Modern US Army: FGM-148 Javelin team

My latest US Army weapons team consists of a FGM-148 Javelin gunner and his assistant.

The FGM-148 is a state-of-the-art "fire and forget" guided anti-tank missile. It is able to penetrate almost all modern armour and has the ability to strike the target from the top (most AFV have weak armour on the top).

It's also in wide use for asymetric warfare as the launcher unit has strong thermal night vision, being a good tool for recon at night in overwatch positions. Allied forces are also able to pound enemy strongpoints with high accuracy from a safe distance.

The figures are both from RH Liberation and based simply on a 40mm diameter washer.

Ultra-modern Russians: BTR-T and GRU special operations detachment

This BTR-T equipped (S&S models) GRU special operations detachment (RH Liberation figures) I bought a little while ago, second hand from Piers B. He is famous around many forums for a crisp and speedy brush-work on tons of miniatures. These he wanted off his shelves and I gave them a new, loving home XD. They have a variety of weapons, from Ak-74, SVD, RGP-7 to AKs and PKMs.

I will expand them with new models and vehicles one day. I have plans for Tunguska AA, T-90 MBT and some Vodniks.

Once I have a table for woodland/European settings, I might even game with them against my late 1990's German Bundeswehr.

AWESOME NEWS!!! AAG and Osprey Publishing releasing new version of Ambush Alley Force On Force

AWESOME NEWS!! read above!! Click to zoom into picture!!

Bundeswehr ISAF: Waffenträger Wiesel 1 tanks with 20mm MK and TOW

After a whole afternoon of work my two Waffenträger Wiesel 1 light tanks are ready for gaming. They were painted in standard Nato 3-tone camo with Tamiya's Acrylic paint. Once I was done, I washed the whole vehicles with some thinned Devlin Mud (GW) and let it dry.

The ISAF decals are from Peddinghouse Decals and I carefully applied a few here and there. The Wiesels I have seen on pictures are all really dirty and dust covers every inch of them, hence I drybrushed the hull and tracks with a lot of Vallejo Iraqi Sand for a worn look.

The crew was painted the same way as the rest of my modern Revell Germans. For the small flags attached to the antennas I simply used MS paint and then printed them, cut them out and glued them into place.

Team Razor in detail:

MSgt Matt Cooper, nicknamed "Coops"
SSgt Randy Sykes, nicknamed "Ice Cold"
SSgt Brian O'Hara, nicknamed "Scarlet"
Sgt Chad Rodriguez, nicknamed "Robo"

1stSgt Patrick Miles, nicknamed "Eightball"

Team "Razor" (pc game ARMA 2 characters in 20mm)

Above you see the characters of the Bohemia Interactive pc game ARMA 2.

They are forming Team "Razor" which the player assumes command over when playing the campaign. They are a small but elite recon unit of the USMC's Force Recon Battalion.

All miniatures above are RH Liberation 20mm figs, who were heavily converted with green stuff to add pouches, rucksacks and detail were necessary. Some headswaps were done as well but yet all parts are Liberation only.

This awesome work was done for me by Rob, again commissioned to create something out of the ordinary and as you can all see he has done a fine job!

A little in-between WIP: German Wiesel 1 tanks for ISAF (dedicated to Shaun!!)

These models I got from Shaun (S&S models) - he made them after enough people were begging for them. :-)

That's a German light tank Wiesel 1, one with 20mm MK and the other with TOW launcher and MG3. Shaun is the only one selling this vehicle in braille scale.

They are simple 1/76 scale resin kits with a few pewter parts. However, that was too simple for me - conversion madness here we came and what you see is the effort of 8 hours of work.

I cannibalized an old Revell Luchs kit for the MG3 and other bits like the headlights or the spade seen on the side. Crew came from MIG Products and they are made out of resin. Cupolas I had to drill out first and then add hatches made from thin plastic card (~0,5mm). I have added a Revell Bundeswehr soldier for scale to my pictures.

Now I only need to paint them for ISAF in Afghanistan.

Some work in progress for April 2010

Some progress on the infantry I need to complete until the end of April for a contest at The Guild forum.

From left to right

back row: US Army squad (M4 rifles, M249 SAW, M203, two fire teams / one squad leader)
middle row: civilians for AA/FoF (a couple, two traders, one pack-horse), three US Army soldiers with M136 launcher (AT-4), a "wounded/dependent" marker for the same game.
front row: Javelin ATGM weapons team.

US Army soldiers are a mix of Britannia and Liberation miniatures, the wounded are plastics by Forces Of Valor and the civilians are Britannia only.

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!