Modern US Army: OH-58 Kiowa scout helicopter

An Italeri OH-58 Kiowa Scout helicopter in 1/72 scale. I gave it a base made from an old CD on which I glued a GW flight-base and 5.5" of clear plastic rod, covered everything with PVA glue and sand, painted it and added some flock - done!

BTW, the .50cal MG pod is completely scratchbuilt. I have another base of the same sort as there are more air units to come.

Bundeswehr ISAF: A first try - 10 men

These are my first steps in painting some German Bundeswehr for ISAF in Afghanistan. They came from various sets of Revell 1/72 scale plastics. Normally no soldier would go to a mission without his helmet, but I use the guys wearing berets for squad and fire team leaders.

Typical loadout for a mission; to include P8 pistol, G36 (flashlight attached on some) and MG-4 light machine guns as well as AG36 under-barrel grenade launchers. They also have a map and radios.

It was tricky to add the German flags and ISAF symbols, but given their small size I think it turned out well.

I will paint up some more of them, maybe even snipers, K-9 team and some vehicles in desert camo for Ambush Alley and Force-On-Force.

Generic Iraqi Force: weapon teams (PKM, AT-3 "Sagger", DShK)

For the use of Ambush Alley Force-On-Force I was in need to form some so-called weapon teams. Their advantage is having more dice to roll (representing specialised training with their weapons). My choice was to create one heavy MG team (Russian DShK), one ATGM team (Russian AT-3 "Sagger") and three medium MG teams (Russian PKMs). All miniatures are made by RH Liberation and were once more painted by Mark. The bases were created with an assortment of foliage that was added by myself.

Generic Iraqi Force: BRDM-2 reconnoissance team

For a light recon mission the Iraqis would have used the Russian-built BRDM-2 wheeled reconnoissance vehicle. I got myself two of them, one with the heavy 14.5mm machine gun and one with AT-5 anti-tank-guided-missiles, who will form a team that will add quite some punch to my force (flanking manoeuvres...)

The models are made by Shaun at S&S models and were painted by Mark, bases and marking added later by myself. The miniature shown is from RH Liberation (as usual for scale purposes).

Modern US Army: M113 A3 APC is done!!

My Trumpeter 1/72 scale M113 A3 armoured personnel carrier is finally done!! Complete with base, decals, crew and some subtle weathering (rust marks). I really love my work this time. Must be the best vehicle I built so far. It took forever to paint all the stowage and highlight them (no inks used on this model!). Hope you like it!

Modern US Army: M113 A3 work in progress volume #3

Paining tons of stowage and equipment continued. Now I only need to apply the camo to the rucksacks (ACU pattern) and paint the actual stowage baskets themselves, clean some spots with paint (tail lights for example) and make a base and its DONE!!

Modern US Army: M113 A3 work in progress volume #2

Got some time to spare and started painting my M113 APC. I used black spray for a primer, gave the armour a first layer of Tamiya's Flat Earth to add some natural shades in the recesses and went on mixing Vallejo's Desert Yellow with Pale Sand (approx. 2:1 mix) for the actual paintjob.

I wanted to match the colour of the Dragon diecast vehicles I have and I came pretty close to their camouflage's tone.

Now I need to paint all the stowage. That's going to take longer. ;-)

Generic Iraqi Force: Reinforcements arrived! T-72 MBT work in progress

I got two Forces Of Valor diecast T-72 tanks from ebay a little while ago. They come painted but I didn't like their look. I took them apart and they will be repainted to blend in with the rest of my Iraqi vehicles.

This should give the Republican Guard some heavy hitters to deal at least a bit damage to the infidels! ;-)

Modern US Army: WIP, M113 A3 APC

Latest project that kicked off just today: M113 A3 APC. It's a kit made by Trumpeter and I will add some resin bits made by Black Dog CZ. The crew are RH Liberation Miniatures. I used a HMMWV gunner, chopped in half for the .50cal HMG cupola and one of Rolf's US tankers for the driver. You can see in one of the pictures that I modefied the driver's compartment so that the figure will pop his head out of the open hatch.

Little update 2010/03/14: gunner and driver painted, stowage added.

Generic Iraqi Force: ZSU-23 "Shilka" AAA

This is an Iraqi Anti Air Artillery gun for the use in Force-On-Force. The "Shilka" has four rapid-firing 23mm guns to blaze away at enemy aircraft and helicopters. This is a resin and white metal model made by Shaun at S&S.

It received markings as usual and a new base to fit in with the other vehicles of the army. Mark did a really good job on the colours used. Compared with photos I've seen from the original in Iraqi service, it matches totally. The miniature is only there for scale reasons so you can compare how big the tank actually is. I will do more Iraqi anti-air units with a variety of weapon systems, so stay tuned!

Generic Iraqi Force: FAC / FAO (spotter)

The guy above is my miniature for the use of a spotter in Ambush Alley Force-On-Force. He has a radio and binoculars, so that he can act either as a FAC (Forward Air Controller - directs fixed-wing aircraft or helicopters to their ground attack runs) or as a FAO (Forward Artillery Observer - directs artillery or mortar strikes on targets). In Ambush Alley FoF every squad leader can call for assets if they are available, but having dedicated controllers will improve accuracy!

The miniature is from RH Liberation's Iraqi range. Base and antenna were made by myself, the figure was painted by Mark.

Generic Iraqi Force: Mechanized infantry with BMP-2

Disclaimer: Two things I want you to know right away - a) the pictures show a BMP-2D which the Iraqis never had. This is an up-armoured version the Soviets created for the war in Afghanistan in the mid-80s. The Iraqis did have the regular BMP-2, which does not have the sideskirts and the additional armour plates on the turret! When I got my models I found out it were the wrong ones, but Mark had already painted them and I already paid him. They will be replaced with the correct ones some day. b) the pictures show eight dismounts, but the BMP-2 can only have seven. That's because I will replace the BMP-2 with the old BMP-1.

Above you can see my latest models for the Iraqi forces I create at the moment. I am going for a Mechanized Infantry platoon. Above you can see the first squad. They are miniatures made by RH Liberation and the BMP-2 is a resin wargaming model from S&S. All of them were painted by Mark from Red Line Painting Service. I added all markings and liscense plates to the vehicle (reference for that were photos I found in various magazines and bookes) and made all bases. More of these squads will follow so that I'll end up having three and a command squad.

Alongside the usual Ak-47 the squad carries a RPG-7 launcher and a RPD light machine gun.