Painting Tutorial 15mm German Late War Infantry

As a diversion from my Zulu Wars 28mm figures I decided to paint up a few Plastic Soldier Company Late War German Infantry figures.

I’ve had this box of figures for a couple of years now and every so often paint a few up. I think for pioneering sculpts of 15mm hard plastic figures they’re not too bad at all and represent fantastic value for money as you get something like a 1:1 Company in a box for around £20.

In case it’s of interest, I’ve split the process into stages to show you how I go about the painting and basing process.

Step 1: Priming. After cleaning the figures up and assembling them where required, I cover the base with bird cage sand stuck with PVA.  I then stick them to a lolly stick with PVA and let them dry. Then I spray them with white primer. For many years I’d only use GW Primer. Then I was converted to Army Painter products and then recently I discovered Wilko’s own Matt White Primer …an absolute bargain at £3.75 a can!

Step 2: Using slightly watered down Vallejo Field Grey acrylic I give the whole figure an all over coat. This is down quickly, but ensuring no uniform parts (or field caps) are missed.

Step 3: when this is thoroughly dry I give the Field Grey a coat of Army Painter Green Wash and leave once again, to dry. This settles in the folds and creases and gives the figure instant “Depth”.

Step 4: Next I paint the base with cheap craft acrylic paint by Anita (the shade is called Coffee). When dry I give this a Vallejo Sepia Wash. While this dries I painted the helmet cover in Vallejo Desert Yellow and added splodges of acrylic grass green and red brown. Finally once the base was dry I painted the boots in German Camouflage Black Brown.

Step 5: On the rear of the figure I block painted in the bread bag in Light Grey, the gas mask container & mess-tin in Panzer Grey and the poncho the same colours as the helmet cover.

Step 6: Next the Rifle was painted in Vallejo Matt Black as were the belt and Y straps. When dry the woodwork and entrenching tool handle (plus any stick grenade handles) were painted in Vallejo Leather Brown Game Colour. When dry the hands and face were painted in Vallejo Flesh which in turn was washed with Vallejo Flesh Wash.

Step 7: From the rear you can see the securing straps on the equipment have all been picked out in matt black as has the strap around his helmet. The mess tin, gas mask container and metalwork on the rifle all have a light dry-brushing of silver at this point.

Step 8: Now the painting is complete, the figures were based in groups of 3 on 30x30mm laser cut mdf bases, I use this basing convention as it fits in with all the major rule sets I'm likely to use - Crossfire, PBI, BKC, IABSM etc. They are glued in place with superglue and then the base covered in sand stuck down with PVA. When the sand has dried the base was given a coat of Anita's Coffee coloured paint. Then coat of Vallejo Sepia Wash and finally a dry-brush of Vallejo Buff.

Steps 9: The final finishing. I spray coat the bases with Army Painter Satin Varnish followed by Army Painter Anti-Shine Varnish to protect the figures. Then when dry I apply patches of static grass with PVA and the bases are finished. I tend to paint figures in batches of 15-20 at a time to avoid getting too bored painting the little details on figure after figure. Below are the finished items.

Hope you found this helpful.