Battle of the Bulge (BA)

 

 

Finally got back to the hobby after a break — this time working on the BA Battle of the Bulge set. Here’s how it went. 

 

I’m quite sure that in my last hobby package (sent to my old address) there was also the BA Battle of the Bulge box.
But just because something arrives doesn’t mean it’s first in line for painting… The sprues stayed untouched for months, still like new, apart from a bit of shifting things around in the box. What I can’t figure out is how everything I take out never seems to fit back in—like it somehow grows once it’s out in the open :)

After moving, I set up a hobby room of almost 2 square meters, bought a balcony table, and waited for the weather to improve. One chilly morning, I finally sat down and picked up the hobby again. Once more, I’m trying to bring a bit of history to life by assembling and painting minis.
For at least a year (or maybe two), I’ve been starting the same way: black primer, white drybrush… and then just following wherever creativity leads :)

This time I used last year’s Speedpaints. Since they’re not really intended for WWII, I had to do quite a bit of mixing and experimenting. In the end, I also needed some regular paints to make it all look right, so there were touch-ups here and there. Still, I was happy with the speed. In the meantime, during those months without painting, I had to start wearing glasses… Probably the “fault” of moving—20+ km east and suddenly worse eyesight. Definitely not because of age ;)

I left the ruins and the armored vehicle for the end.
Why the M20 instead of the M8? Because I already had the M8 from before.
The bases were kept simple—just a little snow on the grass and that’s it.
I know the US helmets and gloves turned out too bright and really catch the eye; maybe I’ll fix that one day. The winter coats were also too red at first, so I weathered, repainted, and adjusted them several times…
The box itself is very nice, with enough models to keep you busy assembling and painting for a whole month of weekends. It would be great if every starter didn’t always include the same terrain pieces, so there’d be more variety—but that would raise the price, and then there would be complaints again…

Here are a few photos to finish off.

 

 

TomZG, 2025-02