20mm Colonial Indian Infantry

These are HAT Colonial era Indian troops, ideal for TMWWBK or similar colonial rulesets.  However, with a bit of poetic licence, I intend to use them as WW1 Indian troops, so I have augmented them with some Lewis Gun teams from Tumbling Dice Miniatures.  My back story is that these are Indian Army infantry, based in India, that haven't been upgraded with more modern kit, but have been pressed into overseas service after the debacle at Kut al Amara.  The TDM figures are true 20mm (1/76) scale so are slightly more youthful in appearance than the HAT figures, so they go together reasonably well.

A full platoon of four ten man sections, two with Lewis gun teams, and a platoon HQ of officer, batman and two runners.

The Platoon HQ.  Batman, officer and two runners.

One of the Lewis gun sections.  You can see the slightly smaller statureof the Lewis gun team compared with the riflemen.

These guys were painted khaki grey and heavily dry brushed Iraqi sand.  Saddle brown for shoes, webbing, belts and pouches.

Lewis gun section with prone Lewis gun team.

General riflemen poses.

 

These guys are going to be used, minus the Lewis guns, for colonial era battles, but they will also add some additional Empire flavour to my WW1 Middle Eastern armies.  They will also be available to join Woosterforce in Andreivia.

 

Thanks for looking.

20mm WW1 German Field Service Wagon

Here is a German WW1 Field Service Wagon from the HAT set.  Three models are included in the set, but I've only assembled one for now.  This was a nice little kit to assemble.  A little bit fiddly, due to the soft plastic used in manufacture, but quite robust once assembled and based.

I painted the wagon green grey, oily steel for wheel rims and khaki grey for the canvas cover.  The horses are mahogany, with saddle brown traces and blue grey blankets.  All washed in Agrax Earthshade and coated in Vallejo polyurethane varnish.  The final coat of varnish really does stiffen the model nicely - it's still flexible but reverts back into shape.

The two crew in more detail.

A nice model, suitable for use as an objective or resupply marker.  This will also be available for Andreivia.

Thanks for looking.

20mm Late WW1 German artillery

A couple of Late War German artillery pieces the 7.7cm Feldkanone 1916 (FK16) by HAT.  This pair was a gift from Will at the club - thanks Will!

I've painted these in neutral grey, washed with Agrax Earthshade.  Crew are grey green with neutral grey trousers and German grey helmets.

These will be used to support Late war Germans and post-war Freikorps troops and can also be used in support of Ottoman forces.  They can also be used in support of various factions in the RCW and of course are available for Andreivia.

Thanks for looking.

20mm HAT 37mm FT-17s

These are a pair of HAT WW1 37mm armed Renault FT-17 tanks.  There were two models in the pack, produced in a hard black plastic, which went together really smoothly.  The hull was supplied in two parts needing to be glued along a longitudinal seam.  Individual track assemblies were glued to the sides and the turret was in three parts, the turret, a barrel and the little raised cupola (or whatever it is) on top.  The turret fits snugly on a peg into a hole in the top of the hull, so can be fully rotated.

I painted these guys with a base coat of Middlestone.  For one vehicle, I stopped at a single colour finish.  For the other, I added spots of German Camo bright green and Mahogany with a little red, outlined in black grey.  Both vehicles were washed in Agrax Earthshade.  Tracks are oily steel, washed with Nuln Oil and dry brushed orange brown (used on the exhaust as well).  Both vehicles had a very light dry brush of Iraqi Sand to add a dustiness and pick out some of the raised edges and rivet details.

The plain coloured vehicle I named Mars and added a unit ID mark of a white circle with red playing card heart symbol.

The multi-coloured vehicle has a club symbol and the vehicle is named Marne.

Both vehicles from the front.

Rear views.

Nice little vehicles that look the part, ready to support my late WW1 French infantry and they will no doubt be available for intervention forces in the RCW and Andreivia.

Thanks for looking.

20mm Colonial Highlanders

The first of my Christmas presents, a set of HAT colonial highlanders.  I've painted these up in khaki to represent the later colonial period and I'll also press them into service in my allied intervention forces for the Russian Civil War and Andreivia.  They will make up three units of infantry for TMWWBK (The men who would be kings) or a platoon of infantry for Arc of Fire in Andreivia, provided I add some highlander Lewis gun teams.

Platoon command, officer with pistol, piper and runner marching.

Riflemen in various poses from various angles.

More riflemen.

A mounted officer watching the highlander's manoeuvers.

The piper and marching figure in more detail.

Some riflemen figures in more detail.

I painted these guys as The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) with a tartan pattern painted as a chequer board of green and blue, with a khaki jacket suitable for the end of Victoria's reign through to WW1.  I hope to get these on the table in a game of TMWWBK next week.

Thanks for looking.

20mm WW1 German command

I had some spare HAT WW1 German artillery figures, which are suitable to represent command figures.  On the left, an artillery commander in pickelhaube.  In the centre, a figure standing casually in greatcoat with hands in pockets - he could be a ranker trying to cadge a cigarette, but he has the air of a more aristocratic nonchalance.  On the right is a figure with hand raised wearing a Stahlheim, which I've painted in a camouflage pattern.

I also dug out a couple of surviving 70's era Airfix WW1 Germans from my childhood stash and painted them up. I particularly like these two figure poses, especially the guy with binoculars.

The whole group.

Colonial highlanders should be next up for photography.

As ever, thanks for looking.

20mm Airfix French Foreign Legion

For a bit of fun, I dug out what is left of my old FFL figures from my old toys from the 70's.  I picked out a few of the figures and gave them a make over.  Looking at the photos, I realise I've not detailed the brims of their kepis in black and I need to add some collar and cuff markings in red, plus the NCO's stripes.  I've also just block painted them, but think I prefer to wash with Agrax Earthshade or similar, so will probably revisit these later.

I used Prussian blue for the coats, flat white for trousers and kepi covers, black for webbing/pouches/shoes and gaiters (the latter dry brushed basalt grey) and flat red for officer's and NCO's trousers.  Packs are black with Iraqi sand bedrolls.

I have a box of the early WW1 French by HAT and these also serve as a test of colours suitable for them as well.

Fixed the black brims on the kepis in the pics below.  Feeling happier now!

Despite the shortcomings of the original figures discussed on the Plastic Soldier Review website, I like these figures, if for nothing more than the happy memories of playing with them as a child.  I also have the Fort Sahara building, in a fairly sorry state, but think I will try and do it up as it looked fantastic.  It might even make it as an Ottoman fortress for use in Andreivia.

Thanks for looking.