The US perspective

Village sweep!

Hi,
I am happy to report that under the most difficult of circumstances my 20mm US plastic men succesfully sept a miniature shanty village with no casualties...great learning curve. Actually I played this solo and the bad guys failed to appear, maybe they knew we were coming? Still it was good to manouvre the little guys tactically-made me nervous!

Insurgents, US Army and an upcoming game.

Hi Chaps,
I was tidying my painting area and finding a new home for my 20mm figures so I took a few snapshots, the quality is poor but I will be having my first game later this week with my son who is on half term holiday. Another slum area is almost completeso my 4ftX4ft board will be fairly full, I am working on a map tonight, the game will be more like a police action sweeping an area to uncover weapons and discomfort any wrongdoers.

Plans for a police station have been completed...work not yet started!

Drunken 28mm Mexicans!

I painted these fellows a while ago-in fact they are my eldest sons who bought them at a show in York about 10 years ago. they are Dixon minis and still hold their own despite their age. I will be buying some transport for my 20mm plastics....you have to be careful with 1/72nd scale as they are good looking, cheap and fast to paint.

Shanty part 3.

As promised the shanty now in black and ready for the various tester pots to be splashed onto it, this type of scenery is incredibly quick to produce but more importantly incredibly cheap! I may order a couple of vehicles from Britannia miniatures, Humvees or M113s to transport the couple of companies of US infantry that I have painted up and are ready and waiting for their first outing.

I hope that the irregular shaped bases will create a haphazard effect that will be different in every game, more regular buildings will go on rectangular bases.
I watched District 9 for the second time last night, I could watch it again but this evenings entertainment will be BlackHawk Down...watched on my PC so that I can pause it and then sketch the buildings. Any 20mm suggestions for the figures?

Scratch build part deux!

These buildings have been thrown together with whatever I had to hand just like the real thing...and just like the real thing they look like an uncomfortable eyesore! These took about 30 minutes to glue together, I have added sand and will post another pic when they have been sprayed black. I suppose just a couple more bases like this one and my shanty town will be complete.

A busy week! 20mm...

Its been a busy week running the girlriend around but today (Sunday) things have finally calmed down enough to start scratch building some more hovels. Tonights film is District 9 which should give me some inspiration...thought I'd put up a pic of my basic materials which cost...well pennies.

Hope to put some work in progress pics on here as things move along...for modern wargaming 20mm is the perfect scale! There is also a whole load of fighters that are on the workbench and completed just awaiting their mug shots.

Shanty is now occupied!

Hi Chaps,
painted up half a dozen figures last night, these were a joy to paint and took very little time to do. I suppose next on the list are some civilians or a rioting mob, any suggestions? Work will commence today on a second shanty...this is all rather addictive! Maybe a police station or secure compound should also be on the list?

Ceasar and Orion order arrives!

My order from flag and drum arrived today, Ceasar militia, look like Africans and Palestinian...and they are superb quality! The plastic is rock hard and doesnt need a coat of PVA oh happy days. The casting is superb and I will definatley be using this company again. The Orion figures are not quite as good and the plastic was a bit greasy....the sculpting is'nt as good but they will pass muster.
I also worked on a couple of barriers which are on their own base...inspired by those Egyptian chaps who are rioting at the moment....will post pictures of the painted figures tomorrow.

Shanty almost complete

Hi,
thought I'd post a pic of the shanty I've been working on. The tyres need painting black and I may put some barbed wire here and there. Its been fun and surprisingly easy to construct, its been painted with tester pots from the local DIY and the base was textured with sand from the local beach. Even the base was the bottom of an old drawer...found in a skip! terrain doesnt come much cheaper than this.

I almost forgot...I have a pile of spare tyres acquired from scrap toys bought at car boot sales...I knew I was'nt mad and that they would be used one day...now I just have to source a 1/72nd scale car wreck, does anyone do this in resin?

20mm Scratch build of a slum part 1

The 20mm bug has truly bitten, I only discovered that this scale is worthy of investing in a few days ago-what a revelation! Character figures are no longer the sole preserve of 28mm as I discovered Orion miniatures with its Mullahs and child soldiers...
So as befits a new project (I did'nt even realise it was a project till I wrote that) I decided to scratch build a bit of a shanty town with plans for a police station on the way (ok being drawn up on scap paper tonight). My first platoon of US infantry are now complete, I never realised, or I forgot just how affordable this scale is...I must go before my son finishes school as I am about to raid his toy box for a scrap car for the shanty...