15mm Vehicles and Terrain

All,

Finished up some more stuff this week, in preparation for my 15mm campaign in Africa starting.  As the title so aptly suggests, there are both vehicles and terrain items that I finished up.  Everything turned out pretty good, except one terrain piece; that is, the terrain piece itself is excellent, but I screwed it up.  And, knowing me the way I do, I'm not likely to fix it.  It's ugly, but still usable in games.  Let's get to it.

The whole mess: I've got some Amtracs from Irishserb, some HMMWVs from Flytrap Factory, a pickup truck from Peter Pig (via Brookhurst Hobbies, fantastic service), and a gas station, sentry tower, two dumpsters, and some fruit stands from Gamecraft Miniatures.

As usual, bear with me as my pictures suck.  I'd found a decent spot to take photos, but it's only good lighting from about 0800 to 1600, and the sun was already going down by the time I got home from work.

Kicking off with Irishserb's gorgeous AAVs, one in NATO tri-color camo and one in desert yellow.  Several more photos of different aspects below.

Fore.

Other side.

Aft.

Front quarter.  Awesome models that took  me too long to finally get to and finish, but here they are, and I can't wait to get them on the table.

On to two of the Flytrap Factory HMMWVs, again with one in desert tan and one in NATO tri-color.  These little vehicles are awesome; I saw them online, and with all the gear draped over them it reminded me of Iraq and Afghanistan and I so I had to have them.  So I ordered all the way from exotic Australia; I ordered a pack of vehicles, and the Enigmatic Baron Trapdoor was kind enough to mix components from what was listed, and so I got a great deal on my HMMWVs, which is much appreciated.

Closeup of the desert HMMWV.

Closeup of the NATO tri-color camo HMMWV, and for some reason the flash popped.  It's good in that it helps to show all the gear hung on the vehicle, but it looks a little garish.

A non-flash photo of the same truck, in very poor light I might add.  I'm never going to figure out this photography stuff...

Looking at the front.

Other side.

Desert truck, again with flash.

NATO tri-color truck, with flash.

The back end.

Close up of the gunner in the turret, trying to show you my 15mm Desert MARPAT, but the flash washes it out a bit.

Closeup of the camo HMMWV's gunner, in Woodland MARPAT.  

Again, kinda dark and kinda blurry.

One last look at the desert HMMWV, a great model.

Moving on to another Flytrap Factory HMMWV, this time a highback for carrying troops and gear.  How many guys can you fit in a HMMWV? One more.

Front.

Other side.

With flash.

Back.

One more.

Last vehicle, a Peter Pig pickup truck, which will be used as both a pickup truck and also a 'Technical.'  I've got numerous gunners to be painted up, which fit in the back.

Again.

Other side.

Rear.

On to the terrain: two fruit stands, two boxes of fruit, and two garbage dumpsters.

Again.

Again.

And one more with a 15mm guy to show how the size.

Next up, a Gamecraft sentry tower.  I'm a minimalist (when it comes to effort in getting terrain ready), so I just painted it green then threw some flock on the base.

Again.

Again.

Another.

With a 15mm guy inside.

And with a 20mm guy; how about that?  He's a little big, but it's doable.

Now on to my catastrophe...

I bought a gas station from Gamecraft Miniatures, and it's fantastic.  I had a little problem getting the sign to stand up, but other than that it went together like a champ.  If you can't tell, and I must explain, the catastrophe is what happened when I put a wash on it.  I put a wash on the whole damn thing, which I always do, but I got in a rush.  Instead of doing it the way I normally do, I went and got a big paintbrush and just slopped the wash on.  Well, it went on too thick and muddy, and here we here.

A look at the front, with flash.

Another look.

Again.  Actually, the external stairwell is not part of the kit, I bought it separately from Gamecraft Minis.

The back side.  Aside from my piss-poor wash, the only other thing I'd like different is I wish there was some stuff on the roof, the side and rear walls, etc...  Just some stuff to make it look 'lived in.'

Another shot.

A shot with a 15mm guy to show size.  I didn't take a pic with a 20mm guy, but I think it might work too.

Another look with 15mm figure.

And one more.

So there's the stuff I got done this week, pretty happy with it, just wish I hadn't screwed up the gas station.  In any case, the war goes on, or, more appropriately, the 20mm war goes on and the 15mm war (in South Leon, over on my Cuba Libre blog) starts this weekend.  Stay tuned.

V/R,
Jack

Forces for Modern Middle East Part 8 - Flytrap Factory British Marines

All,

Next up in my 15mm forces for the Modern Middle East, how about some British Royal Marines!  I didn't know what to do with these guys when I bought them; don't even know why I bought them, just thought they looked nice so I picked them up.  Anyway, I didn't have a need for them, and I was looking around at stuff like Sangin and Basra, so I figured I'd do them up desert style, in desert DPM.  Forgive me as my camo is rather humble here, but it was quick and easy, and looks pretty good at tabletop distance.

The whole pack of 15 Royal Marines.  A mix of weapons, with an assortment of helmets, berets, and even a couple bare-heads.

Another look at the whole group.  Pretty humble basing, just stuck them to pennies, threw some sand on them, painted it, and gave it a wash.  Not too bad I hope.  Let's get to the poses.

First man up, a rifleman with SA80.  I'm not all that happy with my choice of color for the furniture on the rifles, but I needed a color that stood out from the uniforms.

Next up, a grenadier with SA80 UGL.

An SA80 LSW trooper.  The muzzle was actually a bit longer and I trimmed it down.  Not sure which is realistic, but the other just looked too long to me.

Two guys with SA80s, no hat or helmet.  They actually look to have the headgear for the old intra-squad radios on.

Two more guys with SA80s, possibly my favorite pose, just like the action look.  Hell, I'm easy to please ;)

A couple gunners with SAWs, err, ahem, Minimis.

Reverse.

For those that recall, I talked in my Modern USMC of having a Brit looking guy, and the guy at left, to me, is an American looking guy.  But I didn't mix them up, and the proof is that this guy is the same size as the Brit Marines, which are slightly larger than the US Marines.

Next up we have another Marine in beret (with SA80), then another SA80 UGL.
Here you can see the left-hand 'chap' has dark skin, as, once again, I made my platoon of three different shades of skin tone.

Reverse.

And the final pose, a guy in beret with SA80 and a radio on his back.  My pics suck so I'm not sure you can see it, but I love his mustache!

Reverse.

Well, that's all my Royal Marines (in 15mm, at least, got a bunch in 10mm!).  I may buy another pack at some point, just to have a 30-man platoon, but this will do for now.  They'll probably see the tabletop pretty soon in South Leon ;)   If you're not familiar with South Leon, you need to head over to: http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2015/12/south-leon-on-slow-ride-down-aka.html

Now for some bonus material.  Okay, not all that bonus, you saw these guys before in Cuba Libre's War of Liberation, but I finally put a wash on their bases and photographed them.

Rebel Minis' 15mm "Irish Hitmen," straight outta "Boondock Saints."  I love'em, they're awesome, and perfect for some of my Cuba Libre Intel Det/Paramilitary guys operating clandestinely.

The reverse.

More.

This guy is also Rebel Minis' 15mm, from their "Pulp Heroes and Villains."  He had a lot more hair,  I shaved it down some.

Side.

Back.

Well, that's that, last of the 15mm stuff I've got finished, with plenty more on the painting table.  But I've now transitioned again: for Team Whiskey I was 100% gaming, after I've been 100% painting, and now I'm looking at 80% gaming/20% painting (I've got a new project to work on).

And this got me to thinking.  If you're not aware, I created another blog, one that focuses solely on my Cuba Libre saga.  And Rod's whining on TMP about "all Cuba Libre, all the time," (just joking Rod) made me realize I'd better explain.  This blog, blackhawkhet, is not dying, not going anywhere.  Right now I'm pretty focused on Cuba Libre; indeed, I've just started a skirmish campaign in the Balkans, and I'm about to embark on a platoon-level campaign in Africa, so my Cuba Libre blog will be going like gang busters for awhile. So, for the short term, blackhawkhet will be more of a painting blog, while Cuba Libre will be my gaming blog.  But, as all you gamers know, at some point the worm will turn, and I'll get back to stuff on my blackhawkhet blog, like KG Klink, Team Whiskey, All Americans, In Country, Bag the Hun, C&C Napoleonics, or something not even there yet!

So don't fret, we're moving ahead at full speed, just do your best to hang on.  Along those lines, I've already played the first two fights of my Cronistria campaign and I'm working on the write ups for your viewing pleasure, they'll get posted this week.  Oh, if you're not familiar with Cronistria, you need to head on over to:
http://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2015/11/cronistria-cries-for-help-aka-next.html

More on the way!

V/R,
Jack