Urban Militia WIP

I admit, this guy is a bit tongue in cheek but somehow it works. Perhaps he's a Tory faithful or Man U. supporter? Seriously, just a throw in generic figure to use up all the spare heads and bodies lying on my cutting mat.

Having said that, mucho potential there for taking on Elheim's 20mm Modern Zombies!  

"Them's nae crazed Zombies Ma!
Them's New Romantics"...
   

"Well Someone's got t' save t' estate Brian!"

Excuse the copious amounts of Blutack - it's Co-op own brand and not very tacky. I bought it for masking my Sci Fi tanks when spraying on wibbly wobbly camouflage. I batch the figures up before gluing them and adding Greenstuff.  I find using the Blu-tack that I quickly learn how small the amount of putty you need to mix is. It also alows me to act on any last minute inspiration and changes.

My GDR Workers Militia from RH Models gave themselves up for a good cause. The class struggle in 20mm Britain.

Cheers
Mark

Trade Union Militia: First WIP

Started on my 1979 Trade Union militia yesterday evening, but Maff rang for a wargames chat, so two large bottles of beer later....called it a night.

The figures are RH Models (Liberation Miniatures) - civilian dress, AK47s and woolly hats - for all the world they look like they are wearing Donkey Jackets and so are perfect for representing manual and blue collar trades. The Mono may have been the 'uniform' of the Trade Unions in the Spanish Civil War, but in my 1979 Britain it's the corporation Donkey Jacket!

I'm slicing, be honest..... snipping, hacking, carving,  the AK47s off the original figures and replacing them with suitable modified SLRs. You can't see it in the photo, but the rifle is tilted slightly to the right. This adds some subtle character to the model. If I find another figure in this pose, I'll have him carrying the SLR across his waist.

Whilst talking with Maff I was absent-mindedly toying with an Indo-Pakistan Bren Gunner from Elheim, and thought - aaaah, I can cut off the Bren LMG and give it to one of the TU Militiamen..... the Elheim Bren is very nicely executed and thankfully equally easy to remove.

To increase the turn-out of the branch, I'm going to add SLRs and the left over British helmeted heads (with and without respirators) to the GDR Workers Militia bodies left from yesterday's head conversions. 

Now, will I ever get some suitable Sterling SMGs for my Trade Union Executive (local branch), 'shock troop'?

"Then raise the scarlet standard high.
Within its shade we'll live and die,
Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer,
We'll keep the red flag flying here."

Cheers
Mark

Snatch Squad WIP

I've stopped to watch a couple of episodes of LIFE ON MARS whilst I have me 'oops. Here's the work in progress 'snatch  squad'.

The 'Glengarry' heads are attached with Blutack for now whilst I work out best positioning. May or may not change those heads with respirators to standard helmets and riot visors. Ideally I'd reposition the arms for greater variety but these guys are just a fun aside. Unfortunately they are cast with the right arm attached to the kidney (bum) pouches - more effort than it's worth.

BTW, I recommed the Osprey Elite series  Security Forces in Northern Ireland 1969-92. To my mind it's the best of the Osprey books on the British army of the 70's and 80's. It's also directly relevant to Winter of '79.

Cheers
Mark

Workbench

The kitchen table this morning. Rest of the Argyll 'brick' underway plus first of the 'snatch squad'. Bodies once again, are all Eureka 1970's British Army Internal Security figures.

Argyll's, Zombie Apocalypse & Toast

You can see an ex-Horspur radioman in beret lying on the right waiting for conversion to join the ranks of the Argylls.

Several of the Eureka helmeted heads wearing respirators left over by the end of this mini-project. So I thought I'd see if they would be useful for making use of the left over RH Models (Liberation Mins.) bodies, in a Winter of '79 Millwall FC militia, Zombie apocalypse, Twilight 2000 sort of of way. Meet Bazza, gun nut and militaria collector - hence the non-regulation respirator (gasmask). He's armed with an AK because it's the weapon of choice when you absolutely, positively, have to kill every benefit scrounging, flesh eating Zombie on the council estate...oh! And New Romantics!

Cheers
Mark

Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders WIP No.1

Argyll & Sutherland Highlander conversions starting to take shape.

The body is one of the new Eureka Miniatures 20mm Internal Security Brits. Thank you Mike! The head comes from the RH Models (Liberation Miniatures) GDR Workers Militia.

I'm going to  build up the collar of the Flak vest and fill any gap at the front with simulated scrim netting. That leaves a prominent ASH badge and ribbons on the back of the Glengarry.

Really pleased with the look so far. I'll have half a dozen completed in the next day or so. Maff is off to Penarth at the end of the month so I'll ask him to pick up another pack or two of Combat Miniatures (Stonewall Figures' ex-Hotspur range) 1970's Internal Security British Army. I'll convert one pack from berets into Glengarry heads for a greater range of poses, and convert the other pack using Green Stuff into a foot patrol wearing Tams.

Cheers
Mark
 

BW Models: Land Rover Series 3 Lightweight VPK Armoured

BW200 in the BW Models range represents the Land Rover Series 3 1/2 ton Lightweight  'locally' uparmoured with the GRP, Vehicle Protection Kit (VPK) and used by the British Army in Northern Ireland from early '70's until 1994.

The model comes in 26 parts including a piece of clear acetate for glazing. Accompanying the kit is a short history of the vehicle, a step by step guide to construction, a list of parts (very useful) and a basic exploded diagram of the model.

First thing I noticed on all three kits was the amount of cleaning up that had taken place prior to shipping. You can clearly see the marks on the body of the vehicle in this photograph.

The filing was so rough that the rear left hand wheel arch has been filed almost all the way up to the side armour - and exposes the vehicle floor when it's attached. The casting finish on this side is poor and will require filling. Especially over the front wheel arch. The door and back of the armoured passenger compartment will require sanding as both have a peeled blister appearance. Take a look at the opposite side of the body below for comparison.

I read on the MAFVA forum that you need to do a couple of dry runs with the parts on the BW Models to make sure they fit correctly before gluing anything place. Believe me, no amount of dry runs will make the back panel of this kit fit. Filing, filling and sanding are the order of the day. REME were probably able to bolt the extra armour onto the real vehicle quicker than it will take me to finish this model!

Now I could live with all that extra but completely unecessary work above. I could even forget about some of it as this is armoured Lightweight is destined to be a hands on wargame model, not a proud display piece. But with the wire mesh windscreen protector (shown above)? All I can think is, your havin' a laugh!

I contacted Barry about these issues. He noted the comments and mentioned that it was a popular kit with 100 being sold and this is the first negative comment received. A full refund upon return of the kit has been offered.

BW200: L/Rover Series 3 L/weight VPK Armoured (N Ireland) £9.50

Cheers

Mark
 

The British Army 1965-80

Back in the seventies I used to own a copy of Osprey Men-at-Arms series, No.71 The British Army 1965-80.  Long gone.

It's really little more than a list of regiments and cap basges with a briefest of overviews of uniforms. If you see it for a pound or two on eBay, go for it - but pay no more than £2. Personally I think the DPM represented in this Men-at-Arms title as too 'yellow' but I've found this to be a regular conceit amongst illustrators. Back in the late seventies I used the figure on the cover of the book to paint my Airfix 1/32nd scale Modern British Infantry - lovely models.Shame Airfix made no opposition or made these in 1/7nd where they would at least have had a Chieftain and Scorprion/Scimitar to go with. A simple but all too non-existant marketing strategy.

 Airfix 1/32nd Modern British Infantry

Production 1977-1984

A Call To Arms should be releasing 1/72nd scale, yes 1/72nd scale, Modern British Paratroopers later this year, equal in quality to the larger OOP Airfix British. Not surprising as they are based on Britains 54mm SuperDeetail British Paratroopers from 1978, in Combat Dress, '58 webbing and berets. A preview of the full sprue with 8 diffrent poses is available at Plastictsoldierreview.com.

With the success of Warhammer and the like if I were in charge at Airfix I'd use the masters for their 1/32nd  ranges to make boxes of 28mm figures. Rant over.

Cheers
Mark