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Sunday 13 February 2011

Battle For Skira: USMC Hmmwv with .50cal heavy MG painted

With another stunning miniature from Elhiem's range of gunner figs, the HMWWV armed with a heavy .50cal MG has been finished tonight. Now I can field a small unit that the USMC calls CAAT (=combined anti-armor team).
In its most basic role, a CAAT platoon and its various sections and teams will engage armored vehicles (tanks, APCs, etc.) first with heavy machine guns, usually the M2 .50 caliber machine gun. This is to "button up" the vehicle, or have the vehicle operators close all the hatches in order to protect themselves from the incoming rounds. When the target is effectively buttoned up, the TOW missile operator will fire a TOW missile, which, upon impact, will cause a dramatic increase in pressure in the closed target vehicle (such as a tank), causing it to explode from the overpressure, eliminating the enemy.
The HMMWV used for this model is the brilliant one made by Dragon. Excellent model, really!
I had to put down a small piece of plastic into the vehicle to get the gunner figure into the correct position, to actually have his hands over the "butterfly" triggers of his good old reliable M2.
The figure got a quick paintjob in woodland camo. I really painted it from head to toe - after all the legs can be seen through the glass of the vehicle's windows.
I'll be putting down some tutorials soon, to show how I paint my camo patterns for various armies. They will show my way of doing this in a step-by-step description. I am not saying mine will be perfect for the different styles of camo, but for those interested - stay tuned :-)

3 comments:

Monty said...

Great stuff Chris, as usual - I remain torn between 15 and 20mm, liking both greatly, but bound by time and space (which obviously favours the former)...
I suppose a decision (or not) will eventually emerge...:)
All the best, mate and keep it coming,
Monty

Gabe said...

Nice models! I was in a Marine Corps HMG platoon (2/7) in the first Gulf War. Some glaring inaccuracy in your models: USMC Humm-Vees got equipped with deep-fording exhausts and snorkel intakes, and the armored machine-gun carriers came with extra Kevlar panels on the doors. Those look like US Army (ugh!) versions! Also, we would always train with rolled-up camoflage nets and poles attached to our tailgates.

Anyway, cool blog and congrats for having such an imaginative hobby.

Chris M. aka "Sgt. Scream" said...

Hi Gabe,
thanks for your feedback. I am indeed aware of the differences in Army and USMC vehicles. I see them in use daily at work. This isn't scale modelling but wargaming - hence I don't take those little details too seriously. However, I have to admit - you are the first one to even spot this :-) Only a true Marine (or are real nerd when it comes to this whole scale modelling hobby) would have spotted it. :-) I am not sure if there are 1/72 kits with the correct variant for the USMC. If there are, let me know.
Cheers
Chris