FV721 Fox Armoured Car from S&S Models

I absolutely love the new FV721 Fox armoured car (Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Wheeled)) from Shaun at S&S Models and added a pair to my Winter of '79 vehicle park. These I intend to fully cam up in netting and scrim.

S&S Models 20mm

FV721 Fox armoured car

A tasty little model from S&S that captures the character of the real thing. The Fox represents a nice balance of armour, mobility and firepower on the tabletop without dominating it and a good match for Scorpions and Scimitars.

Thoroughly recommended.

Cheers
Mark

Budget OO/HO Buildings

I want to introduce you to Masterplan oo/ho buildings. This is a new and rapidly expanding range of model buildings on the market.

The range includes a variety of country subjects that you would expect such as cottages, village buildings and a far;, but also some you don't expect such as Georgian houses (perfect for Ireland Joe!) and a country mansion or 'Big Hoos". The latter ideal for replaying shootouts from The Professionals!

There is also an expanding town range. These are a bit more Trumptonish but offer you the chance to build a country town on the cheap.

Let me say first off, that you shouldn't expect miniature masterpieces, they are cheap at £2.95 each but build very quickly into functional wargame models on the tabletop. I've bought Village Set A (Church, shop, semi-detached cottage for £4.95), a Country pub and three Country Cottages (£2.95 each). An entire village for less than one average Hornby OO/HO building.

The models themselves are made from pre-cut coloured card and wood. Windows are printed onto a sheet of acetate and some details such as doors, pub signs etc are printed on the card packaging and need to be cut out.  Roofs are plain coloured card. It took an hour with no distractions and a cup of tea to hand, to put together the entire village.

You can further detail these models using a variety of accessories on the market. To my mind, just adding Slaters Plastikard embossed tiling or shingles to the roofs will make the most immediate and telling difference. The cottage pictured above, could also be enhanced with brick or stone side walls.

Alternatively, if you are keen on scratchbuilding your own, these Masterplan buildings can also make good formers.

At present I've only found them available on eBay (search for Masterplan OO/HO). I suggest you play the long game - put a bid in, if someone wants it more desperately, let the have it and there'll be another along within hours. I was outbid on Village Set A when there was clearly another available with no bids, if they were foolish enough to pay more than they had to....I just placed the first bid on the second set and won that.

First model I bought was the Village Pub, as I thought, no great loss and it can stand on it's own in the background if necessary. It's the sort of pub you'd find by itself or with the odd other building on a crossroads or important junction. Nothing fancy like the usual fare from Superquick etc and it's easily converted into a Post Office if the need arises.

Masterplan are worth checking out. May not be your cup of tea, but for sturdy, functional, pre-coloured budget scenery, hard to find better.

Cheers
Mark

French Intervention

Close up showing (poorly) the French cammo scheme.

The French president Francois Mitterand today expressed concern at the humanitarian situation in parts of Britain. Speaking at a special session of European leaders Mr Mitterand encouraged other states to intervene and seperate the warring groups.

Breather

Just having a breather before returning with new Fox CVR (W) armoured cars courtesy of Shaun at S&S Models, After Action Reports, including a couple of George Malo 'Geezer' style prequels.

Cheers
Mark

George Malo House: Background

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The battle of Top Malo House during the Falklands War of 1982 has always piqued my interest and
I had it in the back of my mind that one day I would  play it out within a Winter of '79' scenario.

I'm therefore grateful to the new Osprey published Force on Force which has Top Malo House as a scenario on page 182 and for bringing the action  back to the forefront of my mind.

I've managed to come up with several variants on the Top Malo theme which I think will be fun to play over the coming weeks. But tonight I'm starting simply with this local set-to in the vale of the Hossack Hills. 

George Malo is an Ulster vet. Local legend has it that he's from Romani stock and that during Bloody Sunday, he rode shotgun on a Humber Pig into the midst of the mayhem. There are those who point him out in that famous Daily Mail photo, used at the Inquiry whitewash and simply labelled as 'Soldier X'.

George, lives out his gypsy inheritance at what is cynically known hereabouts as George Malo House.  His 'estate' is in fact no more than a tumbledown collection of sheds, shacks, caravans and rusting lorry shells. But it's the base from which he and a collectiom of gypsy and scrote drifters rustle local livestock and farm machinery within the county.

The present troubles have meant that times are good for George. There is a thriving black market for illicit bacon, ham and the odd spring lamb or two dozen. And this is exactly why the Borchester Conservative Young Farmers have decided to close down George's business.

Led by ex-Etonian and posh regiment short term commission Robin Partrdge-Woodthrush, the CYF have agreed to burn down the property on the night of 26th February. George Malo will be reasoned with, at the point of a gun, and ejected from the county by force if necessary. One or two of the more recent public school members of the CYF are a bit more gung-ho and relish the thought of ridding the county of this 'scum'. Whatever form that may take!

George has 5 armed and 3 unarmed men about the 'estate'. There's a van load of British Hampshire carcasses to get off to a butcher in Felpersham and eveyone is here to lend a hand. A few of the lads will make sure the bacon  gets' to it's destination AND gets paid for, with no funny business.

George himself is heavily armed with a Shotgun, an SLR and a WW2 German Luger. He's also managed to procure an L4 Bren, an SMLE, Sterling SMG, AK47 and a twin bore shotgun for his men.

Partridge-Woodthrush Senior has connections and unsurprisingly the 12 members of the CYF 'commando wing' are fully armed with SLRs, rifle grenades, Sterlings, and a GPMG.

Cheers
Mark

British Army Helmets in 1979: Part 3 Internal Security

Unsurprisingly, Northern Ireland became a testbed for new British Army equipment. The MKIV 'turtle' helmet was superceded by more specialist protective headgear as the 'Troubles' wore on.

My favourite from a Winter of 79 perspective is the GRP (Glass-reinforced Plastic) 'Cromwell' helmet. To all intents and purposes a 1970's motorcycle helmet with removable visor.

The Cromwell gave the soldier on the streets far more protection than previously, but significantly reduced the soldier's ability to respond to verbal orders or audible tactical clues. Nevertheless if you want a full on paramilitary look to your forces, then the GRP Cromwell helmet is ideal:

Lessons learned from the Cromwell, were incorporated into the Combat Helmet (Northern Ireland) which appeared in the late 1970's. This was again a modern Glass-reinforced Plastic design and would ultimately lead to the MK6 combat helmet.

GRP Combat Helmet, Northern Ireland: Osprey Elite 044

Security Forces in Northern Ireland 1969-92

I hope you found this short series on the helmets used by the British Army in 1979 useful. You can see that by careful selection of figres you can increase the flexibility and range of miniatures available to you. Once again I recommend Osprey Elite 044 Security Forces in Northern Ireland. If you need just one Osprey title to allow you to paint British Army and security forces miniatures for Winter of '79, this is it.

Cheers

Mark

British Army Helmets in 1979: Part 2 Para & Marine Lids

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Trying to find concrete information on post war British Para Helmets is difficult. Luckily with our focus being on 20mm miniatures not collecting militaria or 1/6th scale warriors, where the smaller detail of liners, straps and such matters far more.

In our 1979 time frame we are basically looking at two models of helmet in service at the same time. The classic WW2 era rimless steel MkII Para helmet which soldiered on with British airborne forces right up to the early-mid eighties and the M76 Parachute helmet, lightweight.

 3 Para going ashore, San Carlos, 1982
M76 GRP Para helmets

The MKII Paratrooper helmet was manufactured in 1944 and saw wide service with airborne troops by the time of Arnhem. There were at least two more post war manufacturing runs - 1953 and 1965. British Paratroops continued to wear the MKII into the mid-1980's where it saw service in the Falklands side by side with the M76. The MKII also saw active service with Israeli & Indian Parachute forces.

1 Para, Londonderry, 1972, 

Riot Visors attached to MKII Para Helmets

The M76 had a lightweight but durable Glass-Reinforced Plastic (GRP) shell. It appears to have been a development of the GRP Combat Helmet (Northern Ireland), which itself was the direct forerunner of the MK6 combat helmet (1987). It began replacing the MKII Parachute helmet from 1979 onwards.

M76 Parachute Helmet, Lightweight

The basic shell of the MKII Parachute Helmet was also used for the RAC (Royal Armoured Corps) 'tankers' helmet. With a new liner, this became the Marine Pattern Helmet.

Marine Pattern Helmet

Photos of Royals in the Falklands clearly show them carrying MKIV ("turtle") helmets. It's likely that the numbers of the Marine Pattern Helmet required for a large scale ground operation simply were not available.

Once camo cover is in place, netted and scrimmed up, there's only a subtle difference between the MKII Para, Para lightweight and  Marine Pattern helmets in 20mm, only then up close and you have to know what you are looking for. Rolf Hedges' FALK1 British infantry in camo helmets are dripping in scrim so can be taken for all three helmet models in a single stroke.

This Para GPMG No.1 snapped in the Falklands, could easily step back in time to stand beside Frost at Arnhem.

Cheers
Mark