S&S Models 122-mm howitzer D-30

Recently I completed a trio of D-30s from S&S models. D-30s are a very useful artillery piece for gaming the modern era and the S&S model is a nice representation of the weapon system.

In CD terms each one of these models represents a battery of guns, so with the addition of  vehicles and personnel stands to represent transport and supply vehicles, gun crew, forward observers, and command elements, I can table an artillery battalion.

In CD terms this could look like the following (based on the organisation in GDW's Combined Arms and several real world ORBATs):

Artillery Battalion

    Headquarters:

        1 Command stand

        1 Forward Observer stand

        2 UAZ 467 (or similar light vehicles)

    Supply Company:

        2 Heavy Ammo trucks with trailers

    3 Batteries each with:

        1 D-30 122mm Howitzer

        1 Gun crew stand

        1 Medium Truck

 

Note that the above organisation could easily be downgraded by the removal of the Forward Observer, or upgraded by adding in additional elements that increase the capability of the unit.   

In order to maximise the utility of these guns I plan to create a number of vehicles and personnel stands representing a range of different forces. This would let me field the D-30s as part of Soviet, WarPac, USSR successor state, Middle Eastern, and Imagi-nation artillery units.

By doing this I should be able to provide artillery support to a wider range of forces without having to make a large number of  model D-30s.

Some ZSU-57-2 SPAAG For You

 A couple of years ago I ordered some ZSU-57-2s  from S&S Models (product located here), with the intention of painting them up in a way that would let me us them as a support element for a range of forces. 

Note that there are only four road wheels, as opposed to the T-54's five.

Recently, as part of an effort to finish off a number of projects that have been left half done on my work bench, I decided that they would be the next models to complete. 

I gave the crew a mix of brown and black headgear.

The resin turrets, hulls, and track sides cleaned up nicely and the white metal components were nice casts with a minimum of flash to clean.

Despite having been replaced in Soviet service by the ZSU-23-4 Shilka in the early 1970s, the ZSU-7-2 soldiered on in other armies. The Wikipedia page here has information on both previous and current operators.

Of course, in addition to the obvious Anti Air role, the ZSU-57-2 is capable of engaging ground targets. I suspect that will be their major employment on the tabletop as the twin 57mm guns look to be useful against targets such as soft vehicles, and troops occupying buildings. This fire support role was their main use during the wars in Yugoslavia (click here for the history of the ZSU-57-2 in Yugoslavia).

The business end of a pair of ZSU-57-2s.

 

Now that these have been completed, I will need to find another project to finish so that I can continue procrastinating about painting figures for Volley and Bayonet.

Skytrex Warsaw Pact Troops

 Some time ago I purchased a large number of Skytrex Firefight 20 figures from the UK. While long out of production these figures still have a great deal of character and their sculpting style lends itself well to my style of painting.

Armed with a mix of AK-47s, SVD-63s, and RPKs

The purchase was made up of from a variety of their modern ranges, including:

• Dogs of War
• Vietnam War (both North Vietnamese and US Forces)
• Cold War East Germans
• Cold War Soviets

I like the look of these larger stands with prone figures.

Unfortunately there wasn't quite enough of the East Germans or the Soviets to make a reasonable stand alone force. So I decided to combine the figures into one force and paint them all in my usual Soviet paint scheme.

Crew served support weapons.

One of the nice things about this selection of figures is the number of support weapons that is present. I was particularly pleased to discover two packs of  AT-3 Sagger ATGMs

Close up of the Sagger stands.

When these figures were produced information on Soviet and Warsaw Pact produced weapon systems was hard to get and was often based on blurry photographs and speculation.As a result the detaails and scaling of some of the weapon systems are a little off.

AGS-17 stands.

The biggest error is in the size of the AGS-17 Automatic Grenade Launcher (AGS). It is rather larger than it should be. I did debate replacing them with a more accurate version, but I decided against it as it would have involved a great deal of effort removing the weapon from the gunner (it is a one piece casting) for ultimately marginal benefit.

82mm Mortar stands.

The mortars are most likely meant to represent the model 82-PM-41 82mm mortar a WW2 era system that soldiered on in the Cold War. While the 2B14 Podnos 82mm mortar had entered service during the 1980s, the bipod for that weapon attaches further down a much longer barrel, so it is very unlikely to be intended to represent that weapon system. 

Other support weapons include a couple of RPG-7s and a pair of SA-7 Grail MANPADS.  The SA-7s are rather chunky and held at an angle suggestive of being an anti tank weapon rather than an anti aircraft weapon.

Also included in the selection were two figures that could be used in Command Decision as command stands, and three figures that could be used as radio stands or as FO/FAC stands.

 

Overall I am very happy with how these figures have turned out. I can only hope the rest of the figures turn out as well.

Soviet Anti-Tank Rifles

 I am currently attempting to finish a number of unfinished projects that are overdue for completion. This weekends effort was finishing off some WW2 Soviet Anti Tank Rifles (ATRs) of which some had been lurking around uncompleted since at least 1999 - if not even earlier!

I have started using larger bases than the standard Command Decision base for some prone figures and support weapons - particularly where the figures the protection a larger base can provide. 

Esci Russians converted using resin Leva Productions parts

The first two stands  use figures from the Esci Russian Soldiers set (PSR review here). Two prone LMG gunners had their DP-27 LMGs removed and respectively replaced with  PTRS-41 and PTRD-41 ATRs from the Leva Productions WW2 Russian Pioneer Equipment set  that also contains dogs with anti tank mines, demolition charges, flame throwers, and various other combat engineer stores. (Henk of Holland has details on Leva Productions and other Leva sets)

Spot the Clone 

One of the figures on the right hand stand is a scaled down clone of an Airfix 1/32 scale Russian. I have a number of these Hong Kong produced figures spread throughout my Soviet forces.

More ATR stands

Since I was already doing some ART stands I figured I could paint up some metal figures of unknown manufacture that I acquired in the early 2000s but had done nothing with. I had enough to make four ATR stands - each equipped with a PTRS-41. 

ATR stands or AMR stands 

I hope to be able to integrate these stands into both WW2 Soviet and postwar Soviet/Russian equipped forces as either ATR stands or as Anti-Materiel Rifle (AMR) stands. Post WW2 both the PTRS-41 and PTRD-41 ATRs have seen service, with the most recent use being in the current conflict in the Ukraine as an AMR (click here for more information). Given that, it would also seem very likely that they would be used in that way by various forces in Twilight 2000.

OPFOR Update

Since I figured I was due for another blog update, and I haven't quite sorted out what I was intending to post - I thought that a simple update post showing a couple of recently completed items that are linked by a common theme would be an appropriate filler post.

3d Printed BRDM-2 Us

 First up are two 3d printed BRDM-2Us that I purchased from a seller on Ebay that offers some more unusual vehicle types for sale. While the printing is not of the finest quality, it does produce once painted a reasonable result.

The model itself doesn't the usual upper hull details and additional hatches that are associated with the BRDM-2U, but it will do for now.

Shellhole Scenics Russian Female Radio Operator

 I had purchased some figures from Shellhole Scenics some time ago and decided to start painting a few of them up at the same time I was painting up some other Soviet and Russian figures. This is the radio operator from one of their command packs that also includes a boy runner, a nurse, and a regional commander.

A pair of S and S Models ZPU 23/2 AA guns

One of these guns I had painted up a year or more ago, while the other was only complete in the last couple of months. Currently they don't seem to be on the S and S models website, but I'm sure that an email tro them would quickly determine if they will be available in the future.

Of Magnets and Mine Rollers

Recently I have found that while I have been able to spend quite a bit of time making and painting models, I haven't been putting much of anything up on the blog - despite having every intention of doing so!

In an effort to correct this, I thought I should share my latest effort - the Trumpeter 1/72 T-55 with KMT-5 Mine Roller kit.

The finish model, painted green with a wash of brown.

I built the kit with the intent of using it as a test bed for an experiment with magnets. I have seen lots of other gamers use small rare earth magnets to allow for variable weapon fits on their wargaming models, so I wanted to see if I could do the same with mine rollers.

The installation of metal rods in the hull.

Part of the inspiration for this project was remembering that i had read that the French had purchased surplus former Warsaw Pact mine plows (some sources say ex-Russian, some ex-East German) for use with their AMX-30 tanks during the first Gulf War.

Holes to allow the magnets to recess into.

This made me think that if I used magnets to attach engineering gear, I could potentially use it across a wide range of tank platforms,without needing to reduce the number of gun tanks in the collection.

The rods were later replaced by pieces of thin metal plate.

The use of magnets would also make storage and transport easier, as engineering attachments are often prone to break at the point where they attach to the tank. Using this system would reduce stress at that point.

Magnets glued onto the attachment points on the rollers.

The initial concept had me using pins rather than metal plate inside the hull. Once I switched to using plate, the connection was significantly improved.

A test of the assembly. Additional tests lead to the use of plate before gluing on the top half of the hull.

I am now going to repeat the process on other tanks in order to have a wider range of platforms to attach the rollers to. At this stage I am planning on converting a T-62 and a T-72, with the possibility of a Leopard 1 and an AMX-30 to follow.

Completed model with detached rollers.

Of course, I am already thing of ways to improve the idea. One possibility is to reverse the location of the plate and the magnet. The magnet would be placed inside the hull, while the attachment would have the metal plate added to it. If this worked, then there would be no need to make holes in the glacis of the tank.