Some bits from Scotia

We've got visitors here at home so I can't get down to my desk, but I just had to put up some shots of some of the bits and pieces I got from Scotia Grendel this week.

The big winners were the three different types of boat I picked up from their Ship-To-Shore range.  Below (clockwise from left) are the following models:

STS53 Rigid Raider with Passengers
STS15 Modern UK Gemini
STS50 Gemini with Passengers

I'm going to have some fun with these!

For the Falklands I picked up some of their recoilless rifles from the neutral equipment 6mm range:
NE024 Recoilless Rifle 50-80mm (5)

NE025 81-110mm RCL (5)

Particularly the big 105s are going to end up in the hands of Argentine crews once I can get back into my model cupboard.

I also picked up samples from a number of their sci-fi infantry ranges.  More on those later...

Finally I really want to recommend Scotia as a company to deal with.  The first time this package was sent, it went awry in the post due to a post code error on my part late at night when I submitted the order.

After waiting a reasonable time for delivery, Robbie at Scotia sent a replacement, for which I am very grateful.  An excellent customer service experience!

 

Alternate uses for H&R M7 - #1 Special Forces

As promised in an earlier post I believe that there are a number of alternate uses that the Heroics and Ros Soviet Airborne infantry pack can be put to use as.
First up we have Special Forces.
Below are some UK special forces for my Falklands War games that I've just knocked together (larger images if you click).  These are a mix of figures from the Soviet Airborne and the Royal Marines packs.
This is the first time I've ever flocked or grassed a base, so please be gentle...

The soviet pack is particularly useful for the sniper figure and the figure with the binocular (both on round bases).

And here are some work in progress pics.  

First up the "conversions", which were simply just adding a squarish blob of greenstuff to make bergens for the Soviet figures.

Then the undercoat makes it all look like it was meant to be.

Slap on some paint and you're done!

Heroics & Ros Modern Germans

So I picked up one of the M8 Modern German Infantry codes in my last order from Heroics and Ros.  The main reason was to attempt to find suitable figures for my Malvinas Argentine forces.  The H&R WW2 US troops are a little to stiff and parade ground for what I want, and the M1 Modern US all have packs, which appears to have not been common at all in the Argentine forces on the islands.

The pack I received had some pretty bad flash which I've attempted to quickly clean up for the pics, but you can still see traces.  I have no idea how long my pack may have sat on the shelves, but Andy from H&R was going to go and check the moulds, so hopefully you won't have the same experience if you purchase.

Enter the M8 Modern Germans!  (click the pics to enlarge)

First the Infantry Strip - five of these in the code.

As you can see, these have a bit more "get up and go" than the WW2 US.  A comparison pic below.

My infantry sections are made up of bases of figures from both codes.  With a strip of each I get 3 x 5 rifle bases and 2 x LMG bases.

The Modern German infantry code also has some ATGM (Milan probably) strips as per below.  3 strips per code.

Probably useful if the Cold War repelling the Soviet hordes fantasy is your thing, but basically into the bits box for me.

I really need to come up with something I can do with all the ATGM teams I've accumulated from the Brits and now the Germans...

With the pack of M8 Modern German Infantry I now have an understrength (2 platoons) infantry or marine company for the Argentines based and undercoated.  I need to pick up another pack to round out the entire company.

Update and some Argentine Aircraft

Well folks it's been quite a while since my last post.
Things have been pretty hectic with work and around home so I haven't had much chance to post.
On hte hobby front things have slowed down, but not quite as much as the blog posting!
Teh main thing that has been holding me up was getting some figures for my argentine infantry that had more animation than the somewhat parade ground posing of the H&R WW2 US figures.  A batch bits and pieces arrived from merry old england a couple of weeks ago, and so we're back up and running again.  I've done some simple conversions that I want to complete painting before I post them, and I now have an understrength Argentine company based and undercoated.
So more updates hopefully in the month of July.
In the interim I'll leave you with some pics of the Pucara and the Puma models from Heroics and Ros (click on them for enlarged versions)
.
I haven't done any aircraft modelling since I was a kid, and based on my experience with these two and the Wasp and Wessex for the Brits, I think I have a lot to learn.

First the Pucara.  The horizontal tail planes come as a separate piece to be attached at the top of a stub tail cast to the body.  In the front-on pic you can see the kink where they join.

 The model doesn't come with any stores for under the wings, so I think I'll need to pick up some suitable rockets and bombs from somewhere.
 
 Next the Puma.  Not sure whether to put the blades on as provided or replace with transparent plastic disks for that "blades rotating fast" look.  I have a lot of helicopters to do for this project and I probably need to select one method or the other....
Keen for any advice.

Mark Luther's 6mm Terrain Guide

This one's just a bookmark for me.
I can never find Mark Luther's excellent instructions for how he sets up his beautiful 6mm games.
Here it is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/6mmgaming/sets/72157624232621753/
Definitely worth checking out his other sets for some beautiful looking (and quite fun sounding) games.

H&R Scorpion and Scimitar

Undercoated Scorpion (BM05) and Scimitar (BM06) from Heroics and Ros that will be used to represent the Blues and Royals in my Falklands games.  Seen here with (STILL) the only painted base of my UK Falklands infantry. (larger image when clicked)

Heroics and Ros Soviet Airborne

Here's a pack I had hidden in the cupboard since last year; the M7 Soviet Airborne Troops code from Heroics and Ros.
Upon opening it, I've found some great figures which open up a number of "paint" conversion options.
This is also an interesting pack of figures as, unlike most of the rest of the H&R moderns lines, it includes heavy weapons with regular infantry.
But enough of that!  What's in the pack? (click the pics for a bigger image)

Infantry -    All sporting the padded cloth helmet.  Four strips of these.

Heavy Weapons - DShK and SPG-9 with associated crews.  2 strips of these.

Heavy Weapons - Mortar and Sniper.  2 strips of these.

Heavy Weapons - ATGM teams (AT-4 maybe?) 1 strip of these.

It's a nice balanced pack in my view and a number of the figures (especially the sniper) in my view have utility as a range of different troops in different conflicts.  Hopefully more on that in the coming weeks as I experiment with them....

Terrain Cloth

Over the weekend I picked up a length of cheap green artic/polar fleece from a habadashery to trial as an overlay for draping over obstacles to create terrain.
Here are some pics of it draped over the CD-based hills I created earlier.  You can click them for larger images.

With some buildings and my ever ready eBay WW2 Americans.  I really need to properly paint these guys!

With the still-no-progress-as-yet Royal Marines for the Falklands.

I recckon it needs some light overspray with a brown and probably another, lighter green.
I do like the way that the "fuzziness" (there's probably a proper technical term for this) fits in well against the 6mm figures for grassy ground cover.

What are your thoughts?

Nice Terrain

Check out the Afghan game boards that Allen from Gamecraft Miniatures has been working on:
http://gamecraftminiatures.com/tac2game/microarmor/blog/?p=246
These look magnificent!
Definite ambush country.....

Update

Well, work and home have stepped in, in their usual fashion, over the last few months resulting in not a lot of progress on anything related to the hobby.
I did manage to put a bit of a push on over the last couple of days to get some hobby stuff done, and made a few discoveries, which should be the subject of some future posts over the next month.
The big result from this weekend was getting my Falklands War British forces moving along again.

The above picture (click for larger image) shows the four test bases that have progressed no further from this post in February, along with the rest of the Royal Marine company, which (as of this weekend) are now based and ready for the brush.
I'm still note sure what to do with the bases yet in terms of paint (and what colours?) vs. flock.

I'm still don't have any Argentine figures I like.  I will be ordering some more sample packs from H&R later this week in an attempt to locate something in about the right kit but a bit more dynamic than the WW2 US sculpts (ie, like the UK sculpts above).