The Mighty M103 Heavy Tank!

I finally got a day where the humidity seemed OK for spraying my GHQ M103 heavy tanks. I used Testor's Olive Drab, which was a little darker than what I wanted, so I highlighted them with Vallejo Olive Green. I tested out a black wash on one of the tanks, but it look too dark. For now I will leave them as is. Three I made into company command tanks.

The battalion

 

Three command tanks:

I designate my command AFVs by at least sticking on an antenna. I will also stick in a commander if I feel ambitious. I have tried different methods of antenna making with varying satisfaction. This time I used a method by the guy who makes GameCraft Miniatures. I think it has worked the best so far, BUT the brush hairs can bend very easily, and don't spring back. 

Commander 1: side view

Commander 1: turret turned

Commander 2

Commander 3

GHQ provided these tanks with a pintle-mounted 50 cal machine gun. This is great, but it made it difficult to sick in a tank commander. The commanders themselves are an example of scale creep. Yes, it even happens at the micro level. Commanders 1 and 3 are from GHQ's American WWII artillery and vehicle crew packs. They are much thinner than commander 2. Even so, I had to cut off and extend the machine gun on commander 1 to allow him to man the gun. Commander 2 is from their more recent 3rd World Regulars infantry pack. He was much beefier compared to the other two and it took more work to fit him in the commander's copula. I should have sniped off his binocular case to accommodate the gun.  As a result, the machine gun is stuck in that weird down position. 

Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!

Now I can now die a happy man! At last, after years of waiting, GHQ has FINALLY put out the US M103 heavy tank.

Of all the microarmor on my wish list, the highest on that list is the M103. Yes, both Heroics & Ros and Scotia have a model of the M103, but I've never been happy with them.

Why? OK, I'll tell you (cue flashback music)....
In my youth, my chums and I spent hours having epic battles involving our HO/OO Airfix miniatures and Roco minitanks. I had six or seven Roco tanks, but my favorites were like the Holy Trinity: the M47 medium tank, the M42 Duster AA, and the M103 heavy tank. They bore the brunt of many battles on the side of the forces of good. Something about the lines of both the M47 and the M103 that I really like. It's like the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. It had a lot of issues as a fighter, but it's a beautiful-looking bird.

Both GHQ and C-in-C has had the M47 out for a while. GHQ came out with the M42 about four years ago. But, no one made the M103 in 1/285 scale. As I said, I have not been really happy with either the Heroics & Ros and the Scotia versions, even though I own them. C-in-C has not put out much in the way of AFVs in a long time, so I had low expectations of them putting one out. GHQ, on the other hand, is constantly pouring out new models. What ticked me off was that they were often things like trailers. I'm sorry, but while trailers are important, they will contribute little to my games.

In my fictional campaign, Southern Chalupastan fields two battalions of the M103. There is even the vaunted Roco Division. It consists of a battalion of M103s, a battalion of M47s and uses the M42 Duster for AA support. When the M103 take the field, the North had better watch out!

Royal Chalupastan Airforce Part 3: Fixed Wing Light Attack Aircraft

Most aircraft in the South's arsenal have multiple roles. As a developing country, their military is always looking for the most back for the cheapest buck. During the 1st Chalupastan War, the South still used aircraft of WWII vintage. During the early stages of the war, F4U Corsairs bravely attacked enemy ground units. Today, still relies on outdated and inexpensive weaponry to perform combat missions against ground targets. For the past 10 years, the South has been engaged in various rebel groups in the Central Highlands Provence, There has been for COIN operations aircraft to support troops as they engage the enemy and to disrupt supply lines coming from Northern Chalupistan (which they deny) and from the Federal Republic of Gambusia. The military is too afraid of using their expensive jet fighters, particularly the AMX ground attack jet. Instead they turn to older or relatively cheaper aircraft.

Cavalier Mustang II
  

Scoia Collectair CAUM 10

After the war the South needed to replace the WWII aircraft. A number of Cavalier Mustang IIs were purchased. They have been highly successful, but by 2000, there was need for a replacement.

FMA IA 58 Pucará

Heroics & Ros ARMA 21

  The Pucara was a replacment for the Mustang. Argentina has been long time ally of Southern Chalupastan and the South got a favorable deal on them. Although they afforded the crew better protection than the Mustang and were ideal for short runways, the "Pukkies" as they are known proved to be a disappointment. Their 20mm cannon did not make up for the fewer hardpoints relative to the Mustangs. Once again, another search began to replace the Pucara.

 EMB 314 Super Tucano

Heroics & Ros UKMA 102

 In 2010, 20 Super Tucanos were delivered to the Southern Airforce. They proved to a big success having superior avionics and weapons capabilities. They are the now the main frontline light attack aircraft. 

A-37 Dragonfly

Shapeways: Prairie Hawk Gamer

At the height of the 1st Chalupastan War, the US rushed a number of weapons to the South to stem the Northern tide. Much of the equipment was left over from the Vietnam War. This included the Cessna A-37 Dragonfly.  Despite its age, the Dragonfly is still in active service. It can carry heavy weapon loads and pilots really enjoy flying them. Along with the Super Tucanoes, they have been used extensively in current COIN operations in the Central Highlands. 






Textron AirLand Scorpion

Shapeways: Prairie Hawk Gamer

On the eve of the current situation with the North, Southern Chalupastan took possession of 14 of these multi-role, light tactical fighters for evaluation and hopefully act as a replacement for the Dragonfly and to supplement the AMX.

Modelling Notes
For some strange reason, COIN aircraft fascinate me. Also, it makes sense that the nations on the mini-continent of Gambusia should have these type of aircraft; more so than some of the jet fighters that I've allowed them to have!

The payloads are from a variety of sources, GHQ, C-in-C, and seemingly out-of-business Skyraider Miniatures (this also includes the props for the Pucara). The air-to-surface rocket pods and payload racks are scratch built using tooth picks and sheet styrene. Many Prairie Hawk Gamer models come with the payloads already on them. Many years ago, Skyraider was the only company I knew of that made the Dragonfly. I do have them somewhere in a box but never bothered to paint them. Skyraider's aircraft lack any kind of of detail.

I am pretty happy with Prairie Hawk Gamer's models. I like his models and he is willing to produce more obscure aircraft. To me, why make another MIG-21 when just about every company that makes airplanes makes a MIG-21, and the detail is generally better? Also, his prices are a lot more reasonable than other 3D designers.   I don't want to complain too much about the prices of these 3D printed models because I have no idea how Shapeways charges to get products to be made, but to me, the prices that some companies charge are outrageous.

The Super Tucano is really a model of the British Short Tucano, but until someone makes a dedicated Super Tucano, this will do. Modern gun pods don't look like the ones I put on the upper Tucano, but it looks at more bad ass with the longer barrels.

Finally, you might notice that all the planes now have roundels on their wings. These are simply made of thin paper that was punched out. I glued them on and then painted them. I used a super fine Sharpy pen to make the eagle in the middle (no, its not a swastika!). I could have used Adobe Illustrator to design them and then printed them on decal paper. I've tried that with making heraldry designs for my 15mm knights. It was just not worth the decal paper, or the time, or the aggravation. Doing them on a inkjet printer gave so-so results. Plus, it turns out that 10 years later, even though I sprayed them with a clear coating, the designs have faded.  So, these don't look all that great, but I am happy with them. Eventually, I plan to make some smaller ones to put on the sides of the aircraft.

M 113 Upgrades

 On the eve of the Second Chalupistan War, Southern Chalupastan wanted to upgrade the firepower of their M 113 APCs so that they were more like an infantry fighting vehicle. They added 20 mm Rheinmetall MK 20 Rh 202 automatic cannon turret; the same as is found on the Marder 1 IVF. Time ran out long before many could be converted, but enough were to be distributed to at least one platoon per company of the 2nd Royal Guard Dragoons and the 2nd Armored Infantry battalion.

 

Additionally, some M 113s had a remote weapon station installed with a 7.62mm MG.

The M 113s and the Marder 20mm turrets were from C in C. C-in-C's M 113 model is nice as it has a gunner manning the 50 cal MG. I can always use them for something else. I am not sure what to do with the Marder bodies. They also come with a rear mounted, remote controlled MG. Unlike GHQ, which pretty much gives you five of everything, C in C varies the number of vehicles per pack. There was one more M 113 than there were Marders. I had a spare remote weapons station from a pack of Heroics & Ros Australian Bushmasters, so I stuck that on the remaining M 113.

Royal Chalupastan Airforce Part 2: Helicopters

The title is a misnomer. Helicopters are not under Southern Chalupastan's airforce, but rather the army. But I thought I'd keep a running theme in the title, so shoot me.

The South witnessed what helicopters could accomplish not only during the Vietnam War, but during the First Chalupastan War. The North's successful invasion of the South included the capturing of key roads and towns with airborne troops. During the big, post-war, military rebulding program, the South received help from the USA to put together several airborne battalions that employed helicopters. They also bought several attack helicopters from South Africa to be used against any further aggression by the North.

Although they have not been tested against the North, the airborne units have been used extensively to battle against various rebel groups. This includes several clandestine operations just over the border in Northern Chalupistan. 

Bell UH-1 Huey

CinC Huey

GHQ Huey

Heroics & Ros Huey

The UH-1 is the work horse of the helicopter fleet. Many are former veterans of the Vietnam War transferred from the USA. They are meticulously maintained. Their primary function is to carry troops into combat situations and evacuate the wounded. From a modelling perspective, the rotor assembly on the C in C models were next to impossible to put together, so I made them out of scratch. 

CH-47 Chinook

GHQ Chinook

In addition to the Hueys, the South operates the Chinook heavy lift helicopter. They, too, are used for dropping off troops, but also for airlifting supplies. The GHQ model was a recent purchase. It was pretty easy to assemble. The widows are pretty small, so I put a dot of light blue paint in the middle of them to make them stand out more. I still need to glue on its magnet and have not decided whether or not to give it a black wash.

Denel Rooivalk

Heroics & Ros Rooivalk

Front view

Fearing another armored invasion by the North, the Army ordered a number of Rooivalk attack helicopters from South Africa. They are armed with a 20mm cannon and anti-tank guided missiles, but can be fitted with rocket pods. They have been used only occasionally to fight the rebels. The Army feels that they are too valuable and fears that will be shot down. This is a pretty nice model. The weapons payload went together better than I expected. Sorry about the bent rotors. I didn't realize how bent up they were until after I took the pictures. In reality, there weren't that many Rooivalks built (according to Wikipedia), but I figured that Chalupastan's order spurred production on.

Royal Chalupistan Airforce Part 1: Fighter Jets

 Prior to the First Chalupistan War, Southern Chalupistan's airforce consisted of a number of WWII and Korean War-era aircraft. The most modern air-superiority fighter was the F-86 Sabre. Their valiant efforts were no match the Soviet-trained, MiG 21 jets of the North. At the peak of the crisis, the USA rushed much needed weaponry to the beleaguered South. This included a number of F-100 Super Sabres. One squadron of them still remains today.

F-5E Tiger II

 In addition to the Super Sabres, the US supplied the South with the F-5E Tiger II. After the war, Southern Chalupistan ordered more F-5E's and well as RF-5E Tigereye reconnaissance planes. Until recently, the F-5E made up the backbone of the South's fighter squadrons. Currently, they are being replaced, but still make up three fighter squadrons.


Kfir C.7

After the "Line of Death" incident in 2007, the South decided to upgrade their front line fighters. Trade agreements with Israel allowed for the purchase of Kfir C.7 fighters. Only 14 have been delivered. Two have already been shot down during the opening hours of the Second Chalupistan War.

AMX

Learning lessons from the First Chalupistan War, the South decided that they needed a dedicated ground-attack aircraft to counter armor and mechanized forces. They were initially going to purchase the A-7 Corsair II, but this fell through. In 2004, a treaty and trade agreement with Brazil brought in a number of various weapon systems, including the AMX ground-attack fighter. The South has a number of light aircraft used in COIN operations against various rebel groups, but role of the AMX is dedicated to air support and interdiction roles against the mechanized armies of Northern Chalupastan.

Fire Support Vehicles

Last week, I attended the annual Society of Vertebrate Paleontology meeting. It was a great time, especially since I didn't present anything. The down side was that my baby boy sent me off with a bad head cold! I'm sure my poor roommate now has it.  So, nothing hobby-wise got done. However, I had some recent pictures that I decided to post.

In addition to taking the pictures seen in the previous post, my daughter and I used her iPad to try some closeup shots of microarmor. I was pretty impressed. I focused on some of the fire support vehicles that Southern Chalupastan has in its arsenal.

M36B1

First up is an old M36B1 tank destroyer. It is armed with a 90mm gun. GHQ has both versions. I decided to get the B1 version with the Sherman hull just because it looks distinct. The M36 was used well past WWII, into even the 90s, so I felt justified in including it as a holdover from the First Chalupastan War.

The next two are also by GHQ. They are the M56 Scorpion and the M50 Ontos. 

M56 Scorpion

The M56 was an open, air-portable, self-propelled anti-tank gun. It served in Vietnam, but was replace with the more effective M551 Sheridan. These, too, are holdovers from the First Chalupastan War.

Ontos

Last but certainly not least, is the M50 Ontos. Its armed with six 106mm recoilless rifles. I seem to have a soft spot for oddball AFVs. Also, it seems like they are on display all over the place. I've seen more than one. They were supposed to be anti-tank weapons, but they were used more for  anti-infantry fire support in Vietnam, where they were well liked. As much as I like them, putting them together was a major pain! Fortunately, GHQ provided a few extra RRs in case you mess up. I didn't need them, but I could see them being needed.

The backstory on both the M50 and M56 is that they were rushed from the U. S. A. to Southern Chalupastan as stopgaps. The South was taking a beating and there was enough holdovers from the Vietnam War to quickly ship over. Both being airportable didn't hurt either.  Not included in their arsenal of FSVs is the M551 and the Ratel 90 FSV,  I'll get around to taking pictures of them sometime.

!st Armored Division: 1st Royal Guard Dragoons

Like the Royal Guard Cuirassiers of the 1st Armored Division, the Royal Guard Dragoons are the best of the best, and get the best of the best as far as weapons go. After many evaluations including all-expense paid trips to various global arms fairs and weapons contractors by the top brass and defense ministers, it came down to the AIFV a.k.a the YPR 765, versus the Italian VCC 80, better known as the Dardo IFV. It was a tough choice, but the Dardo won out for several reasons. First, it has a higher power/weight ratio.  Lots of soft ground on the mini-continent of Gambusia, so that is an advantage. Second, although both have a 25mm gun, the Dardo can be upgraded with two TOW ATGMs mounted on either side of the turret (Dardo HITFIST). The AIFV ATGM is a separate, purpose-built TOW launcher (known as the YPR 765 prat) that lacks the gun turret. It is very similar to the US M901 ITV. Southern brass decided to have have the added firepower of both the 25mm gun and the ATGMs in one vehicle. The Southern Chalupastan Army has only recently embraced ATGMs, so they were reluctant to spend money on a purpose-built ATGM AFV. Third, the Dardo has a purpose-built mortar carrier. The YPR 765 has a version that only tows a mortar. Although Northern Chalupistan is a long-standarding threat to the South, all of the current combat operations to this point have been against rebels in the Central Highlands province. Mortars are used in close support of infantry rather than as long range artillery, so its better that the mortar and its crew be protected, and have the ability to quickly scoot if things got rough.

In miniature terms, only Heroics & Ros makes the Dardo. Several companies make the AIFV. Unfortunately, H&R makes only the the basic model. Here are the Royal Guard Dragoons on parade:

 It was easy to make the HITFIST version. Taking styrene square rods (square rods...is that possible?), I cut out the box-like TOW launchers of the appropriate length, and then glued them to the sides of the turret.

It was hard to get the TOW launchers perfectly lined up, but they don't look too bad from a distance.

The mortar carrier version of the Dardo is more of a problem. First, I have yet to find a good picture of one, let alone any sort of diagram to work from. Second, I am not sure how to even begin grinding away at a metal figure to get a square bathtub to hold the mortar. With my luck, it would look like a mess. I don't even know if its square; it could be round. So, I cheated and got some Argentine VCTP(M) mortar carriers from Scotia-Grendel as stand ins. Other than being tracked, they don't look anything like a Dardo, but they will do.

1st Armored Division: Royal Guard Cuirassiers

Whereas I have been putting up posts of buildings and such for my Gambusian campaign, I have not posted any new pictures of the combatants involved in quite awhile. I am going to try to post more pictures of the various microarmor I have painted up and are awaiting battle. I will post them as units when possible.

First up is Southern Chalupastan's 1st Royal Guard Cuirassiers battalion. There isn't a 2nd Royal Guard Cuirassiers, however, its good to number your battalions. They belong to the 1st Armored division. The 1st Armored Division is Chalupastan’s elite fighting unit. The most modern weapons and equipment are given to this division. Recruits are picked from only the most loyal Chalupastani subjects. As a way to maintain a high espree des corps, some of the battalions formally go by older cavalry regiment names.

The1st Royal Guard Cuirassiers is armed with the Brazilian EE-T2 Osorio tank. A brief history for a tank with a brief history can be found here: Wikipedia. Sadly, no one ever bought it, not even the Brazilian Army. Even though it never went much beyond the prototype stage, it lives on in the arsenals of Southern Chalupastan. The real reason is because Scotia Grendel sells them, and I thought, "these are cool." I bought a bunch without knowing that there isn't a whole lot of stats that can be gleaned out there concerning them particularly relating to their armor. But, they are different, and different is good. The back story is that Southern Chalupastan has always had a good relationship with Brazil, and have purchased a number of arms from them. They needed a MBT upgrade from their M-48s. The Osorio seems to have a good punch with its French GIAT G1 120-mm smoothbore gun and more modern composite armor than the older tanks. When it comes time to use them, I will have to make up their armor stats.

The 1st Royal Guard Cuirassiers lined up for inspection

For all my AFVs, those with radio antennae and/or tank commanders are considered HQ tanks. Here are some close ups of the HQ Osorios:

"Look Bob, there's something on the road! Shoot it!"

"Its quiet out there...too quiet."

Border Crossing Part 1: Border Guard Compound

I have been trying to come up with a border crossing between Southern Chalupastan the Federal Republic of Gambusia. This is an area of heavy rebel activities, and I wanted a border checkpoint that is somewhat fortified. Google was not much help in terms of what such a border crossing would look like, so I decided to wing it.  Here is my work in progress.

At first I wanted a solid wall compound, but I decided to go with a fence. I wanted a chain link fence. I couldn't figure out how to make a convincing one in 1/300 scale so I settled with this:

Some Irregular figures are shown for scale. The fence is made with a plastic mesh used for embroidery or something like that. I glued them to a piece of a left-over paint stirring stick. I sanded down the edges and then cut grooves along the four sides to hold the mesh better.

Within the fence will be the customs office and a watchtower:

The house was a quickie-build out of cardstock. The watchtower is from C in C. Its a nice model complete with a ladder and sandbags, but it was sort of bear putting it together and is not exactly level!   This is how they will look inside the fence:

 Not a lot of room, but I didn't want a large complex.  The nice thing about the fence is that you can see the house a little better than if it was a solid wall.

Shortly after I glued together the fence, the helpful folks over at the Angel Barracks forum for 6mm wargaming pointed out that N-scale, photo-etched chain-linked fences are available....D'oh! Well, FYI if I build another fenced in compound.

In the next installment(s) of this project, I will paint the fence, put in the ground and then work on a smaller, roadside guardhouse with a gate.

"Will you walk into my parlor?" said the Spyder to the Fly

I made and photographed these awhile back (at least two years ago), but the file got lost in my backup hard drive. I realized sometime back that Southern Chalupastan had no air defenses other than the old M42 Duster of Vietnam War fame. Surfing the web, I came upon the Israeli SPYDER mobile air defense system. It launches short- and medium-ranged surface-to-air missiles. There are two parts to the system. There is the missile launcher and the radar-tracking system; both are mounted on trucks. What I've modeled is the short range version. The medium range system has a much larger radar dish. Here's my take on the SPYDER:


Both trucks are Scotia Gendel's South African Samil 20 truck, open top (SA0012). The actual trucks that are used are built by the TATRA truck company, but these looked close enough. I cut away the sides of their beds. I fashioned the launcher out of cardstock. The missile containers are styrene plastic square rods. Sorry, I can't remember the cross sectional dimensions. I glued the launchers onto two very thin pieces of paper. In pictures, the rack that holds the containers is a very thin frame. The body of the radar truck was a slab of polymer clay that I tried to make as squared up as I could. I made this before I really started working with styrene plastic, so my materials and methods were rather crude. The radar antenna is a pin with curved piece of cardstock attached. I was going to use one of those plastic clothing tag ends, like I did on my patrol boat, but they looked much too big. Another antenna sticks off the back. I painted them olive green, the color of the Southern Chalupastan armed forces. In pictures that I've seen, the containers holding the missiles are a darker green. Painting them that color offsets them from the rest of the truck.

Not the prettiest conversions, but at 1/300, they will do fine. Hey, I don't think GHQ is going to be calling me up anytime soon to offer me a job!

Columbian Meat Chopper

In the 1990's, the Columbian army converted some US M20 scout cars into AA/fire support vehicles by putting the Maxson M45 quadmount. This is an electrically-powered turret that had four 50-cal heavy machine guns on it and seen on the US M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage halftrack. I decided to make my own:



I used C in C M8 Greyhound armored car (US-30) and M16 halftrack (US-38). The quadmount from the halftrack fit perfectly into the hole for the M8's turret. I glued the quadmounts in with superglue. A very simple conversion.

A COIN For Your Thoughts

Scotia Grendel (http://www.scotiagrendel.com) makes several interesting minis of weapons systems that never got beyond prototype stage. For example, they have a 1/300 model of the Brazilian Osorio MBT (BZ3). A tank for export that no one bought. It doesn't even seem like the Brazilian Army used it. Another example is the Cavalier Mustang III from their Collectair line (CAUM10). It was to be sold to nations for COIN operations, but went nowhere. Here is one I painted up for Southern Chalupastan:



I added the spinning propeller by cutting out a piece of clear plastic. The rocket pods were made by cutting down a toothpick and rounding off the tip. I then painted on where the rocket tubes exited. There was no way I could carve them out.