19JUN16 Father's Day and a 3D Game Changer

Happy Father's Day gentlemen!

Hopefully your days featured at least one good board or wargame with the kids!  Mine was Star Wars Clone Wars edition Risk with my eldest.  A few months back, we played Star Wars FUBAR.  He's getting into games.  Obviously, he enjoys the miniatures and terrain more than the games...  But hey, he's 10.  I really have to watch out for my middle son though, he's a shark at Pente and Battleship...

Last post I mentioned making 3D printed bases for my 15mm miniatures.  I'm proud to state I carried out that decision and published my first Thing on Thingiverse.  In order to use my penny based 15mm infantry in Flames of Wars based games, I developed a quick and dirty 3mm x 50mm x 65mm Penny base tray for 15mm wargames (yup, its a long, but unique title) using Design Spark Mechanical from Allied Electronics and Space Claim.  I highly recommend this free program for aspiring mechanical designers and those experimenting with 3D printing at home.  It is an easy parametric modeler to use, especially if you have SketchUp experience.  I did not align the holes or anything, so for those who are type A about how lined up their troops on a base are, these will drive you nuts.  Fine, go download the native file format on Thingiverse and fix it.  In fact, I made these bases public domain, use and abuse.  All I ask is that you paint them up real nice and take pictures with your miniatures on them and post them were I can find them!

15mm trays for 6 miniatures.

I also indulged in building some bases for one of my favorite Games Workshop rule sets, their Lord of the Rings based War of the Ring.  Sadly, this game is no longer published by GW, but hey, I enjoyed the rules set offering and the miniatures are top notch.  Too bad GW has massive cranial rectal inversion disorder at the moment.  Anyway, for anyone who has the miniatures, or ones similar that need such bases, here you go:  WotR Infantry & Cavalry Company Bases.  With the WotR bases, I used Solidworks and lined everything up pretty square.  I also left the SLDPT files there for editing.  Use, abuse, have fun.  Just post pictures and let me know!

WotR Infantry and Cavalry Company Bases 

No, my rant about game changing technology...  3D printers are awesome for gamers.  I think miniature gamers especially should own them.  You can just about print your army these days if you have the right model files.  If you are a 3D CAD guy who can sculpt digitally, your print resolution and the sky are the only limits.  My FDM Lulzbot Taz 5 printer only lets me get down to about .1mm (100 micron) resolution, and has thus far been unsuited to small figures.  However, vehicles, bases, and other game terrain are not limited.  Hopefully I can get some more stuff out there.  

12JUN16 Team Yankee Soviet Afgantsy Weapons

I am adding to my 15mm Soviet equipped force, this time infantry heavy weapons using Battlefront Miniatures Team Yankee miniatures this time.  I picked up some Afgantsy Weapons teams for $24 (US) at my local game shop, Dragons Lair Comics.

This weapons team gets me 9 AGS-17 (30mm automatic grenade launcher, similar to the US MK. 19 40mm launcher), and 9 AT-4 anti-tank missile launchers, along with associated assistant gunners and the like.

Compared to my Khurasan Soviet motorized infantry, the details are very similar, and the figures about the same height.  I don't think there will be too much difference painted up.  I'll likely mount them on pennies like the Khurasan miniatures, and then start building bases that will allow me to mount them for Team Yankee/Flames of War play.  What, a 3D printing project?  Sure, why not.  Perfect use for that machine.  What a shame...  I have to design something cool for my miniatures.

Cons of the Battlefront miniatures largely lie in the amount cleanup required.  Mold lines and sprue exist everywhere on these, such are the requirements of casting with soft metals!  Bent barrels and other features don't bother me in the least, after all 1:100 scale AK's and antennas will bend no matter what you do to protect the models!  I'm pleased with the level of detail.

15mm T-55 project

So, as I am about to embark upon making some Battlefront Miniatures Flames of War Arab-Israeli war T-55's...  a thought occurred to me.  Why not make them upgraded T-55AMV's of my fictional Red Equipped Nation (Upper or Lower Slobobia until I come up with a better name, as the US Army already uses Krasnovia at NTC for the fictitious name of the OPFOR).  A quick Internet search for images led me to this gem in 1:35



The Modelling News: In-Boxed: Takom's 35th scale T-55 AMV Russian Medium Tank



Wow, I'm almost ready to plunk down the money and get it in 1:35 as well.  It is an awesome kit!



In the mean time, I have Stackpole Books "Cold War Armored Fighting Vehicles" handy and have reduced the 1:72nd Scale drawing of the T-55AM down 72% to create a 1:100/15mm scale drawing of the tank for my project.  Check out the scale down guide from Fine Scale Modeler for other scale options.

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...