Hammer's Slammers Week - Day 7 - Jeeps

Day 7 - Jeeps


The 2 tonne A21 GEV jeep is a plastic-bodied, rubber/fabric skirted vehicle that the Slammers use for infantry support.  I ordered a couple of packs and Jez kindly threw in a couple of mortar jeeps too.  All have benefited from lots of extra stowage.  I was surprised to find that the jeeps are moulded with the crew in place.  There was a little extra cleaning up required around the crewmen but the rrsin that Old Crow use is very easy to trim away and it only took a minute or two for each jeep.  The gun jeeps come with tribarrels to attach, the cargo jeep has a small package of cargo to stick in the back and the mortar jeep is a single piece casting.

Gun jeeps

Lots of stowage in the back of my gun jeeps.  Brigade Models jerry cans and stowage boxes, hand sculpted tarpaulins, The Scene LAW (buzzbomb launcher for the Slammers).

Gun jeep stowage

Being plastic bodied, there is no reason for the jeeps to be silver like the big iridium armoured Combat Cars and blowers but I've painted them to match anyway, as in the Slammers rulebook.

Gun jeep stowage

 The gun jeeps act as fire support for infantry on their skimmers.

Gun jeep with infantry skimmers

 More extra stowage in the cargo jeeps with Brigade Models jerry cans and stowage boxes and some hand sculpted tarpaulins.

Cargo jeeps

 These were easier to clean up than the gun jeeps because there is only 1 crew member!

Cargo jeep stowage detail

Decals were easy to apply to the large flat sides of the jeeps, though tight trimming of the carrier film was necessary to ensure it didn't overlap the edges.

Cargo jeeps

One of my mortar jeeps still needs a little work - there was an air bubble in the end of the mortar tube so I need to rebuild it when I get an appropriate bit of tubing.

Mortar jeeps

Less stowage in the mortar jeeps but I added some extra ammo crates and a tarpaulin.

Mortar jeep stowage detail

So that's the end of Hammer's Slammers week.  Hopefully I might manage to keep posting a little more regularly for the remainder of the year!  Maybe I'll even manage to fit in another game or two.

End of Hammer's Slammers week...

Coming soon... Action Force - Red Shadows, Z Force and SAS Force...

Hammer's Slammers Week - Day 6 - Support Vehicles

Day 6 - Support Vehicles

The Old Crow Slingshot GEV is acting as a command and control vehicle for my Hog battery.

I've added lots of extra stowage to this one including a couple of tarpaulins, The Scene ammo boxes, Brigade Models jerry cans and various grab rails.

As with the other vehicles, this has a metalcote base coat and reflective green skirts.  No replacement panels here - these are flexible skirts rather than the steel skirts you get on a Combat Car or a blower tank.  A Pledge/black ink wash finishes it off.

 This vehicle has large flat areas that make it easy to apply the decals!

 For extra ammunition transport for the Hog, plus any general spares required by my Slammers, this GEV truck will be useful.

 Not many additions to this one, just a few grab rails and a jerry can.

 The stack of crates is removable so I can change the load as required for a scenario, or even use it to carry a few troops in an emergency.

I realised while taking these photographs that I haven't added the top hatch!  I must dig that out of my spares box, or perhaps try a small turret.

Hammer's Slammers Week - Day 5 - Cargo Car

Day 5 - Cargo Car

The M9A10 Cargo Car is essentially just a cut-down Combat Car.  Mine will help transport extra ammunition for the Hog.

Like the Command Car, this is another single casting.  I've added some guard rails down the side and a small tarpaulin to upgrade it from the basic model.

Some of the Hog crew might want to ride in the open Cargo Car instead of cooped up in their turret between fire missions.

Hammer's Slammers Week - Day 4 - Command Car

Day 4 - Command Car

Next up we have the M9A4 Command Car.  A very basic kit, just a single resin casting for the entire vehicle!  As usual, I've added a bit of stowage in the form of a Brigade Models jerry can, hand-sculpted tarpaulin and a small block of Old Crow stowage on the roof.

Command Car.

It came with a tribarrel to mount on the roof, I haven't decided whether to add it or not.  If I do, it will be a simple matter to drill a small hole and drop it into place.  The Old Crow resin is a pleasure to work with, very easy to drill and clean up.

View of rear door/entrance ramp.

Painting was the same as the Combat Car.  The ventilation grills received a blob of matt black which was quickly wiped off, leaving extra shadows between the slats.  The sensor domes also had a coat of matt black.

I have a couple of Command Cars, the second of which will be painted as a medical vehicle.

Hammer's Slammers Week - Day 3 - Blower tank

Day 3 - Blower tank

The M2A1 Blower tank is the signature vehicle of the Slammers.  I should have looked more closely before I bought these - I hadn't realise they came with moulded-on stowage baskets so I ordered far more etched brass stowage sets than I needed from Ainsty Castings!

Blower tank

 The blower was quick and easy to assemble and paint.  It still needs its tribarrel adding, I mislaid this during assembly but it has just turned up again!  I added a couple of extra tarpaulins and an ammo box to the stowage basket.  There were a few small bubbles here and some of the basket mesh was missing but this was easily covered up with my additions.

Rear view

Painting is as the Combat Car, metalcote polished aluminium hull, reflective green skirts, Pledge/black ink wash.

Side view

I know that Ainsty do a larger blower which is closer to the size needed for a 170 ton beast like this but I'm happy with the Old Crow ones, which at £4.50 each are really good value.

Turret/stowage detail

I have 7 more of these to assemble, 5 standard tanks and 2 command tanks.

Hammer's Slammers Week - Day 2 - Hog

 Day 2 - Hog

I really like this kit, in fact I prefer it to the blower tank.  It has a satisfyingly chunky shape with plenty of places you can add detail.  The M53A1 mounts a rocket howitzer in the turret and carries a tribarrel for local defence.

Hog artillery vehicle

I did a fair bit of work on this one, adding grab rails/handles to all the rear hatches, a small pack of personal belongings on the back of the turret, Old Crow stowage on the turret roof along with a hand sculpted tarpaulin, plus some Brigade jerry cans on the back of the hull.

Hog artillery vehicle - tribarrel for air defence.

Having tried metalcote on the Combat Car, I used a different paint on this one, an old pot of Airfix silver enamel which came from my brother-in-law's old modelling box from the 1970s.  Still looks pretty good to me!  A coat of Pledge gave a good base for applying the decals, lots of decal softener was needed on the side of the turret to get that one to conform to the bulge of the hatch mounting.

Rear view - note stowage and grab rails.

The plenum chamber skirts were painted the same as those on the Combat Car and all the stowage received a wash of black ink.  A blob of matt black was daubed around the muzzle of the rocket howitzer then mostly wiped away, leaving a suitably sooty look.

Hammer's Slammers Week - Day 1 - Combat Car

I received the Hammer's Slammers: The Crucible rule book for Christmas in 2013.  Although I've only managed to play 1 game so far, (Tomorrow's War being my usual choice, despite its drawbacks), I quite enjoyed it and I'd like to play some more.  To this end, I've obtained some of the Old Crow Hammer's Slammers range.  Having a baby last year has severely reduced my time for painting, gaming and blogging (hence the months between posts this last year and a half) but I'm gradually getting back into the swing of things...

I've painted my first batch of Slammers vehicles to try various techniques and I'm pretty pleased with the results so far.  So without further ado, I present Hammer's Slammers Week!

Day 1 - Combat Car

Anyone who has read the Slammers books will be familiar with the M9A1 Combat Car.  This is a lovely little kit, a resin body with metal crew and tribarrels, plus an etched brass splinter shield to protect the fighting compartment.  The legs on the splinter shield seem slightly too wide/long for the body of the vehicle but this isn't a major problem, you just need to flex them slightly as you assemble the kit.  I drilled fairly deep holes for the legs to make sure it's a firm fit.  I left the crew and splinter shield off so they could be painted individually.  Some Brigade Models jerry cans were added to the back and I carved some footholds up the side of the vehicle for access to the fighting compartment.  I still need to add the stowage to the top of the splinter shield, hence the grey undercoat still showing there.  An Ainsty Castings etched brass control panel was glued inside the fighting compartment.

Combat Car.

After a spray of grey Wilko undercoat, the vehicle received a base coat of Humbrol metalcote polished aluminium.  Being metalcote, it's designed to be polished after it has dried, giving a lovely metallic sheen.  I gave it a coat of pledge floor polish afterwards to seal it and avoid leaving any fingerprints during later stages of painting.  I wasn't sure how well this would work but it seems to be fine, the polish coated without any difficulty and has prevented any more of the silvery coating coming off on my fingers.  The skirts around the plenum chamber were painted Vallejo Reflective green, with a few replacement panels picked out in Luftwaffe Camouflage green and Stonewall grey.  The inside of the fighting compartment was painted brown to start, then dabbed with red/brown to give a rusty appearance, finally drybrushed with silver to show wear.

Combat Car - note steps on left side and replacement skirt panels.

Next was a 50/50 wash of Vallejo black ink and Pledge which was applied generously over the whole vehicle.  This gave a good base for applying some decals.  As well as the etched stowage baskets from Ainsty, I ordered some Hammer's Slammers decals.  These are lovely quality, I trimmed very closely around them to minimise the amount of carrier film, then tried out my new bottle of Vallejo Decal softener.  I'm extremely happy with the result, they conform well to the curving shape of the Combat Car's hull.  After 24 hours to dry, a couple of coats of Pledge sealed the decals in place.

Fighting compartment detail.

Given that a Combat Car has steel skirts, I gave them a drybrush of Humbrol 160 German camouflage red/brown with a few patches of 100 red/brown for a nice rusty effect.  A further drybrush of GW chainmail gives a good impression of the sort of wear they've been getting.

Ainsty control panel, fighting compartment detail.

The crew were painted using the same colours that I used on the Slammers troops I painted for the GZG web page, Vallejo brown fatigues with Humbrol 86 light olive body armour and helmets, followed by a sepia wash.

I'm pleased with the result, so I'd better get a move on and finish the other four!