Monday, December 7, 2015

QRF / TSS - 1/100 15mm - T-64BV

Some quick photos of my 15mm QRF / TSS T-64BV Tanks. I think that those models are great. All tanks are the same, they have been modified by me. Some have fenders removed, some have searchlights covered. These tanks need some more work to be ready: drybrush with green paint, white crosses painted and all visors painted red.  I plan on using american Abrams rules for them, as they are superior to bare T-72 tanks that Soviets are using in Team Yankee.




My Russian / Soviet vehicle park.

My Russian / Soviet vehicle park. These models are in various stages of completing. All bases have to be finished. I think that all green vehicles will receive white crosses. This will help them while gaming against other soviet forces. All models are made by QRF/ TSS and Zvezda. These are T-64s, T-72s,  T-90, Shilka, Gviozdkas, BRDM, BTRD, URAL and BTR-80s.




Oddzial Osmy - 1/100 15mm - Green Men

Oddzial Osmy Green Men from Crimea / Modern Russian Soldiers in 15mm. I've painted them a while ago. I wanted the foliage to match their green camouflage. These miniatures are superb, but buyers should be wary that the material they are made from is very hard. Parts will break rather than bend. All figures are individually based and magnetised to FOW / Team Yankee bases. 




Rebel Minis - 1/100 15mm - US Army Platoon 2

Some better photos of my Rebel Minis Team Yankee US Army platoon.





Sunday, November 29, 2015

Rebel Minis - 1/100 15mm - US Army Platoon

Just some quick photos of my completed american army infantry platoon. The figures are by Rebel Minis supplemented by some QRF/TSS Modern US Army designated marksmen  there are also some QRF/TSS Modern US Army commanders. I sculpted parts of body armour, backpacks and googles on QRF/TSS figures to blend them better with Rebel Minis troops. I don't think that those two lines should be mixed together, the sculpting is very different even between both QRF/TSS packs, with marksmen having a superior sculpt. 

The figures are based individually and then magnetised to FOW/Team Yankee style bases. I followed platoon composition that was previewed which does mean I had to add additional Javelin armed soldier and remove two men from platoon (Real platoon has 28 men including 3 Javelins vs 27 men including 4 Javelins in TY).  The TO&E I fallowed is for Bradley mounted soldiers and is rather modern with designated marksmen present. I probably should have one SAW per fire team and not per squad but I didn't had necessary figures. I might order some Peter Pig SAW armed troops to make my platoon more real. 

Lighting is bad on the photos and detail is lost but its better to show something than stay quiet. The camouflage is some type of modern dry one. I wanted those miniatures to be usable as any army using AR15 and Fritz helmet post 2001 year, thus there are no markings painted and camouflage is abstract one. I think I might add one more type of foliage to the bases but I am not 100% set on it. The hardest part was matching new figures to the ones painted over a year ago. 






Friday, November 27, 2015

Preparing for Team Yankee

Team Yankee by Battlefront is coming soon. Thus I started preparing my forces. I am not sure what side I will play thus I have incentive to paint both Russians and Americans. I have enough American army figures by Rebel Miniatures to create two full Team Yankee platoons. One is almost finished.
For Russians I have modern Zvezda T-72 tanks, which are historically inaccurate, but so are T-72 tanks by Battlefront, as in 1985 in Germany Russians would have used T-80 and T-64 tanks. I have 4 T-64BV tanks that need last coat of paint. But I don't want to use them as inferior T-72s. I think of creating count as force using American rules. I will use figures by QRF/TSS and have everything replaced by soviet stuff that Battlefront is not making. This way with photoshopped cards it should create less confusion than using for example Hind and saying it is Cobra.  I envision this count as force this way:

Soviet replacements    - USA

T-64BV                       - M1 Abrams
BTR-80                       - M113
BRDM-2 (AT-5)         - M901 ITV
SA-9                            - M163 VADS
2S29                            - M106
2S3                              - M109
Mil Mi 8 Hip E           - AH-1 Cobra

For infantry I'd probably use Eureka Miniatures modern Russians painted like 1985 Soviet troops. They could represent afghanka uniform wearing soldiers in body armour.

Sneak peak of US Army infantry platoon. Painted figures by Rebel Miniatures, unpainted by QRF/TSS - those are designated marksmen from current TO&E. All figures are based individually and magnetised to FOW style bases.


Modern Syrian Army T-72 - 1/100 15mm

I don't have much to write, because I haven't painted much. I have several tanks waiting for the last coat of paint, multiple bases to be done and infantry to be finished. I have Team Yankee preordered and plan on  getting Osprey - Black Ops game rules.  When I have some spare time I fiddle with green stuff.

Here are my modern Syrian tanks in 1/100 15mm. Two tanks are made by Zvezda and one by QRF/TSS. I have added sandbags to the front of  Zvezda downgraded one, to hide modern armour. The QRF/TSS had a lot more done to it: side skirts were covered with sandbags and tower received additional armour to make it higher (More in line with Zvezda tanks, as it was sitting low.), last but not least its tracks were replaced by Zvezda tracks. I think that when painted it would look ok. 






Thursday, August 6, 2015

Zvezda - Hot War - 1/100 - 2S1 Gvozdika

Artillery is the queen of battle and with the new Zvezda release you can add it to your Russian / Soviet / Warsaw Pact armies. The 2S1 Gvozdika is a very popular kit that saw use in many wars, sometimes on both sides of the conflict. This new 1/100 model was supposed to hit the market in 2014 with  ZSU-23-4 "Shilka", now both kits are here. Although it is not as complicated as Shilka it is still nicely tolled kit. The turret moves and the gun can be moved upwards and downwards. It's a fun a useful model. Below are some photos of the assembled 2S1. Painted example should follow soon.







Zvezda - Hot War - 1/100 - ZSU-23-4 "Shilka"

Finally! Thats what can be said of this new release by Zvezda.  ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" was supposed to hit the market in 2014, then it was in 2015 catalogue, now it's here in flesh. And let me say what a kit it is. It's the best 1/100 Zvezda Hot War model. When put next to Abrams it really shows how far have they improved their tooling. It has tons of parts with the turret assembly mirroring the chassis, having the "skeleton" to which the armour panels are added. This serves one purpose: moving guns! Yes, this kit has moving guns. It's amazing in this scale. Below are few photos of the model kit. Painted example should follow soon. 









Saturday, May 2, 2015

Zvezda - Hot War - 1/100 - T72

I've got several Zvezda T72 1/100 15mm tanks. I like them mainly because I can get them in every model shop. They are plastic and lent themselves easily for converting. Here you can see some examples of my tanks. 

Two Syrian tanks, one with custom era and optics. Two Russian green tanks, one with Qrf T72BV turret. One early type (cast turret) T90 with shtora, in modern Russian camo. Syrian tanks are mostly done. T90 is waiting for AA gun. Green tanks need their AA guns and some paint.