brown.
• Adrian Helmet with 70.888 Olive Grey
• Rifle metalwork base with 70.862 Black Grey.
• Buttons with 70.863 Gunmetal Grey.

At this point all the dull stuff is done and time to feel that your figure doesn't look like a two year old has painted it - the magic of washes!

Give it a wash of Army Painter Strong Tone all over thinned with a drop of Vallejo 71.361 Airbrush Thinner. I usually do a couple of washes as sometimes just one wash isn't strong enough for my liking. 

Figure with all basic colours applied and first washes completed

Suddenly the figure looks like something you would be happy to put on the table! Now to sex it up a little.

Now on to the highlighting (usually a 2 stage process with the original colour and then additional highlight):

• Highlight the uniform with first 70.879 Green Brown with a drop of Airbursh thinner, and then highlight with 70.988 Khaki.
• Now highlight main backpack with 70.824 German Camouflage Orange Ochre and then 70.847 Dark Sand.
• Highlight the leather belt, straps and backpack edging with 70.846 Mahogany Brown land then with 70.818 Red Leather.
• Pick out the rifle metalwork with 70.863 Gunmetal Grey.
• Highlight flesh with 70.815 Basic Skin Tone.
• Highlight small bags, water bottle and strap across the chest with 70.821 German Camo Beige.
• Highlight helmet with 70.888 Olive Grey and then 70.922 Uniform Green. Pick out the helmet rims with 70.863 Gunmetal Grey if you wish in a few places.
• Highlight rifle woodwork with 70.843 Cork Brown.
  

I must say I am pretty pleased with the result, and so a few pictures of the first squad...

Hope you have found this painting guide helpful and I am off to get a better camera and learn how lighting works...