WW2 in 15mm: Japanese Rifle Platoon

These guys took longer than I expected to complete, but they're done now. I've polished off a full rifle platoon for the Japanese, including a large HQ selection and some supporting units.

Here's everything I've got painted so far.

You'll have to click on the picture to see the detail.  All told I've got  3 x 13 man rifle squads, each with a leader and LMG. I've got 3 x 2 man LMG teams, 2 x 3 man MMG teams, five SMG models, a radio / FO team, and a bunch of leader models.

I just need to add in supporting units and I'm done. My scenario book calls for several tanks and a few different IG / AT guns, along with a few other specialized units. The bulk, however, is complete.

Here's a look at the MG teams.

I'm using the same LMG models with a third crewman to represent MMGs. I have only found LMG and HMG models for Japanese in 15mm, and on the table it makes no difference to me what the models actually are for these units. Some of the LMG models are stacked either in sandbags or rocks, I couldn't tell. I chose to paint them as rocks.

The SMG models, shown in the left of this picture, suck. The guns are so short that they don't look like anything. The models are poorly cast, and flash and shit ruin them completely. Since my scenario book calls for these Type 100 SMG guns, I painted them.  Ugh.  The radio team next to them is part of the Leader pack for the Old Glory Command Decision line.

My favorite pack of all the Old Glory Japanese models was the leader pack. It's filled with a lot of characterful models and good options. It's probably the best of their leader packs that I've seen.  Below is a shot of the leader models I painted for the HQ. Historically platoon HQs were of variable size, but generally just two men. The scenario book calls for larger HQ teams, so I added more models.

The flag bearer only comes with a pole. You have to make your own flag. I used a thin sheet of aluminum I got from Dick Blick. I have this on-hand exactly for the purpose of making flags. The sheets are small and thin enough to cut with scissors. I rolled it around the pole, primed it, then drew my circle on it. After painting the flag, I folded it into a billowing pattern and the aluminum held nicely. It looks more like a flag than if I did something made from paper.

Amazingly, that's not white paint on the flag either. I used a very creamy yellow paint, but next to the models it looks quite white. Overall, I liked the way it came out.

So now I've got packs of US Marines waiting to get painted  so they can kill these guys. I'm tired of military models again, so I'll be jumping into my Reaper Bones collection. I already painted one tonight, and it looks pretty good.  I'm excited to get working on them, but I'll return to the Marines soon.