Building out some Tanks and AFVs and Finally painting

I managed to get some work done on the Merkava 1 that I am working on. I managed to get the barrel fitted. I still have to glue the bustle to the turret and the MGs to the turret. I need to finish the other Team Yankee T-72s that I have. I need to fit the mine rakes to the front of at least one of them. I found some spray paint that I will use as a primer. I managed to get my miniatures primed. They will need a second coat.

On Saturday afternoon, I reecived my paint sets. I received two AK sets, one was for MERDC and the other was late Cold War Soviet. The first up on the painting table was some of what I think are Old Glory or QRF T-55s? I am not entirely sure. They are smaller than the other T-55s that I have including the wrecked Peter Pig one that I got for Christmas years back. They still look like T-55s to me just undersized. Anyway, I was able to get some paint on them. I plan on going back with some highlights.

I also got started on the bases of the painted Soviet infantry that I have done. These are all Flank March 3d prints. The bases need more work. Mostly just some highlights and flock.

I aslo took a look at my 1980s IDF. Partially, I wanted to know how many M60s I had that I might steal for my US forces. As it turns out, I have one. I have a pair of 3D printed Magach 6s that I may have pulled from Thingiverse a while back. Those will stay with the IDF. The lone M60A3 will likely be pulled for service with the US. I have my base forces for the IDF but these are all extras that I want to finish off. Especially the armor. Not shown here is the Merkava 1 I am still assembling. I just have the machine guns and another piece to glue on before undercoating.

Idea for a scenario

I was watching a video on the Battle of Avdiivka in October of 2023. There was a video of a Russian assault on a Ukrainian Trenchline. The trenches were hidden in a tree line that was nearly destroyed by artillery fire. What struck me was how few defenders there were in the trenches. The video focused on a single squad but the trench line was held by elements of two battalions. The line appeared to me to be sparsely populated. Maybe a squad or so from each battalion? The area in front of the treeline/trenchline was open fields. The Ukrainians had at least one ATGM (Javelin possibly) and several RPGs as well as their rifles. They were supported by artillery and drones. The reserves seemed to be two additional squads mounted in Bradley fighting vehicles that arrived during the fight. These my have been other elements of the same platoon as the defenders.

The attack came with two T-72s in the lead with a chain of three BTRs following. The lead T-72 was using its mine plow to clear a path on the way to the trench line before turning in front of the trenchline and as the BTRs pulled up the infantry dismounted. The Soviets were attacking with what looked like a full platoon of infantry and at least a pair of tanks. There were other AFVs in the area probably attacking different positions.

My thought would be that this would be an interesting scenario to play in different time periods. Say Late War WWII on the Russian front with the German's defending. This would be a plausible scenario. I was also thinking of using it for a 1980s Cold War scenario of Soviets attacking a US defensive positions. Of course other possibilities are possible but these are just the two I want to start with. The defensive position could be possible almost anywhere.

I am trying to figure out how to model the trench position. My thought is that the game would be on a 6' x 4' table. With the trenchline running across the table. There would need to be some space available behind the position for the reinforcements to arrive. Given the distances from the videos, I am almost thinging doing the scenario in 6mm miniatures would be appropriate. At that scale, the treeline would be across the center of the table allowing for movement of both sides. As it is, I will likely do this in 15mm as I have the miniatures. The treeline would be further back and the defending vehicles would likely be off table.

What struck me was how narrow the dirt trenches were. A single casualty in the trench could block movement. Here is one of many screen captures that I took to get an idea of the terrain and how to build it out.

In this screen capture, it shows the initial attack that caught my interest. You can see the trail that the T-72 mine clearing made.

Anyway, this is just a thought I had while painting up my Cold War minis.

More Miniatures Printed

I just picked up my next round of Cold War miniatures. These include 14 Soviets including a recoiless rifle Team, a pair of flamethrowers and a few others. Also was a set of 12 US casualty figures. They are still need the supports removed. I still am lacking paint. I got to spend about a half hour removing the supports. I managed to destroy two of the models. But the rest have been glued to tongue depressors and are ready to prime, provided I get some primer.

I found the Team Yankee page on how to assemble the Merkava 1. The sprue has the bits to make either the Mark 1 or Mark 2. I will go with the earlier one for my Lebanon 82 IDF. I was having an issue fitting the barrel into the turret. I may have to sand it down a bit. I have some M60A3s (2 or 3) with my Israelis that are unpainted but they lack the additional ERA armor. I think I may move these to my US troops and look for some STLs to print for the Israelis. I may even have one that I have in my library of stuff I want to print.

I really want to get these on the table sometime soon. But the lack of paint is discouraging. I may end up switching over to AWI for a while.

Painting Merdc or Not

Well, the paint that I bought wasn't what I thought I was getting. So matching the color on my existing vehicles has proven to be very difficult. I stopped by Hobby Lobby to buy some paints but found out they nolonger stock Vallejo paint. The Hobby Shop near my house is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. I will try again today. I did manage to use superglue without gluing my fingers to each other or the model. I built out two BMP-2s and a BMP-1. I need to get some primer and a forest green paint. hopefully, I can get that sorted tonight and get to work on these remaining figures. I really want to get a game of Cold War Chain of Command done.

Waiting for the primer I have an M577 command track, a T-72, a pair of BRDMs, another pair with rockets instead of a turret, about 20 or so Soviet Infantry, a couple of BMP-2s. There is also a M60A3, at least 1 M1 Abrams and a few other things I can't remember. Looking forward to getting moving on these.

I also found a sprue of a Merkava 1 that I had bought on eBay a year ago. The hull went together very well. But the turret is proving to be more of a challenge. I am trying to figure out which pieces go where. I need to look online for some instructions.

I also need to finish out my Operation Battleaxe campaign. Honestly, each of the player squadrons are so shot up, I don't think there will be any other big games. Not much of an update but I am trying to keep moving forward. My British Legion infantry keeps looking at me from the side of my painting table and making me feel guilty. I will have to get to them soon as well.

Slow Week

Hobby time has largely been placed on hold. I am still having issues painting with my arm and I am waiting on some new paint to be shipped. Typing isn't easy with the splint on my arm and right hand. I am getting some more Flank March Miniatures printed. That was the extent of my hobby week last week.