McAK47

Conversion-fest last night. Got carried away and as a result, produced this nice little Scottish cameo piece from a bald-headed Chechen fighter. I'm really proud of how the Tam turned out and even added a tourrie and ribbons for added Gaelic flair!

Update: Unfortunately, he is one of a large number of figures sent to Mark Hickman in Dorset to be painted which were never returned.

And, just pulled this photo off the mobile. I wanted to mash up the figures that I had available, mixing pistols and rifles, gasmasks and scarves, helmets, berets and bareheads to create that truly desperate Popular Front or militia look.

Cheers
Mark
  

Platoon20 Urban Geezer Conversion

Over the past two years I've picked up four packs of  Armed Civilians/Terrorists (P-CV1) from Tony at Platoon 20. and set myself the challenge to make the four base figures as different as possible with the minimum of effort.

Sure, pushing the putty you can give them different jackets, different weapons etc, but sometimes, simple works.

Playing around with the figures in this classic pack, I've found that just taking the heads off and repositioning them makes a huge difference to how they look. whilst a simple headswop creates a whole new figure.

Best figure of the bunch is probably Man in zipper jacket, firing 9mm Browning HP pistol, two handed. He is an incredibly versatile miniature. A beret and he's a Spanish Civil War International Brigader or a 1960's Latin guerrilla. A balaclava and he's SAS or 70's terrorist. In this case I've given him a Liberation Minis head with knitted hat to create a more Geezers' blokey look. 

Cheers
Mark

More Conversions.....

As I had the mobile handy, some of last weekend's conversions still on the workbench. First, my Para commanders. The figure I'm holding is a Britannia BAOR platoon leader with head replaced  from a spare Liberation mini and given a hood from Green Stuff. The two commanders on the cutting mat are both Liberation helmet command with heads nicked from beret toting riflemen.

Next up, the Taff Guards GPMG conversion on an MJ Figures Tom. The GPMG came from a Britannia half figure that's included with their open top FV432.

Update: Unfortunately, they are part of a large number of figures sent to Mark Hickman in Dorset to be painted which were never returned.

I cut off the GPMG at the wrists of the doner figure, leaving the hands holding the weapon. Then cut the SLR off the MJ recipient at the wrists, leaving the butt tucked into the arm. The dry run produced an almost perfect fit. Once glued, I applied a 'sleeve' of Green Stuff to hide the join of the GPMG breech and new butt. Now build up the cuff and forearm of the left arm. Done! Easy way to fill a gap in the TOE and create a nicely dramatic figure to boot.

Cheers
Mark
 

Something Wicked This Way Comes

OK, I admit.... I took out the Elheim Patrolling Infantry Section with every intention of lopping their heads off.  Only, I find myself quite absent mindedly placing them into arrowhead formation on the dining table. And in that moment an image is conjured up of a modern production of Shakespeare, set in 1979. Well if they can do it to Coriolanus...

Result, I decided to re-role my remaining CP Models (TQD Castings) 1/72 British Army Falklands War SAS into Shakespearean military rebels with new heads taken from various Liberation Miniatures.

And then to Platoon 20. Here's 'Big Man', a serious Glaswegian player for the coming 'Scottish Play'. Which reminds me to order the figs tonight. His original head, wearing glasses, is now on the advancing SLR armed civvie in the background.

Back to the production line.....

Cheers
Mark

Catching Up

I needed some quiet time to clear my head after an intense week at work. So I've been relaxing by painting a few spare Platoon 20 Falklands Brits over the past couple of days as they are always a joy to paint.

I have to also confess to having fun converting a couple of packs of Tony's Falklands War Argentinians. As i handled the models, inspiration and potential just oozed out of each figure. British armed civilians/militia, a Mod revivalist gang and sundry plain clothes police/gangsters/gunmen, all are possible. It was really difficult to know where to start.....

Platoon 20: P-AG1

 Platoon 20: P-AG2

Hands up, I'm further behind than I had hoped. But I have heads lopped off, weapons moved or changed and extraneous kit removed. I aim to have at least some painted and based by end of this week. A couple of the heads were difficult to remove without destroying the the parka hood, there was blood. but the final results were more than worth it. And if you want some British post apocalypse (Twilight 2000 etc) 'survivalists' these Platoon 20 minis make a superb base for conversion.

Following on from Mike's post, I contacted Shaun at S&S Models and put my name down for two Fox armoured cars. You can see the masters for the Stalwart, Abbot SG and Centurion AVRE here: http://s513.photobucket.com/albums/t339/sandsmodels/new%20projects/#!cpZZ1QQtppZZ16. Shaun emailed me by return with his catalogue and to say that the Fox should be available at the end of Feb. Something definitely to look forward to.

Maff picked up a couple of additional packs of Combat Miniatures (ex-Hotspur) Mountain and Artic Warfare Cadre Marines for me. They are all in winter kit, wearing berets, scarves etc. Despite the fact they are mostly armed with M16 & 203s, plus 66mm LAW and a L4 Bren,  if you wanted one pack of miniatures to respresent rebel regular infantry - it has to be these guys. I'm going to convert them into SLRs and Sterlings and mix in with other ex-Hotspur Falklands minis kindly provided by Mike.

For now, that largely rounds off my figure purchasing for Winter of 79. Plenty to be getting on with - lot's of conversions to do, a little bit of sculpting and a wait until Rolf releases his two packs of Britain in the 'Meltdown' armed civilians (URBUKMG & URBUKSLR).


Cheers
Mark

Argyll's Radioman

"Sunray, this is Foxtrox. CONTACT! Out....."

Ex-Hotspur (Combat Miniatures) radioman. The original beret head had the earphones over both ears. I've modelled this one with the earphone above the right ear so he can still hear what's going on. I'm biased, but my favourite figure of the bunch.

That's the Argyll foot patrol complete. Still need a GPMG gunner for a full section, but as it stands, they are ready to do battle as is. As soon as I get a suitable model I'll add  it to the squad. In the meantime I'll work on a dedicated section leader figure.

I've had one of those road to Kathryn Jenkins moments recently. I used to be a real pain in the butt about accuracy - but you know, these days it's more about - does it look right. Yes! Move on! With that in mind, I've decided not to bother with sculpting cap badges or ribbons onto the Glengarry. The badge can be painted and the ribbons won't be noticeable on the table.

Cheers
Mark

More Urban WIP

Figure on the left represents a slight change to my planned snatch squad. This guy represents a 'hero' who has had his helmet/Glengarry knocked off in a scuffle.

Figure on the right is 'Brian' Footie supporter, plus it's winter remember and a little chilly- hence the footie scarf. Had to rebuild his left hand completely. As he is an urban meltdown civvie type - he doesn't know how to hold the SLR correctly.  Has probably forgotten to take the safety off too! And I bet the gas regulator set higher than 3!

The head came from the (RH Models) Aussie NAM SAS. They have a very seventies look about them and this gutsy fella looks like Gareth Hunt. Not too shabby eh?

Cheers
Mark

New Year Workbench

I'm finding myself doing more and more work in the kitchen nowadays instead of the study. Consequently had to take a break over the Christmas holidays as the table was full of festive decorations in true Griswald Family Christmas style.

Back to normal now, I'll be working on some headswops this week - turning a selection of the Eureka troops in Internal Security order into Paras (for Mike) and others into Scots to mix and match as required with the guys in helmets.

I had started on some Glengarry headwops a couple of months back but found the heads on Britannia's WW1 Highland Light Infantry very difficult to remove (no necks). Plus, the heads are also a bit jowly and would need their herculean jaws filed down. Then the current shite at work about the longevity mine and 800 others jobs intervened, so they were put to one side in a box and forgotten.

In the meantime, I picked up some East German Workers Militia from Rolf Hedges. These are really nice figures - perfect for Twighlight 2000, industrial Neo Soviet Sci Fi revolts and similar.

GDR (East German) Workers Milita

Looking closely at the guys in sidecaps last week I thought, hang on! Add a big badge on the side and a couple of ribbons at the back and we have a pretty decent Glengarry. Maybe not 100% accurate but looks good enough to me. [Update].... So I'll be cutting these heads off and placing them on British Squaddie torsos.

Photos of these plus the first of my BW Models reviews later this the week.

Cheers
Mark