Syrians In September - More Infantry and T-62s

It has been a few weeks since I have posted any progress on my Golan Heights Project, but I haven't forgotten about it.  Here is some progress to hopefully prove it.  Again, apologies in advance for the pictures - whatever its merits, the iPhone sucks for miniature photography, and the lighting in my house does not help...

Up first are a group of Syrian infantrymen.  These are from Peter Pig's AK47 modern line, and the bases are from 15mm.co.uk.

Peter Pig "regulars" from their AK47 Republic range

Minimally equipped troops, but they will do the job for representing Syrians.

Colour references to Syrian uniforms for 1973 are universally absent, so I just made a best-guess

These troops will be ready to fight for the Golan heights

I added a few special weapon troops as well - two RPG troopers and two RPD MG gunners.

Two RPGs on the left, to RPD MGs on the right

And another pair of T-62s from QRF.  I now have 8 T-62s, almost enough for a company.

Two more T-62s ready to roll...

I was amused to note this thread on TMP, posted in august following my original commentary on these models, in which the proprietor of QRF miniatures manages to position each flaw (and there are many of them) with the QRF castings as somehow important to doing a proper model.

The back ends of the T-62s from QRF are a cloud of flash and mold lines....very poor quality on these castings. 

Not sure why Peter Pig, Battlefront and others can manage to a proper, in scale MG that isn't cast with the quality of a limp spaghetti noodle, but QRF can't.  But again, the QRF T-62s are really the only game in town for this particular MBT, and the flaws are annoying more than critical.

Up next are some infantry and APCs for the IDF.  Stay tuned!

Syrian T-62s and Infantry - 15mm

Syrian build up continues

After a few small diversions I was looking forward to sharing some more progress on my Golan Heights project.  I have had these models finished for a few days, and kept waiting for a chance to take some decent photos, as the lighting in my house is just awful for pictures.  I tried again first thing this morning, and I guess my house is meant to be a monument to soft light - so sorry for the quality on these.

T-62s from Old Glory

I have added three T-62s and a group of nine infantry to my Syrian forces.  The T-62s are from Old Glory, and the infantry are from Peter Pig.

Dining room table column formation

As I have said before, the Old Glory T-62s are average sculpts at best.  The turrets are a little squished, the detail is a little soft, and the casting on the tread assembly is....an adventure.  I use a lot of weathering on tanks, but I went extra hard with the powders and dry-brushing on the treads and road wheels of these vehicles to cover for the various casting defects and soft details.

Old Glory tanks need a lot of black lining to have any hope of seeing detail on the casting

My batch of custom ordered bases arrived from Litko, so these tanks have bases.  This is the first time I have based 15mm vehicles - I used to think basing vehicles was silly, but I think it turned out well, and gives a bit of a more uniform appearance with the infantry.  I will go back and add bases to the T-55s and ZSU-23-4, while the rest of the tanks and other AFVs will receive their bases prior to priming from now on.

The base on the vehicle helps it fit a little better with the infantry...you can see the very slight bend in the base on the tank....

One obstacle I should have expected, but did not prepare for with the vehicle bases - they warped! It only makes sense I guess - they are thin plywood, and the moitsure from the paint, humidity etc. would make them vulnerable to warping.  I think I will order metal bases for the next round of vehicles....



Infantry from Peter Pig



The infantry are Peter Pig troops from their "Professionals" selection in their modern range. These were test models, so they are not meant to represent a specific squad and there is a mish-mash of weapons - several RPD MGs, a couple of officers and a couple of guys with RPGs. I don't believe Syrian infantry sections were that heavily armed...

An RPG, some AK-47s and an RPD

I based the infantry individually, and I used the bases sold by 15mm.co.uk as opposed to the thinner bases from Litko.   I used these bases for two reasons: one, I had some handy, while the Litko bases were on order and, two: I think the thicker bases will make it easier to pick up and move the figures without having to grab the figure itself.. 

It is hard to see in these terrible pictures, but the infantry have khaki pants and green jackets with camouflage splotches applied to both.  It is almost impossible to find a colour reference of a Syrian infantryman from the 1973 war - the Osprey book does not have one, and I have never seen one on the Internet.  So I just bodged from pictures of their uniforms used in Lebanon (would they have been that different? Probably not, I hope...).

One note of caution to others - I used the new GW "145" paint range on the infantry, and it worked well for the most part.  But I have found that the "Agrax Earthshade" wash - this is meant to replace the universally useful and awesome "Devlan Mud" from the previous range - will often leave an incredibly glossy finish once it dries.  It's not the end of the world, but it is still annoying, and if you want to use it, be sure to have some Testor's Dullcote or similar product handy

At some point I might do some infantry based in groups (as seen in games such as "Flames of War") but I really like the individual look of the infantry in this scale, so I will stick with it and see how it goes.

Syrian T-55s - 15mm - Test Model

Peter Pig 15mm T-55 - Syrian test model

After a great Canada Day with family,  I got started on some test models today for my latest new insane project - the Golan Heights in 1973 in 15mm scale.  I worked on assembling some T-55s from Peter Pig.  Again, I have to credit Peter Pig for having some of the nicest 15mm kits I have ever worked on.  The sculpts are detailed, clean and easy to assemble. These tanks decimate Old Glory and QRF in terms of quality and ease of assembly.

To get some extra snazzy on these models I decided to mount antennas on the tanks.  The quality of the Peter Pig castings makes this easy - the spot for the aerial is clear, and easy to drill out with a pin vise.  A section of floral wire, some super glue, and viola - the tanks have aerials.

T-55s from Peter Pig before priming

I did a "test model" tonight, trying to capture the Syrian green-and-yellow camouflage pattern.  Not too bad for a first run, but I think the yellow isn't bright enough.  I tried the "Zambesi Desert" colour from the new GW paint range - not too bad, but I might try and find something a little "yellow-er".

Front view of the painted T-55 test model

I finished the model with weathering powders (man I love these things) and made my best attempt at some Arabic numerals on the turret.  All and all, not too bad for a first go.  Just need to add another nine or so of these tanks - the Syrians had a LOT of T-55s on the Golan in 1973.

Rear view of the T-55 test model, showing the effect of the weathering powders on the engine grates and exhaust areas as well as the treads.  The turret number is supposed to be "300", I think....

The Golan Heights in 1973 was primarily a battle between tanks, but infantry (as it always does) played an important part.  I am again using Peter Pig models to represent both sides.  The Syrians will be represented by the "regulars" line of figures from Peter Pig's AK47 republic offering. Again, Peter Pig is in a class by itself when it comes to 15mm sculpts - easily the best modern era 15mm figures I have seen.

Peter Pig 15mm modern infantry, from the "Regulars" line, waiting for primer, and for me to have a hot clue as to the colour to paint them so they can represent the Syrians in 1973...

I will mount the infantry on small 20mm round bases from 15mm.co.uk.  Just one problem - I have no idea what the uniforms looked like.  I am hoping Google will help me find some colour references for Syrian troops from 1973, but if anyone has any tips I'm all ears!

15mm Sci-Fi - Khurasan Corporate Marines and Pilot from 15mm co - Single Bases

15mm Khurasan Marine test models - the fellow in the middle has a heavy blaster

First up, sorry about the crummy photos.  I tried to lighten them up etc. but it just wasn't working.  All the same, one last post on the 15mm single-based sci-fi efforts.  Khurasan makes some "Corporate Marines", which will make a good OPFOR to the "Red Faction" (on top of the sinister Control Battalion).  I painted a few test models, and here are a couple of pictures.

Rear shot of the Khurasan marines

These figures are gorgeuous - the look of the armour, and weapons, is very sleek and high-tech without looking silly/too Eldar.

Since the picture didn't really turn out (I swear, it seems fine on the camera), I can tell you the colours are intended to be muted grey, with a dark-OD-style green for the weapons, and a little splash of colour.  I used GW paints on the armour - Shadow Grey, with Codex Grey and Fortress Grey highlights.  The gun was Dark Angels Green as a base, then Catachan Green, with Americana'a "Avocado" for a final highlight.  The fig was then washed with the ubiquitous GW Devlan Mud (love that stuff).

Like all Khurasan figures, the quality of these models is second-to-none.  I look forward to rounding out these token test models into a small platoon.  Khurasan also has some cool APCs and a large war droid/combat robot to support the marines.  The APCs look great (watch for some of those on this blog in the future).  The robot is interesting, but I may try other things if I ever want to provide something that large for these guys at some point.

15mm pilot from 15mm.co - ready to serve as an objective

Finally, as a scenario-objective figure, I painted a pilot. This is a figure from 15mm.co.uk.  They have an interesting variety of 15mm sci-fi figures - check them out.  The quality of the casting is solid, and they have some really neat sculpts to choose from.

I went with the pilot from the Starfighter Crew as I thought the first time these 15mm guys get a run, we will probably try Tomorrow's War, and that starter scenario with the downed pilot.  Pilots make great objectives - always getting into trouble, and forcing real soldiers to get involved...