15mm Israeli Centurion Sho't

Another project for Phil, this time a Peter Pig 15mm Centurion Sho't.  The model was undercoated in light grey, then sprayed Vallejo Modelcolour IDF Green.  It was washed with Army Painter dark tone, then dry brushed with IDF Green mixed with progressively more pastel green, in an attempt to recreate Sinai Grey.  Canvas was painted IDF sand grey and dry brushed with the base colour and a little white, then washed with Army Painter strong tone.  Tracks and tow hawser are oily steel, washed with dark tone and dry brushed orange brown.  Weapons are NATO black dry brushed basalt grey, with IDF sand grey ammo boxes.  The crew figure (actually a WW2 British tank commander) has a yellow green uniform, IDF sand grey beret and black headphones.  Hatch interior is painted ivory.  Finished off with two coats of matt varnish!  Whip aerials are nylon fishing line glued into drilled sockets and painted NATO black.

Fun to paint and good practice as I plan to add a troop of Sho'ts to my IDF models when I get round to it.

Thanks for looking.

6mm 1985 British "Fast Air" support

These are some modern British Heroics and Ros fast air assets.  They are painted light sea grey and NATO green with hand painted roundels and tail insignia.

Here, flights of Jaguars attempt to scare some Brown Job tankers with a fast fly past/

One of the Jaguars in more detail.

A short while later, flights of Harrier jump jets emerge from camouflaged hides nearby and head in the direction of an advancing Soviet tank column.

One of the Harriers in more detail.

I'll shortly add some Tornado flights and some Phantoms to round out the air assets available.

Thanks for looking.

6mm 1985 British Chieftain Regiment

This is the first of the units, that I've finished, for the Cold War Commanders big game (defence of Hannover) coming up in September.  Front row (L-R) Alpha Sqdn, Recce Sqdn, Bravo Sqdn; Middle row, Alpha Sqdn HQ, CO Sqdn and Bravo Sgdn HQ; Rear row, Charlie Sqdn, ATGM Sqdn, with LAD in front, and Delta Sqdn.  Most of the Chieftains are from Scotia, with some Chieftains and the rest of the vehicles from Heroics and Ros.

Bravo Sqdn, four Chieftain platoons and a HQ stand.

Recce Sqdn, two recce Scimitar FV107 CVR(T)s.

CO Sqdn, two Chieftains, the CO and a LAD FV434 (no real function in the game but adds to the overall look)..

Four stands of FV438 Swingfires, forming the ATGM Sqdn.

These were base coated light grey, then washed with diluted Tamiya NATO green and splodged Vallejo NATO black.  Ink washed with Army Painter dark tone, then dry brushed 50:50 mix of NATO green and pastel green.  Thermal insulation on gun barrels is grey-green and tracks are flat brown.  Exhausts are orange brown.  I'm pretty happy with these although I'll probably add some clump foliage just to break up the open nature of the bases.

Right, where are those T72s?

Thanks for looking!

15mm Forged In Battle PzIIIs for Tunisia

These are a set of five PzIIIs, which Phil picked up for a bargain price at the WWGS in Castle Donnington.  He wants these for a late N African battlegroup for action in Tunisia.  Rather than a desert yellow, he opted for an olive green scheme using paints liberated from the Italian Airforce and felt by the Germans to be a better match to the more vegetated scenery in Tunisia.  Some of these will no doubt finish up as Tiger escorts, given Phil's "Tiger Phil" nickname.

These are painted in Russian green, over sprayed with a 50:50 mix of Pastel green and Russian green.

The complete platoon.

The command vehicle.

From the other side.

The commander, about as close as my camera will focus.  I've done him in yellow green.

Another view of the commander.

The platoon arrayed on parade - a propaganda shot for Phil's opponent tonight.  Let's hope there aren't any Kittyhawks out for a straffing run!

Hope he likes them. Now all I've got to do is finish an Israeli Sho't Centurion and an infantry platoon for his Arab-Israeli War project.

Thanks for looking.

6mm British attack helicopters.

After reading Richard C's helicopter resurrection blog (link http://thelandofcounterpane.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/helicopter-resurrection.html), I decided to order myself some of the Hurlbat rotors (link http://www.hurlbat.co.uk/category-s/1824.htm).  I placed an order on Thursday evening just gone for 3 Lynx rotors, 1 Gazelle and 3 AH-1 rotors, plus 7 tail rotors (completely forgot the Gazelle didn't need one as the tail rotor is built in to the tail.  Got an e-mail on Friday to say they had been shipped and postie popped them through the letter box on Saturday afternoon.

I've painted up the three Lynx and Gazelle, all from Heroics and Ros, in light sea grey and NATO green camouflage, with azure glass picked out with white reflections, and black hand drawn ARMY markings plus royal blue and flat red hand drawn roundels.

The Lynx flight plus Gazelle spotter overfly a recce squadron moving up to join the fight for Hannover.

One of the Lynx in more detail.  The rotor is mounted on a copper wire pin that I drilled and superglued into the rotor hub of the model.  The rotor hub has a blob of black paint added and the etched rotors on the plastic disc has been washed with Army Painter dark tone ink.

The Gazelle in more detail.



One of the Lynx from another angle.

Final view of the flight overtaking the recce squadron.

These rotors are well worth the effort of adding to the models as they really do bring them to life.  I think they will be making an appearance on all my future helicopter projects and also I'll start to add them to my existing USMC and French helicopters.

Thanks for looking!

15mm French Napoleonic Carabineers

I've rebased my old Minifigs Carabineers and added a command stand using a pack from Lancashire Games.  Looking at the Minifigs figures, I'm going to have to touch up the plumes as they look a little worn, but otherwise they look pretty good for 20 year old paint jobs.

The command group in more detail.  I'm going to have to work on the Eagle, as there is a weak point in the shaft, so I'll need to replace it with a pin eventually.

Continuing the command theme, here are a couple of shots of infantry brigade commanders, again old Minifigs figures that I have rebased.

Thanks for looking.