ANZAC Day 2026- WW1 Rifleman

I've painted another rifleman to join my growing infantry section.

Lest we forget.

Anzac Day 2025- Lewis Gun Team

The Lewis Gun weighed 13kg and had a rate of fire of 500-600 rounds/ minute. The distinctive pan magazine holds forty-seven .303 rounds. Its other distinctive feature is the barrel cooling shroud.

Lewis Gun Team

Lewis Gunner

Lewis Gunner

No. 2 with spare magazines

No. 2 with spare magazines

Lewis Gun in action. Fred Leist, 1917

Lewis Gunner, Sergeant Stanley Galton. Garnet Williamson, 1918

Australians advancing from Villers-Bretonneux, August 8th 1918.
Will Longstaff, 1918

I added another 54mm Anzac to my growing section from Slave 2 Gaming, and was painting it when I realised it was the No. 2 for a Lewis Gun Team. So I had to dig out, pin, prep and paint the No. 1 in a bit of a hurry to make this blog on time! I'm trying to match my earlier styles, but it is a bit more impressionistic. They need a dusting of antishine.

Lest we forget.

Anzac Day 2024- WW1 digger

This figure is a companion piece to last year's Mike Broadbent sculpt from Slave 2 Gaming. I tried to replicate the paintjob. Here they are together:

Lest we forget.

Anzac Day 2023- Western Front digger

After Gallipoli, the Australian Imperial Force was deployed into the Western Front trenches from March 1916 until the Armistice.

This 54mm figure is from Slave 2 Gaming, sculpted by Mike Broadbent. There are some subtle areas for improvement on the webbing, but the stressful part was stippling on muddy splashes without drowning the detail. I haven't done any detailed groundwork on the 40mm base, but I do have more of these figures and could do some in the future.

Lest we forget.

Anzac Day 2022- M60 Gunner, Vietnam

Battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment (RAR) were deployed to Vietnam between 1965 and 1972. The proportion of conscripted National Servicemen ('Nashos') rose throughout the years. From 1967, New Zealand contributed an infantry company as part of the ANZAC Battalion.

Each doctrinal section had one M60 7.62mm General Purpose Machine Gun. 

5RAR 1966

7RAR 1967

7RAR, 1970

3RAR, 1968

7RAR, 1970

Oil painting by Bruce Fletcher, 1967

2RAR, 1971

This gunner is patrolling professionally, albeit with a finger on the trigger. He’s got his sleeves rolled down and has cam paint on. He wears a scrim scarf and a giggle hat. He’s made a protective belt sleeve from a cut-up plastic air mattress.

This is a companion piece to my 2016 Anzac Day post, a rifleman with an SLR. It’s an OzMade 54mm sculpt by Mike Broadbent I painted about 20 years ago. I made the distinctive front sight from a bent staple! I have given the figure a bit of a touch-up with a wash, and added some tufts to the base. I also used some HO ferns from JTT. The improved basing really brings it up a notch, but I could blend the groundwork in better. The plinth needs a touch-up as well.

Lest we forget.

Picture sources:

Top: Lyles, K. 2004. Elite 103: Vietnam ANZACs. Osprey Publishing.

All others: Australian War Museum

Anzac Day 2018- WW2 digger

This is one of my old OzMade 54mm figures I painted 15-20 years ago. He's carrying the Australian-designed 9mm Owen submachine-gun, and is kitted out for jungle warfare.

I added the helmet netting myself. I'm happy with the skin tones, but it could do with an overall wash to build depth and contrast, as well as better basing and foliage. (Not to mention fixing the chip on his collar...)

These evocative paintings by George Browning are of the 25th Infantry Brigade in the 1942 Kokoda Track campaign. I had the privilege of walking the Track in 2007- very hard to imagine doing it whilst being opposed.

That's me in the red.

Lest we forget.

All other pictures via the Australian War Memorial.

Anzac Day 2016- Vietnam infantryman with SLR

An Australian infantryman with SLR from the Vietnam war.  This is a 54mm OzMade piece I painted with acrylics about 15-20y ago. I think it stands up OK. The groundwork was made of Blu-tac, superglue and sawdust... It could do with some better grass and foliage.

Australia was involved in Vietnam from 1962-1975. The main infantry force was composed of rotating battalions from the Royal Australian Regiment, or RAR. The iconic small arm was the L1A1 SLR.

The 'Skippy badge'

Lest we forget.

Photos via Google Images