15mm WW2: US Marines

Here is the core of my newly painted 15mm US Marines for WW2.  These models took a lot longer to paint than I expected. Longer work days and shorter evenings for myself contributed to the delay. I completed 4-5 models whenever I had the time, and eventually completed the platoon.

I went with Old Glory's Command Decision for the models. Here they are. Click for a bigger picture with more detail.

You're looking at three rifle squads and a platoon command with some extras. Totally there are 52 models in the main force. A full squad was 13 soldiers, comprised of a squad leader and three fire teams of four soldiers. Each fire team had a BAR, which you can see in the pictures above.Once I add in LMGs, these guys are going to put out serious fire power.

There are not a lot of painting guides for WW2 Marines out there. Every reference picture I find has them in different colors. I eventually settled for what you see here. Their uniforms concerned me the most. Ironically, they're painted in Vallejo Model Color's Russian Uniform. The rest of the colors are pretty standard stuff.

The command squad is a mish-mash of leader models from the leader pack. I liked that you got a lot of models, both soldiers and grunts, in soft caps. I used a few for my leaders.  Anyway, here's a peek at some of the command squad.

There were a few models that looked like potential Corpsmen (medics). I painted the red cross on them, but in reality I don't think a Corpsman fighting the Japanese would mark himself out so boldly. The Japanese were trained to kill leaders and medics as priority targets.  However, to make the medic easier to find on the table, I painted the red cross.

Otherwise, there's a lot of great models in the Marines leader pack. Above you see one with a walkie-talkie. I paired him with a regular grunt, who helped fill out the command squad.

That's about all I can say for these guys. I have a bunch more US Marines to paint: 8 combat shotguns, 3 .30 cal MGs, 2 60mm mortars, flamethrower teams, and casualty markers. I'll have to give these guys some landing crafts before I can call them done.  Armor from my other infantry force can be used for the Pacific, so that saved me time and money. 

In the meantime, I'm going to give myself a break to work on my Reaper Bones models.  Then I'll finish the Marines and their Japanese opponents. I'm hoping to start the Peleliu campaign book by fall.