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.
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| 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
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| 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.
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| 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
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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A very nice set of troops Brian. I have a rule concerning model and figure 'accuracy': if it looks like what it's meant to be then that is what it is'. I particularly like those SAGGER teams. I've been meaning to add such ilk (that or LAW or TOW) to my Tchagai troops, using perhaps the HK knock-off LMG figures as operators. Theuy won't look quite right but they wouldn't look that bad either, methinks.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which, I'm thinking, once the 'Long Live the Revolution' campaign is finally done and dusted (one more battle to fight), then another back-history campaign might be in order, with hordes of Nimruz fighters equipped with 'upgraded' Second Global War 'Collective Peoples' military equipment. Early 1970s possibly. It has been in the pipeline for a while, pending other projects being cleared away...
Cheers,
Ion
Hi Ion,
DeleteThanks for your kind words. I think the prone LMG operator from Hong Kong clones of the Airfix Russians could prove an excellent basis for conversion as a missile operator. Depending on the decade I would suggest considering modelling the following:
1960s Swiss/German Cobra system or Sagger
1970s Milan or the Russian AT-4
LAWs could be modeled by a piece of small plastic rod on the back of an infantry figure and TOW is probably best used as a vehicle mounted system.
I had a load of Skytrex micro-armour when I was younger, I sold them to a friend for a tenner when I was 16 and have regretted it ever since!
ReplyDeleteH
Hi Hugh - if they were as full of character as the 20mm figures then I can see why!
DeleteIt will be interesting to see if the acquisition of Skytrex by Warlord Games will result in any of the Firefight 20 ranges being put back in production.