From the Shed: More modern bits for Zona Alfa (mostly).

I’ve been working on my moderns again, what started as getting a few bits for Zona Alfa has ended up being a project in its own right- I’m still looking at doing some urban SWAT type games. All the figures are from Spectre: either metal minis or 3d prints- see if you can tell which is which….

First up the British Special Reconassiance Regiment- part of UK special forces. Four covert operators plusa pair to provide some longer range fire support.

Then we have 2 lots of Russian equipped PMCs.

Some Western equipped PMCs

As well as a CIA Special Activities Centre operative, a leader figure with a map and a WW2 Anti tank rifle gunner- the latter weapons seem to be still turning up in wars despite their age. The barrel wasa little bent when I got it and considering its fragility I tried to stabalise it, somewhat successfully with a spare rucksack.

Finally some scatter terrain. The shed is from Warbases and the rest from Reaper Bones.

Cheers,

Pete.

From the Shed: Cold War Russian AFVs.

My friend Simon recently got a new 3d printeer- one of the resin ones. He was playing around with it and did a few 1/76th Russian AFVs that he ultimately didn’t want so he passed them on to me.

The standard of resin printing is fantastic now: the detail is very crisp. I believe all of the files came from M. Bergman on thingiverse.

The BRDM 1 armoured cars, based on the BTR40 but fully enclosed. Mostly unarmed but could have a pintle- mounted machine gun.

The MTLB – a 60s design, mostly used as an atrillery tractor but also issued as an APC in arctic areas. Many are still in service. Many variants are based on this chassis, engineering to atgm carrier…

The BTR70 – a wheeled APC that was an improvement over the BTR60s. Not many made and mostly replaced now by the BTR80.

All vehicles were painted in acrylics, Vallejo Russian Green, and then weathered with various techniques before an all over oil paint wash to get that grimey look.

Cheers,

Pete.

From the Shed: Chipping away at my Winter War project.

I’ve done a few more bits for my Winter War game project which I thought I’d share.

First up a Finnish 20mm zAnti Tank Rifle. A big powerful gun- there was only a single example in use during the Winter War.

Some prone Soviets, armed with a mix of rifles and light machine guns.

A Soviet sniper pair.

Finally a couple of Maxim medium machine gun teams (although technically speaking they wear the later M1940 helmet- I didn’t have any of the early ones spare to do head swaps on them.).

Cheers,

Pete.

From the Shed: 28mm Modern Russians for Zona Alfa.

I’ve just finished off some more 28mm modern figures to use in my Zona Alfa games. They are from Spectrehttps://www.spectreminiatures.com/ miniatures or from an ebay seller.

I’ve painted some of them in the Partisan camo pattern to match some earlier figures that I’ve done so them look like a cohesive military team on the table top. The figure with the grenade launcher is a white metal casting, the rest are 3d prints.

The non camo figures in Black will be used as urban terrorists, whilst the figure in the EOD suit with a belt fed PKM is a great representation of the PC game trope.

Now to get them in a game…

Cheers,

Pete.

From the Shed: Cross of Iron figures

One of my favourite war films is the 1970s classic, if rather violent and cynical, Cross of Iron. Directed by Sam Peckinpah and based on an earlier novel it features the escapades of the vertran Stiener and his platoon. Worth watching if you haven’t seen it.

Figures Armour and Artillery offer a pack of five figures in 20mm size based on characters from the platoon and I’m pleased I’m finally able to add them to my collection.

Just need to write up some skirmish scenarios for them now. Films have often inspired my skirmish games, as I’m sure it has for many of you. What has been the favourite you’ve done?

Cheers,

Pete.

From the Shed: Great War era King’s African Rifles.

My good friend Bill, boss of Under Fire Miniatures, asked me to do some painting for him, specificially his latest release. I tried my best at them, blending and everything. I’m quite pleased at how they turned out so I’m going to show them off here before the pictures get uploaded to the Under Fire Website.

These KAR men are ideal for any Great War games set in East Africa– the campaign there is rather interesting. A small German force moved around the area for four years evading all British attempts to catch then and eneded the war unbeaten. Well worth looking up. The figures are multipart so you get a choice of weapons and I believe they’ll be sold with different heads so you can make up figures representing the different Imperial regiments from that era.

I used Vallejo paints for these- Khaki for the uniform and Canvas for the webbing, Pale Sand was added to highlight the previous steps. A wash of Army Painter strong tome helped too. Many thanks to Bill for letting me use his pictures too.

Cheers,

Pete.

From the Shed: Some more Winter War Finns.

As my last post intimated my uni work has been taken priority so hobby time has been limited. Plus both Nicola and I have been unwell (both are on the mend now though). Still I’vve managed to get a few bits done.

I’ve got some more Winter War Finns painted. I’ve made a list of everything I need from the scenario book I’m working to and I’m trying to get it all done before I start gaming. They are a mix of Euerka metal figures and Strelets plastics from the infantry and heavy weapons set. The wheeled gun is a Madsen 20mm cannon that was used in very limited numbers.

I also got some cheap Christmas decoration trees smarted up to add to the winter scenery collection.

Given the history of the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union various commentators have drawn comparison between that war and the ongoing situation in the Ukraine. Whilst I can see some similarities I think that the analogy is stretched a bit too much. Besides, there are already enough wars to study we don’t need any more, I hope that there is peace in Ukraine soon.

Right, it is getting late- time for whisky and a DVD….

Cheers,

Pete.

From the Shed: Modern and near Future Russians.

As I’m sure that you have noticed I’ve been really getting into the Zona Alfa game recently and I had the idea of getting some of the Empress Miniatures modern Russians with gas mask heads to add to me collection. However, I wanted to practice the camo they’d be in first so I dug out these modern Russians from Elhiem to try.

The new digital flora pattern (as seen onthe little green men of Crimean infamy) took a lot of layers to get that mottled effect but was fairly quick to do in the end. Whilst I was at it I decided to paint up the Near Future Russians I had laying around in the same scheme. These are the companion/ opposition figures to the near future US figures I painted some time back.

I also , as they were lurking in the same box, got these modern Russian special forces figures finished off. Clad in a copy of multicam they are based on the operatives that have been present in Syria and again finish off stuff I have painted earlier. They add a selection of LMGs, sniper rifles and RPGs.

Elhiem has expanded the ranges of both the near future Russian anmd US forces- extra support weapons, snipers and leadera to expand upon the original assault rifles and LMGs I’ll be interested to get them as these new figures are digital sculpted, printed in resin then cast in metal as opposed to the original figures being sculpted in the traditional manner in putty. Comparing the two styles will be a pointer to the future of the industry as 3d design processes will become more and more common.

I have thought about getting a full platoon of the modern Russians in the digital flora camo but the current tension in the Ukraine makes this less appealing somehow (here is hoping it doesn’t develop into a major shooting match). I’ll have to think on….

Cheers,

Pete.

From the Shed: Some 40k odds and sods.

As I had the lightbox set up I thought I’d take a few pictures…

First up is some of the old 90s Necxromunda Orlock figures.

I also painted up a box of the objectives that came out around the launch of 9th ed.

I do like bits like this as they can act as inspirastion for a scenario… tempted to make an Imperial archeological dig for them like when the Necrons were first introduced to 40k, also back in the 90s.

Cheers,

Pete.

From the Shed: Even more Stalkers for Zona Alfa.

I wanted to paint up some Stalkers in a specific camo pattern, namely the Russian ‘Partizan’ scheme… that was all the excuse I needed to get a set from Pig Iron Productions that I had been coverting.

Here they are again in threes. I went for a sniper rifle a light machine gun and three AK style assault rifle, the dog is so I can try out some of the optional rules I got from facebook.

I also had a few more Cold War figures from Under Fire Miniatures that I converted- again using Pig Iron parts.

You may have noticed that I didn’t take these pictures outside on my backdoor step… I got a light box for xmas and this has made taking the photos much easier, especially in these wetter and darker months. I did print out a stone texture picture from google to use as a backdrop which I think works quite well.

Cheers,

Pete.