Finished Figures!

So, I've finally worked around to posting up my latest stuff on the blog... which is less good as most of you will have probably seen it on various forums (fora?) a week or so ago....  If that's the case, hopefully some of the stuff I mention will be of interest...!

CMB mujahadeen fighters. There won't be any more of these fellows until my Birthday (mid september). That said, this cell is pretty well armed, and will probably feature in a couple of trial/taster games. Future additions will hopefully build on the irregualr look, including more scavenged CDF & Russian army uniforms, as well as civillian gear...  

The 1/43rd cars work nicely with the 1/48th figures, and were pretty cheap too :) The only issue being that the older style/former-USSR cars I really want for the setting seem to be at a collectors premium. I think it'll just be a case of keeping eyes open and getting them cheaply when I can... Both these vehciles had fairly minimal weathering - the Mercades as it's likely to be a warlord's ride (and thus, have a drivver to keep it moderately well polished and clean) and ambulances tend to be washed on a regaulrish basis for hygines sake. I'm also toying with putting black thread along the telegraph lines to make wires, but may only do this on a game-by-game basis... The next thing to do wil be to  work out spacing distances between poles...

Now the base is finished, it's almost impossible to tell the RAFM figure is a different scale, and I've got hopes about trying to do something similar for a couple of the other figures from the range, just to add some diversity. I was tempted to sculpt her a scarf style face mask, but decided to pass for now. There are a couple more NaPa Guerillas in the priming pile...

The last of these guys for a while as well, although there is still one more figure form the pack (casual pose, AK/GL combo) I'm currently using him to size up scenery/vehicles/etc. Eventually he'll be aadded to the selection after suitbale conversion though... I'm hoping to use these chaps as local guides for the russians, once I get them finished, atleast until there are enough of them to make aa stand  alone force.

I am still tempted to try running the chernarus project inboth scales... so maybe I won't get rid ofthese guys just yet....

And on  the 'completely different' stakes, a white dragon to go with my HoTT saxons. Possibly the most boring 'big figure' base in existance, but my interest in the project is waning slightly, and I felt it was more important to get the figure done rather than trying to beautify the base further. I can always revisit it. The rune stone is just a general bit of scenery, and is libale to turn up in BritApoc games as well as proper dark agee stuff and may even make a one off apperance in Chernarus, marking the progress of a band of Rus traders. Speaking of which, the new GB Jomsvikings look ace, especially with all the Rus kit they've evidently managed to pick up during their wanderings. Given the number of new releases for Saga and it's increasing popularity, I am wondering if basing my stuff for HoTT was such a good idea afterall. Certainly the unit bases look nicer on display in the cabinet... which given the ammoutn of actual gaming I do these days is probably the more mportant thing!

Compatability with 1/48...

I had long wondered what to do with the early 90's 'Desert Storm' US infantry I had from the HLBS range. Some of the later releases covered the new equipment the US is using in the middle east, and seemed much more inkeeping with the Ultra-Modern setting I've been aiming for (and with the visuals of Arma II which I'm using as a vague guide). Then it hit me - lots of western looking eastern european countries (Poland, Georgia, and I think Estonia) have adopted the kevlar 'Fritz helmet' along with our items of US uniform, but they've retained their eastern blok weaponry... so now all I needed to do was get some AKs and RPKs/PKMs and do a few weapons swops and suddenly not only do the figures become usable, they become eminantly suitable for use as CDF infantry. The best source to by 28mm weapons in any sort of bulk is TAG, and they offer two different styles - their early, quite chunky AK47's, and the later, more accurately to scale sculpts of AK74's...

Here's a comparison showing a TAG AK74 top, a HLBS AK74 in the middle (the magazine is slightly miscast) and a converted TAG AK47 on the bottom. Neither is a perfect match - the AK74 looks a little too dainty perhaps, especially considering the size of the flash hider on the HLBS model... The GL on the AK47 was snipped of a TAG AK74...

AK47 laid ontop of a HLBS AK74/GL combo - looks OK

... as does the AK74 in this context.

So next, how about in position on the figures themselves?

Ak74

AK47 - looks a bit chunky in the photo, but it looked better in real life. It also has the advantage of being a bit more robust, so I'm not going to need to worry so much about bending barrels.

In terms of support weapons, TAG do RPKs, RPDs & PKMs. Given that the RPK is a glorified AK rifle, and that the RPK sculpt used the same body as the AK47, it makes sense to use these for the conversions from the SAW gunners. These also look a bit on the big side, but the RPD is too old (and comparing weapons with a TAG african militia man, a bit small). The PKM may well have been fine, but I decided to play it safe and go with the RPK. The overall dimensions match fairly well with the RPK from the VDV winter gear set, although the HLBS weapons have a slightly longer body/shorter barrel.

The conversions have all been done, and await priming. 3 fire teams of CDF here we come!

(As a side point, the CDF has been left using a locally manufactured, updated varient of the AKM & RPK, following issues with the reliability of their exisitng stock of AK-74s during the Chernarus civbil war of the mid 2000's. This version of the rifle has been designated the ChM2) 

Desk clearing.....

It's amazing how productive I can be if I pull my finger out, crack down and actually get part painted figures finished! These guys are the product of 2hrs Saturday morning. They were all 'almost done', and had been hanging around for ages. No longer! (I need the space for some of the 1/48ths I'm working on...)

A selection of 'organised' Mercenaries for any 'not-congo' games - The sikh is inspired by a character from Farcry 2 (no idea if any Indians etc were with the mercenaries in the congo - I've never read anything to indicate it one way or the other) and is an Artizan figure, the radioman is a Warlord chindit with this SMLE swapped for a TAG SLR, the ex-marine .30cal gunner is a headswap from a Warlord Pacific Us Marine and the ex-para is a Mongrel/Badger congo merc...

Foundry Old West figures - 2 'eastern' indians, a Scotch mountain man & his squaw and a chap who looks a bit odd without the pack mule he's supposed to be leading....

WiP

And a few WiP photos....

The paint station - looking about as untidy as ever. I really must crack on with finishing some of those early west figures to clear some space. There are a few which really don't need much (3 mtd/dismtd indians needing warpaint and 6 or so infantry just needing a couple of finishing touches)

ChDKZ militia sniper - another VDV conversion. This guy is close to being finished - just need to do the dark brown for the urban reed camo on his trousers.

CMB sniper - no camo on this guy, so he shouldn't take long to finish...

MVD sniper - the trousers need some black adding, then the jacket will be in the standard Flora scheme...

CMB Militants - The alpenflage jacket & tousers both need black, and the figure on the left will be getting Flora scheme trousers... sometime....  His neck-scarf is supposeldy chequered (tea-towel style), although it doesn't look like it from this angle (looking more like a football scarf).... 

Finished figures - ChDKZ, NaPa & Telegraph poles

So, here's the latest output from my painting desk - all awaiting basing, but hopefully I can get that done over the weekend. Still not sure what sort of basing to do (currently thinking sorto f a sandy dusty colour, with green static grass patches, as opposed to my usual wilted grass. Also toying with adding dust etc to some of the figures to weather them in a bit and make them look a bit more realistic)

NaPa Guerilla Gunman

Origianlly a German kampschwimmer, thei figure is only a paint conversion. The balaclava seemed perfect for my first NaPa figure... I did the jacket as a non-descript parka. the sort of thing you could get from most army surplus stores, or possibly more military inspired clothing lines. The jeans are de-rigur for budding militamen (or so it seems from looking at pictures off the internet from as far apart as Libiya nad Chechnya). Non descript webbing, in aneutral grren is as sourceless as the parka. not sure what the strapping on the legs was supposed to be, but I've painted them up as rubber bands, used to stop the jeans flapping around whilst stalking about... No distinguishing markings on this guy. I'm hoping a lack of markings might become NaPa's trademark in itself...

ChDKZ Rebels



A conversion of a cold weather VDV figure, this figure has lost his beret & grenade pouch, but gained a caucasian muslim beard/shaved head combo. I was toying giving him a skull cap, but decided that would make him too specifically muslim, where as for now he can happily slog along with the other chedaki. He's got a Chicom style chest rig over his tactical vest, so I can only imagine he's expecting to lay down a lot of fire power with that RPK74. The shoulder patches are irregular sizes, but I've tried to paint them on other what look to be exisiting patches/etc. Not entirely happy with how they came out... but not so unhappy that I'm going to repaint them. I am aware that I'm tying these guys down with shoulder patches, but after my lesson with Africans (and hundreds of genera-militia) I'd rather limit my options slightly than loose track of who is fighting who :) )

The Chedaki section leader - another VDV conversion, this guy looks to be later production casting (seperate AK, holster on right hip which I carved off before discovering his duplicates didn't have one) . his beret has been replaced with a beanie (even more popular than jeans amongst european milita/irregualrs) and he's lost his bayonet scabard & holster to make him look a little less well armed/equipped. A similar logic was applied to giving him trainers.
Telegraph Poles

I'vegot 10 of these - scaled to fit 1/48ths, but they don't look too bad against 28's either... I was tempted to give them a dry brush to bring out some of the wood grain, but I think I'll elave them like this for now.



Some Uniforms, Flags and vehicle markings of Chernarus

Although I gave folks a couple of links to background fluff/visuals for the Cernarus setting, I thought I'd collate a bit more info/original insperation for the Fictional Forces:

Chernarussian Movement of the Red Star (ChDKZ - prounounced "Chedaki")
Emblem:

Flag:

Assorted uniforms:

The ChDKZ  unsuprisingly has no set uniform, although they do have relatively good supplies of ex-soviet camoflague patterns and have recently suceeded in obtaining quantities of the russian 'Urban Reed'  pattern. Additionally, the occasional Ex-NATO pattern turns, usually bought from army surplus suppliers. Webbing is a similarly adhoc affair. Most fighters wear red patches on their upper shoulders to differentiate themselves from irregular fighters from NaPa and the CMB. 

Vehicles Types & Camo: As a general comment, vehicles are often ex-CDF (although some vehiclesh ave been bought of the blck market, these are often old and generally in short supply), with additional 'spray-can' camo and redm arkings to destinguish their new ownership. A black circle with containing a red star, the ChDKZ 'emblem' and red stars with out surroundings are comonly used, as is a red cross over the turret. The use of improvised vehicles by the ChDKZ has also been reported, and a full report will be compiled at some stage

Chernarus Defence Force (CDF)
Emblem:

Flag of Chernarus:

New Style CDF uniform:

The uniform was introduced to replace the older soviet-era fatigues which Chernarus had been using post independance, and which for many are strongly associated with the Civil war. Currently based on the Swiss alpenflage, the camo does works well enough in Chernarus' varied terrain, however plans are afoot to introduce an alternative scheme, based primarily on browns, but this is still at the design/acceptance stage.

Vehicles Types & Camo:

Nationalist Party of Chernarus (NaPa):,/b.
Embelem:

Flag:

Assorted uniforms:

NaPa have limited supply chains, and whilst the ChDKZ can atleast put the vast majority of it's fighters into the field in some sort of camo gear, NaPa lag behind. Fighters wear what ever they can get hold of - often army surplus from neighbouring countries - and make up the rest with civillian gear. The main identifying features of NaPa guerillas is their prefernce for face coverings to preserve anonimity when they return to their day jobs. The same limited supply lines apply to NaPa's armamaents, and as such a much wider mix of small arms is seen compared to some of the other Milita groups operating in South Zagoria.

Vehicles Types & Camo:

The T-34 shown in the picture was 'liberated' from a museum, but NaPa are known to have several which they have reconditioned from various monuments. NaPa's infrastructral limitations have enforced a more covert level of work, and their limited AFV resources match this.

Chernarussian Muslim Brotherhood (CMB):