28mm Modern US Navy SEALs

This is the second group of SEALs that I have sculpted for Eureka Miniatures, this time equipped with GPNVG-18 night-vision goggles and suppressed HK416 Assault Rifles.

I thought that the four prominent tubes were a great opportunity to try painting some gem-style lenses. There are four figures, and this time the heads are separate to facilitate the casting of the NVG's. One figure carries a compact breaching kit with telescoping tools.

  I've also designed the figures so that they can be grouped closely together to form a 'stack', which is something that I've wanted to do with a group of figures since I starting sculpting moderns. The stack formation is used in urban warfare when entering or breaching a room in order to get as many shooters into a room in as short a time as possible.

I've based them as a stack here just for something different, though of course each figure works just as well on its own.

Thanks for looking.

Somali Militia 2: The New Batch

This is the second group of 28mm Somali gunmen, now with distinctive and somewhat menacing scarves to cover faces, plus some longer pants and extra kit here and there to impart a more military look.

These will be available from Eureka Miniatures.

The leader figure gets a Chi-com chest-rig, while the RPG gunners have some fancy backpacks now.

You can mix 'em with the unmasked militants to create some variety, or use them as some sort of full-time insurgent group. I usually don't do straight up head-swaps but have made an exception with the Somalis since I really wanted them finished and off the workbench as soon as possible. 

I'm looking forward to painting these so expect to see some painted examples soon.

28mm Somali Militia

The first group of Somalis are finished, and in fact already dropped off at Eureka Miniatures so that Nic can work his magic and make the mould.... hooray! The Somalis have been on my workbench for a few months, first building the dollies (which are basic figures, just a torso, legs and head) then creating what you see in these photographs. I intend adding a second set which will be basically the same except that they will have scarves covering their faces.

The wild bunch.

I'm really happy with the of poses in this set, ranging from the eccentric to the more competent.

Three figures are missing from these photos, the set has eleven in total. 

Sunflowers diorama

I made this BT-5 and sunflowers diorama many years ago. The 1/35 BT-5 is the old Zvezda model, while the German soldier is a Hornet product. The sunflowers were scratchbuilt using paper and wire and the remains of the two crewmen were also built from scratch; they were some of the first figures that I ever sculpted. 

The inspiration for this diorama was a photo in one of the old Time-Life World War Two books of a Soviet tank standing in a field of newly grown sunflowers. The sunflowers very much suggest the Russian steppe to me, while the presence of the unfortunate crewmen, while shocking, is meant as a counterpoint to the living sunflowers.

I hope you guys like it!

Ape Soldiers, Mechanised

This is what happens when a man with a Planet of the Apes obsession has too many model kits stashed everywhere.

Work in progress shot of Italeri's 1/35 scale Zundapp motorcycle and side-car, with Gorilla crew.

Tamiya's German assault troops, but hairier. This is a test paint-job pending re-painting.

Process of de-evolution. This WIP photo shows the distinctive ape tunics complete, while the heads are at different stages. The sculpting medium is a mixture of Milliput (standard yellow-grey) and Green Stuff.

The combo is nearly ready for paint. The ape on the right somehow looks a little too friendly, but I'm hoping some paint will sort that out. 

This fun project is strictly for my own amusement.  I will add more photos as the ape battle-group grows. 

Bye for now!