Armies of Afghanistan- Dougies' Painted British

Dougie is back, with a further finished fireteam of British. While it may not have answered my call for different nationalities, they are too gorgeous not to post up!

Over to Dougie...

Second fireteam now complete so I’ve a handy little force to start with, same organisation and weapon mix as the first.

I’ve just ordered some of the latest Brits from Empress as well as the first pack of Dish Dash Talibs to have a crack at.

Later, Dougie

Proving that Dougie isn't just awesome at painting Multi-Cam, here is a Taliban from Eureka that he has painted.

I for one can't wait to see what he makes of our Taliban- don't forget to pick up your set from the Skirmish Sangin website!

Next post is something VERY different....

Pooch

Armies of Afghanistan- Dougie is back for Part 7!

After a while spent incommunicado, Dougie has sent through just a couple of little teaser pictures of the things he is working on. Mainly, that he is finishing up the second fire team he started a wee while back. You should also rejoice that his blog is back updating, if you don't know where to look, head here

First off gotta say sorry for the delay in this update, due entirely to my retirement and holidays with my good lady wife! Any hoo work on the second fireteam has progressed with the flesh and Multicam completed, I’ve just started on the boots so there’s not too much left to do.

I’ve also started a Eureka Talib, nice figures but I must get some DishDash examples!

Dougie

I hope you had a wonderful set of travels Dougie, but I must say that it is nice to have more pictures of that gorgeous multi-cam to grace our blog! Look forward to seeing the next set of Paras finished, as well as their opposition.

Alex McC- Painting Kiwis

So Alex has come back, we had a few issues with getting him a set of our Kiwi figures at the start (we had sold out of them completely at the time!), so he was a bit behind the rest of us in starting his Armies of Afghanistan project. But, he has managed to get some progress, showing off where his Kiwis are at!

Well, this project took a little backseat for a while, as real life tends to get in the way, and I was a little held up getting all the elements in place due to Salute, and other things!

So far, I've begun work on the first fire-team of Kiwis After some pretty exhaustive research, I've settled on a coyote-brown vest and pouches, and the two-colour desert uniform. They're progressing nicely, though I think the base colour for the uniforms may be a little yellow. Never too late to refine!

The figures themselves are lovely, and needed very little cleanup to have ready for paint. I have 3 more fire-teams to work my way through, as well as some putty work to convert some combat engineers, and a Military Working Dog team. The dog is still too early to show, but there's a conversion from the Zombicide dog set in the works, and it seemed appropriate to pick the Blue Heeler model!

I've also begun working on the Humvee for the patrol, this is a lovely piece a resin from Imprint/Empress Miniatures. I did a little sprucing up, added a ratchet clamp to the spare strap from a 1/35th kit, and made the strap out of super fine masking tape for some texture. The antenna is just a piece of brass rod, mounted into the cast bracket. I also felt it seemed a little naked with no side mirrors, so I bent some brass rod, and cut plastic sheet to make the mirrors. It worked out okay if you ask me!

That's it for now, but I now have more time to get things done!

I reckon the base colour will work out- it will look a whole lot less yellow when you put the brown splodges of colour onto it! And as for the Military Working Dog- that sounds like an awesome idea, you will definitely have to share some pictures of that.

I am definitely looking forward to seeing how these turn out.

Skirmish Sangin Armies of Afghanistan – M-ATV Build part 1

We have always been more than fortunate with the people we have involved with Skirmish Sangin, all those people that offer skills I just don't posses, which all comes together to create the high quality products we create for you, our discerning audience.

We are fortunate to have in our mists the Great Queeg aka Brent one of the world pre-eminent vehicle modellers (See the great example of his work above) and we asked him to put this together for you guys so over to the Queeg...

Musings from the warp...

While waiting for some of the ordered parts to arrive I filled in the time by assembling 2 Empress Miniatures Oshkosh M-ATVs to provide some patrolling and scout forces for our slowly building American forces.

The first thing that needs to be said is that these boys are big units. The only way to hide these things would be to find a building and drive into it for cover, and it’d have to be an American sized building at that, they stand over the Abrams and dwarf the British Jackals and US Bradley, which I thought were pretty big vehicles anyway. I must admit I’m unconvinced of their use outside of patrolling a tertiary warzone or policing duties but I guess time and combat success will tell the tale …. that and how they perform on the table of course!

 Now the models ….. as supplied they comprise 15 resin and 15 white metal parts. The resin is impressive, being very crisply moulded with very little clean up required to get the major parts flush and aligned. The basic assembly was straightforward  with only a couple of minor issues, while filing I did “break” through the resin surface and exposed a couple of sinkholes but a little Tamiya epoxy putty should fix them ok and one of my turrets was close to being a miscast. It looks like the moulds shifted during pouring with the top being off center to the base and one side pretty roughly cast, although after some clean up and paint I suspect only I’ll notice.  The white metal parts are ok and typical quality for mixed media wargaming kits.

And as usual for me lately I decided to add a bit of extra detail. These are big vehicles and as such I figured that any extra detail would help break up there size and provide a little more visual interest. After scouring as many web pics as I could find and also several 1/35^th kit build and logs I added the following details;

• lifting eyes on the lower hull sides and the upper rear of the cabin
• support chains for the steps
• front grill mesh
• Rhino front mounted IED jammer
• power supply boxes for the DUKE jamming system mounted on the rear cabin
• rear access step ladder
• mounting bracket for the spare wheel
• hatch for the gunners O-GPK (Objective Gunner Protective Kit) turret
• mounting brackets for the truck and turret wing mirrors
• turret joystick slew controller
• turret stowage rack
• wiring for the aerials and low light TV drivers aid
• Ibis Tek tow bar
• coil springs and lower suspension arms (only on 1 and undecided if I’ll do the back or the other vehicle yet)

With most of the add ons in place I primed them with Tamiya rattlecan desert yellow enamel. It both acts as a primer and seal coat for the various materials used during detailing.  From here the tops coats and finishing work will all be brushed acrylics (mostly last gen GW).  After the base paint is only and most of the shading done I’ll add the final details that I’ve left off so as not to break them during all the handling while painting.

Still to add after base painting;

• Aerials (4 per vehicle) and some wiring for them
• Flexible cover for the Harris AN/PRC-152 SINCGARS radio (left rear)
• tow shackles
• emergency door pulls
• tie straps for the Rhino and tow bar
• side mesh for the rear stowage bins
• various stowage bits to the rear bins

Brent

Aka Queeg ( check out more of Queeg's work at http://houseofqueeg.wordpress.com/)

Adam- MARSOC- making Berets and Painting Commandos

Armies of Afghanistan has wound down a bit, but Adam clearly hasn't! He has sent through some tips on how to sculpt a beret, along with a few pictures of the work in progress for his MARSOC and Commando force.

Hey there, I've been pretty busy despite the break in school but I have managed to get some progress on this project. I was really stoked to get the minis and had been working on several ideas in my mind as to what to do with my minimal skills to make them look the part.

One was berets, or 'French Hats' as I jealously refer to them as! I needed to get a couple of them to signify NCO's and officers of the Afghan National Army's,(ANA) Commando Kandaks that I am portraying here. Generally they wouldn't be worn on patrol, but these are wargaming miniatures so they need to be representative as well as illustrative. So berets for the NCO's and O's. The minis have either kevlar helmets or patrol hats so some minor surgery was needed. I tried a couple different ideas and this worked the best.

The starting model:

Scalp them.

Roll out a small ball of green stuff, probably smaller than you think, see the pic. Then smash it onto the head and shape it like you care.

You will often find French hat wearers staring at mirrors trying to get that perfect look. Just saying...

Another detail was the lack of pouches and nonsense on some of the minis. Now I must say that they are excellent sculpts as well as castings from Eureka but my Commandos do a lot of foot patrols unlike the modeled Police. So I made a few pouches and packs or water bladder carriers.

Now onto the Critical Skills Operators, (CSO) of MARSOC. I've drafted a Eureka SAS troopie on a quad bike to go with my Eureka Aussie SF motorcyclist.

Chopped the head off the Aussie, swapped it with an ANZAC head with a kevlar from the Skirmish Sangin Kiwis and did a bush cover trim on the SAS boy. Those big floppy hat brims look a bit strange to Marines.

Both of these minis got a few extra pouches by milliput or hack and slash methods.

The Ranger from Pooch was disassembled and repainted a nice light khaki and them washed with Brown Tamiya model wash, I like this stuff though it's the first time I've used it. However, my first bull bar and roll bar attempts have been rejected by quality control, and I am in search of 3mm brass wire.

Everybody got a good old fashioned woodland camo scheme as well as desert boots and Commando patches. Just waiting on final dry brushing, detail bits and basing add ons. (Bases are washers, thanks Andy!)

In the end I've got a suitable manoeuvre element for a Sangin game to complement my other figures or even on their own buffed out a bit. My other Afghan Police minis will be mostly more Commandos but I will keep a couple of them as Police in their grey blue.

Looking great Adam! You will have to keep sending through pictures as the painting continues- I will be very interested to see how the roll bar turns out on your Ranger! For all those who were looking lovingly at Adam's motorbike and quad bike, the rules for them you can find in Despatches II, out later this year.

Dougie- Renedra 1/56th scale 28mm Mud Brick House

I know that Colin wasn't the only one drooling over the Renedra Mud Brick Houses. How do I know that? Because Dougie has sent through some lovely pictures of his finished version. There are some more pictures up already on his blog (here) be sure to check them out!

Haven’t done an update in a while due to work, however the good news is I started my pre-retirement leave on June 21st and I’m officially retired on 18th July, Woo Hoo!

My second PARA fireteam is progressing well but in the meantime thought I’d show what I’d done with Renedra’s new 28mm Mud Brick House, its fine for Afghanistan as well as other locales, injection moulded plastic and there’s also an accessory frame with domes, extra walls, a canopy and some useful pots and bowls!

Here’s a shot of the box with some of my other Salute purchases!

Is that an M-ATV I spy back there Dougie? If so, you should head to Queeg's site to see his ones....

Assembly takes a couple of minutes then greenstuff to fill the gaps, you can do this quite roughly as this adds to the ramshackle look of these buildings

I cut a 2mm MDF base and primed it grey

Painted and based using my normal method of layering and washes, a distressed green door and a few tufts added.

I’ve ordered some detail items from Black Cat Bases here in the UK, farm implements and tools etc, but these haven’t arrived yet so in the meantime I’ve added a couple of pots and an AK!

A couple of close ups:

In theatre:

Next update will be the completion of my 2nd PARA fireteam then either some Eureka Talibs or a Javelin Team.
Dougie

Looking really good Dougie! Doesn't take much to convert a 20mm table of terrain into a 28mm table does it? And as for the Renedra houses, you have made it look really good, I just hope I can do the same on the set I am starting!

Tom- NZSAS Painted!

Tom is back, this time with a whole lot more painting done. Making up for the bright and garish colours of his first painting post by using the same technique to the more drab colours of the NZSAS. Although, I do notice that Tom has snuck in a few bright colours still, perhaps using a bright blue to counter the bright red of Alex's Insurgents? Over to Tom....

I have been busy and made some progress....... eventually.

With the Sangin narrative competition coming up soon (Call to Arms. You should enter, details are here- Ed) I have been spurred on to complete my NZSAS. So backing up Willie Apiata VC we have a team of NZSAS armed with a Minimi, a couple of M4s with M203 UGLs and a sniper all from the Empress miniatures range. The Empress figures took a bit of filing back and I missed a bit and once the base coats were on I needed to go back and do a bit more filing - boo hiss!

Then it was getting the painting complete. I painted them the same way I did Willie but unfortunately none of my work in progress shots came out.

I started with a Tamiya light grey undercoat to get a nice light finish. The base coat of the model was Vallejo Green Ochre, with Canvas for the pouches, Black for the weapons and Dark Flesh for the... flesh. I picked out my officer with a blue denim shirt - the SAS are notorious for varying uniforms - and this is a small homage to that tradition as the rest of the models really are quite standard. (And a lovely denim shirt it is. Known to his mates as Cowboy?- Ed)

I shaded the uniforms with heavily watered down Agrax Earthshade (citadel ink) and the skin with Serephin Sepia (citadel ink).
From the shades I took the uniforms back up to Green Ochre and then highlighted Dark Sand (Vallejo). The Canvas was taken back to Canvas and then highlighted with a mix of Dark Sand and Canvas. The skin went back to Dark Flesh from shade to Basic Skin Tone with a final highlight for chins, nose and under the eyes of Light Skin (all Vallejo).

The Camo is Chocolate Brown with a stripe of Brown Sand down the middle (both Vallejo).

The Sniper and Spotter are lovely models and I decided to blend the rifle in as well - a joy to paint these two.

Right now all I need to do is prepare for Call To Arms - building a list - 1000 points mmmmm........

Looking good there Tom! Is that a wee NZ fern I spy on one of the baseball caps? As to the army list for CTA, this whole NZSAS patrol I would think will work out around 1000- 9 Elite soldiers is your first 900 points, leaving you just a 100 points to kit them out. You might have to leave one or two of them at home, otherwise your poor NZSAS boys might not have any cool kit!

Alex McE- Painting better Baddies- eventually!

Alex McE is back, this time with a whole lot of painted Insurgents. He has adopted a few bright colour schemes, a lovely deep red which he has used as the symbol for his band of fighters. Anyway, over to Alex....

Lesson: it takes a gentle reminder from Pooch and a quiet weekend for me to finally break radio silence. It’s not been a great few months in real world for me and a lot of things – notably my hobby time – haven’t been as productive as I would have liked.

That aside, this has taken too damn long! Without further ado – baddies!

Here’s my Warlord and his buddy with an RPG. Everyone knows RPG warheads are red right? (I have seen some in strange colours, so sure, why not red- Ed) The Warlord is rocking mirror shades, a red beret and an ANP uniform.

Next up are the support weapons. I totally dig the dude in the baseball cap with his RPG17. Football team emblem still to be done!

Then the grunts – these are the guys rocking good old fashioned assault rifles and who are just all style, all the time.

In the penultimate photo my favourites – the dudes in Type 99 Chinese Marine Camo. I’m super happy with these ones – more than any of the others and the guy in the bandana is just rocking his fashion choice. (It is just an odd looking colour palatte isn't it?- Ed)

Lastly, the one figure in this collection I really don’t like. But it’s okay, because if the nice people at Empress are going to sculpt you wearing a dorky tracksuit then I am pleased to oblige. Someone didn’t get the “best camouflage gear” memo:

In terms of the colour palettes – if anyone wants to know I’m happy to share. My crappy cellphone pics and pretend lightbox on top of the fridge don’t work that well when the ambient light in the house is as bad as it was on Sunday night

As far as the models go, they’re really nice. It’s an interesting combination of weapons and I love the little details – most are wearing webbing and they’re generally well posed. I’m not crazy on their faces but in this group of models, that’s not such an issue.

And now? I get stuck into the 17 conventional Taliban sitting on my painting table that are based and awaiting a day that isn’t freakishly cold and damp in my basement so I can prime them!

So the Insurgency is going well for you then Alex! I do love the brightness of the red, and how it contrasts with all the other more traditional dull military tones. That being said, the Chinese camo is just such an odd base colour, I can't quite get my head around it. And the tracksuit wearer, just screams Russian mafia from a Guy Ritchie film. At least you didn't give him a Pink Kappa tracksuit!