I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll knock your house down

Catch up time. To kickstart my return to the blogging circuit I'll start by posting up some things I've done recently.

First up D9 bulldozer from SandSmodels in 20mm scale. It's not in the store yet. But I saw it on their Facebook page here. So when I placed an order for another item, asked Shaun about it and he kindly sent me out a model.

I've added cables for the hydraulics, grab handles, fire extinguishers, amber warning beacon and the aircon/heater unit for the cab. Built up some areas with plastic card. Added some card to the base of the blade to bulk it out more and around the cab deck. Then it was a case of weathering it....heavily.

  

I've painted it to represent a vehicle used by US forces. I could not figure how to make the grill which sits over the blade or to add the headlamps which sit above the two blade arms. Fortunately I did find a photo on the net, of two US Army D9's parked side by side and one was missing the grill above the blade.

Overall I'm pleased with the result. Had a bit of a 'mare with the painting though. Decided to try out MIG Ammo Scratches fluid in place of my normal hairspray. I learnt to my cost that you can't leave the chipping fluid overnight to dry like hairspray. So I ended up having to reapply a base coat. This means if you look closely some of the detail is covered a little to heavy in paint. Live and learn! 

I didn't weather it heavy to hide these mistakes but to give it a real work horse look. Honest!:)

Anyway that's enough for now more to follow...

  

Pimp my ride!

A while back I posted about the first of several LAV-25's I intend to build. That post can be found here.

Now if you read yesterday's post (if not go and read it now :)), clearly visible in photo in the background is the very same LAV. For the past few days I've been 'enhancing' the model. I was just not entirely happy with it, and decided it needed further weathering.

So this is what it looked like originally...

Now this is the updated version...

I've added more dust and paint scratches primarily. This time I took more care by adding a layer of dust streaks for example, sealing with varnish and then adding another layer to build up the appearance.

I'm much happier with it's appearance now and I very much doubt I will tinker with it any more. Though I have made an error. Looking back at my source photo's the barrel of the Bushmaster cannon always seems to be black. I'll probably leave this one green and make sure I get it right next time.

Next I intend to 'pimp up' the T-72M1.

That's it for now more to follow soon.....

Eat yer heart out 'Grand Designs'!*

This has kept me occupied for for the last couple of weeks. Another building for my Modern games, but with a slight twist.

Been collecting the bits and pieces to make this scene for a while. The building accoutrement's and paraphernalia come from 1/72 wargaming and OO scale railway sources. The building itself is 2mm MDF for the floors. The ground floor mounted on 3mm cork tile. The walls are 3mm cork sandwiched between embossed plasticard. The concrete uprights are 8mm square pine dowel cut to 80mm lengths and are covered in base render. 0.5mm copper wire used to represent the steel reinforcing bars.

To make up for the lack of walls building materials have been 'strategically' placed to provide cover.

The first floor can be removed to allow access to the ground floor. The ladder being used in lieu of a proper staircase is glued in place to the first floor, but will require careful handling. The oil drums at the back are there to provide some cover but I wanted much of the building to be open to make an interesting feature on the gaming table.

Since my background is not in the building trade or architecture I can only apologise if anyone believes that the structure would fall down in the reality. I did some research to get an idea of materials used in building houses in the Middle East, and used reference photos as a basis for the model. But it's for wargaming so as long as it's practical for  gaming purposes then it's a success. 

I may add in a few more small features at a later date but for now it's complete.

That's it for now more to follow.....

*Grand Designs is a UK TV show about people who build generally large and unusual homes. I don't tend to watch it. Pretentious nonsense!

The News at 10

Reporting from the frontline....

Created a small vignette for my on the scene news crew.

It was the best way I could come up with to make the figures more interesting. Had originally planned to base them individually on 1p coins like everything else. This way they should stand out in the crowd.

They are on a 40mm MDF circular base (from Warbases of course), with another cut in half and glued on top. Used green stuff to cover the pavement area and then carved in the individual slabs. Sculpture is not my strong point (though I can do a mean sandbag!), so put other pieces of detritus on top to hide any mistakes and draw attention away from wonky lines and different widths and depths between the paving slabs.

Overall though I'm happy with the finished product. The figures are from Elhiem. The reporter appears to rocking back on his heels in the close up photos. I did not really notice it when pinning the figure to the base. I also meant to pin the cameraman so he was 'filming' slightly more to the right of the reporter to offset the difference in height and give an illusion he was filming events behind his colleague, I only realised my error after the glue had dried. Oh well nevermind, life goes on.

That's it for now more to follow.....

Back on the Road Again....

Mojo back....Check
Painting time back....Check
Plenty to paint....Check
Know where to start....Check
Stop faffing and get on with it.....Check

Back to the 20mm Moderns at the moment. Bursting with enthusiasm. Much to do. To begin with nothing to exciting. But completed a group of nine of Elhiem Figures excellent Shadow Army figures. These sat on the workbench for about 6 months. Started them full steam ahead but then lost interest. Finished them a couple of weeks ago. They are great figures.

 

These consist of two packs of TAL26 and one of TAL32. Since I'm concentrating on OIF not OEF, I intend to use them to primarily represent foreign/veteran fighters in games. Their distinctive attire should make them more noticeable on the tabletop. 

That's it for now more to follow.....soon!

Technical with ZPU-1

So I took this.....

A 1/72 scale Cararama Ford F150 pick up truck and turned it into this.....

A 'technical' mounting a ZPU-1 14.5mm AA HMG. The gun and crewman are from Elhiem and can be found in the 'Weapon Sets' and 'Insurgent' ranges respectively.

Took the diecast vehicle apart and and airbrushed the body and rear bed black. Then painted and weathered it all before reassembling into the completed model. The wheels, front and rear bumpers have not been painted only weathered and I left the interior alone. The plastic windows were weathered buy airbrushing AK Interactive Dust Effects, after masking off the windscreen to represent the movement of the wipers, and then sealed with Johnsons Klear.

After the painting etc., was finished I applied the final coat of varnish to the separate pieces before putting all back together. The windscreen was not varnished again to avoid any fogging.

I had not originally intended to use the ZPU gun on a pick up. I was going to mount it on a base to be used as a fixed emplacement, to engage air and ground targets. As described by Bing West in his book 'The March Up' when flying over Al Budayr and the helicopter is targeted by heavy MG's hidden amongst residential buildings.

The beauty of these diecast models over the resin pick-ups which are available, is that the rear tail gate can be lowered. The pick up had been purchased to use as a civilian vehicle to add another piece of terrain but after test fitting the tripod gun stand and it fitted then rear bed, the two had to become one.

There are plenty of photo's on the web of these weapons being used on pick ups. Though I used Meng Models 1/35th scale Technical with ZPU-1 as inspiration. Of course there are the photos of the Texas City plumbers truck which was sold three years ago and turned up in Syria still displaying the company logo.

Have not based this one yet, not sure if a will. The wheels have not been glued in place so still turn like they do on all good diecast models!

That's it for now more to follow..........

USMC Fireteam and BIG Bins

Finally completed another fireteam to represent USMC in MOPP gear.

These are once again from the excellent Elhiem range. I should now be able to field two full squads of USMC in NBC suits (part of). One more squad for a full platoon and then onto USMC/US Army in three colour camo DCU's.

Also added couple of terrain features. These are large waste/recycling bins.

These are from Hornby. Which I managed to pick up cheaply. Repainted and weathered them accordingly. To give an idea of size here they are next to a 20mm figure.

Should provide cover in those desperate firefights!

If you notice a slightly different green poking through on the green bin, perfectly reasonable explanation. The first colour I used I decided was not too my taste so I dabbed it off while still wet,with a old rag, trying not to remove the hairspray applied underneath to aid with the chipping effect. Not all the paint came off straight away So I was left with a mottled effect, which I quite liked and sprayed the new colour over the top. Then chipped away, which left the older colour showing through in parts. (Riveting wasn't it!?)

Thats it for now more to follow.....

     

Four Boards

Added three more 2'x2' boards to use for my modern games. I've kept them simple, primarily since FoF tends to be urban based. So added a crossroads, T-junction and  another straight but with the road passing over a culvert. The culvert was to break up the flatness of the boards and add an interesting feature.  

All are mounted an 15 MDF base with a surround of 25mm MDF off cut and Styrofoam inner of 600x600x25mm. Had to cut the Styrofoam to fit the frame so it is more 570x600x25mm. The roads are made from 1mm MDF and the culvert pipes are made from the hollow metal circle tubing. The type used to provide a hanging rail in certain wardrobes. Cut off about four 1.5" lengths and sprayed black. Dug a hole into the side of the banks and pushed in the tube. The water is made from Vallejo Still Water mixed with Vallejo Model Air Light Brown to give a mucky appearance.

 

I've placed what terrain I have at the moment to give me an idea of what they look like and what needs to added. At the moment it may appear sparse but useable I believe.

Despite working on this project for some 15 months still a lot to do. More buildings to be completed, fields, junk(?) etc.. Of course none of vehicles or figures I have painted are on the board and I have some 1/72 diecast cars to add which will add another feature when placed in the village/town.

Hopefully this will give an idea of the sort of appearance I'm trying to create for my games set in the Middle East. I've kept the boards sand coloured and not added grass since the intention is to add more terrain. But I am considering adding small clumps of grass to break up the dull brown colour! But the juries still out at the moment.

With the impending release of the modern supplement for Chain of Command I will be intrigued how the game play will compare to Force on Force/Ambush Alley.

That's it for now more to follow......