15mm Egyptian T-55s and SU-100s - Yom Kippur War

The thing about our group is that we love insane new projects. Another thing about us is that we're such inveterate hobbyists that we easily get sucked into one another's insane projects. So it has come to pass here. One of Conscript Greg's ongoing insane projects is the Yom Kippur War (a.k.a. October War) of 1973, and I've been sucked in.

After painting a test PT-76, I've dived straight in with a platoon of T-55s, a Christmas gift from insane-new-project-enabler Greg. (Thanks dude!) They're resin models from Khurasan, and they are quite nice indeed.

I painted then in the same manner as the PT-76: basecoat of Calthan Brown highlighted with Zandri Dust for the tan, and Castellan Green highlighted with Knarloc Green for the green. Wash heavily with Agrax Earthshade, then highlight again with Zandri and Knarloc.

Paint the tracks and machineguns with Mechanicus Standard Grey, wash with Nuln Oil, apply chipping with sponge and a mix of craft black and brown paint. Base to taste!

I painted some random Arabic numerals on the turrets as tactical markings.

I read somewhere that the Egyptians used white stripes on the fenders as tac markings in 1973 as well.

I also left off the auxiliary fuel tanks as I understand they were not taken into action.

Should I add antennas?? They tend to get knocked around during painting so I add them at the end, but it just occurred to me that none of the vehicles have them. I'll have to ponder that.

I really like these models! I may need to get more, particularly considering Greg's comment that "they'll look great burning in the desert"!

This platoon of SU-100s was next in the queue. Also courtesy of Conscript Greg - I swapped him a very nice copy of Warhammer Fantasy Battle 3rd edition that I found in a used bookstore. New insane project escalation goes both ways, I hope!

These are the Battlefront models - resin hulls with metal tracks and accessories. The metal gives them a nice heft - I kinda wish that Khurasan had gone with metal tracks.

The "command" vehicle comes with a very clever molded-in driver and separate hatch. I added the commander as well.

The vehicles were painted in the same style as the T-55s, sans camo. I did find one annoying thing during painting, though - the new pot of Zandri Dust I picked up last week is noticeably darker than the pot I'd just finished. Very annoying.

Fuel tanks were molded onto the hull, mostly, so these vehicles will take them into action.
 

I used a variety of flocking materials for the groundwork - some spongy green stuff that fell of my Woodland Scenics trees, GW static grass, and Army Painter tufts. Those things are pure magic.

Well, there you have it. Two platoons of vehicles for the Egyptians, a good start towards the Arab forces for the participation game that Greg and I are running at PrairieCon in Brandon in early June. Next I'd better get at the infantry platoon...

15mm Battlefront "Egyptian" PT-76

So Greg's finally sucked me into his crazy Yom Kippur war project. I've agreed to do some Egyptians. The plan is for a couple platoons of tanks, some tank destroyers, and a platoon of infantry. The models are mostly bought (Khurasan T-55s gifted from Greg, Battlefront SU-100s in a trade from Greg, and Khurasan infantry as encouraged by Greg ;-) but this is the first I've painted.

It's a Battlefront PT-76 from their Vietnam range and I have to say it's as sweet as a nut. Slick assembly with a resin body and turret (magnetized!!) and metal tracks and gubbins.

I laid on a pretty basic paint job using GW paints.

I did some "chipping" with GW Mechanicus Standard Grey on a tiny bit of sponge. I like the effect.

Tactical numbers added in Arabic.

All in all I'm pretty pleased with the model and I'll be painting the rest to the same pattern. Quick and easy.

New Pico-Size Project

Well, after the rush to complete some Napoleonics through the new year, it's time for a new, and hopefully much quicker, project. Rummaging through the pile-o-stuff in the basement, I found my stuff from Oddzial Osmy - 3mm scale modern armour and infantry. I had been reading a bit about the 1973 Yom Kippur War lately, and it clicked that a scenario in 3mm from the Sinai in 1973 would be the perfect short project. I got started over the long weekend (and after all, with the rain and the "spring" like freezing temps, what else was there to do?). Here are some pictures of "test" figures.

The Modern Spearhead rules include a scenario pitting an elite Egyptian armoured brigade against Israeli armoured reserves in the Sinai near the canal late in the 1973 war. I thought this would be a good "target" scenario to start with. Here are some T-62s - the rounded base equals a command stand.



We have gamed previously using these super-small figures. The detail is great - incredible, really, considering the scale, and the figures paint up fast. The depth of the range is really something too - they have almost every relevant tank, armoured vehicle, aircraft and helicopter. Dealing with the distributor Pico Armor is a breeze, with excellent customer service. It's also great price-wise - 15 tanks are like $4 US.

I still love the GHQ stuff for Spearhead, but this scale has several advantages. One thing that is neat about the small figures is that you really do have a tank platoon on the base. Another is that you can represent a much bigger battlefield on the same scale of table - you can play a game on a smaller table, or a bigger game on a normal table.



The scenario features a total of six battalion-sized units on the table - four Egyptian and two Isreali. All and all about 54 bases on the table. I'll do a little project tracker on the blog to help keep me moving, and post pictures as I go. Right now I am still doing "test" figures. I have pretty much nailed down the Egyptian colours. I am still struggling, however, with trying to get the right colour mix for the "field gray" the Israelis used in 1973. Watch for more progress in the blog.