30DEC15 ACU in 15mm Followup Comments

Here were my first choices for replicating ACU using acrylic paint.  My cover, with SFC rank (a rank I obtained with the Alaska State Defense Force, I only ever made SSgt. in the USAF on Federal Active Service) was worn a lot and reflects a bit of the UV light exposure and field conditions with some cleaning done on it.  Obviously, it was nowhere near as bad as the cover I wore in Iraq that I sent to the USAF Museum along with my ACU's....  

Delta Ceramacoat Ivory, Dark Forest Green, and Hippo Grey mixed best to replicate the 1:1 scale reference source.  Ivory was the best base coat, mixed in with drops of grey or green as looked good at the time under a full spectrum Ott Light I use at my desk.

Here is the Khurasan US Army 15mm miniature that I have painted to be a USAF TACP (Tactical Air Control Party, AFSC 1C4X1 or the old 275X prior to 1994 or so) to fulfill Force on Force game role of TAC (terminal air controller).  Base coat was Ivory with some Dark Forest green (I'd venture to guess 15 parts Ivory, 1 part or less Dark Forest Green).  I used strait Trail Tan to paint the Interceptor Body Armor (IBA), boots, and backpack along with any web gear pouches.  Why?  Well, in 2005/2006 when I deployed with the 172nd Stryker Brigade, we had ACU uniforms and DCU or Coyote Tan everything else.  That means IBA covers, backpacks, web gear, and PPE (personal protective equipment like goggles and knee pads) hadn't caught up to the new ACU Universal pattern.  Boy, was there ever a mix of uniform camouflage schemes.  Wargamers simulating the "Surge" era and just prior shouldn't feel compelled to make US Army forces all wear the same gear types.  Depending upon when a Brigade Combat Team arrived in country, there were huge variations in uniforms.  Black, woodland, and DCU components can be spread liberally along with ACU Universal pattern for that period of 2005 through 2007.  Marines even had variations in uniform types, our ANGLICO counter parts wore desert pattern Marine uniforms with Coyote Tan IBA and web gear, but had the usual Marine camo backpacks as per 2nd MARDIV SOP at the time.  They go special permission, with their critical mission, to wear Coyote Tan assault packs to carry radios.  Uniformity has its limitations and disadvantages.

On my foreground mixing palette, you can see my base coat of the Ivory and Dark Forest Green.  I also tried, and I emphasis TRIED Foliage Green and found it mostly useless for the time being for ACU.  However, the gloves on the other hand might be painted with this color as it matches the Nomex or Kevlar gloves a lot of guys wore.  Gloves can vary even more so than other uniform components.  I've seen crazy mechanics gloves on Infantry grunts before.  Have fun!  

When I painted equipment, I added black to the Hippo Gray until I was happy with the color.  I figure I shouldn't use strait black on the miniatures themselves, and this will help with highlighting later.  I obviously opted for NVG's on all but my heavy weapons guys (who fires and AT-4 or Javelin with NVG's up anyway?  Well, I never did, so if you did, sorry, I ran out of NVG's and didn't put them on the Javelin guys or Sniper/Designated Marksmen).  I think they add a bit to the miniatures along with getting the point across that most, if not all, US units went out with NVG's when I was in Iraq (a result of lessons learned in Mogadishu, yes we ALL watch "Blackhawk Down").  Pardon the Transformer toy in the background.  Optimus Prime is watching over these fellas.

So far I'm pretty pleased.  I might use more green in my base for future ACU miniatures, or hit these guys with more of the green.  You really cannot see my efforts to put some of the light foliage green using a higher percentage of green in my Ivory base.  That is a problem.  Right now, they look like DCU's or Marine Desert more than ACU universal.   

29DEC15 Stryker Dismounts in the Works

As you can tell by the photo, I'm really taking some time to match my old ACU cover as I paint these guys.  Getting it just right for 15mm is interesting to say the least.  There will be no pixelated effect on these guys.  They are just too darn small (15mm foot to eye height, tall for 15mm but still tiny none the less).   Hopefully you can read the labels on the Delta Ceramacoat bottles.  Those colors are mixing beautifully and matching.  Ivory in particular provides a great base coat to add the greens to and get the desaturated colors I'm looking for. 

I will follow up with more details later as time allows.  Right now I'm blogging on my tablet and not liking the Blogger app and my lack of ability to create my content with pictures as easily as I can on the desktop/laptop.

26DEC2015 First 15mm Miniature Conversion

So, I've just converted my very 15mm figure.  I have taken one of Khurasan's US Navy SEAL DEVGRU (http://khurasanminiatures.tripod.com/mod-1.jpg) figures and turned it into a JTAC/ETAC/SOTAC.  Whatever they call them these days.  While Khurasan markets the figures as SEALs they can be used as any American Special Operations group carrying out a raid.  Having worked with these people in the past (yes, I have met and to some limited extent worked with all of the SOCOM guys at some point in time in the course of my duties), the gear doesn't distinguish who it is at all.  All our enemies know, until our Public Affairs and Media open up, is that they got hit by American Operators.  If they are lucky enough to survive the encounter or not be there when it goes down...

Clearly, this conversion is very easy to do.  Just grab some 1/32" brass rod, 1/32" drill bit, pin vice, some gel based CA glue, and a good magnifier.

All that antenna is made out of is a bent piece of 1/32" brass rod bent 90 degrees.  I cut a portion of the rod off below the 90 degree elbow and left most of the length above it.  I drilled a small hole into one of the ruck sacks, glued the antenna in place, and then cut it off about the size of the figures head up from the elbow (to represent the 13" length of the antenna).

This is not an overly 'to scale' or accuracy obsessed conversion.  However, it is functional and tough to allow for handling of the miniature on the table.  For me, it shows that the unit, and this figure in particular, is the JTAC.  For "Force on Force" games this means that unit has TAC aligned with it (don't get me started on how poor the term 'attached' is for USAF TACP assigned to a particular unit).  

More photos on the way soon!

Late Soviet/Early Post-Cold War Russian Mech Infantry Platoon

Figured I'd post progress of my first 15mm historical force. 

These are those BMP-1 dismounts I might have mentioned earlier.  I painted them using references from a late "Soviet Military Power Power" (1990, US DoD publication) an article on Turkmenistan in the mid-90's.  About that timeframe, the Late-Soviet/Early Russian Federation forces were fielding a camoflauge uniform similar to BDU to replace the aging khaki green based uniforms they had worn since about World War II. 

Clearly, I'm taking liberties.  By this time, the late 1980's to mid/late 1990's, Russian forces were more likely to be in BMP-2 or BMP-3 wearing this uniform instead of BMP-1. 

Artistic license on my part.  It's wargaming, not history.  Sure, the hobby mixes the two and strives for both in accuracy, but there is some give and take for flexibility of play.  Those BMP-1's can be used in lieu of BMP-2/3's even if they are visually different.  The same could be said of the infantry.  Part of why I enjoy Ambush Alley's Force on Force is it doesn't matter so much if these dismounts are armed with AK-47's or AK-74's.  They operate on the same principles.  Troop quality and morale matter more than the guns they carry. 

Game theroy aside, I enjoyed painting and basing these guys.  Both the vehicles and dismounts are Khurasan miniatures.  I'm very happy with the quality of their product, and continue to purchase items from them.  Being an American gamer, I appreciate the American (or at least North American) supplier of fine historical and science fiction/fantasy 15mm miniatures!

BMP-1's and Mech/Motorized Dismounts: http://khurasanminiatures.tripod.com/modern-russian.html 

Sadly, I missed the fact that Khurasan has BMP-2's under a different area along with T-72's... 

09JUN15 15mm Strykers

Before getting my BMP's from Khurasan, I received my QRF Strykers from the American dealer, Scale Creep Miniatures.

 Wasn't it nice of them to send me a couple of suckers?!  As you can see, I ordered three Stryker IFV, Infantry Fighting Vehicles (or is it Variants?).  These are your 'vanilla' Stryker variants, and the basis for all other variants.  There are lots.  But only the IFV's in 15mm for now that I have found.  At least for the moment.  Though in 10mm, I've seen the others, such as the Mortar Carriers, Engineering, Scouting, and others.  Common 15mm makers, catch up!  Lets just say, they are on my bucket list...  I'm a proud Styker Brigade Combat Veteran after all.

I'm pretty happy with the level of detail QRF put into these Strykers.  All hatches are modeled closed, and the bodies are pretty solid (they are 'hollow' in that on the underside they are open to save material and reduce weight).  This is not a limitation for me, as the rigors of the wargaming table would result in damage to any open hatches in this scale!  They certainly were made to be handled on the table.  Being pewter, once assembled, they commend the weight and respect traditional pewter gaming miniatures just feel they have.  It almost makes you want to use lead fishing weights on those plastic kits...

I cannot say the quality of casting was perfect.  There was quite a bit of cleanup required.  Just look at that Ma Deuce (Browning M2A3 machine gun) on the RWS (Remote Weapon System).  This barrel is shorter than spec, and tappers horribly.  I'm going to have to either live with it or cut it off and finagle a new barrel out of a needle or pin.  The racks along the rear of the hull (they aren't the standoff slat armor, and if they aren't racks, they got used that way anyway) required some pulling into shape.  The cooling of the pewter resulted in these being slightly warped.  Really, that was a minor nuisance.  One expect that from pewter, and even resin.  Some of the mold lines required some filing.  Based on the single piece cast in pewter, it was to be expected.  I didn't need any filler, again, a result of a single piece casting.  Small scale has its advantages.

OUCH, barrel melted...

Tires required a bit of cleanup on the bottom.  Not a big deal again considering they are cast from pewter.  These shapes don't always lend themselves to good mold lines.  I had to test fit and file a few to get them pretty level.  These miniatures almost don't need a base, but for uniformity they are likely going to all get glued to a 2.00 x 3.00 inch base (metric people, 25.4mm = 1.00 inches).  

Once cleanup was complete, assembly proceeded without any hitches other than assembler error with gluing the RWS onto the top of the first Stryker before priming and painting.  Don't do that.  You need to leave the RWS off so that you can rest the model on its top to prime and paint it fully.  

What the RWS and Ma Deuce should look like...

While there are some quirks to QRF's product, it is indeed solid and serviceable for the wargame table.  In fact, I'd say I'm very happy with the level of detail they put into these models and I won't hesitate to buy more when the time comes to expand my vehicle collection.  I just hope they make some more of the other variants.

07JUL2015 "BIMP" spotted...

Soviet designed, and very first, Mechanized Infantry Fighting Vehicle (MICV) BMP-1 that is.  This one is a Khurasan Miniatures  15mm/1:100 scale version.  I ordered these back in May, and they were worth the wait.  Khurasan is a small miniature company based out of New York (the state, not  the city).  While small in corporate footprint, their work is nothing less than spectacular in the world of 15mm wargaming on this side of the pond (as the majority of the hobby is produced in merry ol' England).

Being a fan of Osprey's publication of Ambush Alley Games "Force on Force" and "Tomorrows War" I jumped at the chance to spend my tax return money (thankfully I got one this year...) on a good force.  Having spent some time in service in the USAF TACP training to hunt Soviet trained and equipped forces (no matter how long the Cold War ended, American and Soviet methods and equipment are still the two most proliferated in the world, even with local modifications and upgrades), I decided to dig up some TO&E from an old manual (FM-100-2-3) and make a Mechanized Rifle Regiment (MRR) rifle company.  Another good reference is the suggested force list in the back of "Force on Force".  I like the FM reference a bit more, with some added information from sources that have come forward since the end of the Cold War.  I've read about extra machine gunners attached to platoons, and in the Warsaw Pact Forward Area MRRs facing NATO, a couple of extra BMPs at the company level carrying laser/optic jamming gear.   Such variations are to be expected, as any good military organization can be that flexible.

Good cast parts on the BMP, with some 15mm QRF Strykers
in the background...

I ordered three BMP-1s from Khurasan along with their Motorized Rifle Platoon set of miniatures.  I look forward to getting the miniatures done next.  Today I'm going to discuss my building of the first BMP.  Upon opening the plastic bag and pouring out the parts, I must say I'm very impressed by the quality of the resin casting from this small company.  Very little cleanup was needed compared to other resin parts I've worked with from bigger manufacturers.  Just some slight mold lines here and there to tidy up, and the mold sprue lines were sized just right to make them easy to remove with just a No. 11 hobby blade and not have to grind with a rotary tool.  Mold lines were so well chosen on all the parts, including the pewter, that I hardly spent any time scraping or filing.  I did have to clean a bit of the sprue from the rear of the vehicle to make room for the doors.  If you look closely enough, you will see that Khurasan made the master with a very good 3D print.  This does not effect the detail in any way, as being familiar with armored vehicles, slight imperfections are only going to add to the realism when they are painted.

A close inspection of the deck shows the 3D printed pattern of the master, dwarfed by many fine details
including the drivers periscopes and screws holding the vents and other panels in place.

Only a little cleanup needed here.

Assembly was pretty easy.  I did have to reference some photos of BMPs to ensure I got the right door in the right spot.  I thought about making the doors open and getting some crew figures, but the rigors of handling during a game would make that a bit labor intensive on the constant repair side.  Last thing I want to do in a game is fix a miniature or lose a part.  I am only worried about the the AT-3 on the turret over the barrel.  In 15mm, these are TINY and don't have a lot of surface area for glue to form a bead and hold it in place.  Caution will need to be exercised when handling this piece!  Keep the super glue solvent handy along with tweezers, this is a part you will likely glue to Mr. Hand during assembly.  For once, luck was with me and I did not glue myself to the project leaving 1:1 scale finger prints.

Assembly went well with the tracks fitting the body of the BMP with a tighter tolerance than some more expensive plastic kits I've built in the past.  The only gaps were the along seams that exist on the real vehicle.  No filler putty was required.  Each of the road wheels could be glued into place along the bottom of the body, however I like the way the tracks were flexed slightly on the bottom.  This can add to the model when based on the appropriate terrain, as few armored vehicles I've ever seen have perfectly level tracks in contact with the earth.

Pewter parts attached to resin with good points of contact along hatch edges and hinge points.  Troop commanders door was a bit rough though, being a half moon shape, it fell into the hatch a few times.  Good candidate for gluing open for those who choose to do so.

I look forward to priming and painting this kit.  Khurasan Miniatures are well worth every penny and any wait to receive.

BMP-1 from Khurasan completed

BMP-1 from Khurasan, rear troop doors.

Hello Traveller Classic!

I've always been more of a wargamer than an RPG gamer.  I suspect I'll always love wargames.  Lately, I've been feeding an RPG habit more than wargaming.  I find I can get involved in RPG's more with the OGL D20 and D6 crowd (more so with the the BFRPG over at basicfantasy.org, see earlier postings...).

Space however has been my biggest gaming interest.  Travelling the stars and finding new species and contacting them, fighting them, or trading with them has always been big since before I even played wargames.  So, when this opportunity from Bundle of Holding came up, I could not resist.  Bundle of Holding is having a special in conjunction with Marc Miller himself: https://bundleofholding.com/presents/TravellerLBBs!  You can pick up the core of Classic Traveller Little Black Books for a simple donation, and part of your proceeds go help the poor of this world with Mr. Miller's charity of choice, Heifer International (they donate heifer live stock so families get access to milk across the globe).

What I like most about the LBB's can be aggravating at the same time.  These books are from the late 70's and early 80's, the infancy of RPG's, and therefore have little in the realm of high quality artwork.  Sure, that drives people nuts...  But at the same time, you IMAGINATION is engaged dreaming up what these worlds, peoples, and ships look like.  For those with a desire to see the ships, fear not, for the supplements come with some great black and white images of many of these ships, worlds, aliens, and other assorted things.

I enjoy the simplicity of Traveller Classic.  I've read through the games that follow (Mega Traveller, Traveller New Era, and of course Traveller 4 and 5), and I can't say they have any of the same charm in all the expanded features.  Mr. Miller has never outdone his first set of rules, and frankly neither has Mongoose or Steve Jackson Games (though I like the GURPS 3e and 4e ports in their own right).  LBB's are Miller's Masterpieces in spite of any flaws (who knew computers wouldn't take up that much tonnage on a starship in 1977?).

At any rate, if you can read this, get over to Bundle of Holding and make a donation to improve the lives of some family around the world, and then go build yourself a few new worlds to explore with your friends.

01MAR2015 Finishing the Bones painted with Ceramacoat

After the initial base coat of black Ceramacoat, I mixed up a nifty couple of earth tones inspired by the base colors of Multi-cam and other desert pattern camouflage.  I painted weapons with a darker earthy color similar to the FN SCAR battle rifle, and stuck with a traditional medium type green for the web belt and pouches.  Finally, I picked a red to be the color for the visor.  Made the eyes pop.  

This time, I did not force perspective with my paint.  I mixed up my white and yellow Cermacoat, and a little bit of Liquitex Burnt Sienna and Raw Umber and proceeded to paint a single coat of each color on the models.

I decided to use some dark walnut oil based wood stain to create the darker regions in recessed areas.  First phase was the infamous dip method.  A pair of pliers holding the base, and dip the models directly into the bucket of stain.

Eight hours later, or the next day, I can't say I liked the look.  Something was missing to my technique...  

...oh, yeah, now I remember!

I needed to wipe the stain off the higher surfaces leaving the stain to fill in the lower recesses of the figures!  

The effects of the simple dip and wipe on a single coat of paint are astounding!  Other than drying time, this technique works wonders for knocking out large numbers of miniatures in short period of time with decent detailing.  Why didn't I try this earlier with my other armies?

Finally, I finished them off with some model railroad ballast.  Fine and coarse.  Above is the first step using the fine ballast (N-scale track ballast).  Below is the last step using the coarse ballast (HO-scale track ballast).  All I might include in the future is static grass, and maybe a larger chunk of 1:1 scale pea size gravel to replicate a much larger rock.  In the mean time, the camo fits the arid climate base of the miniature.  

Part of a Squad of soldiers ready for duty on the gaming table!

I've determined I'm going to get some more Reaper Bones miniatures in the future!  They certainly are quality miniatures for the price you pay, and it would be hard to find a better mix of price point and quality mixed with ease of painting and detailing using some of the most basic wargame army painting techniques (and inexpensive materials).

26FEB2015 Reaper Bones and Delta Ceramcoat Experiment

I finally had the opportunity to buy some Reaper Bones minatures at a local game shop here in Omaha, well Bellevue really.  When I found a copy of Ogre (see previous article) for $2.95 I had to buy it since it was cheep.  I also found I had to spend $5 minimum if I was going to use the only form of payment I had on hand, my debit card.

So I bought some SF themed Bones Chronoscope 28mm miniatures. 

 Here is the Nova Corp Sgt. work in progress thus far.  Minimal clean up of mold lines was required in a few spots, and the base is slightly warped.  I opted to just paint right out of the box lacking any form of patience waiting for water to boil. 

I was itching to paint.  I jumped right in with a base coat of black using Delta Ceramcoat.  No primer is required for the Reaper Bones, they use a good polymer that requires none.  For that price you see on the bottle, I got 8 oz. of paint, and it rivals anything else I've used, to include Liquitex!  In fact, I didn't have to water it down like I do my Liquitex.  Forget spending $3 or more on an ounce or less from Citadel or Vajello!  Unless I need a specific color I can't mix, I'm sold on the Delta if they work as well as the black did.  Look Ma, no brush strokes on that mini!

 

The rest of the Squad out of the packages.  They came in blisters of three.  Three male guards in one, three female in the other.  All share the same pose.  Sadly, the female guards needed the most adjustments, but again I just base coated them without boiling water and straitening things out.  What was I thinking?  Oh, yeah, I was itching to paint.

 I got all seven base coated and ready to before heading off for my last final of this quarter!  Not too shabby for about half an hours work!  No spray primer, no brush strokes from the acrylic paint, and decent looking miniatures with crisp details ready to be picked out with good paint.

Now, the hard part, planning how I'm going to paint this force.

24FEB2015 Ogre Pocket Edition!

It is back after thirty five years!

I'm a recent player however, having discovered Ogre through GEV on my dad's game shelf back in 1994 when I was in the sixth grade.

Needless to say, I'm still pretty excited to see another Ogre reboot hot on the heels of a successful Kickstarter campaign and the Ogre Designers Edition (which I could not acquire due to lack of game funding).  Clearly, this edition was WELL within my budget at less than $3.00!

While deceptively inexpensive and simple to pick up and play, it is the next best game to Risk to get a person into wargaming.  Simplicity is sometimes the best system when it comes to rules, and you would be hard pressed to find an easier system to pick up that can still yield an afternoons worth of gaming by playing through the scenarios and working with what you have.

All your classic Ogre scenarios are there in the booklet.  Old hands will appreciate the rules smelling new and feeling crisp in your hands with a sharp looking map and counters.

A huge plus with this edition of the game is the pre-cut counters on thicker sheets of card stock.  No more sore hands and mis-cut pieces on account of missing with the ruler and knife!

I figured I would show off my collection a bit here for a good comparison.  Around 2000 SJ Games attempted a reboot of Ogre, and I avidly sought out just about everything they offered during that period.  You can see how the new Pocket Edition compares with the 2000 reboot release of Ogre/GEV on the right.  PE has the classic map with nothing but simple filled in hexes for craters and bold rubble lines along hexes while the '00 edition has the full color and detail map.  I even have some uncut counters from my Ogre Reinforcement pack to compare with the new PE counters!  Pardon the miniature sculpting mess...

Now, I just need to find local players and punch the pieces out.