Saturday, February 14, 2015

Scuds, Frogs, a Hoplite, and a bit of cavalry

This weekend I've again been trying to tidy up several partially completed projects that are littering the wargaming bookcase. 

The first is an East German Mil Mi-2 Hoplite:
The Hoplite entered service in 1965 and Soviet/WarPac forces used it primarily for liaison, reconnaissance, and air ambulance duties. Here's my East German Mi-2:
I've still got a Polish one to go. Unfortunately, once I finished this, I found that the model is literally too small for even my tiniest East German decals. There's just no room for them, so it will just have to go into battle "naked". 

Next up is my very first 1/600 cavalry! I decided to start off by continuing the Saxon theme that I began while doing the infantry a few posts ago, so I chose the chevauxleger regiments:
I specifically wanted to begin with the Prinz Clemens Regiment, but after I began painting these tiny things, I saw that doing the facings was entirely out of the question. Just too damned small!! But then it occurred to me that this was actually a benefit. Rather than have to paint the three individual Saxon chevauxleger regiments, I could use one to represent any of the three! So, here's the finished command stand:
Trumpeter in reversed colors.

As usual, I started out doing the command stand separately so that I could simply switch it out to change what regiment I'm representing. However, at 1/600, the standards of the individual regiments are totally indistinguishable, so the command stand can also be used with any of the units, as long as the trumpeter's color matches. Also as usual, I've deliberately made the pole for the standard overly tall and the standard itself a bit larger than true scale. 1/600 stuff benefits from anything eye-catching. 

And lastly, I'm also trying to finish off the final few stands of Scud B's and Frog 7's that have been lying around "for a coon's age" as my grandma was wont to say when I was a kid:
As with the last time I painted some of these, I went with Vallejo Gunship Green (895) for the missiles themselves. 

Well, that's a few things cleared out of the "to do" pile. Only 5000 things to go! I plan to get it all done in time for my 186th birthday! More BS next time!

8 comments:

  1. Ironically enough, I'm painting that very same cavalry regiment right now... in 2mm!

    I am rebasing my old 2mm stuff for Sam Mustafa's new Blucher rules and I noticed I have all that I need for a Sacon 1809 corps... except for the light cavalry. I looked around and decided I'd do the Prinz Clemens regiment to represent the light cav!

    :D

    You know, when I first saw yours, I thought "Holy shit! Is he now doing 6mm?!" That's how good they are.

    How did you do the flag, might I asked?

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  2. How ironic! For the cavalry standards, I do it the same way I do my infantry. The flag that is provided, I snip off with wire cutters at the level of the top of the bicorne. Then I use a metal file just to smooth things down a little bit and to try to take off some of the pole between the hand and the hat. Then I cut a suitably short length of .015" piano wire and superglue it into the place where the cast-on standard has come out, then prime light grey. I have a whole collection of 6 mm standards on my computer, so I just took it down to a size that's appropriate for 3mm (but just a little larger). I print that off cut it out glue it around the pole and give the whole thing a blast with dullcoat. Viola!

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  3. Surely they have piano wire in Brazil!?! If nothing else, they sell it on US Amazon. It's quite cheap

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  5. Or I could just mail you some

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  6. I am sure piano wire is available, somewhere. The question is "where"? Pianos are not big entertainment items down here and I have already looked for it in musical shops. Catskin for drum covers? We have tons of it. No piano wire, however.

    I should probably pick some up via amazon next time I am in the U.S. It is one of those things one tends to forget, however....

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    1. Try looking for "music wire". That's what Amazon has it listed as

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