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xx'70s-'90s softskins with crew figures - asking for recommendations (and a bit of a rant).
Hi everyone!
This is gonna be a bit of a long post/rambling, so strap in - TL;DR at the bottom for those who don't want to read this wall of text.
Lately I've been itching to start a project depicting some sort of Cold War or modern (Gulf War/Chechnya is the most recent I'd like to go preferrably, just because I like the look of military gear around that time, maybe early War on Terror too) subject, preferrably as part of a small force for wargames (but not 100% necessarily).
Now, there's a lot of subjects I'd be interested in.
US or Soviet/Russian troops (possibly both, to fight each other?),
Sometime between the mid '70s and late '90s (Soviets in SSh-68 helmets, '73 or Afghanka uniforms, and possibly ballistic vests, for the latter end of this period. US troops in either M1s or PASGT helmets and ALICE webbing),
And as for scale, preferrably 1:72/20mm or 28mm, but I wouldn't be opposed to doing 15mm too.
Now, there's figure lines for basically all of the options I've described above. Empress (28), Eureka (15/28), Elhiem (20), Battlefront (15), Peter Pig (15), Underfire (28), Wartime (20), a bunch of 1/72 plastics (Caesar or Preiser Americans, Orion Russians), the list goes on. However, the issue is vehicles, and particularly vehicle crew, something I almost have to use when modelling softskins.
Tanks and APCs are cool, of course, I like them just as much as the next guy, but what I'm really interested in is trucks, jeeps, that sort of stuff - so, softskins.
Unfortunately for me, tanks and APCs are much more popular - in 1/35, you might find most softskins unless it's something really obscure, and a lot of the time you'll even be able to choose between a couple kits, in 1/72 you might not be so lucky, but don't even think about 1/48 to use with 28mm figures. For Soviet subjects, you tend to have fewer choices. More often than not, it's Russian companies making these kits, and especially with the war now, you can't find them anywhere really.
Now, even if you find vehicles (which I'll get to in a bit) you can't find vehicle crew at all!
Out of these figure lines mentioned, Elhiem makes seated Americans, as well as a couple fairly generic military driver figures, Peter Pig (bless them) make seated figures for every range they make, I'm pretty sure, and there's a couple of 1/72 resin figure sets (a few of them have disappeared/been discontinued) containing seated troops - Mig Productions makes one for Russians and one for Americans, although they don't have any figures driving!
But that's it! Finding one seated figure is possible, finding one driver figure is possible - finding a whole squad, sitting down, ready to be put on the back of a truck? Not happening. One set of Americans in a truck by Preiser only exists in 1/87 (for now) and a set of Russians for a truck by Alex Miniatures - but it's a Russian company so I'm out of luck.
At this point it's worth noting that tank crews tend to be far more widely available - probably has to do with the aforementioned popularity of tanks and APCs over softskins.
As for the availability of vehicles, here are some softskins I've taken an interest to (these are just some I've looked into scale model-wise, for some I haven't bothered checking if they exist in 15 or 28mm scale):
UAZ-469/Hunter: available in 15mm (Peter Pig) and 1/72 (MAC Productions), no 28mm seems to be available.
GAZ-69: only in 1/72, resin, by Gran (Russian company, currently unavailable, but was also ridiculously expensive), haven't found it in any other scales.
Ural-375, Ural-4320, ZIL-131: available in 1/72 (ICM, all seem a bit fiddly for wargaming and aren't the easiest of builds, from what I've heard).
GAZ-66: 1/72 by ACE, really detailed, seems complicated, probably overkill for wargaming (for me at least).
M151(A1/A2): in 28mm by Eureka, in 1/72 by S-Model.
M35: in 1/72 by Academy, seems to be...
View full post » (1989 additional characters)
Hi everyone!
This is gonna be a bit of a long post/rambling, so strap in - TL;DR at the bottom for those who don't want to read this wall of text.
Lately I've been itching to start a project depicting some sort of Cold War or modern (Gulf War/Chechnya is the most recent I'd like to go preferrably, just because I like the look of military gear around that time, maybe early War on Terror too) subject, preferrably as part of a small force for wargames (but not 100% necessarily).
Now, there's a lot of subjects I'd be interested in.
US or Soviet/Russian troops (possibly both, to fight each other?),
Sometime between the mid '70s and late '90s (Soviets in SSh-68 helmets, '73 or Afghanka uniforms, and possibly ballistic vests, for the latter end of this period. US troops in either M1s or PASGT helmets and ALICE webbing),
And as for scale, preferrably 1:72/20mm or 28mm, but I wouldn't be opposed to doing 15mm too.
Now, there's figure lines for basically all of the options I've described above. Empress (28), Eureka (15/28), Elhiem (20), Battlefront (15), Peter Pig (15), Underfire (28), Wartime (20), a bunch of 1/72 plastics (Caesar or Preiser Americans, Orion Russians), the list goes on. However, the issue is vehicles, and particularly vehicle crew, something I almost have to use when modelling softskins.
Tanks and APCs are cool, of course, I like them just as much as the next guy, but what I'm really interested in is trucks, jeeps, that sort of stuff - so, softskins.
Unfortunately for me, tanks and APCs are much more popular - in 1/35, you might find most softskins unless it's something really obscure, and a lot of the time you'll even be able to choose between a couple kits, in 1/72 you might not be so lucky, but don't even think about 1/48 to use with 28mm figures. For Soviet subjects, you tend to have fewer choices. More often than not, it's Russian companies making these kits, and especially with the war now, you can't find them anywhere really.
Now, even if you find vehicles (which I'll get to in a bit) you can't find vehicle crew at all!
Out of these figure lines mentioned, Elhiem makes seated Americans, as well as a couple fairly generic military driver figures, Peter Pig (bless them) make seated figures for every range they make, I'm pretty sure, and there's a couple of 1/72 resin figure sets (a few of them have disappeared/been discontinued) containing seated troops - Mig Productions makes one for Russians and one for Americans, although they don't have any figures driving!
But that's it! Finding one seated figure is possible, finding one driver figure is possible - finding a whole squad, sitting down, ready to be put on the back of a truck? Not happening. One set of Americans in a truck by Preiser only exists in 1/87 (for now) and a set of Russians for a truck by Alex Miniatures - but it's a Russian company so I'm out of luck.
At this point it's worth noting that tank crews tend to be far more widely available - probably has to do with the aforementioned popularity of tanks and APCs over softskins.
As for the availability of vehicles, here are some softskins I've taken an interest to (these are just some I've looked into scale model-wise, for some I haven't bothered checking if they exist in 15 or 28mm scale):
UAZ-469/Hunter: available in 15mm (Peter Pig) and 1/72 (MAC Productions), no 28mm seems to be available.
GAZ-69: only in 1/72, resin, by Gran (Russian company, currently unavailable, but was also ridiculously expensive), haven't found it in any other scales.
Ural-375, Ural-4320, ZIL-131: available in 1/72 (ICM, all seem a bit fiddly for wargaming and aren't the easiest of builds, from what I've heard).
GAZ-66: 1/72 by ACE, really detailed, seems complicated, probably overkill for wargaming (for me at least).
M151(A1/A2): in 28mm by Eureka, in 1/72 by S-Model.
M35: in 1/72 by Academy, seems to be...
View full post » (1989 additional characters)
24 August, 23:14
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добави нов фотоалбум.
31 17 May, 01:37
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OK, so I am doing another Phantom. Almost as surprising as me doing an Eagle. 😄 LOL
So, I was asked to do one to use the landing gear and exhaust set by 3D Chute Expert out of Taiwan. My club Pres has a page that he highlights builds and products, and 3D is one of the companies he showcases. So he sent me this set, which is not in the database here yet. But to the build.
This is the Academy kit. I LOVELOVELOVE this kit. This is my 3rd one. The only drawback to the kit is the gear wells, but I think I have the best way to do them figured out now. Still the only part of the kit I detest. So, as I wait for the Eduard PE for the cockpit to get here, I moved right on to the landing gears. As I said, I was given this set to try out, and I will give my honest opinion. You all know I dont mince words. LOL That being said, these things are great! The detail is superb. They fit right into the wheel well with no hassles. I simply hit them with some gloss white, a dirt wash as this is going to be Col Olds's plane as it flew, not as the museum piece. Did a couple of the lines black and poof, thats it. No need to add any parts from the kit (aside from maybe landing lights) as they have every detail already on them. A total winner in my book.
And as to the subject matter. If you dont already know, Col Robin Olds (he eventually made Brigadier General) was one of the best pilots to grace the cockpit of an aircraft. Triple ace between WWII and Nam. Definitely should read up on him. There arent many, if any, left like him. If youre a Phantom phan and a USAF guy, this plane is a must do. 🙂
17 May, 02:05
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Landing gear installed and wings together. Intakes together and done with the latex paint method. Got the PE for the pit finally, so that has commenced as well.
18 May, 20:17
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OK, PE installed for the pit. The lading gears came with wheels as well. And they are just as nice as the gears. Just gotta add a little dirt to em. And the seats from the kit. I could have sworn I had some resin seats in my parts box, but alas, no. I ordered the PE belts to dress up these. They are pretty good aside from no belts. I need to redo the oh shit handles.
20 May, 20:02
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David, I did a sort of tutorial...
Intake painting | Album by smokeriderdon
21 May, 14:10
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Augie, thanks! Maciej, welcome!
OK, its starting to look like a Phantom now.
23 May, 00:54
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Cheers Don, I'm definitely giving that a try. Just got to find some paint 😁👍🏻 which I've just learned from a quick google search is known as "emulsion" here in the UK ! 😁
23 May, 07:51
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Its a mess, but it works pretty well. 🙂
Got the tires on, front landing gear on. These things look fantastic in place. Again, cant recommend them enough. Ill be using his products more often I think. Also, I got one seat done with the PE belts. Man its tedious. Doing just this convinces me I will NEVER do a freaking ship. LOL
29 May, 02:17
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OK, back to this one. Primed and silver sprayed a bit. You can see the blue spots. Thats masking fuid. Once I paint the camo over it, I will scrub the paint and get the chipping effect his plane has in the pic.
Thats the plan anyway. LOL
12 July, 23:18
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2/3 of the initial camo on.
Dog sitting at a friend's house for a couple weeks so had to bring half my bench with me. Getting a bit of work in.
For those that care, 6 dogs. 2 are mine. A cocker and a Pit. Hers are the puts sister, a Pit boxer mix, a mastiff mix and a pit Shar pei mix. Woohoo! LOL
1 August, 01:47
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Well, for better or worse I'm going with heavily weathered active war bird because that's what it was. I'm sure plenty will criticize, but I like the look. A few more little things then decals.
5 August, 22:47
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Working on the decals. Not going to do much by way of stencils. But the couple I did do by the cockpit are driving me nuts. They arent silvered, but I can dull them down. Grrrrrrrr.
19 August, 02:38
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Thank you Augie. 🙂
Welcome Capt. 🙂
So, as discussed, no way am I doing all those stencils. I did the few for emergency egress and a couple warnings, and thats sufficient. I once spoke with an HH-43 pilot who told me half the birds he flew didnt even have the US Air Force on the tail. I am pretty sure the planes being pretty was the last thing on their minds during that war.
Anyway, this is her. Just have to do the little things like bay doors. Then the part I hate the most. Weapons. Blargh. So next trip to the bench will be that. Last update until I finish. 🙂
24 August, 23:05
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