Alternative Paints for Larger Projects

There are two groups of friends that I game with; Bwana Bill, his son, Karl the MekMeister, and a few other friends, and Consul Scipio, his son, the Black Knight, and other assorted friends.

So far these two groups have been on relatively divergent paths gaming-wise. Lately, as I have mentioned, both groups are now focused on battles in World War II, in the North African desert.

As our little groups begin to blend interests, we are finding more and more common ground in the hobby.

We are pretty much involved in 15mm and in 25mm models and figures.

When painting smaller figures, many of us have found the Vallejo "Model Color" to be accurate, and quite sufficient of portion to do the job.

However, we are finding that using those little eye-dropper bottles can become quite expensive, when painting larger figures and models - especially armored vehicles!

As the ladies in our lives lead us about on shopping tours, we usually keep a weather eye out for anything that may be useful in wargaming. My wife loves to visit Michaels hobby stores, both for supplies for her own hobby interests, and to obtain supplies for school projects. I like Michaels too! Pssst! Wargamers secret: In the Seasonal Decorations section you can find trees that are extremely useful for 25mm gaming - and sometimes walls or entire houses!

In the paint section, I have discovered Apple Barrel, and in particular, one color that works very nicely for German WWII desert vehicles and equipment! The color is "Country Tan". I have used this color in the past for painting WWI Australian troops - and it works a charm!

Our own Bwana Bill has also discovered a color that can replace the more expensive, smaller bottles of acrylic paint: Americana "Desert Sand" - how appropriate!?

These paints, both the Plaid and Americana, usually cost between $1.00 and $2.00 U.S.

So as the economies of Nation's round the world continue to mimic the last movement of the SS Titanic, and our wargaming budgets dwindle, we encourage our loyal readers to examine less expensive alternatives for paints, flocking, scratch building materials, and perhaps even models! And do share what you find here, and we'll help you spread the word!