AK-47 Militia Build - The Miltia 120mm mortar painted, now just needs crew

 God knows where they dug up this old fossil....

Battlefronts 15mm scaled 120mm that they sell for the Germans, Russians, Egyptians, Iraqi's, Bietnamese, etc....so this might be a bit hefty for the Militia but it just says Mortar, so something with a little more Oomph is nice. That and I have loads of these in my spares bin.

AK-47 Militia Build - Dir, the 1st T-34 Rebel Tank PIP

 No kids for Christmas, and meds making sure I'm not hungry I just spent the day sorting stuff, cleaning and grabbing the occasional small snack, no Xmas dinner this year, or tomorrow. Well, there was but that is now in the freezer.

And then I took an hour or so for myself this evening to grab some washes to paint Dir, the 1st T-34 tank for the Militia (Rebel) Build. I did not get as far as on Rumh, but that is ok as I need to do some more prep work and putty pushin on the third anyway and what work remains (white markings and barrel, crew,tracks etc) can be done when I paint that. At my current rate that will be somewhere next year I think.

Dir (درع) means Shield in Arabic. The crew are....for lack of a better word, "conscripted volunteers"

The 2nd T-34 (and third tank for this unit) will be īmān (إيمان) which means Faith.

So Spear, Shield and Faith. Tank is a Battlefront T-34 that I got in a joblot. I hope that explains why this and the other T-34 have their commanders cuppola glued on the loaders side. For a fantasy like this it is perfectly fine....

...Crap, now I feel I should equip some of the spear guys with a shield......dammit. Oh well, still more than 20 days left I suppose....

AK-47 Militia Build - Rumh, the Su-100 Rebel Tank PIP

 I don't have a lot of time today so focussed purely on getting the tank as far as my enevrgy could take it. It needs markings (which need to be weathered) and I need to write the name on the barrel. Then do the trackwork and some parts of the base. Final detailing after the basing.

 

Rumh (رمح) is Arabic for Pike (the weapon, not the fish). Backstory is that the Militia "found" this and other T-34 based tanks in a outdoor long term storage base in some backwater on the coastline. She's not pretty, but she runs (for now) and the gun works. 

AK-47 Militia Build - The Old Gun PIP

 I grabbed a plastic German 105mm gun from the Battlefront spares box after grabbig these photos off of the Internet.

These are from the Syrian Civil War and are a rebel gun circe early 2015. Although you would think it is a German 105mm, it is not. It's a Yugoslavian one and some details are different......but not enough to bother with for this build.

After posing, basing and giving it a coat of primer and having that harden nicely, a solid hour of work gets me to here:

Once the crew is finished, I'll base them together, do the base and add the lanyard for firing the gun. 

AK-47 Militia Build - Clothing WIP

 For the basics of the clothing I've used nothing but my sets of AK markers. trying what I can and cannot do with them. I've mostly used the historical markers this time. They work fine but I'm not sure how long the tips will last.

Tried using at least 1 bright colour per stand, when possible. Also did a few (very fake) camo's to see what works with the markers....but that got messy real quick, so if I wanted to do that I'll use the brush. 

While fun to do, I'll only do this for bigger items. The ammo crate works just fine, the camo pants does not so that might be a redo. This is the guncrew btw. 

AK-47 Militia Build - Skin

 I'll be honest. As much as I enjoy painting scenery, I really don't like painting figures 99 out of 100 times. Yes, boo, hiss, eat me.

But these guys aren't going to paint themselves, so.....

1 coat of Army Painter Speedpaint Hardend Leather for all of the skin. It will do. Once everything is done, a coat of matte should tone the shiny, sweaty, muscular.......<ahem> The models should be nice and flat then. 

AK-47 Militia Build - The Basics

 Time to get my thumb out as the deadline is Jan 17th. 

 

 All the infantry bases are ready for primer, the vehicles still need some work and/or a base. 

12 bases of regular Militia = 84 pts

2 bases of RPG Militia = 28 pts

1 base of HMG Militia = 14 pts

1 base of Mortar Militia = 20 pts

1 Militia Towed Gun with Tow = 30 pts

3 Militia Tanks = 180 pts

2 Militia Trucks with AA = 60 pts

All bases are magetised.

50 cent challenge - the toy tractor to armoured wargaming piece conversion.

I started off with a 30 cent thriftstore tractor.

The backwheels are slightly bent, so I epoxied the axles and set the wheels straight by glueing them to a base. This will make it easier to hold it while modding it.

In comes the box with spare bits of plasticcard, the knife and the epoxy....

 There is a magnet in the roof so I can swap out turrets if I want to with my BMP-1's, BRDM-2's and BTR-60's....or add the rocketpack from my Technicals. I'll make a magnetswappable sandbagposition with a LMG gunner to go on top in the future.

 Then we hit it with a brown/orange/red paint mix.

 And a hour or 2 later we have this:

Basic weathering done....now it is enamel time. And then powders. And when done, we have this.....

And that is it. Another challenge done! The tractor is based on a mix of pictures seen from Sri Lanka, Yugoslavia and Syria. I have no particular faction or country in mind. This can just as easily be Yugoslavia, Syria or TW:2K.

This might get a bit Technical

Just to help out my buddy Ferry a bit :)

(click on the pic for a bigger size)

I have more in storage, just not in easy reach, so this will have to do for now.

1. S&S Lada Riva saloon car. Super generic resin car, fits in everywhere and as everything. Taxi, police car, civillian, car, target car. S&S even makes African and Arab half figures to glue on the windows for a drive by. S&S Lada Riva Currently retails at 6.50 UK Pounds. Single cast with 4 metal wheels. Casting is typical for S&S, so be prepared to fill in the air bubbles with some greenstuff. This one is painted as a Yugoslavian decoy for aicraft.
2. Same S&S Lada Riva saloon car, this time painted up as generic TV crew car, fitting for any warzone since the 70's
3. JB Models (now Airfix) Landrover. Plastic kit, you can buy a verson with a hardtop or a soft top, and they come with a trailer, which is supereasy for loads of armies. Price varies from a couple of euros second hand right up to some stores asking as much as 15 euros for a single kit (which is a bit ridiculous ans a proper diecast can be had for half that). Again, super generic, as a civvy, Technical or as these 2 WIP's, British Special Forces rides for the Cold War.... I really should finish those someday, even though I'm no longer in big scale Cold War conflicts, they would be very handy for TW:2K
4. Same as 3, but with AT asset, The other one will get a minigun, thx to a former SAS friend who wants to remain anonymous.
5. Hobby Den Toyota 4x4. I have a ton of these, all based up and ready to go, just paint them black, add a magnet in the back so I can slide on a Back off sign in Arabic, add a magnet in the roof so I can put a MMG/HMG/Minigun/Grenadelauncher on it. They are meant for my Blackwater project, but can double as unmarked black cars for any location and any faction, be it intelligence, government, drug lords or warlords, anything goes really. Very affordable too, these are currently priced at 6,50 euros for a single resin cast with 4 resin wheels.  Hobby Den 4x4 Toyota  Bryan also does a Technical version of the same vehicle, I reviewed that back in 2012: Hobby Den 4x4 Technical
6. This SUV is made by Britannia/Grubby Tanks, and would be a very good deal at 6 UK Pounds each, as it comes with 2 Taliban and a 12.7mm Dhssk. It has 4 metal wheels and the veicle itself is a single resin cast. Therein also lies the problem, as in the last few years I've been let down by the terrible casting quality from Britannia's caster. Having said that, this is a very smooth model, nothing like the hard cornered armoured vehicles, so it could be less affected. Although sold as Taliban, there is nothing stopping you from using this as a Special Forces ride. Afghan Technical
7. RH Models aka Liberation Miniatures Technical. Very nice ride, but due to getting my entire country blacklisted by our benevolent Dictator Rolf Hedges, no longer available to us. Included for completeness.
8. Britannia/Grubby Tanks M35 truck. Really old casting, upgraded with a aluminium tubing exhaust to bring it up to M35A2 specs, and a miscast BRDM-2 hull, cut down, added in the back, as a makeshift convoy protection vehicle for TW:2K. I didn't like the way it was going with my add on door armour, so took that all off and forgot all about it. Suitable from Vietnam up to present day, as a Government or Rebel vehicle, easily converted and less costly then the Academy M35 truck. But yeah, their current castings are shite so order at your own risk. Britannia/Grubby Tanks M35 truck
9. ICM ZIL or Jiefang truck - I picked up a dozen or so of these way back when shipping was still affordable for less then 4 euros per truck. Pretty generic truck, multi role use, civillian to military, plastic so easily converted by adding drop in loads or a baby wipe tarp.
10. RH Models Saxon. Also added for completeness, I picked up some second hand ones for use with TW:2K and was surprised a few years ago when Ukraine got about 2 dozen from the UK to help with the war effort.....and that was the last thing I ever heard or saw about them. Not really a Technical but makes for a great militia/marauder vehicle.

Now, there are a lot more Technical suitable vehicles available in 20mm. I've made a order with the Hobby Den as well as some samples to paint up for their shop,  and like I said, I have loads in my stash I need to dig out as well, but that is for a next installment.

Now, comparing these to diecasts, the diecasts are of course much cheaper, especially when bought second hand. The wheels tend to be a bit of a let down, but you can always rip them off ond base them on suitable resin wheels. Shape wise, they tend to be a bit hit/miss, I've got more then a few who look suitable but when measured up, turn out to be way oversized. Caveat Empor, bring a 20mm fig with youy when shopping, I say.

Hope you find this helpful.

Catch of the day

...or, more precisely, of the week.

I've been spending the proceeds of my sale on items that will help me with, or are part of my projects. A great help for this Ebay and Marktplaats, a local Dutch variant on that theme. Ebay has the minor issue in that it clashes with the 2 weeks rule. Auctions tend to run for a week, so that doens't really work, hence I just made a list of items that I want, made searches for it on Ebay and saved those. If there are new items posted that fit the bill I get a signal. If after 2 weeks I no longer require the item, I delete the search, easy as that. Marktplaats is easier, people put stuff on that stays on for a month. More then enough time for me. But I have to be honest, I sometimes break that rule if there is a very good deal to be had. On Ebay, this means sellers offering low or free shipping, or a very low opening bid. On Marktplaats this means making a low bid and then just seeing if the seller responds, or not. If after 2 weeks I still want it and there is no reply, I can always raise my bid.

This week I received and won the following items:

On Marktplaats, I made a bid of 2,50 euro for a 1:72 Revell Me-262. This was accepted after a few days. As I didn't need the box or the instructions, the seller agreed to mail it to me in a brown unmarked envelop instead of a package, making the total cost a mere 4,75 euro. I'm going to combine this with a 1/72 Quickboost resin starboard engine that is partially dismantled (which I won for 6,50 Pounds incluyding shipping from Australia recently) and base it wheels down as a late war German forest plane on a wooden platform. A piece of scenery for short :) I still have plenty of aftermarket decals in my stash so that is covered too.

On Ebay, I used Buy it Now to buy a early example of the engine used in the Me-109, amongst others. This set me back 10 Pounds including shipping, plus I bookmarked the store for the future as shipping from the UK to me was a mere 60 pence. I can't even mail a average envelope inside Holland for that. They send out normal kits for 1.65 Pounds shipping, normally this is 5 Pounds minimum for most Ebay sellers from the UK to Holland. I don't know how they do it, but I like it. The engine will be used in my casting experiments, and the casts (if they succeed or not) will be used in the Me-109 wrecks I'm planning on building. A few years back I got a great deal on a stack of old Matchbox(?) Me-109E's for 1 euro a piece from Italy, and besides making Crimson Skies planes out of them, they have not been used yet. Since I like making wrecks, this one should be fun.

On Marktplaats again, I ran into a seller who was liquidating his Ho train collection, and had quite a few lots of scenery items as well. He was selling each of the items you see for 3 euro per lot, the normal store price for this lot is well over 35 euros new online. 17,50 Inlcuding shipping, and a nice addition to my forest which I refound last week in the attic. The Kohl & Salat (Cabbages and Salad) is especially welcome, as in one of my pre orders for the Crisis show I have 2 greenhouses and 2 smaller ones. These will mix very well, and so I can do back gardens for the Wikkywok houses.

Marktplaats, I picked up this for a mere 5 euros, and I only had to divert my ride from work by a little bit to pick it up. Now, wait a minute, I don't have a American army, right? That is correct, but there are 2 reasons I've picked it up. I do want to make an American army, but that probably won't be till 2016 before I start it. Secondly, the British army I want to start needs an Auster, and these are hard to find and go for high prices (usually). This will be a nice stand in. The price helped a lot too.

Back to Ebay, I was browsing the shop were I bought the 109 engine, and found this Pe-2 for 9.20 Pounds including shipping. I already have a Pe-2 kit from a obscure Russian company which is a dramatically bad piece of engineering. I've read stellar reviews about the Hobbyboss one, and the price was very good so hey, another kit for my Mid to Late War Russians. On opening the kit I was pleasantly suprised at the low parts count, which is perfect for me. It will be easy to modify to take a flight stand.

I've been watching the old Matchbox Churchill AVRE ever since I picked up 4 boxes of PSC Churchills, as I think these will make a great add-on piece for one of them. Problem was that whenever I was watching, these went for 10-15 Pounds plus 5 Pounds shipping minimum. I made some bids here and there and was always outbid. Till last week. My opening bid of 4.99 turned out to be the winner, and for 10 Pounds including shipping this one is mine. Now I just want the bridge, and the add on parts, so I have no idea yet what to do with the complete tank. Maybe sell it, or build it as a wreck, who knows. A great find, this one. The decals are still crisp too, very nice.

I also picked up some Oyumaru plastic clay from Ebay, from Hong Kong, for casting purposes. I'm a bit late to the party, I believe this hit the scene 1-2 years ago, so I won't bore you with details on who and what. This has been explained in better detail by many Blogs, like this one. I want to use it for the engine block, and wheel rims that I will use for burnt out wrecks, and other engines that I can find, as these tend to be pricey online. If I can make my own casts for private use, the better. I'll probably will do even more things with it, who knows. Anyway, 30 sticks put me back 20 Pounds including shipping, but those should be enough to last me quite some time. I'll grab a few boxes of Milliput when I'm at the Crisis show.

I have a commission running with Wikkywok at the moment, and he shown me some lovely photos of the first testhouse he made for me. Aside from 1 or 2 minor points, I was quite happy with it already so I'm looking forward to having all 4 right here with me. More on that at a later date.

Lastly, a purchase arrived from mid August :) For some reason, mail from Canada is incredibly slow at best and glacial at its worst. Dunno why. But I received 2 Blue Steel books today, namely Civil Wars: The Gun Trucks and Blue Steel IV: M-50 Sherman tanks and APC's in South Lebanon. These were, with shipping included, quite pricey, but that is normal for such a specialist publication. The Gun Truck book gives descriptions of photographs of various gun trucks used, also explaining to which faction they belonged, very handy! The M-50 book gives details about the M-50 and the APC variants, and lots of detail shots of rusting hulks. Both books will come in very handy for my Lebanon project as these were used by the SLA, one of the militias I will focus on.

Of course, this has been quite the expense, so it is back to selling again, as I still have a lot of micro armour to sort for sale. Back to that right after posting this :)

Focus Points

For the rest of the year, besides selling stuff, I wil focus on 20mm.

For my own sanity, I have a checklist.

W1. WW2 Germans (Early-Mid-Late)
W2. WW2 Russians (Early-Mid-Late)
W3. WW2 British (Late)

M1. Cold War Dutch Mechanised (1980-85)
M2. Cold War British Special Forces (1980-85)
M3. Cold War Soviets Recce (1980-85)
M4, Lebanese Civil War, various Militias
M5. Mogadishu, African Militia
M6. Yugoslavia Civil War, Serbians and Croats
M7. Taliban

SF1. Stalker Project
SF2. Modern Mercenaries

I've sold off Vietnam and I will not be doing Sci-Fi for a while.

Of my Projects, only W1 Mid-Late and M1 are in a gameable state and have opposition in this country to game with/against. W1 should be updated with another German Infantry platoon and more vehicles (loads in stock thanks to PSC). M1 has a fully painted vehicle fleet but the infantry is unpainted. I will not be working on these this year.

W1 will be updated when I have a game planned and need new kit. Most likely Late.
W2 will keep the focus on Late due to the number of T-34/85's based and built and converted and ready for paint.
W3, being 2 British Infantry platoons plus support was my project for the last half year, which sadly tanked due to my increased dosage. I've pushed these on towards 2015

M1 will be picked up in 2015, and I have to do test samples to get the vehicle paint right again. Hopefully, in 2015 SandS will release the YP-408 so I can motorise my infantry towards 1975-1980. A F-16 has been aquired for airsupport.
M2 my Special Forces haven't been toutched since 2011, but I have 2 more special Land Rovers ready to be painted, I just need crew. Also need to make debussed crew. For small Skirmish games.
M3 is a new project, I want to get a small Recce force done, nothing major, as 2 of my mates already have sizeable Soviet forces, and I want a few of my own. I'll probably start his year.
M4 Already did some work on these, I want to do generic stuff first that can cross over to Mogadishu before comitting to one or two militias. As there is no opposition here locally this is a skillz and fun project. (my opposition being in Ireland and Portugal)
M5 I will focus purely on the Africans so I can eventually do AK-74 with them as well. No local opposition so again Skillz and Fun.
M6 Several vehicles converted, I need to test out JNS green before I will commit. There are long term interested parties that probably won't commit till I have a decent force (and they paint much quicker then me) Skillz and Fun cause the opposition is in the USA!
M7 Taliban. 2 people I know have Modern Dutch I can fight against. I want to focus purely on Infantry, I have a bag of Liberation, when those are done I will order Elhiem. 2015

SF1. Really long term ans I don't even have rules for it, more a labour of love and excuse to expand The Junkyard.
SF2. Modern Mercenaries. Also meant for AK-74 but modelled after Blackwater. No opposition, Skillz and Fun.

The list looks rather extensive, but I will try and focus on one project plus 1 back up project a month. Everything has their own box or drawer, so after that period they are easily stored untill taken out again. Each month I will see what tickles my fancy and do that, that way I dont have to worry about getting bored.

I really don't want to be running 12 different projects on my table at once, so this is a better way. A bit OCD, I admit, but quite maneagable.

A extra plus is that I have most projects in stock, so I don't have to spend extra money on figures, instead saving money for future scenery expansion.

The Hobby Den HD28 Toyota 4x4 Gun Truck

Second vehicle for today. Picked this up intitially for a wreck, then changed my mind and turned it into a militia Technical, ready for a drop in weapon and crew. Standard Hobbyden resin, easy to carve and change it about. Very detailed, with a big bed so you have lots of room for various guns, artillery or just lots of troops. Reccomended for AK47 players and everyone who needs a militia vehicle. Vehicle costs 6.50 euros

Pics:

Skytrex 105mm Mountain Gun

I received my order from the Skytrex sale last week and built the 105mm Mountain gun. The model itself is simple, a set of wheels, gun, gunshield, a choice to have the gun in a towed or ready to fire configuration with 2 sets of legs and a towhook (of which I have no idea where to put it tbh). The gun itself is a model of the Oto Melara 105mm Pack Howitzer. I picked up 2 to supply both my Lebanese and Yugoslavian forces with them. Which is also the reason for the plain Olive Drab scheme on this one, to be generic. I pinned the legs in place and made a new gunmount from plasticcard to raise the gun in the up position.

Skytrex FF682 British 105mm Pack Howitzer , £4.25 Does not come with any instructions.