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

S&S models

Chaps there is a thread over on The guild, where Shaun from S&S is taking suggestions and orders for potential new models. When the amount of orders reaches 15 the item goes into production. The Fox and Stalwart are already in pre-production stage.
http://www.guildwargamers.com/phpBB3/index.php

RH Models SAS/Rebels

SAS5 from RH Models. Despite being slightly anarchronistic (ie Gulf War 1), I really these figures. Maff's already got them cornered as Free Taff Special Forces.

Very versatile miniatures, ideal for a host of special forces or post apocalyptic scenarios. Rolf sells these in a variety of packs with alternative heads too - bareheaded, commando caps, berets, bush hats and arab.

Cheers
Mark

Platoon 20 Armed Civilians

Following on from my previous post, I thought it was a good opportunity to also show the male armed civilian packs from Tony at Platoon 20.

 Platoon 20: P-CV1

The figure on the left is one of my favourites in the Platoon 20 range. His late nineteen seventies, early eighties moustache and coiffure just rocks. There's something about his authoritative build and stance that makes him a powerful character on the tabletop. I see him as armed pub landlord, an SAS commander in the style of 'Colonel Dempsey' commander, local industrialist etc. Ideally for Winter of '79 he should be armed with an SLR, Sterling or double-barrelled shotgun - nothing insurmountable. Best way to paint him as I see it, is with a country large check tweed suit and a deep wine red waistcoat.

Next along is the figure in dinner jacket bow tie. Not many dinner jackets on the front-lines of Borchester - However, in Midsomer Murders and the like, there's very often a professor, college don,  or antiques dealer character representing the local village intelligencia- and their 'uniform' is is often a check jacket, pastel coloured shirt and bow tie. Voila! Professor Plumpton ("in the Library, with a Sterling submachine gun").

The guy with the glasses is an enigma - well not quite, I have plans for him. But you can always paint him with 'Michael Caine' clear specs rather than sunglasses.

The final figure firing? Great action pose - very natural. He's a cop, undercover M15/SAS, armed criminal. Excellent.

Platoon 20: P-CV2

Now, this pack is a mixed bag. The figure on the left is very much a disco-dude, taller than the others, more LA than Lewisham. He's neither Sweeney style criminal or Rozzer. The figure in boiler suit with stocking mask and sawn off shotgun - "you're goin doooown"! Then comes a skinhead with M3 SMG. Finally, a decent figure in denim jacket and pistol useful as cop, robber or revolutionary.

Cheers
Mark

RH Models Armed Civilians

I ordered a couple of packs from RH Models' Urban Terror range to increase the variety of armed civilians in my collection for both Winter of '79 and GEEZERS.  With an eye firmly on Britain in 1979-80 I went for the bareheaded pack in each code. Unfortunately, despite being nice figures in their own right, they mostly don't match with my vision of trouble on the streets of late 1970's Britain.

 RH Models Urban Terror: URBPIST

The figure on the left, might just be OK for Winter of 79 / Geezers if I give him a ski mask and change the machine-pistol in his right hand into a sawn-off shotgun. The kneeling figure with a beard supporting his firing arm can be undercover Special Branch or SAS. The right-hand figure would look good painted in denim but needs to lose a pistol and the pistol in his right hand is anachronistically and untypically British, being fired 'gangsta' style, so will need to be returned to the vertical plane.

RH Models Urban Terror: URBAUG

I have to admit, I bought this pack armed with Steyr/Aug rifles with my tongue firmly in my cheek after seeing a posed publicity photo of 'Bodie and Doyle' poncing with them. The two standing figures could almost pass as B&D in squint mode.

RH Models Urban Terror: URBUZI

I had hoped for more from the Uzi armed figures. Firing from the hip or moving with the Uzi clutched to the waist, as typically seen in photos. Whilst the kneeling figure is very good I'm disappointed by all the waving arms. At least the figure on the right will make the basis of a Wolfie Smith conversion.

I'll add a pack of ISRF8A Israelis with Uzi's to my next order from Rolf. Stripped of military kit and given civilian heads, they'll become heavily armed criminals or lightly equipped terrorists/revolutionaries. Even with just wooly hats added in place of their helmets, there's potential as generic 1970's Special Forces, terrorists or Mercs.

In the meantime, I've asked Maff to pick up another pack of Combat Miniatures' (ex-Hotspur) Urban Operations: Plain Clothes Detectives next time he has the opportunity.

Every figure I received from Rolf has been an outstanding casting. No perceptible mould seam, no flash, no worn mould damage, no slippage. All you need to do is clean the bases and off you go!

Whatever your secret is Rolf - please share it with other manufacturers - or at the very least, their contract casting companies! Well done mate, seriously impressed.

Cheers

Mark

All Ghillied Up!

"50,000 people used to live here" If you are a fan of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, those words will be a familiar echo.

Here are RH Models British snipers in camouflaged ghillie suits, armed with L96 sniper rifles (UK31). For Winter of 79 the L42 would be more appropriate but the L96 as modelled here is a good enough proxy.

Cheers
Mark

The kids are on the street!

Youth sub-culture in late seventies and early eighties Britain was, as you might expect, as mixed and varied as the music of the time - so let's use that as our starting point.

Disco was top of the pops in early 1979. The year began with YMCA from the Village People but disco was a spent force, giving way to New Wave, 2-Tone, Ska and Punk-Mod revival as the year progressed. New Romantics made an early appearance with Adam & the Ants releasing their debut album. Punk suffered a serious blow with the death of Sid Vicious in Feb 1979 from which it wouldn't recover, but would stagger on for a few more years.

Olivers' Army appeared on Elvis Costello's Armed Forces album. Blondie released Heart of Glass, The Boomtown Rats gamed a degree of notoriety with I Don't Like Mondays.

The Jam released Eton Rifles in November followed by The Clash with London Calling in December. Both overshadowed by Pink Floyd's rock-opera protest song "Another Brick in The Wall (Part II)", which struck a cord with youth expressing their rage against the establishment and would sit at No.1 in the UK for 5 weeks. It was a fitting musical finale for the 1970's.

For Winter of '79 I have tentative plans at this stage to concentrate on three of the most distinctive urban tribes, each readily identifiable by their music and dress; making them easily transferable into miniature and bringing character to our tabletop.

Skinheads / "Skins"

 Punks

 Mods: "Mod-Revivalists"

What was the music of my life in 1979, where I came of age in an irish community in red brick suburbia...... Tom Robinson Band, Siouxsie and the Banshee's, Penetration, Rezillos, Boomtown Rats, The Jam, Clash, Elvis Costello.... and to a lesser degree Blondie. I read NME, bought coloured vinyl, EPs and imports such as The Cramps.

More on the Mods later in the week, as I think they'll be the easiest to get into 20mm and aim to have a go at some conversions using Platoon 20 Argentinians in parkas.

Cheers
Mark