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

I Wanna Be..... Anarchy

 A tiny bit of left over Green Stuff prompted me to give this errant guy from Platoon 20 a Mohican! I rolled the Green Stuff into a 'sausage', flattened, shaped and cut to length.

Moulding the Green Stuff around his head I used a toothpick to gently tease the base of the Green Stuff down onto his scalp and smoothed out to give a firm grip. If I can summon up a spare Sterling, I'll change his weapon. Might even look at giving him an SLR.




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

The wrong side of the tracks

Its penguin-fart AM and a file of Argies creep towards Moody Brook using the Camber Light Railway sidings as cover.

Meanwhile, the Moody Brook Garrison - aka Marines Dave and Ron - have taken cover by a historic piece of rolling stock.

And, just to their North, Marine Pete and Cpl Baz are adding their own Para insulting graffiti to the seagull guano on the old coalshed.

The Big Picture, the Argie Rupertino is out of shot to the left; barely encouraged, the SF creep forward slowly......but are rumbled by the Booties. Dave drops the lead gaucho and Ron lets fly with his sterling; argie return fire is innefective and Pete takes out an argie on the far side of the tanker - Baz legs it to the tanker and drops another.

The seagull's eye view; with three men down the Argies decide that they don't need the scrap metal that much and call it a day for now. The Booties find a new ambush position and wonder how the lads at the Govt House are doing......

Freshly painted ex Hotspur argies from Stonewall and veteran Pltn20 Bootnecks. I like most of the argie SF / Marines but some of the figs are a bit tired in places; faces seem a bit craggy. I didnt like the GMPG guy then and I dont now - that said the guy with the SMG is ace as are the crouching figures - though the mags on the other SMGs are negligible. Platoon 20s? Good old figs, love 'em, solid castings that do the job.

Cheers

Maff

SITREP

I'm glad to report that I returned to work this week. Only a couple of hours a day at the mo' but I'm back in the game and that's what's important. Even a few hours a day has left me crushingly tired by the time I get indoors and I've fallen asleep on the train home more than once. Luckily not beyond my stop!

This has meant that whilst I've started the Eton Rifles, they won't be finished till the weekend. They're a fun project and I want to enjoy painting them rather than slapping on a coat of paint and splodge of DPM for the sake of the blog.

From next week I'm leading a new team. I can't say that I'm not chuffed at the opportunity and looking forward to the challenge. And the challenge isn't so much managing down, I very much intend to mould the team to manage their own agreed workload based on the client's required outcomes and lead by example. No the challenge is still  managing upwards. But it's the weekend - time to switch off and recuperate.

Wednesday night's game........... superb. Not least because I won of course, and against increasing odds to boot. Debriefing with Maff ....we're both happy with how the events and politics flow from our games to influence the next one. Rather than having them directed by a script, eg the Taffs learn from this shambles and aim to increase number of cadre elements in units, and focus on better training.....if time allows it. The Paras now believe three Toms are worth ten Taffs. Hubris? Will they consequently stage an operation that has all the hallmarks of being "A Taff Too Far". Why the hell not!

Tired. Meant to order some Falklands figs from CP-Models but that gritty, tired behind the eyes feeling has stopped me. Definitely, definitely order over the weekend. Plus, get some more Falklands era figs from Platoon 20 to finish off a Para Company. Tony has rejigged his moulds/packaging, so I also want to include a pack of SBS (P-B10) now that there's two of each SBS figure in the pack. That hooded guy is perfect gun toting Trot in a cagoule.

Going to SKELP in Forfar on Saturday and meeting up with Major Mike. If you are there and want to look me up and say 'hello' please do.

Cheers
Mark
  

A Much Needed Boost

Maff's Free Taff and government forces have received some painted reinforcements with the help of Mark Griffin of Pumpkin Models who was selling some Platoon 20 Cold War British from his personal collection. The bag included Scots, Irish Rangers and a whole heap of support weapons. These are just a few of the models:

Platoon 20: PB6 and PB6a

Platoon 20: PB6 and PB6a

Platoon 20: PB15

My first metal 20mm Moderns were Platoon 20, way back when in 1980(?), so I do continue to have a soft spot for them. And more figures in the pot means more choice, especially as neither of us had gotten round to support weapons just yet.

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

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

DPM Combats in 20mm with Citadel Paints

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Started painting the remaining Platoon 20 Falklands Paras in full DPM combats today. It's 40 minutes per figure all in, say, 30 for the DPM effect as opposed to only 10 minutes to paint the combat jacket.

I think the final result is more US Army Woodland than DPM, but that's me being picky and the difference in 20mm is minimal. Still using GW paints as they are easy to get and replace to be honest and this effect was achieved using them straight out of the pot.

1. Black undercoat
2. Heavy drybrush of GW Catachan Green over whole figure including webbing.
3. Pick out 'tan' spots with GW Kommando Khaki. 3 per arm and 4-5 per leg.
4. GW Gnarloc Green 'green' spots
5. GW Scorched Brown, applied in swathes with two 'fingers' going across the green/tan areas.
6. GW Chaos Black, applied in crooked lines to breakdown large areas of plain colour.
7. GW Devlan Mud wash applied over all camo areas.

Note that the early FN SLR's had wooden furniture so are painted here in GW Calthan Brown with a Devlan Mud wash.

Now just left to highlight/weather to taste.

Cheers

Mark

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The Pub Landlord - WIP

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After blogging yesterday I couldn't help myself and followed the course of my thought train to it's conclusion. So I cut the head off the figure in 3 piece suit from Platoon 20's Armed Civilians (P-CV1) and replaced it with one from Britannia's BAOR range.

Voila! Vince, ex-Bootneck, pub landlord of the Slaughtered Ferret: "No ponce in a red beret is taking my pub!"

You know, if Winter of '79 was set in London, this figure would make a great Pearly King for an urban/Zombie apocalypse!

Um diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay
Um diddle diddle diddle um diddle ay

Cheers

Mark

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Platoon 20 on the workbench

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Without my laptop and the wonders of the interweb to distract me, I've completed just over a platoon worth of Government Paras - painted, based and on the table! Figures are a mix of Platoon 20 Falklands' Paras and Royal Marines, suitably painted. One section in the 70's chic '59 pattern Denison smock - as per previous post - the rest; 3 sections in DPM camo smock and green lightweights.

The Paras lack a platoon HQ as unfortunately there's nothing suitable in the Platoon 20 range. But here Britannia Miniatures come to the rescue as I kept a handful of the 'advancing'  Platoon 20 Paras in helmet aside for headswops. Should convert Britannia's 3 man BAOR platoon HQ (pack BAOR9) quite nicely.

With the Paras done, I've moved onto a pack of Platoon 20's Male Armed Civilians-Terrorists-Freedom Fighters 1. I've wanted these for a long time so it was easy to add them as an ad hoc pack to one of my recent orders from Tony.

1. The figure firing a 9mm Browning HP pistol two handed, in zipper jacket is the best of the bunch. Two of these guys (note! only one per pack), one painted in brown leather jacket, one black and you have a nice Cody and Boyle CI5 buddy team. Or equally, undercover SAS, Sweeney etc. Give him a balaclava and you have SAS, terrorist, freedom fighter.... Just a pity these aren't available to purchase singly.
2. The figure standing in three piece suit with M16 Armalite, is pure 1970's! There's an air of authority about the miniture so he could be an undercover SAS leader in the mould of Colonel Dempsey (Ultimate Farce), a rebel commander, local country Laird or a mixture of all three. The M16 has been replaced with an SLR from a Britannia BAOR figure. Cutting off the M16 was easy and took only minimal effort with a sharp blade. Looking at the mini again now, that head would be easy to replace too. I have a spare Britannia BAOR helmeted head that could turn him into a local defence or home guard militia figure.
3. The guy in dinner jacket, bow tie, and automatic pistol, doesn't really fit into Winter of '79. Now, I know it's de rigeur in cop dramas for the detective to turn up at scene of crime in dinner jacket, having been called away from some posh do - but really? I guess that I could paint him with a pink/light blue shirt and a tweed jacket to turn him into a lecturer from Borchester College siding with the revolutionaries.
4. Finally, the figure in jacket and tie with revolver. He has dark glasses that will either be painted as Eric Morecombe glasses - "Wahey!" or I'll do a headswop with the mini in dinner jacket to make him look less Felix Leiter and more Life on Mars.

This pack is worth it within the context of Winter of '79 just for the first two minis listed above. But the other two figures, if not used for '79 will come into their own later, down Panama way, in our planned revisit to the banana republic of Costaguano. The Platoon 20 guys unsurprisingly compliment Combat Miniatures Plain Clothes Detectives  and Criminals/Terrorists. Will definitely get a second pack.


Cheers
Mark

70's Paras WIP

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First photo of my new 70's Paras. Blogger is being a pain in the groin this afternoon, so you are only getting the one pic for now.

" I'd like to thank the Academy....."

Platoon 20 Post-war Brits: pack P-B6

Have spent this weekend working on Falklands era Brits from Platoon 20. Got to say, I'm really chuffed with how these minis turned out. I like my C20th minis to look grungy rather than pretty and it's worked out well. The lighter '59 pattern Denison smock really looking the part.

I used Tamiya Warm Deck as the base for GW Kommando Khaki, which on it's own would be too thin over a black undercoat. Vallejo Iraqi Sand would probably have done the job just as well but the GW paints were all close to hand. I ran Devlan Mud over the K.Khaki then highlighted with a drybrush of Bleached Bone.

The torsos on these minis are really busy with 58' pattern webbing. I suggest you leave the torso without any camo pattern at all overwise it will 'disappear' into the webbing and look like your paintbrush slipped. Concentrate on the arms, particularly around the shoulders. A patch of brown and one or two long swathes of Catachan Green. leave plenty of Kommando Khaki showing or it will start to look like DPM.

I used Catachan Green again as a base for the 'lightweights', followed by Knarloc Green highlighting - which was a loose blocking in using the side of the brush, leaving the Catachan Green in the folds and creases.

Couldn't be arsed finding another green for the webbing, so Catachan Green once again, washed with Badaab Black, highlighted with Catachan Green. Then the webbing, lightweights, boots, gloves and SMG drybrushed with Fortress Grey.

Final touches - Para Beret was Mechrite Red -  and elastic wool cuffs using Calthan Brown with black 'ribbing'.

The Platoon 20 Falklands minis are a real delight to work with. The metal is easy to work yet there is next to nothing in the way of mould seams or flash  to clean. It would be fair to say that the figures are characterful bordering on caricature, but this pays off once they are painted. Both the Para & Marine figs with SMG being a case in point. I never thought I'd have a use for the mini firing a Blowpipe SAM in Winter of '79, but he is such a nice miniature that he is a must have!

Cheers

Mark
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More Kudos to Tony & Platoon 20

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Order figs on the East Riding Miniatures webstore around midnight and they are in the post the next day. Government Paras are now on my workbench being painted in 1970's chic Denison smock ('59 pattern).

Platoon20 Post-War

Falklands Brit Paras Advancing P-B9

The Denison smock was withdrawn from the Parachute Regiment between 1976/ and '78, being replaced by a DPM pattern smock which retained the classic ribbed wooly cuffs and collar. However, for our purposes the '59 pattern SCREAMS 1970's and makes a bold statement about these being hard-nosed government troops.

Should have these minis finished sometime over the weekend - I'm off to iron my best balaclava tonight as I'm meeting Chris Ryan tomorrow - yes, seriously - a black kit and bow-tie event.

Cheers

Mark

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Kudos to Tony & Platoon 20

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I need more 20mm squaddies like a hole in the head, nevertheless I ordered some Platoon 20 Falklands era Paras and Royal Marines from Tony at East Riding Miniatures (ERM) on Sunday evening.

East Riding Miniatures

Platoon 20: P-B7

Tony emailed me on Tuesday to let me know they had been dispatched and the minis popped through my letterbox yesterday morning. This mirrors Maff's experiences with ERM and is the fastest turn round of any order I've made so far for 20mm historical figures. So Tony is ensured of further support from both of us.

I'd been really looking forward to painting them up in DPM as soon as they arrived. But instead of wielding a paintbrush last night, they were such a nostalgic blast for me that I wasted away an hour or so playing with the bare castings, putting them in different squad formations, examining the potential for conversion, headswops etc.

The figures are on a par sizewise with both Britannia Miniatures and Combat Miniatures (ex-Hotspur) from Stonewall, though a little bulker - shows up if placed side by side when they are unpainted but not at all if the miniatures are spread out or opposing forces and I think a liberal DPM paintjob will mask any major differences.

Ordering a Scimitar from Britannia plus a couple of FV432's today. May go for a Chieftain too. Principally because I want to have a crack at the Berlin Brigade urban paint scheme. It's a sure fire way of stamping an identity on an opposing force.

Cheers

Mark

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Walls, And I don't mean ice cream!

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Stopped in by Hobbycraft on Thursday evening and picked up a box of Italeri  IT6127 1/72 Stone Walls for six pounds something. Note that price varies by up to £1 depending on retailer.

 Manufacturers promo shot of the 1/72 walls.

The box has 24 parts on two identical grey plastic sprues (12 pieces each), which include two gated sections. There are two complete and two damaged wall lengths each 8" long, plus a heap of shorter sections and end caps that can be put together in a variety of combinations. See the pic above.  Looks good in the immediate vicinty of farms and run down buildings.

 'Pig-wire' fencing

The fields around where we live tend not to be enclosed in a homogeneous way but instead have a mixture of stonewalls, hedgerow and wooden/wire fencing or even open ditches/watercourses. Sometimes where there's a break in the hedgerow, there's a wall or section of fencing. Great opportunity to reduce overall cost (assuming you are making your own hedgerow) but at the same time add some character and welcome hard cover for your miniatures!

A countryside full of walling provides some unique small scale tactical challenges, but also a challenge to your pocket. Luckily, Jarvis sell 'flexi' granite walling strips in OO scale  - £1.25 for a bag of 4 feet. I'm going to buy a couple of packets to try out.

 Drystane dyke

It seems a cheap price to pay for some alternative terrain. Add a ruined building or two for a run down croft or abandoned village and hey presto. Of course, we don't HAVE to represent every inch of walling/hedgerow etc on the tabletop, but just enough to give a feeling for it and provide specific areas of cover.

Started cutting up my Britannia HLI. Ouch! They are hard work and it turned out the Glengarry heads are larger than those of Britannia's Cold War BAOR squaddies. The Gelngarries will fit the BAOR torso's OK, but I've decided to try them with Platoon 20's P-B6 Falklands era Royal Marines.

Just an excuse to buy some Platoon 20 when I really don't need any more figures for this project. I particularly like the bootneck fiigures that are 'pepper-potting' with SLR and firing a Stirling SMG from the hip. Maff's had a very positive experience buying Platoon 20 stuff from East Riding Miniatures, which is a good enough reason to send an order their way.

If you wanted to try out your own Winter of '79 on the cheap, use Platoon 20's Falklands' Paras (in helmets) as Government troops, Royal Marines (berets) as Rebels and armed civilians as sundry rebels, militia, SF operators etc. 

Cheers

Mark

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